Title of Close Reading Text: A Shoebox of Changes
Learning Intention: We will explore the author’s use of an extended metaphor.
Success Criteria:
• I can identify figurative language.
• I can recognise how metaphor can be used with emotional topics.
Reading Text-Dependent Questions
Who are the key characters in this text?
Outcome:
1st Reading
What it says.
Key ideas and details
2nd Reading
How it says it.
Craft and Structure
How old do you think the characters are?
What are the main complications they face in this narrative?
How does the author reveal the characters’ emotions?
Do you think they feel anxious about the changes to come in their lives?
Can you identify the author’s use of figurative language such as similes in key scenes in this narrative? (‘She tucked her hair behind her ears and stared at the spots like she was examining the night sky’ ‘Alannah sat on her bed like a balloon losing air.’ ‘She felt as hollow as the cocoon when she thought about high school without her best friend but knew their friendship would be as strong as silk.’)
What are the challenges that Alannah and Diya have to face?
Are they able to speak directly about their feelings? What helps them to find a way to communicate their emotions? (looking after the silkworms together)
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3rd Reading
School Magazine
The author uses an extended form of metaphor in this story. Can you name it? (metamorphosis – symbolised by the silk worms).
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What it means.
Sentence structures, visual components, text cohesion, repetitions devices and language features.
‘At dinner that night, Larissa proudly spelled ‘metamorphosis’ correctly. ‘It means the silkworms will soon spin cocoons and become moths. Then they’ll lay eggs and next year we’ll have silkworms again.’
Alannah thought about the transformation that would soon happen to the silkworms, and how she and Diya would do the same at the end of the year.’
Can you identify the common morpheme in metamorphosis and metaphor? (meta = beyond, change)
What is the main idea behind the extended metaphor in this story? (silk worm lifecycle as a metaphor for the changes the characters are going through - metamorphosis)
How do you know this?
General follow up questions for each of the readings:
What evidence do you have to support that?
Why do you think this?
What examples can you find in the text?
The School Magazine