Teaching Pack

Unseen Prose – Tone and voice

Cambridge IGCSE™
Literature in English 0475

Version 1
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Contents

Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 4

Lesson plan – Tone and voice (Unseen prose) ............................................................................... 5

Teacher notes ............................................................................................................................... 10

Lesson resources.......................................................................................................................... 11

Worksheet 1: Words to appreciate ................................................................................................ 12

Worksheet 2: Sample answer ....................................................................................................... 13

Worksheet 3: Self-assessment sheet ............................................................................................ 14

Icons used in this pack:

Lesson plan

Teacher notes

Lesson resources
Teaching Pack: Unseen Prose – Tone and voice

Introduction

This Teaching Pack focuses on supporting learners to appreciate the tone and voice/viewpoint
conveyed in a text. We have chosen to demonstrate this by using Heidi by Johanna Spyri, but this
lesson plan could be adapted to use any other similar opening to an unseen text that has diverse
narrative style and voice.
This lesson is designed for learners that already understand and can identify different sentence
structures and literary techniques.
It would be advantageous if the text had been assigned to the learners to read as homework
before this lesson so that they are familiar with the content.
This lesson is designed to develop the learners’ vocabulary (their definitions of tone and the
appreciative vocabulary list). This section can be omitted or developed over two lessons depending
on the vocabulary needs and skills of the learners.
In this Teaching Pack we have suggested resources and online links you may like to use as well as
some worksheets to print off and use in the classroom with your learners.
A PowerPoint presentation ‘Unseen Prose: Tone and voice’ is also provided for you to use
alongside this pack (PowerPoint slides 1−16).

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Teaching Pack: Unseen Prose – Tone and voice

Lesson plan – Tone and voice (Unseen prose)

Resources • An online timer at www.online-stopwatch.com/countdown-timer/

• Access to online dictionaries or a similar search browser:
• Access to YouTube ‘People are awesome’:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=qF25vRr7eKs
• Worksheet 1: Words to appreciate
• Definitions of narrative voice and direct speech or access to
https://writingmanual.pressbooks.com/chapter/types-of-narrative-
voice-2/
• Copies of the opening to Heidi by Johanna Spyri from
www.fullbooks.com/Heidi1.html or other similar opening to an
unseen text.
• Worksheet 2: Sample answer
• Whiteboards and board pens for learners’ analytical writing
• A range of literary novels (Dracula, Little Women, The Lion the
Witch and the Wardrobe, etc.) that learners can use for their
independent extension work
• Worksheet 3: Self-assessment sheet
• Teacher notes
• PowerPoint slides (1−16)

Learning By the end of the lesson:

objectives
• all learners should be able to: Identify the correct aspects for
answering the question ‘how has the voice (speech and/or
narrative voice) been successfully crafted for effect?’
• most learners will be able to: Develop their own responses further
and be able to analyse and appreciate the effect of the tone and
techniques
• some learners will be able to: Construct a sensitive and evaluative
response to the effects created by tone and techniques.

Cambridge IGCSE Literature in English 0475 5

Teaching Pack: Unseen Prose – Tone and voice

Timings Activity

Starter/Introduction
Learners work in pairs.
PowerPoint slide 1: Introduce the lesson objective, linking it to the
assessment objectives 1–4 (AO1–AO4).
PowerPoint slide 2: Say ‘WHAT’ to a partner:
• like you are asking a question
• like you are angry
• like you are answering someone
• like you are confused.
Model this process, modulating your voice as necessary: rising
intonation for asking a question; emphasising the plosive ‘t’ sound to
imply anger; undulating to answer; higher-pitched to imply confusion,
etc.
Ask learners to discuss what tone means in this situation.
Display the definition of ‘tone’ on PowerPoint slide 2. Learners make a
note of this.
• A modulation of the voice expressing a particular feeling or
mood.

PowerPoint slide 3: Set learners the one-minute challenge using an

online timer to find as many definitions of tone as they can.
Higher ability learners will need to be in pairs and lower abilities perhaps
in groups of four. Learners write down the definitions.
Display the answers and ask learners to write down any they have
missed from www.google.co.uk/search?q=define+tone
Explain the focus of today’s lesson is to look at two particular notions of
tone:
• how a voice’s tone is crafted
• how a character or place can have a tone.

Learners will need to identify and then appreciate both types of

voice/viewpoint in their analytical responses to the Unseen prose and
poetry questions.

