Animals and usLiterature Animal stories Writing about animals

Language Words forms Commas

Literacy Being precise Words and images

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Stories about animals are among the most loved stories in literature and popular culture. Many of these stories, both humorous and serious, reveal and explore close relationships between humans and animals.

Humorous perspectiveThe narrator in the novel Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen is 93-year-old Jacob Jankowski. In these extracts he recalls an incident involving Rosie the elephant.

The narrator has no success, so the circus patch has to take over. A patch is someone sent from the circus to ‘patch things up’ if anyone got into trouble with the locals.

n Animal stories

Rosie and the vegetablesRosie stands in a trampled vegetable patch, running her trunk lazily across the rows. When I approach she looks me straight in the eye and plucks a purple cabbage. She drops it in her shovel-scoop of a mouth and then reaches for a cucumber.

The lady of the house opens the door a crack and shrieks, ‘Get that thing out of here! Get it out of here!’

‘Sorry, ma’am,’ I say. ‘I’ll surely do my best.’I stand at Rosie’s shoulder. ‘Come on, Rosie. Please?’Her ears wave forward, she pauses, and then she reaches for a tomato.‘No!’ I say. ‘Bad elephant!’Rosie pops the red globe in her mouth and smiles as she chews it.

Laughing at me, no doubt.

‘Good afternoon, ma’am,’ says the patch, tipping his hat and picking his way carefully across the ruined garden. It looks as though a tank has plowed through it. He climbs the cement stairs to the back door. ‘I see you’ve met Rosie, the largest and most magnificent elephant in the world. You’re lucky—she doesn’t normally make house calls.’

The woman’s face is still in the crack of the door. ‘What?’ she says, dumbfounded.The patch smiles brightly. ‘Oh yes. It’s an honor indeed. I’m willing to bet no one else in

your neighborhood—heck, probably the whole city—can say they’ve had an elephant in their backyard. Our men here will remove her—naturally, we’ll fix up your garden and compensate you for your produce, too. Would you like us to arrange for a photograph of you and Rosie? Something to show your family and friends?’

‘I… I… What?’ she stammers.‘If I may be so bold, ma’am,’ the patch says with the slightest hint of a bow. ‘Perhaps it

would be easier if we discussed this inside.’from Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

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Sara Gruen used two techniques to make the story of Rosie the elephant a funny episode—anthropomorphism and incongruity. Anthropomorphism means treating animals as humans and believing that they have human-like feelings and personalities. When something is incongruous, it is completely different from what one normally expects—it’s absurd, and people laugh at it.

Getting seriousThe story of Rosie in the vegetable garden could have been written in a serious way.

I stand at the elephant’s shoulder. ‘Come on. You’re getting out of here!’

Her ears wave forward. She stops. She reaches for more food.

‘No!’ I shout. ‘No!’

She shoves the tomato in her mouth and her mouth twists as she chews. Warning me, no doubt.

In this passage, there is no mention of the elephant’s name. Instead of pleading with the elephant, the speaker shouts and insists that the elephant move. Instead of ‘pops’, which is a harmless sounding verb, ‘shoves’ emphasises the strength of the animal. Rosie’s mouth ‘twists’, rather than smiles. Instead of Rosie ‘laughing’, she is ‘warning’ the narrator.

1 List the human and animal characters in these extracts.

2 What does the narrator do to try to get Rosie out of the vegetable garden? Is he successful?

3 What does the patch offer the woman?

4 Why does the patch want to go inside to discuss the situation with the woman?

5 Describe Rosie in your own words. What has the author done to present Rosie as a friendly rather than scary animal?

Keeping to the basic facts, rewrite both extracts, changing perspective to make it a scary story. In your version, the elephant isn’t as friendly as Rosie, the woman is completely unable to cope with the situation, and the patch loses his temper.

Exercise 5.1

Exercise 5.3

Unpacking Water for Elephants

1 Quote examples of the narrator and the patch treating Rosie as though she’s human.

2 Rewrite the incident as a short report in a local newspaper. Your aim is to inform readers without making the event sound either funny or scary. Remove all anthropomorphism and incongruity.

3 Imagine that you are Rosie and you are safely back home in the circus. Describe to another elephant what happened at the woman’s house. Get your friends to laugh about what happened. Write from Rosie’s point of view, and don’t be afraid to engage in ‘counter-anthropomorphism’—pretending that humans behave like elephants!

