All that glisters

1. All that glisters Ann Donovan

3. Short story Characterisation Relationship between father and daughter Disassociation techniques Word Choice and Imagery Symbolism

5. Mingin • Muckle • Bubblyjock • Puddock

6. Dinnae Listen tae Lees • Ye micht hiv been telt bi yer teacher an bi ithers that whit ye speak is juist a local slang or even an ill-moothit kinna English but it’s no. It’s Scots aw richt! There ur mony kinds o Scots that lippins maistly on whaur ye bide an they’re aw dialects o Scots. Nane o thaim is dialects o English. Aboot twa thirds o the words in a guid Scots text is Scots words that the English language shares. Baith thae languages acquired thae words maistly aboot the same time an baith languages haes an equal richt tae yaise thaim an tae cry thaim thair ain. • Fae the Wabsite o the Scots Tang

7. Do Not Listen to Lies • You might have been told by your teacher and by others that what you speak is just a local slang or even a bad form of English, but it’s not. It’s Scots all right! There are many kinds of Scots. This depends mostly on where you stay but they are all dialects of Scots. None of them are dialects of English. About two thirds of the words in a good Scots text are Scots words that the English language shares. Both of these languages acquired these words mostly around the same time, and both languages have an equal right to use them and to call them their own. • From the Website of the Scots Tongue

8. Task • What other Scots words do we know as a class?

9. LO • Consider the title as a theme • Examine the narrative stance • Think about Clare as a character

10. All that glisters • Comes from Merchant of Venice • Means: “Not everything that looks valuable is valuable”. • Can you find three moments in the story that relate to the story?

11. Which perspective gives you a greater understanding of what’s generally going on? • Which perspective gives a greater understanding of the characters point of view?

12. Key Themes and Images • Imprints • Coming to terms with death • Relationships • Subtlety

13. 1st Person Narration • Seen through the eyes of ONE character. • If the narrator does not see or experience an event first-hand, it cannot be a part of the story. All scenes in the story are filtered through this person’s unique perception

14. What do you think the advantages are to this type of writing? The advantages of using the first person type of narrative is:

15. Negative Charming Honest Uncooperative Depressed Straightforward Confident Arrogant Spiteful Respectful of adults Positive Sympathetic Dour Clare - Pick three phrases you think best sum up Clare

16. For each of your words • Think of a moment that shows that in the story. • Then try and find a quote that shows Clare demonstrating this quality.

17. What does the name Clare mean? • It means: Clear or Bright. • Why might this be an appropriate name for Clare? What do we know about her character that means this is a well chosen name?

18. Find and write down two examplesof where we see Clare up close and personal

19. Honest and Straightforward • Quietly Confident but Respectful of Adults • Clare’s Positivity

20. Clare’s relationship with her father • Sum it up in 3 words. • Which 3 key moments show us about their relationship?

21. Clare’s Outlook on life • Highlight anything to with colours and brightness on the page you are given. • Why do we know Clare has a positive/colourful way of looking at the world?

22. “The strands of hair stood oot roon ma heid like a halo, glisterin and dancin in the light” “A sunbeam came through the windae and ah watched the dustspecks dancing in its light” Clare demonstrates she is a positive person through her narration. She uses positive word choice such as… Commenting on the word choice and the personification in these two quote, show how Clare is a positive person, even in the hardest of times. TOPIC SENTENCE STATEMENT

24. Subtlety • Reread the conversation about subtlety on page 3. • This is an intimate moment between the two characters – what ways does Donovan create this intimate moment? • Think about: is Clare’s behaviour usual for a girl her age? Who is teaching who here? • Also think about: Any intimate actions that Clare does

25. Task 2 • What does the dialogue between the narrator and her father tell you about their relationship? • Give quotes to back up what you say. • The dialogue continues after he dies – what effect does this have on the ending?

26. What is Disassociation? • A disruption of someone’s brain – a mental process that severs a connection to a persons’ thoughts feelings and identity – and it allows the mind to distance itself from the experiences.

27. Clare’s disassociation • Write down a quote that shows where Clare’s body literally blocks out the truth of what she has learnt • “The coldness shot through me till ah felt ma bones shiverin and ah heard a voice..” • “The shouts were muffled as if in a fog.” • “Blue veins criss-crossed the back of her haun. Why were veins blue when blood wis red?”

28. The coldness shot through me till ah felt ma bones shiverin and ah heard a voice..” “The shouts were muffled as if in a fog.” “Blue veins criss-crossed the back of her haun. Why were veins blue when blood wis red?” Clare disassociates when confronted with the death of her father. Donavon shows us this through her use of word choice: Clare says “a voice” rather than “my voice” This shows us that Pick one quote and explain how the word choice/ imagery show how Clare disassociates from the pain of her father’s death

29. “The coldness shot through me till ah felt ma bones shiverin and ah heard a voice..”