Main lesson
Task 1
In order to ‘appreciate’, learners will need to embed loaded,
judgemental words into their analysis. This is what the next activity
aims to model.
Watch one or two clips of people achieving amazing feats from any
YouTube videos from the ‘People are awesome’ series:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=qF25vRr7eKs
As they watch the clip, learners describe what they are seeing and

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Teaching Pack: Unseen Prose – Tone and voice

Timings Activity
explain what they appreciate about that person’s achievement.
PowerPoint slide 4: Learners use the vocabulary list as these words
are evaluative and the key to embedding a detailed, critical evaluation.
Example:
Notably, the man in the wheelchair rather inspiringly performs several
really successful deep bench presses, crucially and impressively using
his entire body weight.
Worksheet 1: Learners choose their own clip, watch it again and then
write their own evaluative appreciation of what that person has
achieved. Share the best examples.

Task 2
PowerPoint slide 5: Define narrative voice and direct speech. Explain
there are two key questions that can guide the learner in their
identification of AO1.
1. How has the narrative voice been crafted for effect?
(tone/viewpoint of narrator)
2. How the direct speech been crafted for effect? (tone of voice)
Any unseen prose can be used to apply these questions to it but the
example used in this lesson plan is the opening of Heidi by Johanna
Spyri.
Define narrative voice (the voice telling the reader the story) and ensure
the distinction between narrative voice and direct speech (when a
character speaks) is clear. See ‘Types of Narrative Voice:
https://writingmanual.pressbooks.com/chapter/types-of-narrative-voice-
2/
Give learners copies, display and read the opening 54 lines of Heidi
from www.fullbooks.com/Heidi1.html (‘The old and pleasantly situated
village … will soon send you and your proposal packing off home
again!’), or your choice of literary fiction. Ask learners to use their own
browsers to define any vocabulary they are unsure of.

Task 3
PowerPoint slide 6: Choose a compound sentence that creates a
significant build-up of a description. Ask the learners to discuss:
How has the narrative voice been crafted for effect? (tone/viewpoint
of narrator)
Elicit from them, whilst they annotate:
Compound sentence = build-up of a description that mirrors the
overwhelming amounts of clothes that Heidi has on, hinting that she is
carrying/wearing everything she owns and is uncomfortable for it on this
long, mountainous walk. Coupled with noun phrases (‘nailed mountain-
shoes’, ‘little body’) to contrast her figure and her unsuitable clothing.

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Teaching Pack: Unseen Prose – Tone and voice

Timings Activity

PowerPoint slide 7: Choose direct speech from your choice of fiction

that creates a sense of character. Ask the learners to discuss:
How has the direct speech been crafted for effect? (tone of voice)
Elicit from them, whilst they annotate:
Focus on the use of direct speech = Dete is setting the agenda and part
of her crafted idiolect means she is using compound sentences which
indicate she is thinking quickly as to what to say to reassure Heidi. This
is reinforced by the use of ‘bravely’ to get Heidi to walk and of the word
‘encouraging’ to describe the tone she has selected to speak to Heidi.
Focus also on the use of the modal ‘must’ and the forcefulness with
which this implication is delivered in contrast with the tone.
PowerPoint slide 8: Choose direct speech from your choice of fiction
that reveals a character’s shock. Ask the learners to discuss:
How has the direct speech been crafted for effect? (tone of voice)
Elicit from them, whilst they annotate:
• What does the punctuation imply about the tone of the voice?
The exclamation mark implies strong shock.
• How does the repetition add to this?
It heightens and reinforces her shock at the decision made for
the child, Heidi.

Task 4
PowerPoint slide 9: Introduce the idea that ‘creating an appreciative
response’ means that learners need to ‘judge’ the overall mood and
tone. Explain the three part structure of what the learners have read:
1. Sympathy for a young girl
2. An adult with a plan
3. A second adult who is appalled by the plan
Words to describe the overall effect on the tone = disturbing, unsettling,
curious.
Give learners one minute to develop more synonyms to describe the
tone. Some suggestions include: Intriguing, puzzling, irregular, bizarre,
weird, strange.
PowerPoint slide 10: Now learners have a word bank to describe the
effect of the overall tone of the piece, they need to build a response that
supports the judgements they have made. Slide 10 allows learners to
see a thought process which will help guide them in building a response:

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Teaching Pack: Unseen Prose – Tone and voice

Timings Activity

PowerPoint slides 11–13: Distribute copies of the sample answer

(Worksheet 2). Learners read the text and identify words and phrases
to do with:
1. tone effect (highlight in blue)
2. evaluation (highlight in red)
3. technique (highlight in green).
Lower ability learners should work in pairs and write their own analysis
of one of the quotations annotated during this lesson.
Middle ability learners should work on an annotated quotation alone.
Higher ability learners should choose their own quotation and write their
own analysis.
PowerPoint slide 14: Learners should use whiteboards so they can
craft their response as needed, ensuring they use the words from the
earlier vocabulary exercises.
1. How has the narrative voice been crafted for effect?
(tone/viewpoint of narrator)
2. How has the direct speech been crafted for effect? (tone of
voice)