Exercise 5.2 Analysing humour

Writing in a serious tone

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Because humans love pets, our literature includes many heartfelt pieces of writing about animals. Poetry in particular allows writers to express their feelings about their pets.

‘Epitaph to a dog’The English poet Lord Byron and his friend John Cam Hobhouse wrote ‘Epitaph to a dog’ in 1808, after Byron’s Newfoundland dog called Boatswain died of rabies. Byron buried the dog at his estate, Newstead Abbey. This poem is part of the inscription on the dog’s tomb. ‘Epitaph to a dog’ expresses deep sadness in a dignified way.

n Writing about animals

1 How old was Boatswain when he died?

2 From information in the first stanza, what three adjectives would you use to describe Boatswain?

3 The final line of the first stanza states that Boatswain possessed ‘… all the virtues of Man without his Vices’. What three vices are mentioned in the first stanza? How does each vice contrast with Boatswain’s virtues?

4 The poem is really about the poet’s grief at the death of his dog. How do you know that Byron deeply loved his dog, and that he is grieving?

Exercise 5.4 Unpacking ‘Epitaph to a dog’

Epitaph to a dogNear this Spot

Are deposited the Remains of one

Who possessed Beauty without Vanity,

Strength without Insolence,

Courage without Ferosity,

And all the virtues of Man without his Vices.

This praise, which would be unmeaning Flattery

If inscribed over human Ashes,

Is but a just tribute to the Memory of

BOATSWAIN, a DOG,

Who was born in Newfoundland May 1803

And died at Newstead Nov. 18, 1808.

John Cam Hobhouse and George Gordon, Lord Byron

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‘Seven year companion’‘Seven year companion’ is a sentence poem about a cat that constantly interrupts its owner while she tries to work. The tone is entirely different from the tone of ‘Epitaph to a dog’.

1 Rewrite the poem as a letter to a friend, telling them that Boatswain has died and explaining how you feel. Start off: ‘My dog Boatswain died yesterday.’

2 Explain two ways in which the language you use in your letter is different from the language that Byron used in his poem.

3 Research Newfoundland dogs to find out more about their history, appearance and temperament. The web page http://members.ozemail.com.au/~kap/history2.html contains interesting stories about Newfoundlands in Australia. Use your results to write a description of Newfoundland dogs for a dog lovers’ magazine.

4 Write a short poem about an animal, in which you describe its appearance and personality.

1 Describe what the cat does to get attention.

2 What would the poet like to be able to do without interruption? What tone of voice do you hear in these lines?

3 Why does she repeat ‘always’ and have the second ‘always’ in upper case?

4 How do we know that she loves her cat in spite of everything?

5 Read the poem aloud, pausing at the end of each line. Then read the poem aloud, following the punctuation. What differences in tone and meaning can you hear in the two readings?

6 Why do you think that the poet has put the words ‘My cat’ at the end of the poem instead of at the beginning?

7 Write a paragraph about an animal or bird. Then rewrite the paragraph as a sentence poem, using lists and repetition, and choosing strong words that carry a lot of meaning. Finish the poem with two words that name your animal or bird.

Exercise 5.5

Exercise 5.6

Writing creatively

RespondingSeven year companionI would like to be able

To write

To read

To talk

Without you

Always ALWAYS

Interrupting.

Your green eyes,

Penetrating, disturbing, demanding

Little bum and head pushing

My fine eared companion

Of seven years

My cat.

Lyndall Hough

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Many English base words, prefixes and suffixes have been borrowed from other languages. Hundreds of years ago, England was invaded by European peoples, including Romans, Germanic tribes, Scandinavians and the French. English borrowed from the languages of these peoples. It also borrowed words from countries that English-speaking countries colonised or traded with—for example, tea from China, khaki from India, pizza from Italy, and curry from India. The word hamburger entered English in the 19th century when German immigrants brought with them to the United States a particular way of cooking mince—the ‘Hamburg steak’, a fried slab of minced beef.

Knowing the base word from another language helps to work out what modern words mean, and how to spell them. For example, knowing that the prefix sub- means ‘under’ and the base word marine comes from the Latin word meaning ‘sea’ makes it clear what a submarine is.

Most words consist of a base word and a prefix or suffix. A base word is the ‘basic’ or simplest form of a word: for example, sense, honest, lock.

Sometimes this is called a stem word or a root word.A prefix is a part of a word placed at the front of a base word to add meaning, often a

negative or opposite meaning: for example, nonsense, dishonest, unlock.A suffix is a part of a word added to the end of a base word. It usually changes the part of

speech: for example, sense (noun) ➞ sensible (adjective), honest (adjective) ➞ honesty (noun).

