Monday 23rd March – English – Year 6

Read the prologue to ‘Deeplight’ and then answer the questions.

 

They say you can sail a thousand miles along the island chain of the Myriad, from the frosty shores of the north, to the lush, sultry islands of the south. They say the islanders are like the red crabs that race along the shores – hardy, unpredictable, and as happy in the water as out of it.

They say that the ocean around the Myriad has its own madness. Sailors tell of great whirlpools that swallow boats, and of reeking, ice-cold jets that bubble to the surface and stop the hearts of swimmers. Black clouds suddenly boil in existence amid flawless skies.

They say that there is a dark realm of nightmares that lies beneath the true seas. When the Undersea arches its back, the upper sea is stirred into frenzy.

They say that the Undersea was the dwelling place of gods.

They say many things of the Myriad, and all of them are true.

The gods were as real as the coastlines and currents, and as merciless as the winds and the whirlpools. The Glass Cardinal throttled galleons with translucent tendrils. The Red Forlorn floated like a cloud of blood in the water. Kalmaadoth howled with a razor lattice instead of a mouth. Dolor lurched through the water, kicking with dozens of human legs. The hidden lady waited in the silent deeps, shrouded by her own snaking hair. Now and then, one would rise from the Undersea and appear in the pale light of day, devouring schooners, smashing ports to flinders, and etching their shapes into the nightmares of all. Some of them sang as they did so.

For centuries the gods ruled the Myriad through awe and terror, each with its own cluster of islands as territory. Human sacrifices were hurled into the water to appease them, and every boat was painted with pleading eyes to entreat their mercy. They were served, feared and adored.

Then, without warning, the gods turned on each other.

It took barely a week for them to tear each other apart – a week of tidal waves and devastation. Many hundreds of islanders lost their lives. By the end, no living god remained, only vast corpses rolling in the deep. Even thirty years after this cataclysm, nobody knows why it happened. The gods are still mysterious, though the fear of them is slowly waning.

They say that a coin-sized scrap of dead god can make your fortune, if the powers it possess are strange and rare enough, and if you are brave enough to dive for them.

This is also true.

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Vocabulary:

Sultry – hot and humid

Throttle – attack by choking

Shrouded – cover to conceal from view

Schooner – a sailing ship

Cataclysm – a large-scale and violent event

 

Questions:

Is this a fiction text or a non-fiction text? How do you know?

What type of story do you think this is? Why?

What evidence suggests that this story may not have a happy ending?

Do you think you would enjoy this story? Why?

11 thoughts on “Monday 23rd March – English – Year 6

  • 23rd March 2020 at 10:27 am
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    1. this text is a fiction text . I know this because in the text it says ,black clouds suddenly boil . this is fiction because black clouds don’t really boil
    2. this type of story is a fantasy story
    3. in the text it says , if your brave enough. this suggests that people have had negative results. also in the text it says, this is all true.
    4.yes because it talks about nature and wild life and I’m that kind of person.

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  • 23rd March 2020 at 11:47 am
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    Fair trade is were countries trade things for a fair price

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  • 23rd March 2020 at 3:50 pm
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    Well done Zofia and Skye, I hope you found this an enjoyable text.

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  • 23rd March 2020 at 4:10 pm
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    1. I think it is a fiction text because in the text it says ‘they say islanders are like red crabs that race across the shores’this shows the islanders are desperate to get where they need to be.
    2.i think it is a fantasy because it mentions how undersea there is a dwelling place of gods which shows it is not real.
    3.i know this story may not have a happy ending is because in the text it says ‘human sacrifices were hurled into the water
    4.i think I would enjoy this story because I would like to figure what would happen to the people it is a story I wish would never end.

    Reply
  • 23rd March 2020 at 4:43 pm
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    Well done Ebony, you have written some good answers.

    Reply
  • 24th March 2020 at 10:23 am
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    I read all of it and I couldn’t find deeplight in it anywhere

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    • 24th March 2020 at 10:32 am
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      Deeplight is the title of the whole book. I only gave you the prologue. Stay tuned for part 2 …

      Reply
    • 24th March 2020 at 11:38 am
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      I think it is a fiction text because in the text it says ‘it takes bealy a week for them to tear’

      I think this is a fantasy story because gods will never fight each other because they are all the same

      Islanders lost their lives this suggests that it want have a happy ending

      Yes because I like action storys and this story is an action story I know this because it says islanders lost their lives and people dieing is action

      Reply
  • 24th March 2020 at 1:52 pm
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    1. I think it’s fiction because the text says “the undersea was a dwelling place of the gods” which I know is untrue.

    2. I think it is a mythical fantasy story because it talks about mythical beings.

    3. I think it doesn’t have a happy ending because it talks about how the gods are dead “by the end no living god remained only vast corpses rolling in the deep”.

    4. No I wouldn’t enjoy it because it’s not the sort of story I like to read.

    Reply
  • 24th March 2020 at 3:03 pm
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    1.I think this is a fiction text because some of the sentences begin with “They say,”which suggest it is not true.
    2.I think this text is a myth because it talks about different gods and mythical things too.
    3.I think this because in the text it says “Many islanders lost their lives,” which tells me that the end might be bad.
    4.I would like to read the rest of the story because it is about myths.Also,I would like to find out what happens in the end.

    Reply

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