Lesson 1
Narrative Hooks
“You may go to jail,
or you may go to
Camp Green Lake.”
Lesson 1
In this lesson we will:
1. Identify ways in which writers and movie makers
can “hook” an audience
2. Analyse techniques used by Sachar to “hook” his
readers in the opening chapter of “Holes”
3. Evaluate the effectiveness of different types of
opening hooks
4. Develop narrative devices to “hook” in our own
readers
A Good Hook
• How do writers get a reader to read their novel? How many
techniques can you think of that would hook a reader?
• What methods do you think would be the best to hook the
reader and WHY?
A Good Hook
• How do writer’s get a reader to read their novel?
How many techniques can you think of that
would hook a reader?
Dramatic vocabulary
Action
Unusual description
Dialogue
Powerful adjectives
Humour
Short sentences
Questions
A RIDDLE...
• What do an author and an angler have in
common?
ANSWER!
• A HOOK!
KEY WORD: A Narrative Hook is a device used
by a writer to pique the interest of a reader.
• They are often used at the start of the novel
to draw the reader into the story.
TASK: Read the “Holes- openings” document.
Match the type of opening in the right column
to the extract in the left column.
Trailer time!
• They are also used in movies to grab the attention of an
audience. Identify and tick in the boxes provided how the
director has hooked in the audience in these movies:
• Casino
Royale:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNvzNWuzI9Y
• Once Upon a Time in the
West:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pA3rlIHLFco
• Wall-E:
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vx-4Hz_W-TY
Movie Hooks
Movie
Devices used to hook
Casino Royale
Once Upon A Time In The West
Wall-E
Class Discussion
Which opening was the most effective? WHY?
Devices
Movie
Devices used to hook
Casino Royale
Mystery, atmosphere, action, dramatic
dialogue, interesting/shady characters
Once Upon A Time In The West
Camera shots. Tension, dialogue, mystery,
atmosphere
Wall-E
Camera shots, music, mystery, action, genre,
questions
Chapter 1
There is no lake at Camp Green Lake. There once was a very large lake
here, the largest lake in Texas. That was over a hundred years ago.
Now it is just a dry, flat wasteland.
There used to be a town of Green Lake as well. The town
shriveled and dried up along with the lake, and the people who lived
there.
During the summer the daytime temperature hovers around
ninety-five degrees in the shade- if you can find any shade. There’s not
much shade in a big dry lake.
The only trees are two old oaks on the eastern edge of the
“lake.” A hammock is stretched between the two trees, and a log cabin
stands behind that.
The campers are forbidden to lie in the hammock. It belongs to the
Warden. The Warden owns the shade.
Chapter 1 (cont)
Out on the lake, rattlesnakes and scorpions find shade under rocks and in
the holes dug by campers.
Here’s a good rule to remember about rattlesnakes and scorpions: if you
don’t bother them, they won’t bother you.
Usually.
Being bitten by a scorpion or even a rattlesnake is not the worst thing that
can happen to you. You won’t die.
Usually.
Sometimes a camper will try to be bitten by a scorpion, or even a
rattlesnake. Then he will get to spend a day or two recovering in his tent, instead of
having to dig a hole out on the lake.
But you don’t want to be bitten by a yellow-spotted lizard. That’s the worst
thing that can happen to you. You will die a painful death.
Always.
If you get bitten by a yellow-spotted lizard, you might as well go into the
shade of the oak trees and lie in the hammock.
There is nothing anyone can do to you anymore.
Chapter 2
The reader is probably asking: Why would anyone
go to Camp Green Lake?
Most campers weren’t given a choice. Camp Green
Lake is a camp for bad boys.
If you take a bad boy and make him dig a hole
every day in the hot sun, it will turn him into a good boy.
That was what some people thought.
Stanley Yelnats was given a choice. The judge said,
“You may go to jail, or you may go to Camp Green Lake.”
Stanley was from a poor family. He had never been
to camp before.
Read chapters 1 and 2 of “Holes”. Identify FOUR different techniques used by Sachar
to hook his readers. Find an example of each technique and explain its effect.
Device
Example
Intended Effect
(HOW DOES IT HOOK IN THE
READER?)
Dramatic Vocabulary
(Words)
“You will die a slow and
painful death.”
Creates mood and
atmosphere
Descriptive Writing
TASK: Group or whole class activity
Using the writing frame in the next slide, write a paragraph about a desert
using the same techniques as Sachar.
Techniques:
• Dramatic Vocabulary
• Powerful Adjectives
• Short sentences
• Tension
• Repetition
• PLACE:
• A desert
Writing Frame
• There are no_______________ in the desert. There
used to be___________. That was _______________.
During the Summer________________. The only trees
are__________________. Out in the
desert____________. Here’s a good rule to remember
about______________. If you don’t bother them, they
won’t bother you.______________. Being bitten by a
_________________is not the worst thing that can
happen. _______________. But you don’t want to be
bitten by a ____________. That’s the worst thing that
can happen to you. You will die a ____________ and
__________ death. _____________
Individual Task
Write your own narrative hook to a novel called,
“Forgotten”. Your opening paragraph must include
at least 10 sentences and showcase the narrative
techniques you have learnt this lesson.
This lesson was adapted from a unit of study by Katherine Cooper on tes.co.uk