Word familiesWords are said to belong to a family when they share a base word. The Latin word centum meaning ‘hundred’ has produced a word family in English.

n Word forms

1 Build a word family from the Latin base word terra meaning ‘earth’. An example is terrier, a dog taught to pursue its prey into burrows.

2 Using the Greek base word mono, meaning ‘alone’, ‘one’ or ‘single’, find words that fit these definitions:a a speech or talk that is in one tone of voiceb a king or queen who rules a country alonec a train running along one rail.

Exercise 5.7 Building word families

centuma hundred years: century

an insect said to have a hundred legs: centipede

temperature scale in which 100º is the boiling point of water: centigrade

a hundredth of a dollar: centa score of a hundred runs in cricket: century

a celebration of a one hundred year anniversary: centenary

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1 The prefix tri- comes from the Greek and Latin words for ‘three’. Add tri- to base words to find words that mean: a an athlete who competes in three sports during the one raceb a scientific instrument with three legsc the geometric term for a shape with three sides.

2 The prefixes dis-, im-, il-, in-, ir- and un- all mean ‘not’. Copy out these sentences and complete the words by adding the correct prefix. a If we don’t take action some animals will __appear forever.b After we washed him, our cat was very __happy.c It is __legal not to microchip your dog.d Wild animals are very __regular in their mealtimes.e It is __convenient for me to bath the dog now.f The 150 kilogram Rottweiler was __movable.

3 The suffixes -let, -ock and -ling all mean ‘small’. Copy out these words and add one of these suffixes to each word to name the young of these animals. The first one is done for you.a eagle + let = eaglet b owl c pig d bull e duck

4 The suffixes -ship, -ism, -ness, -age, and -ice help to form abstract nouns. Copy out these sentences and complete the words by adding a suffix. The first one is done for you.a The heroism of the guard dog was rewarded at the ceremony.b His horseman___ earned him an Olympic medal.c Cats are famous for their aloof___.d I’m not sure of the parent___ of my Schnoodles, but I love them anyway.e The professional___ of the sniffer dogs and their handlers was terrific.f Working dogs are known for their bravery, not their coward___.

Prefixes and suffixesPrefixes and suffixes can change the meaning of base words, often making them mean the opposite, or a larger or smaller version of something. Prefixes and suffixes can also change the part of speech.

What animal words can you form using the information given in the table?

Language Word(s) Meaning

Latin canis dog

Greek octa/octo / pod eight / foot

Malayan orang / hutan man / jungle

Latin avis bird

Greek rhino / keras nose / horn

Latin ele / phant arch / huge

Exercise 5.9

Exercise 5.8

Forming animal words

Using prefixes and suffixes

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n CommasThe Greeks invented commas thousands of years ago. They used commas in play scripts to tell actors when to pause and take a breath before launching into the next part of the speech. Commas first appeared in English around the 16th century, and they have been widely used—and abused—ever since.

Commas group and separate words, phrases and clauses in a sentence, helping readers to see how the different ‘chunks’ of meaning are organised. They also separate items in a list, phrases at the beginning and ends of sentences, and sections in the middle of sentences.

Rules for commasThe basic rule is to use commas only when they are needed. Reading a text out loud is a good way of deciding where the commas belong. Here are some basic rules.l A comma can separate an adverbial clause from the main clause.

Even though he loved dogs, he couldn’t keep one in his unit.

l A comma can separate independent clauses.

We had fed the elephants, but we still had time to look at the mongoose.

l A comma can separate an embedded clause in a sentence.

I gave the kitten to Jenny, who promised to give it a good home.

l A comma can separate a single word at the beginning of a sentence in order to emphasise that word.

Well, I might be able to build it a cage.

l A comma can separate words in a list.

He’s a happy, relaxed, easy-going kind of cat.

Add commas to correct the sentences below or change their meaning.

The spectators who saw the elephants lions and baby giraffe went home very happy.

Jennie walked on her shoulders slumped in despair.

The visitor said the zookeeper is crazy to think that.

The vet who was an expert diagnosed the problem quickly.

Exercise 5.10 Useful commasTHINKING CHALLENGE

n Create five sentences in which the punctuation makes a big difference to the meaning. For example: ‘The lawyer said the judge is crazy.’

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Using commasRead this version of a story about Tiddalik, the giant frog from the Aboriginal Dreaming. Then read the story again, noting where the commas are placed.

