(Advanced) Language Acquisition

The second language acquisition theories of Dr. Stephen Krashen hold that the best way to help students develop both fluency and accuracy in a language is to expose them to large amounts of comprehensible input. This is the so-called the "comprehension hypothesis" where exposure to input naturally and logically leads to the development of the language skill (so forget about pronuciation drills and grammar analysis). Krashen advocates free voluntary reading and teaching techniques such as TPR Storytelling to provide this input.

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Dr. Stephen Krashen

MIT researcher Deb Roy wanted to understand how his infant son learned language -- so he wired up his house with videocameras to catch every moment (with exceptions) of his son's life, then parsed 90,000 hours of home video to watch "gaaaa" slowly turn into "water." Astonishing, data-rich research with deep implications for how we learn.

Video:

Deb Roy: The birth of a word

Connecting ideas

 Linking words examples

Talk about these. Are they convincing arguments?

• 1. All men will die. I am a man. Therefore, I will die.

• 2. If Samantha works hard, then she will get into college.

• 3. All snakes are reptiles. My pet is a reptile. Therefore, my pet is a snake.

• 4. If you care about your family, then you will get up early and cook breakfast.

• 5. This ice cream is either chocolate or vanilla. Since it’s not chocolate, it must be vanilla.

• 6. Ice cream is full of milk. People who are allergic to milk should not eat it.

• 7. All dogs are animals, and all canines are dogs. Therefore all canines are animals.

Cause and effect, reason and result\

The Tale Of Two Pebbles

Many years ago in a small Indian village, a farmer had the misfortune of owing a large sum of money to a village moneylender. The moneylender, who was old and ugly, fancied the farmer’s beautiful daughter. So he proposed a bargain. He said he would forgive the farmer’s debt if he could marry his daughter.

Both the farmer and his daughter were horrified by the proposal. So the cunning money-lender suggested that they let providence decide the matter. He told them that he would put a black pebble and a white pebble into an empty money bag. Then the girl would have to pick one pebble from the bag.

If she picked the black pebble, she would become his wife and her father’s debt would be forgiven. If she picked the white pebble she need not marry him and her father’s debt would still be forgiven. If she refused to pick a pebble, her father would be thrown into jail.

They were standing on a pebble strewn path in the farmer’s field. As they talked, the moneylender bent over to pick up two pebbles. As he picked them up, the sharp-eyed girl noticed that he had picked up two black pebbles and put them into the bag. He then asked the girl to pick a pebble from the bag.

Now, imagine that you were standing in the field. What would you have done if you were the girl? If you had to advise her, what would you have told her?

Take a moment to ponder this. What would you recommend that the girl do?

 

 

The girl put her hand into the moneybag and drew out a pebble. Without looking at it, she fumbled and let it fall onto the pebble-strewn path where it immediately became lost among all the other pebbles.

“Oh, how clumsy of me!” she said. “But never mind, if you look into the bag for the one that is left, you will be able to tell which pebble I picked.”

The moneylender dared not admit his dishonesty. The girl changed what seemed an impossible situation into an extremely advantageous one.

By Edward de Bono

The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar

 

The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar
— written by Edgar Allan Poe (1845) and narrated by Strobie Studios —

 

Of course I shall not pretend to consider it any matter for wonder, that the extraordinary case of M. Valdemar has excited discussion. It would have been a miracle had it not -- especially under the circumstances. Through the desire of all parties concerned, to keep the affair from the public, at least for the present, or until we had farther opportunities for investigation -- through our endeavors to effect this -- a garbled or exaggerated account made its way into society, and became the source of many unpleasant misrepresentations; and, very naturally, of a great deal of disbelief.

It is now rendered necessary that I give the facts -- as far as I comprehend them myself. They are, succinctly, these:

My attention, for the last three years, had been repeatedly drawn to the subject of Mesmerism; and, about nine months ago, it occurred to me, quite suddenly, that in the series of experiments made hitherto, there had been a very remarkable and most unaccountable omission: no person had as yet been mesmerized in articulo mortis. It remained to be seen, first, whether, in such condition, there existed in the patient any susceptibility to the magnetic influence; secondly, whether, if any existed, it was impaired or increased by the condition; thirdly, to what extent, or for how long a period, the encroachments of Death might be arrested by the process. There were other points to be ascertained, but these most excited my curiosity -- the last in especial, from the immensely important character of its consequences.

In looking around me for some subject by whose means I might test these particulars, I was brought to think of my friend, M. Ernest Valdemar, the well-known compiler of the "Bibliotheca Forensica," and author (under the nom de plume of Issachar Marx) of the Polish versions of "Wallenstein" and "Gargantua." M. Valdemar, who has resided principally at Harlem, N. Y., since the year 1839, is (or was) particularly noticeable for the extreme spareness of his person -- his lower limbs much resembling those of John Randolph; and, also, for the whiteness of his whiskers, in violent contrast to the blackness of his hair -- the latter, in consequence, being very generally mistaken for a wig. His temperament was markedly nervous, and rendered him a good subject for mesmeric experiment. On two or three occasions I had put him to sleep with little difficulty, but was disappointed in other results which his peculiar constitution had naturally led me to anticipate. His will was at no period positively, or thoroughly, under my control, and in regard to clairvoyance, I could accomplish with him nothing to be relied upon. I always attributed my failure at these points to the disordered state of his health. For some months previous to my becoming acquainted with him, his physicians had declared him in a confirmed phthisis. It was his custom, indeed, to speak calmly of his approaching dissolution, as of a matter neither to be avoided nor regretted.

