The passage describes a scene taking place in the hour before dawn on a hushed and grey open sea. A boat glides by like a shadow as the moon sets behind its tall sails. The boat sails on through moonlight and music, with the soft sea lapping against its sides, and then disappears from view.

1. Understanding descriptive passages The Beach of Falesá by Dylan Thomas (excerpts)

2. It is the hour before tropical dawn, on the hushed, grey open sea. A boat glides by like a shadow, the moon going down behind her tall sails. The boat sails on, through moonlight and music, the soft sea speaking against her sides, and is gone again. Tasks 1. Read the excerpt and find: - words / phrases that describe the time of day - a simile - a personification 2. What do the adjectives hushed , grey, open and soft describe?

3. 1. words / phrases that describe the time of day The hour before tropical dawn; through moonlight a simile A boat glides like a shadow

4. 1. a personification “… the soft sea speaking…” 2. What do the adjectives hushed , grey, open and soft describe? Hushed , grey, open and soft describe the sea.

5. It is the hour before tropical dawn , on the hushed, grey open sea. A boat glides by like a shadow , the moon going down behind her tall sails. The boat sails on, through moonlight and music, the soft sea speaking against her sides, and is gone again.

6. 3. What is being described in the passage below? 4. Where is the man who ‘sees’? 5. List the things described. 6. What do these adjectives high , treed , majestic , white , tall , and scattered describe? Through the twin circles of the glasses he sees the surf beating against the high cliffs, the thickly treed valleys, the spurs of mountains, the majestic woodlands, the white flash of streams down the glens, the tumbles of waterfalls, the tall breadfruit trees, the coconut palms, the scattered bamboo houses under the trees, and a few tails of smoke wisping up the sky.

7. 3. The coastal landscape of an island.

8. 4. The man who ‘sees’ seems to be on a boat. He sees the island from afar, as the boat approaches land.

9. 5. The cliffs The surf The valleys The mountains The woodlands The streams The waterfalls The breadfruit trees The coconut palms The bamboo houses The smoke

10. 6. high – the cliffs treed – the valleys majestic – the woodlands white – the flash of streams tall – the breadfruit trees scattered – the bamboo houses

11. 7. Use the words from 5 to label the following pictures. __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________

12. 7. Use the words from 5 to label the following pictures. coconut trees surf / cliffs mountains woodlands waterfalls breadfruit tree valleys bamboo houses streams

13. On all sides are to be heard faint and stealthy scurries; the newly unwoken warnings of little, unseen animals; the prying fingering of gusts of wind from the sea, in ferns, leaves, flowers, and shadows. The lantern and the moonlight make the bush all turning shadows that weave to meet him and then spin off, that hover above his head and fly away, huge, birdlike, into deeper inextricable dark. The floor of the bush glimmers with dead wood. 8. Read the excerpt and find: a) the words / phrases that evoke: - sound - sight b) metaphors

14. faint - weak stealthy – quiet and secretive scurries – short, quick steps prying – indiscreet fingering – touching with the fingers turning – ondulantes weave – tecem, entrelaçam spin off – desfazem-se, desenrolam-se espiralando, girando hover – pairam spin off – desfazem-se, girando inextricable – denso, impenetrável

15. Sound: faint and stealthy scurries - the sound of animal / people’s steps warnings of little animals – sounds made by animals to warn each other

16. Sound: the prying fingering of gusts of wind from the sea, in ferns, leaves, flowers – the sound made by the wind on the plants

17. Sight: The lantern and the moonlight make the bush all turning shadows that weave to meet him and then spin off , that hover above his head and fly away, huge , birdlike, into deeper inextricable dark. The floor of the bush glimmers …

18. b) Metaphors: Shadows weave to meet him and then spin off shadows = spiders Shadows … hover above his head and fly away shadows = birds

19. 9. Based on the passages above, which part of the world would you choose for the setting of The Beach of Falesá, if you were a film producer or director ?

20. 9. Possible places: The Pacific Islands ? Indonesia ? Hawaii ? New Zealand ?

21. The Beach of Falesá was written by Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. It was originally conceived as a film-script, an adaptation of a story by Robert Louis Stevenson. The film was never produced and the book was published as a novel in 1964.

22. Soon there will be more on description.