1. Preparing for the practice exam
The darkness out there
Preparing for the practice exam

2. Practice exam Monday 5th january
First day back
You must revise over Christmas – read the short stories

3. This week
Today we will finish up The Darkness Out There Tomorrow – revise the short stories Thursday - Revise OMAM

4. Darkness
Write down the connotations of this word

5. Darkness Write down the connotations of this word
WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE MEANING OF THE TITLE – THE DARKNESS OUT THERE?

6. How does it end?

7. Look at the word list
This is taken from the end of ‘The Darkness Out There’, sorted into alphabetical order.
word frequency, repetition and patterns.  
Highlight the words that stand out
Discuss the following and be ready to feed back:
Which words stand out because they are used frequently?
Are there any frequently used words that you don’t think are important?
Are there any clusters of words that have the same sort of meaning? What clues do they give about the text? Circle or highlight these groups of words.
Which words in the list do you find surprising or interesting?

8. Where does this passage come from?
why do you think this particular passage has been selected for close analysis?

9. In groups, consider the questions
1. the above passage mentions the word darkness five times. What reasons can you think of for its repetition?

10. 2. how is darkness represented in the story
2. how is darkness represented in the story? Who or what is the darkness?

11. 3. Having read the story, what do you understand by the title ‘The Darkness Out There’ and the line ‘The darkness was out there’....

12. 4. In the passage above, Sandra realises that although ‘the darkness was out there’ it is also part of her. How do you interpret this?

13. 5. Look at the descriptions of Sandra walking to Mrs Rutter’s house – how was sandra different here? Lines 40-43
 ’It was alright out here in the sunshine. Fine. She stopped to pick grass stems out of her sandal; she saw the neat print of the strap marks against her sunburn, pink-white on brown. Somebody had said she had pretty feet, once; she looked at them, clean and plump and neat on the grass. A ladybird crawled across a toe.’
What is Sandra doing here?
How is she behaving?
How might she feel?
How is this different to the way Sandra appears and feels at the end of the story? How has she changed?

14. 6. at the end of the story, has Sandra changed for the better or for the worse?

15. On the board, write down your story – write a short summary of what happens in each
My Polish Teacher’s Tie
When the Wasps Drowned
Compass and Torch
100 p/c Perfect Girl
The Darkness Out There
Anil
(Something Old, Something New)

16. Look at the sheet – what quote matches which story?
What is the significance of each quote?

17. “We knelt down and peered into its depths. It was too dark to see much

18. “Once upon a time”

19. “….turned to his brother and saw the shadow of a smile on his lips.”

20. “It’s a miracle, a cosmic miracle”

21. “voices coming out of the trees, nasty, creepy. People said”

22. “I held my right hand behind my back”

23. “The man pushes the gate with one arm, abruptly, too hard”

24. “It sounded like the rhymes my Mother used to sing”

25. Timed writing – I am going to ask you to write for 15 - 20 minutes
Use the reading ladder to write in detail