When the ideas to which I have alluded first occurred to me, it was of course very natural that I should think of M. Valdemar. I knew the steady philosophy of the man too well to apprehend any scruples from him; and he had no relatives in America who would be likely to interfere. I spoke to him frankly upon the subject; and, to my surprise, his interest seemed vividly excited. I say to my surprise; for, although he had always yielded his person freely to my experiments, he had never before given me any tokens of sympathy with what I did. His disease was of that character which would admit of exact calculation in respect to the epoch of its termination in death; and it was finally arranged between us that he would send for me about twenty-four hours before the period announced by his physicians as that of his decease.

It is now rather more than seven months since I received, from M. Valdemar himself, the subjoined note:

"MY DEAR P___,

You may as well come now. D___ and F___ are agreed that I cannot hold out beyond to-morrow midnight; and I think they have hit the time very nearly.
VALDEMAR."

I received this note within half an hour after it was written, and in fifteen minutes more I was in the dying man's chamber. I had not seen him for ten days, and was appalled by the fearful alteration which the brief interval had wrought in him. His face wore a leaden hue; the eyes were utterly lustreless; and the emaciation was so extreme, that the skin had been broken through by the cheek-bones. His expectoration was excessive. The pulse was barely perceptible. He retained, nevertheless, in a very remarkable manner, both his mental power and a certain degree of physical strength. He spoke with distinctness -- took some palliative medicines without aid -- and, when I entered the room, was occupied in penciling memoranda in a pocket-book. He was propped up in the bed by pillows. Doctors D___ and F___ were in attendance.

After pressing Valdemar's hand, I took these gentlemen aside, and obtained from them a minute account of the patient's condition. The left lung had been for eighteen months in a semi-osseous or cartilaginous state, and was, of course, entirely useless for all purposes of vitality. The right, in its upper portion, was also partially, if not thoroughly, ossified, while the lower region was merely a mass of purulent tubercles, running one into another. Several extensive perforations existed; and, at one point, permanent adhesion to the ribs had taken place. These appearances in the right lobe were of comparatively recent date. The ossification had proceeded with very unusual rapidity; no sign of it had discovered a month before, and the adhesion had only been observed during the three previous days. Independently of the phthisis, the patient was suspected of aneurism of the aorta; but on this point the osseous symptoms rendered an exact diagnosis impossible. It was the opinion of both physicians that M. Valdemar would die about midnight on the morrow (Sunday.) It was then seven o'clock on Saturday evening.

On quitting the invalid's bed-side to hold conversation with myself, Doctors D___ and F___ had bidden him a final farewell. It had not been their intention to return; but, at my request, they agreed to look in upon the patient about ten the next night.

When they had gone, I spoke freely with M. Valdemar on the subject of his approaching dissolution, as well as, more particularly, of the experiment proposed. He still professed himself quite willing and even anxious to have it made, and urged me to commence it at once. A male and a female nurse were in attendance; but I did not feel myself altogether at liberty to engage in a task of this character with no more reliable witnesses than these people, in case of sudden accident, might prove. I therefore postponed operations until about eight the next night, when the arrival of a medical student, with whom I had some acquaintance, (Mr. Theodore L___l,) relieved me from farther embarrassment. It had been my design, originally, to wait for the physicians; but I was induced to proceed, first, by the urgent entreaties of M. Valdemar, and secondly, by my conviction that I had not a moment to lose, as he was evidently sinking fast.

Mr. L___l was so kind as to accede to my desire that he would take notes of all that occurred; and it is from his memoranda that what I now have to relate is, for the most part, either condensed or copied verbatim.

It wanted about five minutes of eight when, taking the patient's hand, I begged him to state, as distinctly as he could, to Mr. L___l, whether he (M. Valdemar,) was entirely willing that I should make the experiment of mesmerizing him in his then condition.

He replied feebly, yet quite audibly, "Yes, I wish to be mesmerized" -- adding immediately afterwards, "I fear you have deferred it too long."

While he spoke thus, I commenced the passes which I had already found most effectual in subduing him. He was evidently influenced with the first lateral stroke of my hand across his forehead; but although I exerted all my powers, no farther perceptible effect was induced until some minutes after ten o'clock, when Doctors D___ and F___ called, according to appointment. I explained to them, in a few words, what I designed, and as they opposed no objection, saying that the patient was already in the death agony, I proceeded without hesitation -- exchanging, however, the lateral passes for downward ones, and directing my gaze entirely into the right eye of the sufferer.

By this time his pulse was imperceptible and his breathing was stertorous, and at intervals of half a minute.

This condition was nearly unaltered for a quarter of an hour. At the expiration of this period, however, a natural although a very deep sigh escaped the bosom of the dying man, and the stertorous breathing ceased -- that is to say, its stertorousness was no longer apparent; the intervals were undiminished. The patient's extremities were of an icy coldness.

