Success Homeschool

Year 10 English · Creative writing: setting and atmosphere

Name: ______________________

Date: ____________

1. What is the term for using weather or nature to reflect a character's emotions? (two words)
2. Which sentence uses the sense of smell?
- ☐ (a) The room was painted yellow.
- ☐ (b) The air was thick with the scent of oranges and woodsmoke.
- ☐ (c) A clock ticked on the wall.
- ☐ (d) The carpet felt rough under my feet.
3. Which sentence structure best builds tension?
- ☐ (a) Several long sentences joined with 'and'
- ☐ (b) A series of short, sharp sentences
- ☐ (c) One very long sentence with many commas
- ☐ (d) A list of colours
4. 'Sunlight spilled across the field, warming the long grass as bees drifted lazily from flower to flower.' What atmosphere is created?
- ☐ (a) Peaceful and calm
- ☐ (b) Tense and frightening
- ☐ (c) Angry and violent
- ☐ (d) Cold and lonely
5. Which word has the most threatening connotation to describe trees at night?
- ☐ (a) standing
- ☐ (b) growing
- ☐ (c) looming
- ☐ (d) green
6. What do we call the mood or feeling that a setting creates for the reader? (one word)
7. A character wins a long-awaited prize, and the writer describes bright sunshine and birds singing. What technique is this?
- ☐ (a) Pathetic fallacy
- ☐ (b) Rhetorical question
- ☐ (c) Passive voice
- ☐ (d) Rebuttal
8. Which description best shows rather than tells that a house is abandoned?
- ☐ (a) The house was abandoned.
- ☐ (b) Nobody lived in the house any more.
- ☐ (c) Weeds pushed through the cracked steps, and a faded curtain flapped through a broken window.
- ☐ (d) The house was very, very old and empty.

Answer sheet

1. pathetic fallacy — Pathetic fallacy links the natural world to human feelings.
2. The air was thick with the scent of oranges and woodsmoke. — 'Scent of oranges and woodsmoke' appeals to smell.
3. A series of short, sharp sentences — Short sentences speed up the pace and create a sense of urgency.
4. Peaceful and calm — Warm light, 'drifted lazily' and the long, flowing sentence create a calm mood.
5. looming — 'Looming' suggests something large and menacing rising over you.
6. atmosphere — Atmosphere is the feeling a place creates, such as eerie or peaceful.
7. Pathetic fallacy — The cheerful weather mirrors the character's joy.
8. Weeds pushed through the cracked steps, and a faded curtain flapped through a broken window. — Specific details let the reader work out that the house is abandoned.