1 Read the first paragraph out loud, pausing where the commas are placed.

2 Earlier you learnt about five ways in which commas are used in sentences. Find an example of each of these in ‘Tiddalik’.

3 Create an imaginary animal and write a description of it for a popular nature magazine. Your description should include its appearance, habitat, eating habits and behaviour. Use commas to help your readers follow your description. Provide a rough drawing to go with your description.

4 Explain how you decided where to place commas in your description.

Exercise 5.11 Reading with commas

TiddalikA long time ago in the Dreamtime, there was a frog called

Tiddalik, the largest frog ever to live on the earth. One day,

Tiddalik developed a huge thirst, and he drank and drank and

drank until there was no water left anywhere—not in the creeks,

the billabongs, the rivers or the lakes.

The rest of the animals and plants in the world were very

thirsty, and some began to die, but Tiddalik would not open his

mouth to give up the water. Then a wise old wombat, one of the

wisest wombats in the land, suggested that if they could get

Tiddalik to open his mouth, for example by laughing, perhaps all

the water would run out.

The animals tried and tried, but could not get Tiddalik to

laugh. The kookaburra told his stories and all the birds laughed,

the emu stepped over the kangaroo and everyone laughed, the

lizard walked a funny walk, but Tiddalik would not laugh.

Then, when the animals had almost given up, Nabunum the

eel, who of course lived in the water, decided to dance. He danced

faster and faster and Tiddalik started to laugh. As he laughed, all

the water flowed out of his mouth and into the rivers, and the

water filled up the lakes and billabongs again.

author’s adaptation, based on a traditional Aboriginal Dreaming story

Tiddalik is thought to be a water-holding frog. These frogs live in desert regions of Australia. Indigenous Australians traditionally used them as a source of water during droughts.

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The English language contains more than enough words for speakers and writers to express themselves accurately and effectively—synonyms to express different shades of meaning, technical terms for scientists and other specialists, poetic words for poets, and everyday words that people use to communicate and get through the day.

People writing about animals might use any number of scientific, technical, poetic or everyday words, depending on what and why they are writing, and for whom they are writing. The trick is to use the best words for the purpose, audience and context.

Two reportsA young student wrote this text after she visited a zoo.

I saw a turtle. It had four legs and a head and a shell. It looked sleepy. It didn’t move very fast. It didn’t look very interesting.

She is describing a turtle from memory, and expressing a personal opinion about the turtle. Her report doesn’t contain many facts, but it works well enough as an informal record of her memory of seeing the turtle.

If you were asked to present a formal information report on turtles, you would be expected to provide more precise information than this, and to present it in suitable scientific language. By using dictionaries, a thesaurus and databases, you could produce a report on turtles that contained information about their:l species and varietiesl physical characteristics l longevityl eating habitsl habitatl behaviourl breeding habits.

You could also provide illustrations and photographs to support your written text. Your report would be written in a formal way, using technical language and avoiding personal or vague terms. With the aid of dictionaries, a thesaurus and databases you could produce sentences such as:

Instead of toes, turtles have flippers, which they use to swim and guide themselves through the water.

Male turtles live their lives in the sea, but females return to their birthplace to lay their eggs. They dig a hole, usually in sand near water, and lay many eggs. They then leave the eggs. When the eggs hatch, the baby turtles, referred to as hatchlings, dig their way to the surface and swarm to the water.

Female turtles can grow up to 1.6 metres long. The largest female turtle recorded weighed 916 kilograms.

Turtles date back as far as 215 million years before present.

n Being precise

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This text:l presents facts in an impersonal way, without comment or opinionl provides precise detail (‘215 million years ago’)l uses present tense (‘live’, ‘return’)l uses generalised nouns (‘turtles’ not ‘the turtles’)l uses action verbs (‘dig’, ‘lay’, ‘hatch’)l uses technical language (‘flippers’, ‘birthplace’, ‘hatchlings’)l is written in carefully constructed sentences.

Internet researchARKive at www.arkive.org is a multimedia database of the world’s endangered species. It contains information, videos, maps and images. You can access other databases and interactive maps from this site.

You are about to write an information report on Bornean orangutans for a scientific website, and present a talk to a Year 5 class on the same topic.

1 Search the database at www.arkive.org for Bornean orangutans. Watch the slide show, read the information available and watch some of the videos. Check information using a dictionary and a thesaurus.