At five minutes before eleven, I perceived unequivocal signs of the mesmeric influence. The glassy roll of the eye was changed for that expression of uneasy inward examination which is never seen except in cases of sleep-waking, and which it is quite impossible to mistake. With a few rapid lateral passes I made the lids quiver, as in incipient sleep, and with a few more I closed them altogether. I was not satisfied, however, with this, but continued the manipulations vigorously, and with the fullest exertion of the will, until I had completely stiffened the limbs of the slumberer, after placing them in a seemingly easy position. The legs were at full length; the arms were nearly so, and reposed on the bed at a moderate distance from the loins. The head was very slightly elevated.

When I had accomplished this, it was fully midnight, and I requested the gentlemen present to examine M. Valdemar's condition. After a few experiments, they admitted him to be in an unusually perfect state of mesmeric trance. The curiosity of both the physicians was greatly excited. Dr. D___ resolved at once to remain with the patient all night, while Dr. F___ took leave with a promise to return at daybreak. Mr. L___l and the nurses remained.

We left M. Valdemar entirely undisturbed until about three o'clock in the morning, when I approached him and found him in precisely the same condition as when Dr. F___ went away -- that is to say, he lay in the same position; the pulse was imperceptible; the breathing was gentle (scarcely noticeable, unless through the application of a mirror to the lips;) the eyes were closed naturally; and the limbs were as rigid and as cold as marble. Still, the general appearance was certainly not that of death.

As I approached M. Valdemar I made a kind of half effort to influence his right arm into pursuit of my own, as I passed the latter gently to and fro above his person. In such experiments with this patient, I had never perfectly succeeded before, and assuredly I had little thought of succeeding now; but to my astonishment, his arm very readily, although feebly, followed every direction I assigned it with mine. I determined to hazard a few words of conversation.

"M. Valdemar," I said, "are you asleep?" He made no answer, but I perceived a tremor about the lips, and was thus induced to repeat the question, again and again. At its third repetition, his whole frame was agitated by a very slight shivering; the eye-lids unclosed themselves so far as to display a white line of a ball; the lips moved sluggishly, and from between them, in a barely audible whisper, issued the words:

"Yes; asleep now. Do not wake me! -- let me die so!"

I here felt the limbs and found them as rigid as ever. The right arm, as before, obeyed the direction of my hand. I questioned the sleep-waker again:

"Do you still feel pain in the breast, M. Valdemar?"

The answer now was immediate, but even less audible than before:

"No pain -- I am dying."

I did not think it advisable to disturb him farther just then, and nothing more was said or done until the arrival of Dr. F___, who came a little before sunrise, and expressed unbounded astonishment at finding the patient still alive. After feeling the pulse and applying a mirror to the lips, he requested me to speak to the sleep-waker again. I did so, saying:

"M. Valdemar, do you still sleep?"

As before, some minutes elapsed ere a reply was made; and during the interval the dying man seemed to be collecting his energies to speak. At my fourth repetition of the question, he said very faintly, almost inaudibly:

"Yes; still asleep -- dying."

It was now the opinion, or rather the wish, of the physicians, that M. Valdemar should be suffered to remain undisturbed in his present apparently tranquil condition, until death should supervene -- and this, it was generally agreed, must now take place within a few minutes. I concluded, however, to speak to him once more, and merely repeated my previous question.

While I spoke, there came a marked change over the countenance of the sleep-waker. The eyes rolled themselves slowly open, the pupils disappearing upwardly; the skin generally assumed a cadaverous hue, resembling not so much parchment as white paper; and the circular hectic spots which, hitherto, had been strongly defined in the centre of each cheek, went out at once. I use this expression, because the suddenness of their departure put me in mind of nothing so much as the extinguishment of a candle by a puff of the breath. The upper lip, at the same time, writhed itself away from the teeth, which it had previously covered completely; while the lower jaw fell with an audible jerk, leaving the mouth widely extended, and disclosing in full view the swollen and blackened tongue. I presume that no member of the party then present had been unaccustomed to death-bed horrors; but so hideous beyond conception was the appearance of M. Valdemar at this moment, that there was a general shrinking back from the region of the bed.

I now feel that I have reached a point of this narrative at which every reader will be startled into positive disbelief. It is my business, however, simply to proceed.

There was no longer the faintest sign of vitality in M. Valdemar; and concluding him to be dead, we were consigning him to the charge of the nurses, when a strong vibratory motion was observable in the tongue. This continued for perhaps a minute. At the expiration of this period, there issued from the distended and motionless jaws a voice -- such as it would be madness in me to attempt describing. There are, indeed, two or three epithets which might be considered as applicable to it in part; I might say, for example, that the sound was harsh, and broken and hollow; but the hideous whole is indescribable, for the simple reason that no similar sounds have ever jarred upon the ear of humanity. There were two particulars, nevertheless, which I thought then, and still think, might fairly be stated as characteristic of the intonation -- as well adapted to convey some idea of its unearthly peculiarity. In the first place, the voice seemed to reach our ears -- at least mine -- from a vast distance, or from some deep cavern within the earth. In the second place, it impressed me (I fear, indeed, that it will be impossible to make myself comprehended) as gelatinous or glutinous matters impress the sense of touch.

I have spoken both of "sound" and of "voice." I mean to say that the sound was one of distinct -- of even wonderfully, thrillingly distinct -- syllabification. M. Valdemar spoke -- obviously in reply to the question I had propounded to him a few minutes before. I had asked him, it will be remembered, if he still slept. He now said:

"Yes; -- no; -- I have been sleeping -- and now -- now -- I am dead.

