BILLABONG HIGH INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL

MARVE ROAD, BHOOMIPARK, MALAD (WEST)

Grade: 9 English Worksheet 5 – Writer’s Effect

Read the three extracts given below and point out the following:

 Any of the five senses and its effect on you as a reader and on the passage. Notice how the
writer intended the words effect.
 All the literary devices that you can spot. Give your reasons as to why you think the writers
have used them?
 Select five words from each extract and provide a better synonym, explain the meaning
which according to you would enhance the effect.

How to respond to a WE question:

 An overarching statement is the best way to start a writer's effect answer. Sometimes
overarching statement can be in more than one sentence. [Key theme/Main idea]
 This followed by selection of phrases that describe the place, person or emotion in the
strongest way possible with apt explanation.
 Explain with all the aspects, including selection of the strongest phrases, pointing out their
explicit and implicit meanings; intertwining the phrases in continuous writing, well within
the word limit.
 Do the same for both paragraphs. Do not use bullet points or club two phrases in one
sentence. Write continuously in one paragraph for each sub question.
Passage 1

It was eerie playing outdoors while the clouds grew dark and swirly. I remember it looked like night,
in the middle of the afternoon. It began to rain. The wind began to howl and something in the air
made us feel wild and free. We waded in the ditches trying to catch crawfish but when the lightning
began to strike dangerously close to the crackle of thunder, my mother called us in. We were
drenched. Despite the edge of fear in the air, it was exciting and we all remained in high spirits. I was
mesmerized by what the storm was doing outside.

I remember watching out of our picture window. The wind caused the trees and bushes to bend
over in funny ways I’d never seen before. The power lines were swinging around. The ditches
flooded then the roads, and then the yards. I recall seeing tiny, brightly coloured frogs plastered on
the window I was looking through. Was it raining frogs? Or, were the frogs just looking for an escape
from the soaked ground?

After some time, everything became still and silent. Even the birds were quiet. The winds calmed,
the clouds parted and the sun appeared. The eye of the hurricane was over Houston! We ran outside
and I looked up to see blue sky. After about an hour, the clouds darkened and the wind and rain
returned. We went back inside and watched the second half of the storm.

We went to bed with the rain beating on the roof and the wind howling. The next morning we
awoke to a different world. The sun was shining and the birds were chirping. Tree limbs were down
everywhere and the roads and yards had become a giant lake. Hurricane Carla had left her mark on
the landscape and our lives. The best part was that everyone was safe and the kids got a bonus 3
days off from school!

(From ‘Surviving Hurricane Carla,’ by Carol Park)

Step 1: Overall effect (Use a Red Colour Pen)

…Fear…, …Danger…, …Excitement…

Overarching statement:

The passage is written through the eyes of a young child. Therefore, where one sees fear and she
is unaware of the impending danger, and she only feels the fascination of the changing
surroundings in her absolute innocence.
Step 2: P-E-E-L (Use a Green Colour Pen)

Point Evidence Explain the effect Link

Night in the day time Through the visual
Visual imagery imagery ‘night in the
Create the feeling of day time’ the
fear atmosphere is
described and the
sense of danger and
fear is
showcased/evoked.

So, in her innocence

the child does not
sense the danger but
on the contrary is
extremely curious and
joyful in the situation.
She is dangerously
carefree.

The passage is written through the eyes of a young child. Therefore, where one sees fear and she is
unaware of the impending danger, and she only feels the fascination of the changing surroundings in
her absolute innocence. Through the visual imagery ‘night in the day time’ the atmosphere is
described and the sense of danger and fear is showcased/evoked.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

So, in her innocence the child does not sense the danger but on the contrary is extremely curious
and joyful in the situation. She is dangerously carefree.
Write your response here in ONE paragraph:

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Passage 2

I asked the policemen to come in. The cry, I said, was my own, in a dream. The old man, I said, was
away; he had gone to visit a friend in the country. I took them through the whole house, telling them
to search it all, to search well. I led them finally into the old man’s bedroom. As if playing a game
with them I asked them to sit down and talk for a while. My easy, quiet manner made the policemen
believe my story. So they sat talking with me in a friendly way. But although I answered them in the
same way, I soon wished that they would go. My head hurt and there was a strange sound in my
ears. I talked more, and faster. The sound became clearer. And still they sat and talked. Suddenly I
knew that the sound was not in my ears, it was not just inside my head. At that moment I must have
become quite white. I talked still faster and louder. And the sound, too, became louder. It was a
quick, low, soft sound, like the sound of a clock heard through a wall, a sound I knew well. Louder it
became, and louder. Why did the men not go? Louder, louder. I stood up and walked quickly around
the room. I pushed my chair across the floor to make more noise, to cover that terrible sound. I
talked even louder. And still the men sat and talked, and smiled. Was it possible that they could not
hear?? No! They heard! I was certain of it. They knew! Now it was they who were playing a game
with me. I was suffering more than I could bear, from their smiles, and from that sound. Louder,
louder, louder! Suddenly I could bear it no longer. I pointed at the boards and cried, “Yes! Yes, I
killed him. Pull up the boards and you shall see! I killed him. But why does his heart not stop
beating?! Why does it not stop!?”

(From the ‘Tell-tale heart,’ by Edgar Allen Poe)

Step 1: Overall effect (Use a Red Colour Pen)

…………………………………………………, …………………………………………………., …………………………………………….

Overarching statement:

Step 2: P-E-E-L (Use a Green Colour Pen)

Point Evidence Explain the effect Link

Write your response in ONE paragraph here:

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Passage 3 (For HW)

But the door slid slowly open before Lupin could reach it. Standing in the doorway, illuminated by
the shivering flames in Lupin’s hand, was a cloaked figure that towered to the ceiling. Its face was
completely hidden beneath its hood. Harry’s eyes darted downward, and what he saw made his
stomach contract. There was a hand protruding from the cloak and it was glistening, greyish, slimy-
looking, and scabbed, like something dead that had decayed in water. . . . But it was visible only for a
split second. As though the creature beneath the cloak sensed Harry’s gaze, the hand was suddenly
withdrawn into the folds of its black cloak. And then the thing beneath the hood, whatever it was,
drew a long, slow, rattling breath, as though it were trying to suck something more than air from its
surroundings. An intense cold swept over them all. Harry felt his own breath catch in his chest. The
cold went deeper than his skin. It was inside his chest, it was inside his very heart. . . . Harry’s eyes
rolled up into his head. He couldn’t see. He was drowning in cold. There was a rushing in his ears as
though of water. He was being dragged downward, the roaring growing louder . . . And then, from
far away, he heard screaming, terrible, terrified, pleading screams. He wanted to help whoever it
was, he tried to move his arms, but couldn’t . . . a thick white fog was swirling around him, inside
him — “Harry! Harry! Are you all right?” Someone was slapping his face. “W — what?” Harry opened
his eyes; there were lanterns above him, and the floor was shaking — the Hogwarts Express was
moving again and the lights had come back on. He seemed to have slid out of his seat onto the floor.
Ron and Hermione were kneeling next to him, and above them he could see Neville and Professor
Lupin watching. Harry felt very sick; when he put up his hand to push his glasses back on, he felt cold
sweat on his face.

(From ‘Harry Potter and the prisoner of Azkaban’ by J.K Rowling)

Step 1: Overall effect (Use a Red Colour Pen)

…………………………………………………, …………………………………………………., …………………………………………….

Overarching statement:

Step 2: P-E-E-L (Use a Green Colour Pen)

Point Evidence Explain the effect Link

Write your response in ONE paragraph here:

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….