2 Summarise the information and make notes on your findings.

3 Prepare an information report for the website. Use precise words and references, and select at least one image to accompany your report.

4 Select information from your report for a short talk on Bornean orangutans that you are to present to a Year 5 class.

5 Write a paragraph that points out the differences in the language you use in the website report and the talk.

6 Many animal species are endangered. Fortunately, there are people and organisations working to save them from extinction. Browse the website www.orangutans.com.au (Borneo Orangutan Survival—primates helping primates) and observe how words and images are used together to appeal to people to help the cause. Select one of the images and write a short paragraph to go with that image. Your purpose is to appeal to people’s emotions and encourage them to donate to the organisation.

Exercise 5.12 Writing an information report

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The modes of language are reading, viewing, listening, writing, creating and speaking. When more than one mode is needed to fully understand a text, that text is called a multimodal text. A film, for example, needs the audience to view, listen and sometimes read, while many other texts involve reading words, viewing images and making connections in meaning between the words and images.

Three multimodal textsHere are three multimodal texts created for three different purposes: to inform, to entertain and to persuade. Study the texts and examine how each contains words and images that come together to create a unified text.

Information text: ReportThis information report provides details about lions, including their social groups, gender roles, weight and life spans. The accompanying photographs provide examples of lions in culture and history throughout the world.

n Words and images

The Great Sphinx, Giza

Guardian lion in the Forbidden City, Beijing

Lions in the Arms of Dominion, Buckingham Palace gates, London

Lions

LIONS belong to the cat family. They have long been honoured in human history and cultures, and are thought to date back over one and a half million years. They form prides or family groups com-

prising related females, offspring and a few adult males. Males are identi-fied by the mane of hair around the head and chin, and they weigh up to 250 kg. They spend considerable time marking out and defending their territory while the females hunt for food. Lions live for up to fourteen years in the wild, but longer in captivity as they are provided with food and, unlike in the wild, are not injured in fights.

These images illustrate some of the ways in which lions have become part of the culture and history of different nations.

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Entertainment text: CartoonIn this cartoon, the dog appears in the centre of the frame, happily asleep, with the television remote in its paws. The cats are waiting to get at their cat food but they can’t reach it because the dog might wake up and chase them. The humour lies in the tension between the dog’s sleeping body and the angry, frustrated looks on the cats, waiting for their opportunity to get at the food.

Persuasive text: Postcard advertisementAt first this looks like an advertisement for something soft, cute and cuddly. The kitten’s head resting on the hand suggests security and safety. The caption offers ‘a helping hand’. Then the other side of the postcard reveals that this is in fact an advertisement for a removalist company.

Create three multimodal texts using this photograph of a dog: an entertainment text, an information text and a persuasive text. Your aim is to show how the same image can be used to create different multimodal texts for different purposes.

Exercise 5.13 Creating texts

Need a helping hand?

Need a hand or two to move?

Contact Helping Hand Removalists at

helpinghand.com

We’ll give you the hands you need.

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Assessment tasks

WRITING

LISTENING AND SPEAKING

CREATING

Write a conversation (about 200 words) between yourself and an animal. Your conversation should be entertaining, and should reveal something about the personality of the animal.

You will be assessed on your ability to write imaginatively and to use precise language to make the dialogue realistic and entertaining.

This is a group activity. Your task is to work in a group to design and present a lesson on an aspect of English vocabulary and spelling. Possible topics include word origins, weird spelling, origins and meanings of information technology words, word families, or new English words.

Your aim is to inform the class and to hold their attention by presenting useful, interesting and challenging ideas. The group tasks include deciding on the topic, allocating research and preparation tasks, preparing teaching materials, and presenting the lesson.

You will be assessed on how well you work in the group, and on the content and presentation of the group lesson.

Prepare a multimodal portfolio on the theme ‘Animals and us’, using an Australian bird or animal. Your purpose is to entertain, inform and persuade your audience.

Your portfolio will be in three parts: an entertainment text, an information text, and a persuasive text. You could look at:• the way animals are used for food, clothing, work, sport or research• animals as pets or companions• the language used for and with animals.

Your portfolio could be: • a talk to the class supported by a series of photographs or drawings • a PowerPoint presentation with visual, spoken and print texts • an exhibition of still photographs with print information to accompany it • a scrapbook with visual and print information• a sound and visual presentation with pictures, music and words • material for a website in a variety of multimodal forms• another format that you negotiate with your teacher.

You will be assessed on the quality of the content and structure of your multimodal portfolio.