No person present even affected to deny, or attempted to repress, the unutterable, shuddering horror which these few words, thus uttered, were so well calculated to convey. Mr. L___l (the student) swooned. The nurses immediately left the chamber, and could not be induced to return. My own impressions I would not pretend to render intelligible to the reader. For nearly an hour, we busied ourselves, silently -- without the utterance of a word -- in endeavors to revive Mr. L___l. When he came to himself, we addressed ourselves again to an investigation of M. Valdemar's condition.

It remained in all respects as I have last described it, with the exception that the mirror no longer afforded evidence of respiration. An attempt to draw blood from the arm failed. I should mention, too, that this limb was no farther subject to my will. I endeavored in vain to make it follow the direction of my hand. The only real indication, indeed, of the mesmeric influence, was now found in the vibratory movement of the tongue, whenever I addressed M. Valdemar a question. He seemed to be making an effort to reply, but had no longer sufficient volition. To queries put to him by any other person than myself he seemed utterly insensible -- although I endeavored to place each member of the company in mesmeric rapport with him. I believe that I have now related all that is necessary to an understanding of the sleep-waker's state at this epoch. Other nurses were procured; and at ten o'clock I left the house in company with the two physicians and Mr. L___l.

In the afternoon we all called again to see the patient. His condition remained precisely the same. We had now some discussion as to the propriety and feasibility of awakening him; but we had little difficulty in agreeing that no good purpose would be served by so doing. It was evident that, so far, death (or what is usually termed death) had been arrested by the mesmeric process. It seemed clear to us all that to awaken M. Valdemar would be merely to insure his instant, or at least his speedy dissolution.

From this period until the close of last week -- an interval of nearly seven months -- we continued to make daily calls at M. Valdemar's house, accompanied, now and then, by medical and other friends. All this time the sleeper-waker remained exactly as I have last described him. The nurses' attentions were continual.

It was on Friday last that we finally resolved to make the experiment of awakening, or attempting to awaken him; and it is the (perhaps) unfortunate result of this latter experiment which has given rise to so much discussion in private circles -- to so much of what I cannot help thinking unwarranted popular feeling.

For the purpose of relieving M. Valdemar from the mesmeric trance, I made use of the customary passes. These, for a time, were unsuccessful. The first indication of revival was afforded by a partial descent of the iris. It was observed, as especially remarkable, that this lowering of the pupil was accompanied by the profuse out-flowing of a yellowish ichor (from beneath the lids) of a pungent and highly offensive odor.

It was now suggested that I should attempt to influence the patient's arm, as heretofore. I made the attempt and failed. Dr. F___ then intimated a desire to have me put a question. I did so, as follows:

"M. Valdemar, can you explain to us what are your feelings or wishes now?"

There was an instant return of the hectic circles on the cheeks; the tongue quivered, or rather rolled violently in the mouth (although the jaws and lips remained rigid as before;) and at length the same hideous voice which I have already described, broke forth:

"For God's sake! -- quick! -- quick! -- put me to sleep -- or, quick! -- waken me! -- quick! -- I say to you that I am dead!"

I was thoroughly unnerved, and for an instant remained undecided what to do. At first I made an endeavor to re-compose the patient; but, failing in this through total abeyance of the will, I retraced my steps and as earnestly struggled to awaken him. In this attempt I soon saw that I should be successful -- or at least I soon fancied that my success would be complete -- and I am sure that all in the room were prepared to see the patient awaken.

For what really occurred, however, it is quite impossible that any human being could have been prepared.

As I rapidly made the mesmeric passes, amid ejaculations of "dead! dead!" absolutely bursting from the tongue and not from the lips of the sufferer, his whole frame at once -- within the space of a single minute, or even less, shrunk -- crumbled -- absolutely rotted away beneath my hands. Upon the bed, before that whole company, there lay a nearly liquid mass of loathsome -- of detestable putridity.

The Masque of the Red Death

 

The Masque of the Red Death
— written by Edgar Allan Poe (1842) and narrated by Gabriel Byrne —

 

The “Red Death” had long devastated the country. No pestilence had been ever so fatal, or so hideous. Blood was its Avator and its seal — the redness and the horror of blood. There were sharp pains, and sudden dizziness, and then profuse bleedings at the pores, with dissolution. The scarlet stains upon the body and especially upon the face of the victim, were the pest-ban which shut him out from the aid and from the sympathy of his fellow-men. And the whole seizure, progress and termination of the disease were the incidents of half an hour.

But the Prince Prospero was happy and dauntless, and sagacious. When his dominions were half depopulated, he summoned to his presence a thousand hale and light-hearted friends from among the knights and dames of his court, and with these retired to the deep seclusion of one of his castellated abbeys. This was an extensive and magnificent structure, the creation of the prince’s own eccentric yet august taste. A strong and lofty wall girdled it in. This wall had gates of iron. The courtiers, having entered, brought furnaces and massy hammers and welded the bolts. They resolved to leave means neither of ingress or egress to the sudden impulses of despair from without or of frenzy from within. The abbey was amply provisioned. With such precautions the courtiers might bid defiance to contagion. The external world could take care of itself. In the meantime it was folly to grieve, or to think. The prince had provided all the appliances of pleasure. There were buffoons, there were improvisatori, there were ballêt-dancers, there were musicians, there were cards, there was Beauty, there was wine. All these and security were within. Without was the “Red Death.”

