English 2A- 102090 1

Aisha Elachrafi- 18028586

English 2A
Assessment 1- Professional Task:
Lesson Plan and Sequencing

Concept of Characterisation
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Ray Bradbury’s short story The Pedestrian (1951) is suitable for Module C ‘The Craft of

Writing’ because it has many distinctive features that students can work with in order to support them

with their skills and confidence as writers. Within the text, there are several concepts that students

will be able to use and to develop their understanding of this module including imagery, point of

view and characterisation. These concepts will be studied in the analysis of the craft of writing.

Bradbury’s short story is relevant when teaching stage six standard English students as it focuses on

changes in life changes that occur due to the over use of technology. Even though Bradbury’s short

story speaks about the future revolutions in 2053, students will be able to make a significant link to

the text in a contemporary setting as it can be compared to present society’s use of technology and

the way it is changing the lives of individuals.

This evaluation will explain the module the Craft of Writing, the relevance of the chosen short story

text and its implementation within the two designed lesson plans.

The short story offers a glimpse into the future where the protagonist, who is also the only

character in the short story, is punished for going out for long walks each evening. While Mr. Mead

is wondering through the silent and empty streets, everyone else is tuned into their television screens.

Bradbury portrays the people in the short story as metaphorically ‘dead’ and alludes them to ghosts

as they have become controlled by the advancement of technology with an emphasis on television.

The only robotic police car on the streets then confronts Mr. Meads as he is disobeying the law,

which eventually gets him arrested. Due to his unusual behavior, he is sent to a psychiatric center

which then portrays his character as strange and unusual and in need of help. As an audience, this

creative twist on the reality of technology generates ideas and challenges students in creating their

own texts.
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Bradbury’s short story develops distinctive imagery, connecting the students to the story in a

deeper and more meaningful way in which they place themselves into the setting and lives of the

characters, engaging with all five senses. This is evident when Bradbury states “walking through a

graveyard where only the faintest glimmers of firefly light appeared” (page.1) as he describes the

area as being as gloomy as a graveyard. In the short story, through the use of imagery, Bradbury

creates a frightening world possessed by the supernatural forms of humans who have been

completely controlled by technology. For the audience, this purpose is to evoke self-reflection from

the audience, questioning whether or not they too have become like ‘ghosts’ as a result of over-usage

of technology. This text is relevant to the Craft of Writing module, as students will be able to

develop their knowledge of writing creatively, evoke emotions in their audiences and apply it to their

own writing, strengthening their literary skills.

An important concept that Bradbury focuses on is the point of view. Whether it be from the

audience’s point of view, the protagonist or another character. It is important to understand the

meaning of point of view as it is often implied indirectly within texts. Bradbury’s story is written and

expressed in a third person omniscient point of view. Through this point of view, the audience and

students are able to view Mr. Mead’s thoughts and actions throughout the short story. The point of

view of the short story also demonstrates how Mr. Mead is the different from others within the text.

The point of view concept is significant to The Craft of Writing as students are able to ‘examine and

analyse’ the short story as well as implement their own ideas and understanding to their creative

pieces of writing. (NESA, 2016, p.74). By understanding the point of view of the short story,

students will recognize how the lives of people are controlled by the development of technology,

hence allowing them to carefully consider how purpose and meaning is shaped for the audience.
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The focal concept, throughout the short story, that I have chosen to base my two lesson plans

on is characterisation. According to English Teacher Concepts (2016), characterisation constructs

and develops characters within a text. The way a character is perceived relates to the way the author

describes the appearance, actions, thoughts and dialogue of the character. Throughout the short story,

characterisation is significant as Bradbury expresses how Mr. Mead felt lonely stating “he was alone

in this world of AD 2052” (page 1), further indicating how television is taking over and people

interact less with one another. Characterisation is a key concept to The Craft of Writing as it gives

features to non-living objects. For instance, the police car is referred to as having a “metallic voice”

which called to Mr. Mead. This indicated human qualities to an inanimate object. Students will

utilise these techniques for their own writing and develop the skill of characterisation.

Prior to starting the learning activities with the stage six Standard English students, their task

was to analyse the short story as it allowed for them to understand the authors purpose, meaning of

the story and the ways in which is provide ideas towards their own composition of writing. Students

discuss and speculate about the text during this period. Once students begin to draft and create their

own compositions, they will use the text to help them ‘experiment with a range of language forms

and features’ (HSC Prescriptions, 2019 – 2023). Once they are up to the editing phase, students will

then focus on grammar, syntax and punctuation to effectively create their own appropriate piece of

writing.

Bradbury’s short story consists of multiple literary techniques and concepts which students will be

able to focus on. This text gives students the creative spur to generate their own ideas, purposes,

target their writing towards a specific audience, and most importantly, appreciate the power of

language.
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Lesson plan one

Class: Prelim stage 6 English (Standard) Time: 60 minutes

Teacher: objectives for self

 Familiarise students with the feature and importance of characterisation

Syllabus outcomes for students:

Outcome 3: A student analyses and uses language forms, features and structures of texts and justifies
their appropriateness for purpose, audience and context and explains effects on meaning EN12-3

Prior knowledge:

The following lesson follows on from the previous lessons, which have focused on understanding
and analysing the short story in terms of point of view and its themes.

