The Young Soldier - an excerpt from 'The Bakehouse' by Joy Cowley
He was a young man with untidyuntidy dark hair and a soft beard sproutinging on his cheeks and chin, like the fur on a peach. He wouldHe'd be handsomehandsome except he was dirty and had a cold. In the torchlight,torchlight, his nose was red and his breath rattledrattled through phlegm, a noise that remindedreminded Bert of whoopinging cough. It was hard to tell what his eyes were like, because he was squintingsquinting and duckingducking his head awayaway from the light. He wore a regularregular uniform,uniform, the jacketjacket to his chin, mittensmittens that did notdidn't match. Bert swept the torch overover him and saw armyarmy boots cakedcaked with drydried mud.
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Comprehension Clarify these words: sprouting, rattled, phlegm, reminded, whooping cough, squinting, ducking, regular, uniform, mittens, swept, caked. Retell what has happened in this character description. Make inferences or give opinions about:
What question could you ask about this description? Visualise these uses of descriptive language: untidy dark hair; soft hair sprouting on his cheeks and chin, like the fur on a peach; in the torchlight, his nose was red and his breath rattled through; squinting and ducking his head; jacket buttoned to his chin; mittens that didn't match; army boots caked with mud.. Make a connection with this description. |
Word Study Verb endings: What happens when we add s, ed or ing to: rattle, wear, match, sweep, cake, dry. Other affixes: What happens when we add other prefixes and suffixes like un, re to these words: tidy, mind. Find some other prepositions like on. What two words make up these compound words: torchlight. What two words make up these contractions here: He'd, didn't. |