30. Choose a short story in which a key incident involves rejection or disappointment or loss. Describe briefly the key incident and assess its significance to the text as a whole.

31. Symbols • Symbols are objects in a story used to represent other ideas/things • They can be seen as metaphors for these things.

33. For each image: • Note when they appear in the story • Think about the associations that the words and symbols have. • Think what could they represent/ show something else about the story? • For example: hands represent connections – how? • -when do we see this in the text? Are their moments when hands could be seen to represent a lost connection?

34. Glitter – what associations do you have with glitter? Where does it appear in the text? How does it make characters feel? Is this contrasted with anything? How do you know it’s important? Dust- begins having negative associations. Where? What does this scene FORSHADOW? How does the dust change at the end? How does it become positive? What does this suggest about the development of Clare’s character? What do you associate with hands? Is this a positive or a negative connection? hands represent connections – how? -when do we see this in the text? Are their moments when hands could be seen to represent a lost connection? Are there any moments when hauns seem negative or scary? Why? Stains or Imprints – do you have the same associations for both of these words? What is the difference? What happens in the story when these things are mentioned or described? Which is more permanent – the imprint or the stain? Is this a positive or negative aspect to the story?

35. 1. “…ah saw this dull drab figure, skin aw peely-wally.” The word ‘drab’ has connotations of… …and contrasts with the warm red colour that Clare wants to wear. The word ‘peely-wally’ has connotations of… These words are effective because they show how Clare feels (explain how she feels wearing the dull clothes)… 2. “It was like the difference between a Christmas tree skinklin wi fairy lights and wan lyin deid an daurk in a corner.” The word ‘skinklin’ has connotations of…. This suggests Clare’s personality is… 3. “The tears kept comin and comin till ah felt ah wis squeezed dry and would never be able to shed anither tear.” The metaphor… compares…to…(say what two things are being compared) It is effective because… 4. “The strands of hair stood oot roon ma heid like a halo, glisterin and dancin in the light.” 5. “Ah covered the dull cloth so it wis bleezin wi light, patterns scattered across it, even pit some on ma tights and ma shoes.” 6. “…the glitter jist brought everythin tae life, gleamin and glisterin agin the flat cardboard.” 7. “The imprint of ma finger left sparkly wee trails a light.” 8. “Ah pressed ma fingers aw ower the bedclothes so they gleamed in the light fae the streetlamps outside, then ah fell intae a deep glistery sleep.” 9. “The only bit of me that had any life aboot it wis ma eyes fur the tears had washed them clean and clear.” Practice explaining word choice and imagery by using the writing frames below:

36. Symbolism Structure Key Scene Language/ point of view Theme Character

37. Choose a short story in which a key incident involves rejection or disappointment or loss. Describe briefly the key incident and assess its significance to the text as a whole.

38. 1st person narrative from Clare’s POV gives us insight into her character and her motivations and her positivity. The use of the dust FORSHADOWING the death of Clare’s daddy. You could also talk about the stain on the bedclothes and what it represents. The symbolism of hands. What they could represent and what they could mean. Also talk about how hands can represent different things – the connection between Clare and her daddy; the lost connection between her mother and her father; the fact that her daddy’s hands could represent death How the structure builds to a climax Donovan uses the structure of the plot to make us sympathise with Clare: her narrative has been building up to buying the glitter pens all week, yet when we reach the climax of this (when she buys them); it is not the happy ending she is expecting. Instead she finds out her dad has died. Ending of the story – Clare literally paints herself in glitter (which represents life) – why do you think this is? What is she doing what does this tell us about her character? Choose a short story in which a key incident involves rejection or disappointment or loss. Describe briefly the key incident and assess its significance to the text as a whole.

39. Topic Sentence Statement Quotation Analysis Personal Response • The story is written in first person point of view – this effectively shows things from a characters perspective. This gives us more idea about what they are thinking. Clare is describing things through her eyes. She says “Ah covered the dull cloth so it wis bleezin wi light, patterns scattered across it, even pit some on ma tights and ma shoes.” The word ‘ma’ shows that she speaking from her point of view. Clare is a positive person. I know this because she is always describing things as ‘glittern; • The fact that she uses all these positive words shows she is a positive person. Even though she is positive, Clare is still hit hard by her dads death. She begins to disassociate in this key scene. Disassociation is where you remove your mind from a situation that hurts it. Clare’s disassociation can be seen when she says: “The coldness shot through me till ah felt ma bones shiverin and ah heard a voice..” Donovan’s word choice of shot demonstrates that Clare is feeling hit hard by the news, as if she had been shot and when she says that she heard a voice, she is talking about her own – she cannot recognise it and she shows this by using the word ‘a’. She has removed herself from the situation – this is something that protects her. Donovan’s use of first person perspective is highly effective in letting the reader understand Clare’s thoughts, feelings and emotions.