Plenary
PowerPoint slide 15: Learners can review and amend their work in
pairs or individually using the levelled criteria on the self-assessment
sheet (Worksheet 3).
Homework
PowerPoint slide 16: Give learners a copy of extracts from a range of
literary novels.
Ask them to read the first pages.
Create a presentation in pairs answering the basic questions:
1. How has the narrative voice been crafted for effect?
(tone/viewpoint of narrator)
2. How has the direct speech been crafted for effect? (tone of
voice)

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Teaching Pack: Unseen Prose – Tone and voice

Teacher notes

PowerPoint slide 1: When referring to the assessment objectives, briefly explain how they are
linked by learners’ responses – first by their understanding in AO2, finding evidence in AO1, then
by being able to appreciate and be sensitive in their personal responses in AO3 and AO4.

PowerPoint slide 2: Model the process of saying ‘WHAT’, modulating your voice as necessary
(rising intonation for asking a question, emphasising the plosive ‘t’ sound to imply anger; undulating
to answer; higher pitched to imply confusion, etc.).
Display the ‘Words to appreciate’ (PowerPoint slide 4) for reference throughout the lesson.
If there is a lack of time then the vocabulary exercises can be omitted from this lesson and the
tasks can start from defining the narrative voice and direct speech.

PowerPoint slide 5: When defining narrative voice (the voice telling the reader the story) ensure
the distinction between that and direct speech (when a character speaks) is clear by getting
learners to write examples of narrative voice and direct speech and share them using their
whiteboards.
When defining and identifying compound sentences the mnemonic FANBOYS is useful and easily
accessible for learners: For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So.
When teaching learners to judge the overall mood and tone, reinforce that their opinion is crucial to
success in the Unseen paper which specifically asks for their own opinion. Forming an opinion and
an informed reaction then using synonyms to develop and refine that judgement will be critical in
ensuring that they can write in a sustained and detailed manner.

PowerPoint slide 10: When learners write their analysis on their whiteboards, circulate to ensure
they have developed an informed response answering the questions on the slide.

PowerPoint slide 15: If time, then discussing the differences between Levels 3, 5 and 8
(basic/developed/sensitive opinion) will be helpful in assisting learners in their ability to review and
improve their own analytical responses.

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Teaching Pack: Unseen Prose – Tone and voice

Lesson resources

Worksheet 1: Words to appreciate

Worksheet 2: Sample answer

Worksheet 3: Self-assessment sheet

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Teaching Pack: Unseen Prose – Tone and voice

Worksheet 1: Words to appreciate

Words to appreciate Example sentences

Successful Notably, the man in the wheelchair rather inspiringly

performs several really successful deep bench presses,

Impactful crucially and impressively using his entire body weight.

Now write some examples of your own:

Clever

Notably

Noteworthy

Influential

Crucial

Pivotal

Inspiring

Impressively

Persuasive

Authoritative

Realistic

Brilliantly

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Teaching Pack: Unseen Prose – Tone and voice

Worksheet 2: Sample answer

There is a distinctly puzzling tone in the opening extract of Heidi which really

successfully forces the reader to quickly sympathise with the smaller, younger

child. The clever use of the compound sentence is notable in that the

description of the many clothes worn by Heidi is mirrored in the structurally

overwhelming clauses that lead the reader to suspect that she may be wearing

everything she owns on this long, mountainous walk. This hint at such a young

child’s vulnerability is further heightened by the use of noun phrases that

oddly contrast her ‘little body’ and the heaviness of her inappropriate attire:

‘nailed mountain-shoes’. The constant throwing up of these questions creates a

disturbingly effective scene that leaves the reader feeling helpless and unsettled

by the plight Heidi is in.

Highlight the text using the colours for:

• tone effect
• evaluation
• technique.
There is a distinctly puzzling tone in the opening extract of Heidi which really successfully
forces the reader to quickly sympathise with the smaller, younger child. The clever use of
the compound sentence in the narrator’s viewpoint is notable in that the description of the
many clothes worn by Heidi is mirrored in the structurally overwhelming clauses that lead
the reader to suspect that she may be wearing everything she owns on this long,
mountainous walk. This narrative hint at such a young child’s vulnerability is further
heightened by the use of noun phrases that oddly contrast her ‘little body’ and the
heaviness of her inappropriate attire: ‘nailed mountain-shoes’. The constant throwing up of
these questions creates a disturbingly effective scene that leaves the reader feeling
helpless and unsettled by the plight Heidi is in.

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Teaching Pack: Unseen Prose – Tone and voice

Worksheet 3: Self-assessment sheet

What went well:

What could be improved:

14 Cambridge IGCSE Literature in English 0475

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