It was towards the close of the fifth or sixth month of his seclusion, and while the pestilence raged most furiously abroad, that the Prince Prospero entertained his thousand friends at a masked ball of the most unusual magnificence. It was a voluptuous scene that masquerade.

But first let me tell of the rooms in which it was held. There were seven — an imperial suite. In many palaces, however, such suites form a long and straight vista, while the folding doors slide back nearly to the walls on either hand, so that the view of the whole extent is scarcely impeded. Here the case was very different; as might have been expected from the duke’s love of the bizarre. The apartments were so irregularly disposed that the vision embraced but little more than one at a time. There was a sharp turn at every twenty or thirty yards, and at each turn a novel effect. To the right and left, in the middle of each wall, a tall and narrow Gothic window looked out upon a closed corridor which pursued the windings of the suite. These windows were of stained glass whose color varied in accordance with the prevailing hue of the decorations of the chamber into which it opened. That at the eastern extremity was hung, for example, in blue — and vividly blue were its windows. The second chamber was purple in its ornaments and tapestries, and here the panes were purple. The third was green throughout, and so were the casements. The fourth was furnished and litten with orange — the fifth with white — the sixth with violet. The seventh apartment was closely shrouded in black velvet tapestries that hung all over the ceiling and down the walls, falling in heavy folds upon a carpet of the same material and hue. But, in this chamber only, the color of the windows failed to correspond with the decorations. The panes here were scarlet — a deep blood color. Now in no one of the seven apartments was there any lamp or candelabrum, amid the profusion of golden ornaments that lay scattered to and fro or depended from the roof. There was no light of any kind emanating from lamp or candle within the suite of chambers. But in the corridors that followed the suite, there stood, opposite to each window, a heavy tripod, bearing a brazier of fire that projected its rays through the tinted glass and so glaringly illumined the room. And thus were produced a multitude of gaudy and fantastic appearances. But in the western or black chamber the effect of the fire-light that streamed upon the dark hangings through the blood-tinted panes, was ghastly in the extreme, and produced so wild a look upon the countenances of those who entered, that there were few of the company bold enough to set foot within its precincts at all.

It was in this apartment, also, that there stood against the western wall, a gigantic clock of ebony. Its pendulum swung to and fro with a dull, heavy, monotonous clang; and when its minute-hand made the circuit of the face, and the hour was to be stricken, there came forth from the brazen lungs of the clock a sound which was clear and loud and deep and exceedingly musical, but of so peculiar a note and emphasis that, at each lapse of an hour, the musicians in the orchestra were constrained to pause, momently, in their performance, to harken to the sound; and thus the waltzers perforce ceased their evolutions; and there was a brief disconcert of the whole gay company; and, while the chimes of the clock yet rang, it was observed that the giddiest grew pale, and that the more aged and sedate passed their hands over their brows as if in confused reverie or meditation. But when the echoes had fully ceased, a light laughter at once pervaded the assembly; the musicians looked at each other and smiled as if at their own nervousness and folly, and made whispering vows, each to the other, that the next chiming of the clock should produce in them no similar emotion; and then, after the lapse of sixty minutes, (which embrace three thousand and six hundred seconds of the Time that flies,) there came yet another chiming of the clock, and then were the same disconcert and tremulousness and meditation as before.

But, in spite of these things, it was a gay and magnificent revel. The tastes of the duke were peculiar. He had a fine eye for colors and effects. He disregarded the decora of mere fashion. His plans were bold and fiery, and his conceptions glowed with barbaric lustre. There are some who would have thought him mad. His followers felt that he was not. It was necessary to hear and see and touch him to be sure that he was not.

He had directed, in great part, the moveable embellishments of the seven chambers, upon occasion of this great fête, and it was his own guiding taste which had given character to the costumes of the masqueraders. Be sure they were grotesque. There were much glare and glitter and piquancy and phantasm — much of what has been since seen in “Hernani.” There were arabesque figures with unsuited limbs and appointments. There were delirious fancies such as the madman fashions. There was much of the beautiful, much of the wanton, much of the bizarre, something of the terrible, and not a little of that which might have excited disgust. To and fro in the seven chambers there stalked, in fact, a multitude of dreams. And these, the dreams — writhed in and about, taking hue from the rooms, and causing the wild music of the orchestra to seem as the echo of their steps. And, anon, there strikes the ebony clock which stands in the hall of the velvet. And then, momently, all is still, and all is silent save the voice of the clock. The dreams are stiff-frozen as they stand. But the echoes of the chime die away — they have endured but an instant — and a light, half-subdued laughter floats after them as they depart. And now again the music swells, and the dreams live, and writhe to and fro more merrily than ever, taking hue from the many-tinted windows through which stream the rays from the tripods. But to the chamber which lies most westwardly of the seven there are now none of the maskers who venture; for the night is waning away; and there flows a ruddier light through the blood-colored panes; and the blackness of the sable drapery appals; and to him whose foot falls upon the sable carpet, there comes from the near clock of ebony a muffled peal more solemnly emphatic than any which reaches their ears who indulge in the more remote gaieties of the other apartments.

