Will Wonders Never Cease? Falconry

Learning intention

I am learning to examine the impact of emotive language in an article so that I can discuss the authors’ point of view in an article.

Success criteria

• I can define the meaning of falconry and use it to help me understand this text.
• I can talk about and discuss point of view in an article.
• I can analyse emotive words and phrases in the text
• I can construct a response identifying the authors’ point of view in the article.

As a class, put on the board the key question – “What is falconry?”

Using the leading question, ask students to discuss and make predictions with their thinking partner.

 

Encourage children to use their etymological knowledge and break the word into its two parts. Falcon + ry

For teacher reference the suffix “ry” is the reduced form of “ery” and means “place for, art of, condition of or quantity of”.”

Once there is a shared understanding of Falconry from an etymological perspective, re-engage the children by asking them if they would like to adapt their original prediction?

 

Have students read the first paragraph of the text and confirm if their predictions were correct.

Discuss the key question and ask the class why they think the paragraph title is “Killer instinct”.

Discussions may include; emotive language, birds trained to kill prey and connection to the headline phrase – it’s a bird-eat-bird world.

 

Explain to the class that the author is presenting a point of view and explain the meaning.

Point of view is the position from which the subject matter of a text is designed to be perceived. In defining a point of view the writer of the text controls what we see and how we relate to the situation, characters or ideas in the text. English Textual Concepts.

 

Direct students to paragraph two and three where a different point of view is taken. As a class, read paragraph two and three.

Highlight to the class the more sympathetic and emotive headings used in these two paragraphs, Falconry in Australia and A sporting chance.

 

In their student workbook, have students create a table and list emotive words and phrases from each paragraph. For example.

Paragraph 1: Killer Instinct

• Birds of prey
• hunting
• caught their prey

Paragraph 2: Falconry in Australia

• aren't used for hunting
• rehabilitate
• free-flight
• pest control

Paragraph 3: A sporting chance

• scare a problem away
• vamoose
• clear, shoo off
• move off

As a class, look at these key words and phrases and consider the changing Point of View within the text. For example, from a harsh, brutal art in paragraph one, the point of view or position changes in paragraph two with words such as free and rehabilitate to paragraph three which views the art of falconry as creating solutions to problems.

Encourage children to compose their own response to the question "In the text Will Wonders Never Cease: Falconry, how is the author using emotive language to position the reader, and how can we use this technique in our own writing?