11 Oct Year 6, Week 5
Year 6 have been writing letters from the perspective of the protagonist, Joseph, in our class text “The Silver Sword” by Ian Serralier. They have been using figurative language to describe the concentration camp in South Poland, where Joseph gets taken by the Nazis in 1941.
Have a look at Jeremiah’s description of what the camp is like. He has described the weather conditions and what the prisoners and guards look like using vivid imagery.
“In the mountains of South Poland lies this place, where blankets of snow cover every surface around me. Day and night, the wind screams and screeches and the blistering cold whips around my face. The prisoners are pale ghosts, who cry sorrowfully. The guards have their own air of cold that makes you want to put a jumper on.”
Ellie has used show me, don’t tell me descriptions to help her reader imagine what the prisoners look like after hours of work, contrasted with her descriptions of the guards, who march around the camp.
“The prisoners seem like sleep-deprived skeletons with charcoal circles painted below their eyes. They desperately try to hold up their heads, as they trudge through the snow. The guards treat us so cruelly, as they march around the camp treating us like slaves. It seems as though their hearts are frozen with black ice.”