But these other apartments were densely crowded, and in them beat feverishly the heart of life. And the revel went whirlingly on, until at length was sounded the twelfth hour upon the clock. And then the music ceased, as I have told; and the evolutions of the waltzers were quieted; and there was an uneasy cessation of all things as before. But now there were twelve strokes to be sounded by the bell of the clock; and thus it happened, perhaps, that more of thought crept, with more of time, into the meditations of the thoughtful among those who revelled. And thus, again, it happened, perhaps, that before the last echoes of the last chime had utterly sunk into silence, there were many individuals in the crowd who had found leisure to become aware of the presence of a masked figure which had arrested the attention of no single individual before. And the rumor of this new presence having spread itself whisperingly around, there arose at length from the whole company a buzz, or murmur, expressive at first of disapprobation and surprise — then, finally, of terror, of horror, and of disgust.

In an assembly of phantasms such as I have painted, it may well be supposed that no ordinary appearance could have excited such sensation. In truth the masquerade license of the night was nearly unlimited; but the figure in question had out-Heroded Herod, and gone beyond the bounds of even the prince’s indefinite decorum. There are chords in the hearts of the most reckless which cannot be touched without emotion. Even with the utterly lost, to whom life and death are equally jests, there are matters of which no jest can be properly made. The whole company, indeed, seemed now deeply to feel that in the costume and bearing of the stranger neither wit nor propriety existed. The figure was tall and gaunt, and shrouded from head to foot in the habiliments of the grave. The mask which concealed the visage was made so nearly to resemble the countenance of a stiffened corpse that the closest scrutiny must have had difficulty in detecting the cheat. And yet all this might have been endured, if not approved, by the mad revellers around. But the mummer had gone so far as to assume the type of the Red Death. His vesture was dabbled in blood — and his broad brow, with all the features of the face, was besprinkled with the scarlet horror.

When the eyes of the Prince Prospero fell upon this spectral image (which with a slow and solemn movement, as if more fully to sustain its rôle, stalked to and fro among the waltzers) he was seen to be convulsed, in the first moment, with a strong shudder either of terror or distaste; but, in the next, his brow reddened with rage.

“Who dares?” he demanded hoarsely of the group that stood around him, “who dares thus to make mockery of our woes? Uncase the varlet that we may know whom we have to hang to-morrow at sunrise from the battlements. Will no one stir at my bidding? — stop him and strip him, I say, of those reddened vestures of sacrilege!”

It was in the eastern or blue chamber in which stood the Prince Prospero as he uttered these words. They rang throughout the seven rooms loudly and clearly — for the prince was a bold and robust man, and the music had become hushed at the waving of his hand.

It was in the blue room where stood the prince, with a group of pale courtiers by his side. At first, as he spoke, there was a slight rushing movement of this group in the direction of the intruder, who at the moment was also near at hand, and now, with deliberate and stately step, made closer approach to the speaker. But from a certain nameless awe with which the mad assumptions of the mummer had inspired the whole party, there were found none who put forth hand to seize him; so that, unimpeded, he passed within a yard of the prince’s person; and, while the vast assembly, as if with one impulse, shrank from the centres of the rooms to the walls, he made his way uninterruptedly, but with the same solemn and measured step which had distinguished him from the first, through the blue chamber to the purple — through the purple to the green — through the green to the orange, — through this again to the white — and even thence to the violet, ere a decided movement had been made to arrest him. It was then, however, that the Prince Prospero, maddening with rage and the shame of his own momentary cowardice, rushed hurriedly through the six chambers — while none followed him on account of a deadly terror that had seized upon all. He bore aloft a drawn dagger, and had approached, in rapid impetuosity, to within three or four feet of the retreating figure, when the latter, having attained the extremity of the velvet apartment, turned suddenly round and confronted his pursuer. There was a sharp cry — and the dagger dropped gleaming upon the sable carpet, upon which instantly afterwards, fell prostrate in death the Prince Prospero. Then, summoning the wild courage of despair, a throng of the revellers at once threw themselves into the black apartment, and, seizing the mummer, whose tall figure stood erect and motionless within the shadow of the ebony clock, gasped in unutterable horror at finding the grave-cerements and corpse-like mask which they handled with so violent a rudeness, untenanted by any tangible form.

And now was acknowledged the presence of the Red Death. He had come like a thief in the night. And one by one dropped the revellers in the blood-bedewed halls of their revel, and died each in the despairing posture of his fall. And the life of the ebony clock went out with that of the last of the gay. And the flames of the tripods expired. And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all.

Shh! Plot weaving

One of my favourite episodes of one of my favourite shows.

Watch:

Shh!

Before watching

1. What is "suspense" in a story? Which TV shows etc have fantastic suspense?

2. How does suspense happen?

3. What's the connection between humour and suspense?

4. What about other things that make a story entertaining - what shows, novels, film etc have....

Surprises and twists?

Neat story ideas?

Funny digressions from the main story?

Examples:

5. How do you think writers go about creating great stories?

6. Out of twists, ideas, digressions and suspense, which is the most important?

7. Discuss the story map below - how could this help a writer develop a story?

Task

Watch the episode of Adventure Time, Shhh!, referring to this story pyramid.








