BCG / C-LS / gr8e1.

2w03-08

Name: _________________________________________
Grade 8
2021-22 2022-23
Roll No.: _____ Div.: ____ Date ____ /____ / _______
ENGLISH
2023-24 2024-25 Topic: Analysing the structure of a descriptive
03
2025-26
Wkst No.

1. a) Read the extract on page 12 and 13 in the textbook and create a list of
settings and characters described.

Character(s) Setting
narrator (Duro Kolak)
The blue house
boy

b) Find one or two descriptive quotations for each character and setting.

i) setting(s)

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

ii) character

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

In the extract, the following structural techniques help the writer to describe
setting and character:
• shifts backwards or forwards in time changes in perspective or focus
[flashback]
• reveals details gradually
• repetition or recurring motifs.
• Paragraph breaks
 PERSPECTIVE

2. Reread the passage on pages 12 and 13 in the textbook to answer ques-

tions a,b and c.

a) When does the flashback begin? Explain your answer with evidence.

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

b) What is the effect of using this structural device?

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

PARAGRAPH BREAK

c) Now, look at the way that a character’s perception is used to control the or-
der in which the description is given. Complete the grid to show the change
of focus with each paragraph break. (time, person, topic, or place).

The opening line of a paragraph Reason for a paragraph break

The time moves backward from
‘Laura came to Gost...’
September 2007 to July (flashback).

'I'd chosen my spot...'

‘An hour later...’

‘The door of the house...’

‘I slipped out of sight...’

‘At home, I considered...’

 BCG / C-LS / gr8e1.2w03-08

Name: _________________________________________
Grade 8
2021-22 2022-23
Roll No.: _____ Div.: ____ Date ____ /____ / _______
ENGLISH
2023-24 2024-25 Topic: Analysing the structure of a descriptive
04
2025-26
Wkst No.

TEXT A

The passage below is from The Earth sea Trilogy by Ursula Le Guin, first published in
the 1960s. The trilogy tells the story of Ged, a young magician who goes on to become
the great Archmage Sparrowhawk and rides the mighty dragon Kalessin back from
the dead. In this passage from the first part of the story, when he is still very young,
Ged is in a small boat being attacked by dragons.

The Dragon of Pendor

Two dragons like the first rose up from the base of the highest tower. Even as the
first one they came driving straight at Ged and even so he caught both, hurled
both down, and drowned them; and he had not yet lifted up his wizard’s staff.
Now after a little time there came three against him from the island. One of those
was much greater and fire spewed curling from its jaws. Two came flying at him
rattling their wings, but the big one came circling from behind, very swift, to
burn him and his boat with its breath of fire. No binding spell would catch all
three, because two came from the north and one from the south. In the instant
that he saw this, Ged worked a spell of Changing and between one breath and
the next flew up from his boat in dragon form.
Spreading broad wings and reaching talons out, he met the two head-on, withering
them with fire, and then turned to the third, who was larger than he and armed
also with fire. On the wind over the grey waves, they doubled, snapped, swooped,
lunged, till smoke roiled about them red-lit by the glare of their fiery mouths.
Ged flew suddenly upward and the other pursued, below him. In midflight
the dragon-Ged raised wings stopped and stooped as the hawk stoops, talons
outstretched downwards, striking and bearing the other down by neck and flank.
The black wings flurried and black dragon-blood dropped in thick drops into the
sea. The Pendor dragon tore free and flew low and lamely to the island, where
it hid, crawling into some well or cavern in the ruined town.
At once Ged took his form and place again on the boat, for it was most perilous
to keep on that dragon-shape longer than need demanded. His hands were black
with the scalding wormblood and he was scorched about the head with fire, but
this was no matter now. He waited only till he had his breath back and then
called, “Six I have seen, five slain, nine are told of: come out worms!”
 No creature moved nor voice spoke for a long while on the island, but only the
waves beat loudly on the shore. Then Ged was aware that the highest tower
slowly changed its shape, bulging out on one side as if it grew an arm. He feared
dragon-magic, for old dragons are very powerful and guileful in sorcery like and
unlike the sorcery of men: but a moment more and he saw this was no trick of
the dragon, but of his own eyes. What he had taken for a part of the tower was
the shoulder of the Dragon Pendor as he uncurled his bulk and lifted himself
slowly up.
From The Earth sea Trilogy, by Ursula Le Guin (1968)

Read TEXT A – Using information from the paragraphs of “The Dragon

of Pendor”, to answer questions 1- 4

1. Describe in your own words how you see:

a) the setting (where Ged is)

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

b) the dragons.

