Exploring authorial purpose and audience
The text by Roald Dahl is written with a narrator...
Consider the prompts below and add to your Matilda file.
*What is the purpose of having a narrator?
*What is the narrator's view of parents? (In general and the Wormwood's)
*Is the narrator pro-adult or pro-child? Find some evidence in the text to support your opinion
*Why does the narrator refer to the Wormwood's as "the mother" and "the father"?
*How would this book be interpreted read by a child as compared to an adult? Write a paragraph to discuss these different interpretations...
Consider the prompts below and add to your Matilda file.
*What is the purpose of having a narrator?
*What is the narrator's view of parents? (In general and the Wormwood's)
*Is the narrator pro-adult or pro-child? Find some evidence in the text to support your opinion
*Why does the narrator refer to the Wormwood's as "the mother" and "the father"?
*How would this book be interpreted read by a child as compared to an adult? Write a paragraph to discuss these different interpretations...
exploring the characters
Roald Dahl made some very specific choices when constructing the text 'Matilda'. In particular, when it comes to the naming of characters and their descriptions.
For each of the characters below, analyse why Dahl has named them so, and find quotes in the text to support your character analysis.
*Matilda
*Miss Honey
*The Trunchbull
*Mr. and Mrs. Wormwood
For each of the characters below, analyse why Dahl has named them so, and find quotes in the text to support your character analysis.
*Matilda
*Miss Honey
*The Trunchbull
*Mr. and Mrs. Wormwood
Literary techniques used by Dahl
HYPERBOLE
Dahl uses playful language to engage his readers. Specifically, he includes multiple hyperboles to make his message more dramatic.
Identify the hyperbole in the following examples:
"Why did you do it, you fool? It looks absolutely frightful! It looks horrendous! You look like a freak!" (pg 62)
"'This clot,' boomed the Headmistress, pointing the riding crop at him like a rapier, 'this black-head, this foul carbuncle, this poisonous pustule that you see before you is none other than a disgusting criminal, a denizen of the underworld, a member of the Mafia!'" (pg 120)
"'You are a vile, repulsive, repellent, malicious little brute!' the Trunchbull was shouting." (pg 162)
*Using the quotes on the quote page, identify 5 more examples of hyperboles used by Dahl.
SIMILES AND METAPHORS
These are examples of figurative language and are often used by Dahl to again engage his reader.
*From the two examples below, identify which is a simile and which is a metaphor:
"'Your son Wilfred has spent six years as a grub in this school and we are still waiting for him to emerge from the chrysalis.'" (pg 9)
"The boy was by now so full of cake he was like a sackful of wet cement and you couldn't have hurt him with a sledge-hammer." (pg 133)
*Come up with your own metaphors and similes (as creative as possible) using the following prompts below:
- Matilda is as tiny as ________________
- The Trunchbull's strength is like ___________________
- Miss Honey is as lovely as _______________________
- After Bruce Bogtrotter ate the cake, he felt like ___________________________
Dahl uses playful language to engage his readers. Specifically, he includes multiple hyperboles to make his message more dramatic.
Identify the hyperbole in the following examples:
"Why did you do it, you fool? It looks absolutely frightful! It looks horrendous! You look like a freak!" (pg 62)
"'This clot,' boomed the Headmistress, pointing the riding crop at him like a rapier, 'this black-head, this foul carbuncle, this poisonous pustule that you see before you is none other than a disgusting criminal, a denizen of the underworld, a member of the Mafia!'" (pg 120)
"'You are a vile, repulsive, repellent, malicious little brute!' the Trunchbull was shouting." (pg 162)
*Using the quotes on the quote page, identify 5 more examples of hyperboles used by Dahl.
SIMILES AND METAPHORS
These are examples of figurative language and are often used by Dahl to again engage his reader.
*From the two examples below, identify which is a simile and which is a metaphor:
"'Your son Wilfred has spent six years as a grub in this school and we are still waiting for him to emerge from the chrysalis.'" (pg 9)
"The boy was by now so full of cake he was like a sackful of wet cement and you couldn't have hurt him with a sledge-hammer." (pg 133)
*Come up with your own metaphors and similes (as creative as possible) using the following prompts below:
- Matilda is as tiny as ________________
- The Trunchbull's strength is like ___________________
- Miss Honey is as lovely as _______________________
- After Bruce Bogtrotter ate the cake, he felt like ___________________________
adding to our vocabulary
Dahl is well known for his use of strange and unusual vocabulary to describe people, settings and situations.
*Using the words below, select 20 and write definitions in your own words and use each one in an interesting sentence.
newt culprit deed aloft plummeted hesitate repulsive
reluctantly precious accused peculiar awestruck phenomenon
bleak perched awkward triumph clarity understatement
enormously severely arrogant obstinate formidable reassembled
underestimated inconvenient brilliance amiable impolite disapproving implacable cautious snippet extraordinary scowling elated chaos eagerly consent
*Using the words below, select 20 and write definitions in your own words and use each one in an interesting sentence.
newt culprit deed aloft plummeted hesitate repulsive
reluctantly precious accused peculiar awestruck phenomenon
bleak perched awkward triumph clarity understatement
enormously severely arrogant obstinate formidable reassembled
underestimated inconvenient brilliance amiable impolite disapproving implacable cautious snippet extraordinary scowling elated chaos eagerly consent