Discuss the exposition

1. What is the idea?

2. What is the inciting incident? Who are the main characters, what are their flaws?














Pause and discuss


3. What is the complicating factor (the conflict) - how will it help drive the story?

4. What is the secondary plot line? What does it bring into the story?












Pause and discuss


5. There is a sequence that deviates from the main story, what does it add?

6. Predict how the secondary plot line and main plot line will converge in the climax.

Pause and discuss

6. What actually happens during the climax of the story - how do the show's makers get the most from this moment?

7. What happens in at the reversal stage?

8. What is the resolution?

1. But, So


Compare these two sequences

Cinderella was a kind, beautiful and happy girl. Her mum died and her father was lonely. He remarried. Cinderella got a cruel stepmother and two ugly sisters. They were mean to her and she tried to be nice and they were still mean. Her dad died and they were even meaner and made her do all the cleaning. Cinderella's life was hell. One day a letter came from the palace and they were all invited to the ball and they all dressed up and Cinderella was sad because she had no dress and couldn't go. They all went without her and she sat down and wept....













Cinderella was a kind, beautiful and happy girl. But then her mum died and her father was lonely. So he remarried. But Cinderella's stepmother was cruel and her stepsisters were also cruel and mean to poor Cinderella. But Cinderella still tried to be nice, but this just made them even meaner. So when Cinderella's dad died, the stepmother and stepsisters became even crueler and made poor Cinderella do all the housework. So Cinderella's life was hell. But one day a letter came from the palace inviting them all to a ball. So they all excitedly dressed up. Cinderella wanted to go to the ball too, but could not because she had nothing to wear and so she couldn't go. So off the others went. But Cinderella was left behind. So she sat down and wept.

If you want to give the events in a story power you need to constantly show these connections not simply through sequence, but through differentiation. 

Stories are basically kept alive by contrast (buts) and consequence (sos).


With "so"s and "but"s, character intentions and actions in a story are continuously interrupted or transformed in a way that builds... suspense. The audience invests their interest or hopes in lines of action or character intentions that are almost guaranteed to be messed with, and consequently they become increasingly involved in the story.


















2. Meanwhile

The word not to forget when planning a story is "meanwhile". This is called "plot weaving". Instead of thinking of a story as one single line of causation, think about it as a bunch of streams flowing down from the mountains. They start in different places but slowly they all meet up and converge into one river.  When this happens you might say there's a climax.

Many writers know exactly what this main climax is before they start writing. They know what the big moment, or the big twist, in the story is gong to be. The art of telling a story is to make the process of reaching and coming down from that climax worthwhile for the audience.

Many writers spend longer planning a story than executing it.

Work out one scenario to a point where people are going to want to know what's going to happen next. Then stop right there. Start another another scenario, the less obviously related the better. In the Cinderella example above, we could perhaps have stopped before the letter of invitation arrived and gone over, meanwhile, to the palace to learn more about why they have decided to organise the ball. When Cinderella finally meets the Prince and dances with him, it's like two streams meeting and forming a river.

'Meanwhile-ing' is one of the most fun parts of storytelling and you don't need to be a good writer - you just need good ideas and an ability to plan. The audiences likes it when you drop a plot line, because they're looking forward to its return later.



3. Grammar

When telling stories we often rely on the continuous aspect to draw out a scene in detail.

The Hobbits were running up the rocky slope, as fast as they could, but the Orcs were closing in on them. The footsteps of the orcs were growing louder and louder. Suddenly they saw a cave. They hesitated for an instant, wondering whether to enter. But there was no other escape. A moment later they were all scampering in the dark over the rocks.

Notice how this tense puts us in the moment, rather than giving us a summary of the events. 


We use the perfect aspect to move away from the strictly causative or chronological chain of events.

As she left the station, she realised that she had left her handbag on the train.

Writing practice - Verbs of Movement

Do as shouting dictations

Jump into the pool, feel the cool water over your body. Push yourself forward by swimming, through the water. Swim well, making ripples behind you. Kick your legs evenly, taking yourself to the other end. Come up for a quick breath, then go under again, practicing your breathing and movement. Swim with confidence, each stroke playing with the water. Cover the distance, enjoy the water.

D___ into the _________ pool, feel the _____ water en_____g your body. P___ yourself forward with p_______ strokes, s____ing through the l____ embrace. G_____ effortlessly, c_____ing ripples in your w___. K___ your legs r________ly, p_____ing yourself towards the other end. S_____ for a qu____ breath, then su______ again, m_____ing the art of breath and movement. N______ the a_____ic expanse with g____e, each str____ a d____ with the water. C_____ the distance, em____ the fl____y, and r___ in the j__ of swimming.

Dive into the refreshing pool, feel the cool water enveloping your body. Propel yourself forward with powerful strokes, slicing through the liquid embrace. Glide effortlessly, creating ripples in your wake. Kick your legs rhythmically, propelling yourself towards the other end. Surface for a quick breath, then submerge again, mastering the art of breath and movement. Navigate the aquatic expanse with grace, each stroke a dance with the water. Conquer the distance, embrace the fluidity, and revel in the joy of swimming.

Cats, with their skinny bodies, can move any way they want. They go easily through their surroundings, their tails moving nicely. When they want to, they jump fast, their muscles working well before they fly through the air. Climbing is easy as they go up vertical surfaces, claws holding on and letting go easily. Cats sneak around, searching with style and defying gravity. Playfully they jump around to show feline happiness.. When they sleep, they curl up, peacefully, but wake up suddenly and run off fast. Their graceful movements make people amazed.