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

2. Ursula Le Guin has created a battle in the air. Find five verbs that help
to create the sense of action and danger.

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________
 BCG / C-LS / gr8e1.2w03-08

Name: _________________________________________
Grade 8
2021-22 2022-23
Roll No.: _____ Div.: ____ Date ____ /____ / _______
ENGLISH
2023-24 2024-25 Topic: Analysing the structure of a descriptive
05
2025-26
Wkst No.

3. Find two different ways that Ursula Le Guin uses sound or the absence
of sound (aural imagery)

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

4. When and why does Ursula Le Guin use the sense of touch (tactile
imagery)?

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

MOTIFS

1. a rusty ‘sunshine-roof ’
2. the delicious air
The above phrases are called noun phrases. A noun phrase does the
work of a noun in a sentence. It may contain a single noun or pronoun,
or it may have a noun along with its modifiers, articles, adjectives, and
so on.
The escaped tiger has been caught. (noun phrase with an article, adjective and noun)
A noun phrase can act as the subject or the object of a sentence.
The nervous little girl tossed and turned in her bed. [subject]
In Kolkata, we find many large libraries. [object]
1. A. Underline the noun phrases in these sentences.

1. The teacher loves teaching her new class.

2. My friend has a large collection of stamps.

3. Kishore has a good sense of humour.

4. The new painting in the hall is the work of a 17th-century painter.

5. Everyone loves Rizwan because he is a very kind, hard-working person.

6. The heavy rains caused terrible traffic jams in the city.

Reread the extract on pages 12 and 13 in the textbook to answer questions B, C, and D.

B. List some of the things (nouns) from the description that help the reader
visualize the scene.

Landscape features : ____________ Weather : ____________________

______________________________ ______________________________

______________________________ ______________________________

______________________________ ______________________________

______________________________ ______________________________

People : _____________________ Animals : _____________________

______________________________ ______________________________

______________________________ ______________________________

______________________________ ______________________________

______________________________ ______________________________

By using noun phrases, writers can provide more information about each aspect.
This helps the reader to build up a clearer and more detailed picture.
 BCG / C-LS / gr8e1.2w03-08

Name: _________________________________________
Grade 8
2021-22 2022-23
Roll No.: _____ Div.: ____ Date ____ /____ / _______
ENGLISH
2023-24 2024-25 Topic: Analysing the structure of a descriptive
06
2025-26
Wkst No.

C. For each noun, write out the whole noun phrase used in the extract and
explain what kind of extra information has been provided, such as age.

1 Boy A boy of sixteen seventeen - age [line -57]

2 Ladder [line 54]

3 Road [line 9-10]

4 Shoes [line 59]

5 Sun [line 11]

6 window [line 43]

Reveal Gradually

D. Writers use reference chains [different ways to refer to a particular person,

place or thing throughout the text] to vary the way they describe things and
to control the pace of their description.

i) How is the car described throughout the extract?

* car (line9) ………………………. car (line 19) ……………………….

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

• Laura

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________
COMPREHENSION

TEXT B: The fair at La Linea

My memories of the fairs attended as a child are like a curate’s egg - good in
parts. Those were the days when new clothes made an appearance only on special
occasions so I think I must have been excited by the prospect of a new dress, and
do remember a pair of white shoes that, try as might, I never managed to keep
clean among the press of people that thronged the dusty fairground. How often
did we cross the frontier to La Linea during those nine days in July? On one of
the days I knew I would be decked out in the so-called gypsy dress-blood-red spots
on a white background, the hem thick with ruffles that flared out as Iwalked.
My face would be made up, my hair pulled back uncomfortably into a bun at
the back of my neck and I was conscious that this was finery. I think I strutted
a little as I walked and hoped people would notice how splendid I looked.
Way back in the late forties, those fairs were tawdry affairs in a devastated Spain
that struggled to emerge economically from the Civil War. In the circus everything
looked moth-eaten, from the sad lions to the sequined costumes that didn’t quite
glitter. I feared for the trapeze artists, I couldn’t find the clowns funny, try as I
might, and the only thing liked, possibly because my father liked them so much,
were the little trained dogs that seemed happy as they performed small tricks
to our applause.s And we had waited so long for the show to start! None of the
shows started on time. They couldn’t afford to. Not till virtually all the seats had
been sold did the performances finally begin. And all the time you were waiting,
loud music blared out and battered your ears as if it was trying to convince
you of an illusory joie de vivre. If nothing else, it anesthetized your senses.
We seemed to call all the rides available ‘los charros- the whatsits. There were the
tiny wooden ‘ cunitas’, the cradles for toddlers that swung to and fro sedately.
There was the Ta-ta-chin’, a miniature Ferris wheel with half a dozen child
containers. The most exciting thing about it was the name, which originated in
the clashing cymbal and double drumbeat that was used, literally, to drum up
trade. ‘Chin!’ went the cymbal Ta-ta! went the drum. There was also the large
merry-go-round and it’s wonderful painted horses with their flaring nostrils and
open red mouths, Oh, the disappointment when you were deemed too young to
ride them and to hold on to the gleaming metal bar that anchored them to the
carousel ceiling above you and allowed them to rise and fall as you were carried
endlessly round, with the sights of the fair laid out before your eyes.
And the humble stalls that lined the streets sold small pieces of Spanish nougat,
for who could afford a whole slab in those days? Others sold slivers of coconut
as they still do today. and there was candyfloss that was fascinating to watch as
the stallholder spun the sugary thread into a fluffy mass of bright pink. Pink,
 BCG / C-LS / gr8e1.2w03-08

