‘Innocence, once lost, is lost forever’.

Lesson Objective:

To show understanding of the writer’s storytelling techniques

Starter:The quote is from chapter 4

It is the older Arthur, looking back at his younger self.

What do you think is implied by the quote?

How effective have the opening chapters been so far?

• How has Susan Hill engaged you as a reader?• How much do we know about Arthur? Do we

want to know more?• Which character is most interesting?• Do you have a question about the text you’d like

to ask Susan Hill?

More clues:

• I felt like a spectre• A pair of gloomy ravens• Drabness• Had I known that my untroubled night of good sleep was

to be the last that I was to enjoy for so many terrifying, racked and weary nights to come…

• I do not believe I have ever again slept so well as I did that night in the inn

• I was still all in a state of innocence, but that innocence, once lost, is lost forever

Contrasts

• In contrast to the FOREBODING which was evident in chapter 3 we have lots of descriptions which convey Arthur’s sense of calm and happiness in chapter 4

• ‘There was a touch of warmth in the autumn sunshine’• ‘The air was fresh, crisp and clear’• ‘By contrast with the fog of London, and the wind and

rain of the previous evening’s journey up here, the weather was quite altered...’

The Woman in Black

• Pick out three descriptions of The Woman in Black (p49)• What is the significance of the line ‘when I looked up again, I saw a

blackbird on the hollybush a few feet away…’?• What is important about the way Mr Jerome reacts to the ‘young

woman’? (PEE)

Writer’s Craft

• So, finally we have met the ‘Woman in Black’

• Why did Susan Hill wait so long to introduce the ghost?

• How did she build up our expectations and suspense in the first 3 and a half chapters?