Materials:

 Teachers copy of Ray Bradbury’s short story The Pedestrian

 PowerPoint presentation on characterisation
 Worksheet/extract from the short story

Procedures:

Time Mode Teaching/ learning activities

10 T/S Teacher: plays a YouTube recording of Ray Bradbury’s short story for
minutes students to listen to rather than just read and analyse.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRnFqSIflHc

10 T/S Teacher: will start a recapping activity relating to the content on the previous
minutes lesson.
 Is the story written in first, second or third person?
 Who is the protagonist?
 What is the key message you have understood from the short story so
far?

15 T/S Teacher: will present a PowerPoint presentation (four slides) relating to the
minutes importance of characterisation (Resource A) and how it helps shape the
character.
The PowerPoint presentation will specify the following:
 What is the meaning of characterisation?
 What are the different types of characterisation?
 How does characterisation allow the audience to understand the purpose
and meaning of the story itself?
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Students: begin to write down the important aspects of characterisation, which

is presented through the PowerPoint.

Purpose: to continue to familiarise students with the importance of

characterisation and further develop their understanding.

15 T/S Teacher: will continue a mini lesson following the presentation on how authors
minutes reveal character through the description of the character’s physical appearance,
the characters thoughts, actions and what other people think about them.

Purpose: important content on characterisation is further implemented in the

lesson.

10 T/S Teacher: will instruct students to read the first four paragraphs of the short
minutes story and write down four direct quotes then explain how the author has used
descriptive language in order to show the characteristics of the protagonist.

Students: will begin the task.

Purpose: critical thinking is implemented in this task as students are required

to describe the character.

Home work Students will be asked to finish off the task for homework if they have not
already completed it in class.

Evaluation

I will evaluate the outcome of my lesson my ensuring to pause after each activity to ensure all
students are on the right track. I will frequently ask students questions based on characterisation in
order to ensure that they understand the content on characterisation. The extract activity towards the
end of the lesson has helped students in developing their skills on characterisation.

In Retrospect

I believe that the lesson went well as students were already engaged with the content from the
previous lesson. However, throughout the PowerPoint presentation, students became restive and for
this reason I took a break in between slides.
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Lesson plan two

Class: Prelim stage 6 English (Standard) Time: 60 minutes

Teacher: objectives for self

 Create collaborative learning

 Examine what students have learnt through creative writing

Syllabus outcomes for students:

Outcome 5: A student thinks imaginatively, creatively, interpretively, analytically and discerningly

to respond to and compose texts that include considered and detailed information, ideas and
arguments.

Materials:

 Teachers copy of Ray Bradbury’s short story The Pedestrian

 Worksheet of the characterisation chart
 Whiteboard
 Student work books

Procedures:

Time Mode Teaching/learning activities

15 S/Pairs Recap from previous lesson and continue from the previous lesson.
Teacher: students will share responses from last lessons activity (extract task)
with the person next to them. Teacher will then hand out characterisation chart
worksheet (Resource B), which focuses on the appearances, actions and
attitudes of the protagonist.

Students: will be required to complete the task.

Purpose: to develop students understanding of characterisation.

5 Whole Teacher: will create a class discussion and ask students to say their answers
minutes class and to justify why they have chosen the answers.

30 S Teacher: will provide students with a writing task. The task will follow as:
minutes Students are required to pretend to be a journalist and question the protagonist
in the story about what his purpose is and what he believes the future will look
like. Your response should be at least one age long and in the form of an
interview.

Students: will begin this task within the time given.

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Purpose: to allow students to independently use their imagination to craft an

interview from the perspective of the character.

10 T/S Teacher: will ask students for their responses and create a class discussion.
minutes Teacher will then instruct students that any unfinished work is due for
homework next lesson.

Evaluation

The class discussions throughout the lesson will help evaluate whether students are on track and
understand the content on characterisation. Also the writing task itself has allowed me to assess
whether students have understood the characteristics of the protagonist as they are asked to use the
features in the writing task.

In Retrospect

Implementing the writing task within the lesson was significant as it meets the outcome of the lesson
as well as allowing students to work independently and use their imagination. However, the downfall
of this task was the timing, as some students required more time than others.
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Resources:

Resource A (PowerPoint presentation):

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Resource B (Characterisation chart worksheet):

Characterisation relates to the method in which the author develops characters in a story. There are
two types of characterisation the author can use. These being: direct or indirect characterisation.
When an author uses direct characterisation, they directly allow the reader to identify who the
character is. However, when an author uses indirect characterisation, indications and hints about the
character is shown through the characters actions.

Instructions: complete the table below by listing evidence from Ray Bradbury’s short story “The
President”.

Characterisation Example from the text Is this example direct or

technique indirect characterisation?
How?

Character’s
appearance

Character’s
actions

Character’s
encounters

Character’s
response