Cats, with their sl___ bodies and ag____ frames, exh____ a mes_____ing ar___ of movements. They g_____ully saun___ through their surroundings, their tails s_____ing like pendu____s in perfect r____m. When intr_____, they p____ce with l____ning sp___, their muscles coi___ like spr____ before pr____ling them into the air. C_____ing becomes a ba____et as they asc___ vertical sur____s, claws gr____ing and re____sing with effortless pr____ion. Cats sl__k steal___ly, na_____ing spaces with a st____thy el____ce that def___ gravity. Playful l___s and b____s pun____ate their j___ful moments, c____ting a ki____ic display of feline exu_____ce. In __pose, they curl into com____t forms, em____ing tra______lity, only to ___ken suddenly and ___h off with sudden bu___s of energy. In every nu____ed movement, cats en___t observers with a d___ce of a___ty and g____e.

Cats, with their sleek bodies and agile frames, exhibit a mesmerizing array of movements. They gracefully saunter through their surroundings, their tails swaying like pendulums in perfect rhythm. When intrigued, they pounce with lightning speed, their muscles coiling like springs before propelling them into the air. Climbing becomes a ballet as they ascend vertical surfaces, claws gripping and releasing with effortless precision. Cats slink stealthily, navigating spaces with a stealthy elegance that defies gravity. Playful leaps and bounds punctuate their joyful moments, creating a kinetic display of feline exuberance. In repose, they curl into compact forms, embodying tranquility, only to awaken suddenly and dash off with sudden bursts of energy. In every nuanced movement, cats enchant observers with a dance of agility and grace.

Going down the road, tires on asphalt, the driver drives fast through the city. Taking turns with care, the vehicle drives through traffic, changing between lanes. The engine runs, moving the car forward as the driver drives the open road. Approaching intersections, the brake pedal is pushed, bringing the car to a stop. With a quick look, the driver checks the surroundings before driving off again, moving confidently off again. Each turn, every change of speed, tells a story as the driver drives through the landscape.

Z____ing down the asphalt rib___, tires g____ing the pavement with f___vor, the driver a_____ates through the ur___n l____inth. N______ing turns with p_____sion, the vehicle we___es through traffic, se_____sly me___ing and d___ing between lanes. The engine h___s, si_____ing a su___e forward as the driver ___quers the o___n road. App_____ing intersections, the brake p___al en____es, bringing the met____ic steed to a controlled h___t. With a sw___t g___ce, the driver as____es the surroundings before re_____ing the j____ey, st____ing con_____tly into the ho____n. Each tw___ and turn, every acc_____ion and dec____tion, tells a st__y of m____ment and ma___ery as the driver p___els through the ever-_____ing landscape.

Zooming down the asphalt ribbon, tires gripping the pavement with fervor, the driver accelerates through the urban labyrinth. Navigating turns with precision, the vehicle weaves through traffic, seamlessly merging and darting between lanes. The engine hums, signaling a surge forward as the driver conquers the open road. Approaching intersections, the brake pedal engages, bringing the metallic steed to a controlled halt. With a swift glance, the driver assesses the surroundings before resuming the journey, steering confidently into the horizon. Each twist and turn, every acceleration and deceleration, tells a story of movement and mastery as the driver propels through the ever-changing landscape.

The city was busy as people went through its busy streets, between tall buildings. Cyclists rode through traffic, pedestrians walked along the busy sidewalks, and buses drove fast around corners. A lot of colors and sounds filled the landscape, creating a lot of motion. In the middle of the city, crowds crossed crosswalks, went through subway stations, and went around busy markets. The city had an energy that moved people forward, a rhythm of movement that made the streets seem alive.

The v_____t city pul_____d with l____ as people str____ed through its b_____ling streets, w____ing between to____ing sky_____rs. Cycl___ da___ed through traffic, ped_____ns me_____ed along the cr____ed sid____lks, and buses c_____ened around corners. A c____de of colors and sounds env_____ed the u____n landscape, c_____ing a d____mic da___e of m____on. At the h____t of it all, a r____r of hu_____ty flo___d across crosswalks, su___ed through subway stations, and sw___ed around vi____t markets. The city b____thed with an energy that pr_____led its in______ts forward, a ceas____s rh____m of movement that p____ted the streets with the vi____ous st___es of daily life.

The vibrant city pulsated with life as people streamed through its bustling streets, weaving between towering skyscrapers. Cyclists darted through traffic, pedestrians meandered along the crowded sidewalks, and buses careened around corners. A cascade of colors and sounds enveloped the urban landscape, creating a dynamic dance of motion. At the heart of it all, a river of humanity flowed across crosswalks, surged through subway stations, and swirled around vibrant markets. The city breathed with an energy that propelled its inhabitants forward, a ceaseless rhythm of movement that painted the streets with the vivacious strokes of daily life.

Why Bad Words Are Bad

If bad words are taboo, why do they make up such a significant part of our daily conversations? And where do they come from, anyway? Vsauce explains what makes bad words so ... bad.

Maybe do this first?

20 question Kahoot

Watch:

Bad Words


General questions:

1. What are the 5 types of swearing?

2. What is the social benefit of "bad" language?


After:

Follow up Kahoot