Name: _________________________________________
Grade 8
2021-22 2022-23
Roll No.: _____ Div.: ____ Date ____ /____ / _______
ENGLISH
2023-24 2024-25 Topic: Analysing the structure of a descriptive
07
2025-26
Wkst No.

too, were the tiny sugary figures of animals on toothpicks, ‘pirulines’, that was
impaled on a fleshy, prickly-pear leaf carried by itinerant sellers Those leaves
were also used to carry around a type of jasmine that drew moisture from the leaf
and remained reasonably fresh for some young man to buy for his girlfriend.
My favourite stall was the one where they fried crisps on the spot and served
them in ‘cucuruchos-brown paper cones- that they would twirl into shape
with expert fingers and which, thanks to their shape, only contained a limited
number of those curling, crackling potato delights Yes, you’ve guessed it I never
felt I’d had enough of them. When I think of all the thin slices of potato kept
below the stall in a bucket of water, and the number of times the oil was used
and reused throughout the nine days, I can imagine that eating the crisps grew
more hazardous with every passing day. And what of the ghastly lemonade?
No flavour, just killer bubbles that attacked your throat and brought tears to
your eyes?
The street lighting was feeble, but had no complaints about it, and loved the
smell of grilled octopus and, as you finally left the fairground at two in the
morning after coffee and ‘churros-cholesterol-laden fried batter- you might
hear, from some bar, a voice that rose in the warm night air singing of love and
betrayal. And, because that gypsy dress had become very, very heavy and you
were only seven years old, you would end up being cared in your father’s arms,
your head drooping over his shoulder as you clutched a paper trumpet that you
had bought from the easel-like stall covered in paper hats, little walking sticks
and paper trumpets.
Innocent times. Perhaps I actually did like the fair after all.
Mary Chiappe

Reread text B: The fair at La Linea to answer questions 1–9.

1. Explain in your own words the meaning of the following words and
phrases as used in the passage:

a) strutted : ______________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________
 b) tawdry : ______________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

c) joie de vivre : ______________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

d) anesthetized your senses : ______________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

e) sedately : ______________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

f) slivers : ______________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

g) itinerant : ______________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

2. Explain carefully, using your own words, what the writer says in the
first paragraph about the clothes that she had to wear.
_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

3. Why didn’t any of the shows start on time?

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________
 BCG / C-LS / gr8e1.2w03-08

Name: _________________________________________
Grade 8
2021-22 2022-23
Roll No.: _____ Div.: ____ Date ____ /____ / _______
ENGLISH
2023-24 2024-25 Topic: Analysing the structure of a descriptive
08
2025-26
Wkst No.

4. Explain, using your own words, what is meant by ‘double drumbeat’

that was used, literally, to’ drum up trade’.
_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

5. Why did eating the potato crisps become more hazardous with every
passing day?
_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

6. What have you learned about the food and drink that was on sale at
the fair?

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________
7. The writer says that her memories of the fair were good in parts. Explain
fully what she liked and disliked about it.

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

8. Select words and phrases from the passage which the writer uses to appeal
to the reader’s senses. Explain the effects of the words and phrases you
have chosen.
_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

9. At the end of the passage the writer refers to her memories as innocent
times, How is this sense of innocence conveyed by her writing?

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

**********