In the past few days, we have looked at looked at how Grahame introduced his first chapter in his book "The Wind in the Willows". I must reiterate that you too can learn to use such effective techniques. In the next few days. I will introduce you to "Pupperoni The Peewee Pup", written by Hazel Lee Tan, a specialist in English language teaching.
This story takes place in Canada. I will highlight some of the most interesting and effective skills you can learn from Teacher Hazel, who holds a Master of Education degree (University of Sydney).
Today, we will delve into Mr Moley's first adventure when he scraped and scratched and scrabbled and scrooged out of his home in the ground to visit his friends who lived above ground. Specifically, we want to learn how Grahame animated his characters. In a narrative, it is vital to let your characters tell the story through actions. So action words called 'verbs' are very important. In the following section, I am going to extract the useful verbs used in the chapter on The River Bank, when Mr Moley met Mr Rat.
1. The sunshine struck hot on his fur.
2. Soft breezes caressed his heated brow.
3. He pursued his way across the meadow.
4. He was bowled over in an instant.
5. Mole trotted along the side of the hedge.
6. Mole rambled busily along the hedgerows.
7. He meandered aimlessly along.
8. He gazed and something bright and small twinkled like a tiny star.
9. The creature winked at him
10. They stood and regarded each other.
11. The Rat stooped and unfastened a rope and hauled on it.
12. The Rat stepped into a little boat and sculled smartly across the lake.
13. The Mole leaned back and surveyed the cushions and the oars.
14. The boat struck the bank full tilt.
15. The Rat waggled his toes from sheer happiness.
16. The Mole wriggled with curiosity.
17. He cried in ecstasies.
18. He was absorbed in the new life , intoxicated with the sparkle, the ripple, the scents and the sounds and the sunlight.
19. He trailed a paw in the water and dreamed long waking dreams.
20. The friends pottered around in excitement.
21. The Rat chirruped cheerily in an inviting sort of way.
22. The Mole hauled himself out of the water.
23. The Badger trotted forward a pace or two; then grunted, and disappeared from view.
24. The Rat remarked reflectively.
25. A boat flashed into view.
26. The Rat chuckled and sneered at the Mole.
27. Mole recollected that animal-etiquette forbade laughing at the misfortunes of others.
28. The basket was packed and strapped up tightly.
29. The Mole flung his sculls back with a flourish.
30. A firm paw gripped him by the back of his neck.
31. The Rat shoved the sculls under Moles's arms and propelled him to shore.
31. The Rat wrung some wet out of the Rat.
32. The Rat plunged into the water, recovered the boat and righted her.
33. He dived successfully for the luncheon basket and struggled to land with it.
34. The Mole's spirits revived again.
35. Two moorhens were sniggering to each other about the Mole's bedraggled look.
36. The Rat planted Mole in an armchair.
37. The Rat escorted the Mole upstairs.
38. The River was lapping the sill of his window.
39. The ripening summer moved onward.
40. The wind went whispering so constantly among them.
Now, I have listed very useful verbs used in this chapter. Now you can actually compose a story based on the useful verbs that I have extracted from the chapter. I do not expect you to memorise all the sentences. What I want you to do is to look up the meaning of the verbs that you do not understand. Vocabulary building is an essential part of learning how to write well.
There is no short cut to achieving proficiency in English. You have to work at it every day. It is particularly important to persevere if English is not your native language. Work at it, enjoy the learning process and the reward is in attaining proficiency.
Cheers
AskDrRos