English Grade 8 Lesson Plan 4
Literary Descriptions – Structure and language devices.
Key Idea
Key elements of Literary Texts that tell a story – genre, purpose, structure, plot, theme, character, and
literary devices - Literary Descriptions
Most Essential Learning Competencies and English Curriculum (2016):
Recognize positive and negative message conveyed in a text.
Determine key ideas, tone, and purpose of the author EN8LT-IIIf-2.2.5
Explain figurative language use EN8LT-IIId-2.2.4 d.
Component 1: Short review Time: 7 minutes
Teacher: Today we are going to read a Literary Description, from a famous novel, that gives
information about an element of the plot – in this case, a character. Descriptions can also be factual
– that is about real things and people. The one we are doing today involves a character from a
famous American novel, ‘The Adventures of Tom Sawyer’ by Mark Twain. Before we get to reading
it, think about the answers to these questions and write your answers on your Workbook:
Questions:
Q1. What do you expect to be in a description of a person?
Q2. What do you expect to be in a description of a place?
Q3. Name three things you would put in a description of your school.
Teacher seeks answers from students and gives feedback.
Suggested Answers:
Q1. Gender, age, height, weight, clothing, habits, job – some descriptions start at the head/face and
work downwards.
Q2. Size, how high it is, what it’s made of its function – what happens there - who lives or works
there.
Q3. Be prepared for some varied responses here.
[Teacher Notes: Feel free to do Questions 1 and 2 as a class and to allow students to do Question 3 in
pairs or groups. ]
Component 2: Purpose of the lesson
Time: 2 minutes
Teacher: In this lesson we are going to read a description of a character to identify its features and see if
we can apply them to writing our own descriptions. In it, we will find 3 similes – they are like metaphors,
that we covered in the last lesson, in comparing 2 things that are different but have a likeness when you
think about it. They are different from metaphors in containing ‘like’ or ‘as’ – for example, ‘His smile was
like the sun coming out from behind the clouds.’
Component 3: Language Practice
Time: 5 minutes
Teacher: We are going to read a text called ‘Tom Sawyer’, based on a novel written in 1876 by the
American author Mark Twain.
Before we do, here are some key words from the text that you may not know or remember. Let’s say
each word together.
Vocabulary
mischief – getting into trouble, being naughty.
infectious grin – a smile that makes other people smile too.
bewilderment – confusion
antics – another word for ‘mischief’; tricks
nooks – corners; small places hidden from view.
façade – outward appearance
lovable rogue – someone people liked despite the naughty things he does.
Now let’s go over what each word means and put each one in a sentence.
Teacher writes each word on the board and asks class to volunteer answers and writes each
definition on the board. Students write each definition in their Workbooks.
[Teacher Note: Feel free to omit sentence writing or to do it as a class.]
Component 4: Lesson Activities
Time: 25 minutes in total
Component 4A Reading the text [5 minutes]
Teacher reads the text, drawing attention to the words listed in Component 3.
Teacher asks if there are any questions about the text or any words that the students did not
understand.
Tom Sawyer
Tom Sawyer was a freckled faced, fourteen-year-old boy who lived in a town called Saint
Petersburg on the banks of the Mississippi River in the state of Missouri in the United States
about 150 years ago. He lived with his Aunt Polly and brother Sidney as his parents had died
from a mystery illness when he was very young.
Tom was famous in Saint Petersburg for two things: mischief and imagination. With an
infectious grin and a silver tongue, he could charm his way out of any trouble, leaving a trail of
laughter and bewilderment. He always seemed to find a way of frustrating his stern
schoolteacher with excuses about why his work was not done or why he was late or why he
should not be punished for his latest misbehavior. His classmates loved watching his antics and
excuses send the schoolmaster’s face red with anger at least once a day. Like a cat toying with
its prey, he played with the schoolmaster, enjoying the thrill of outwitting him.
It was Tom’s wild imagination that led to the pirate game where two tribes of boys competed to
find the buried treasure he invented. The boys really believed his stories about treasure buried
in the hills and they spent hours playing pirates there, looking for it. Tom was a master of
getting away with things, slipping away from responsibilities like water through a hole in a
bucket. He loved the Mississippi River, with its mighty currents and hidden nooks, and spent
time there whenever he could, often skipping school to go swimming or fishing or inventing
games for his friends.
Yet, beneath his mischievous facade, Tom possessed a heart as golden as the sunsets that
painted the Mississippi skies. He possessed a fierce loyalty to his friends, and even the adults he
frustrated couldn’t help but laugh at some of the things he did – as a result he generally got
away unpunished. To most people in Saint Petersburg, he was a lovable rogue.
Resource: Adapted by ChatGPT, https://chat.openai.com
Component 4B Questions [10 minutes]
Teacher reads questions and asks students to answer them on the Workbook.
Questions
Q1. Why was Tom living with his aunt?
Q2. Tom was famous in Saint Petersburg for ‘mischief and imagination.’ In your own words, state
what you think those words mean in this text.
Q3. The author uses a simile to describe how Tom treats his teacher. What is it? What does it show
about Tom?
Teacher samples answers from students to each question and provides feedback.
[Teacher Note: Feel free to do Q1 as a class discussion to give more time to Q2 and 3.]
Suggested Answers:
Q1. His parents had died of a mystery illness when he was very young.
Q2. Mischief – getting into trouble, but not too seriously. Imagination – making up stories and games.
Q3. ‘Like a cat toying with its prey, he played with the schoolmaster.’ It shows how Tom enjoys
teasing the teacher and could keep it up for some time.
Component 4C Questions [10 minutes]
Teacher reads Questions 4-6 and asks students to write answers in their Workbooks.
Questions
Q4. Give each paragraph a heading or title that sums up its content.
Q5. In the final paragraph, Tom is described as having ‘a heart as golden as the sunsets that painted
the Mississippi skies.’ What does this simile mean?
Q6. Using this description as a model, write a short 3 paragraph description of a person, animal, or
object under the following headings: Introduction; Main Features 1; Final Comment.
Students write answers in Workbook.
Teacher samples answers to the questions from the students.
Teacher provides feedback to answers.
Suggested Answers
Q4. P1 - Introduction to Tom Sawyer; P2 – Tom and Mischief; P3 Tom and Imagination; P4 - Tom’s
popularity.
Q5. Tom was generous, loyal, and shone brightly as a person, just like the sky over the Mississippi.
Q6. Open question. Be prepared for a range of answers here.
[Teacher Notes: Feel free to do Questions 4 and 5 as class discussion to allow time for Q6 and to allow students to
do it in pairs or groups, especially for the Consolidation group. Try to sample as many answers as possible. It might
be worth stipulating that descriptions of people should be of someone not in the room or in the Learning Camp.]
Component 5: Lesson Conclusion
Time: 5 minutes
Teacher displays the questions:
Q1. The focus of the lesson was on learning about how Descriptions convey a lot of information about a
character. How has the lesson helped you to understand this?
Q2. Which questions were easy to answer? Why?
Q3. What strategies did you use to answer the harder questions?
[Teacher Notes: It would be worthwhile to do this by getting students to write on the Workbook, so you have
some feedback on the effectiveness of the lesson and how they feel about their learning experience. However, if
pressed for time, you may want to do this section as a class discussion.]
REMINDER: Collect student Workbooks to review and analyze students’ learning – focus on answers to Question 6
for quality and clarity of writing and understanding of the content.