Odyssey 2 10.8 Novel Extract: The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Learning Intentions In this section you will … ✓ Identify how the author creates atmosphere. ✓ Compare the novel extract with a film trailer for The Road. ✓ Use specific techniques to create an atmospheric piece of writing.
WRITING Creating Atmosphere
Atmosphere is the overall mood of a story or poem. Consider the following first line from a story: ‘It was a dark and stormy night.’ What kind of atmosphere has the author created?
Setting and word choice are key tools for creating atmosphere. For example, if a story is set on a sunny day, it can create a light-hearted atmosphere. If the writer wants to create a dark atmosphere, they can use words with negative associations to call up feelings of fear and menace.
Describe in your own words the atmosphere you would expect to find in the following situations and how you might describe that atmosphere: 1. A child’s birthday party. 2. An important exam. 3. The funeral ceremony for an elderly person.
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Reading
The extract below is the opening of The Road, a novel by Cormac McCarthy. The book charts the relationship between a father and son as they make their way across the North American landscape after a major disaster. Read the extract once. How would you describe the atmosphere of the extract?
THE ROAD by Cormac McCarthy 398
When he woke in the woods in the dark and the cold of the night he’d reach out to touch the child sleeping beside him. Nights dark beyond darkness and the days more gray each one than what had gone before. Like the onset of some cold glaucoma dimming away the world. His hand rose and fell softly with each precious breath. He pushed away the plastic tarpaulin and raised himself in the
