Bumface by Morris Gleitzman Critical writing - Teachit

Bumface by Morris Gleitzman Critical writing

Look at the ways that Gleitzman creates suspense and excitement in the
opening paragraphs.

‘Angus Solomon’, sighed Ms Lowry. ‘Is that a penis you’ve drawn in your
exercise book?’

Angus jumped, startled, and remembered where he was.
Ms Lowry was standing next to his desk, staring down at the page. Other
kids were sniggering.
Angus felt his mouth go dry and his heart speed up. For a second he thought
about lying. He decided not to.
‘No, Miss,’ he admitted, ‘it’s a submarine.’ Ms Lowry nodded grimly. ‘I
thought as much,’ she said. ‘Now stop wasting time and draw a penis like I
asked you to.’ She pointed to the one she’d drawn on the blackboard.

IN THE TABLE BELOW, put one POINT with one EXPLANATION and find an
EXAMPLE quotation from the text. The first row has been done for you.

POINT EXPLANATION EXAMPLE

The answer the teacher This is a funny ending to ‘Now stop wasting time and
gives is unexpected and this section of suspense. draw a penis like I asked
shocking. you to.’

The answer that Angus It starts with an Gleitzman uses short
gives is disappointing. unexpected question. sentences when Angus is
thinking about lying.
These create a busy, The reader expects him to
exciting feel to the story. say yes. The suspense is The pause at the end of each
increased when he says no. sentence could be the
thinking that Angus is doing.

There are lots of active The reader is immediately
words in the second gripped and wants to know
sentence. the answer.

© 2006 www.teachit.co.uk 4184.doc Bumface copyright © Morris Gleitzman
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Bumface by Morris Gleitzman Critical writing

Examine the use of suspense in the opening chapter of the book.

You are going to write about three areas of Morris Gleitzman’s style to help you
answer this question:

• Structure
• Tone
• Plot

Useful hint:
You need to PEE on your work! Point, Example, Explain.

e.g.
Gleitzman uses lots of short sentences to help create suspense (POINT)

‘For a second he thought about lying. He decided not to.’ (EXAMPLE)
The pause at the end of each sentence could represent the thinking
that Angus is doing (EXPLAIN)

œ SECTION 1 - STRUCTURE looks at the ways in which the writer puts

together his work.

In these paragraphs, you are going to write about the different types of
sentences that Gleitzman uses: short ones, long ones, ones with lots of
punctuation in them …

What kind of sentence starts the novel? Is it the kind of sentence you
would expect to see in a children’s story?

At the start of the novel, Gleitzman uses an unusual ___________ to
__________________________. (POINT)

“Write a quote that would go well here ” (EXAMPLE)

The question _____________ the reader straight away and they want to
know________________________. (EXPLAIN)

Here are some possible answers – not all of them are correct:

the answer question engage the reader

grabs how old Angus is sentence put the reader off

© 2006 www.teachit.co.uk 4184.doc Bumface copyright © Morris Gleitzman
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Bumface by Morris Gleitzman Critical writing

On page one of the novel, can you find any short sentences? Can you
think of any reasons why Gleitzman has written these short sentences?

The author uses ________________________ in his writing. He does this

when Angus is thinking about _______________________ (POINT)

“Put a suitable quote here ”

The _______________ at the end of each sentence could represent the

________________ that Angus does before he replies to Ms Lowry.

Here are some possible answers – not all of them are correct:

pause short sentences long words
thinking lying to Ms Lowry coughing

œ SECTION 2 – TONE is the way that the author or the characters speak to

the reader. Words may be said in a funny, serious or sad way.

How does Ms Lowry speak to Angus to begin with? What does the reader
learn from this tone of writing?

Ms Lowry sounds ________________ when she first speaks to Angus.
“Sighed Ms Lowry”
The reader thinks that __________________________________ and that
he will get told off.
They are surprised when Angus is later told to _______________________.

Here are some possible answers – not all of them are correct:

Angus loves Ms Lowry disappointed Angus is in trouble
stop playing
draw a penis in his book

œ

There are also lots of funny and unexpected comments. How do you feel
when you read the line ‘Now stop wasting time and draw a penis like I
asked you to.’?

Your POINT needs to say that the tone is also humorous/shocking at times.

Your EXAMPLE needs to be a funny/shocking quote.

Your EXPLANATION needs to say why you think Gleitzman uses humour in
his writing.

Bumface copyright © Morris Gleitzman

© 2006 www.teachit.co.uk 4184.doc page 3 of 4

Bumface by Morris Gleitzman Critical writing

œ SECTION 3 – PLOT is the sequence of events in the story. We are going

to look at the ways Gleitzman reveals the plot.

Throughout chapter 1 Gleitzman gives the reader hints about things to
come. What hints are we given?

Throughout the chapter Gleitzman _______ _______about things that
are going to happen later on. He talks about pirates and _________.
Gleitzman also suggests that sex is important in the story.

“Find a good quote to support the idea of sex in the story”

He builds up the story slowly without ___________ too much to the
reader and dropping hints of things to come.

Here are some possible answers – not all of them are correct:

drops hints revealing Bumface

Can you do your own PEE for the last two lines in the chapter?

“He wished he was brave enough to tell the truth himself.
The truth about his life.”

Your POINT needs to be about the fact that the rest of the story reveals
what the truth of his life is.

Your EXPLANATION should mention that this builds up the suspense to
encourage the reader to find out what happens.

© 2006 www.teachit.co.uk 4184.doc Bumface copyright © Morris Gleitzman
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