More practice with the language you're learning
Supplementary support — grammar, vocabulary, speaking and review — built from language already taught in the course. Not a lesson, and never a test.
1.Transformation: express the same meaning without repeating the original wording — "**External**: She walked into the foyer at five to seven."
2.Transformation: express the same meaning without repeating the original wording — "**Psychic**: She walked in, knowing the speech would unravel exactly where it always did."
3.Transformation: express the same meaning without repeating the original wording — "**Free indirect**: She walked in. The speech. Where was she on the speech. Never mind. Smile."
4.Convert to FREE INDIRECT: 'He opened the door. He thought, what am I doing here?'
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'He opened the door. What was he doing here. Honestly.'
5.Convert to UNRELIABLE third: 'She knew she was right.'
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'She knew, with the certainty of someone who had been right about very few things, that she was right.'
6.Mini-context: someone disagrees with you in a meeting. Reply in two turns, using this structure at least once.
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Narrative voice at C2: (a) EXTERNAL THIRD ('She walked in') keeps the narrator outside; (b) PSYCHIC THIRD ('She walked in, certain she would forget the speech') gives the narrator access; (c) FREE INDIRECT ('She walked in. What was she going to say?') puts the character's thought into third person without saying 'she thought'; (d) UNRELIABLE ('She walked in like a woman who knew exactly what she was doing — which, of course, she did not') signals doubt about the narrator's framing.
1.Sort these into "positive", "neutral" and "critical" in tone, and be ready to defend a borderline case: narrative distance, an unreliable narrator, free indirect style, to inhabit (a voice), to ironise (the narrator), authorial sympathy / distance
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narrative distance — how close the narrator stands to the character | an unreliable narrator — a narrator the reader is invited to distrust | free indirect style — third-person narration coloured by the character's voice | to inhabit (a voice) — to write convincingly from inside another consciousness | to ironise (the narrator) — to invite the reader to judge the narrator's framing | authorial sympathy / distance — where the author's attention or warmth lies
2.Odd one out: which of these is least like "narrative distance" in meaning or use — an unreliable narrator / free indirect style / to inhabit (a voice)? Explain why.
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Compare against: how close the narrator stands to the character
3.Odd one out: which of these is least like "an unreliable narrator" in meaning or use — free indirect style / to inhabit (a voice) / to ironise (the narrator)? Explain why.
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Compare against: a narrator the reader is invited to distrust
4.Odd one out: which of these is least like "free indirect style" in meaning or use — to inhabit (a voice) / to ironise (the narrator) / authorial sympathy / distance? Explain why.
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Compare against: third-person narration coloured by the character's voice
5.Odd one out: which of these is least like "to inhabit (a voice)" in meaning or use — to ironise (the narrator) / authorial sympathy / distance / narrative distance? Explain why.
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Compare against: to write convincingly from inside another consciousness
6.Semantic map: place "narrative distance" on a scale from mild to strong against two other words you know. Then use the strongest one.
7.Semantic map: place "an unreliable narrator" on a scale from mild to strong against two other words you know. Then use the strongest one.
8.Semantic map: place "free indirect style" on a scale from mild to strong against two other words you know. Then use the strongest one.
9.Mini-dialogue: write four lines in which two of this lesson's words appear naturally.
1.Word family: give the noun, verb, adjective and adverb forms linked to "narrative distance" where they exist, then use the form that is hardest for you.
2.Word family: give the noun, verb, adjective and adverb forms linked to "an unreliable narrator" where they exist, then use the form that is hardest for you.
3.Word family: give the noun, verb, adjective and adverb forms linked to "free indirect style" where they exist, then use the form that is hardest for you.
4.Word family: give the noun, verb, adjective and adverb forms linked to "to inhabit (a voice)" where they exist, then use the form that is hardest for you.
5.Spot the mismatch: which partner does NOT work with "narrative distance" — and what would a proficient speaker say instead?
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Natural model: The narrative distance opens and closes across the chapter.
6.Spot the mismatch: which partner does NOT work with "an unreliable narrator" — and what would a proficient speaker say instead?
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Natural model: By page 30 we know this is an unreliable narrator.
7.Spot the mismatch: which partner does NOT work with "free indirect style" — and what would a proficient speaker say instead?
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Natural model: The opening chapter is almost entirely in free indirect style.
8.Rewrite one sentence from your last piece of writing, swapping a weak combination for a precise one from this lesson.
1.Shift the register twice: make this markedly formal, then markedly conversational — "**External**: She walked into the foyer at five to seven."
2.Shift the register twice: make this markedly formal, then markedly conversational — "**Psychic**: She walked in, knowing the speech would unravel exactly where it always did."
3.Shift the register twice: make this markedly formal, then markedly conversational — "**Free indirect**: She walked in. The speech. Where was she on the speech. Never mind. Smile."
4.Diplomatic vs direct: soften this, then sharpen it. Which version would you actually use, and to whom? "Which sentence shifts the distance most sharply?"
5.Compress: express the idea behind "The narrative distance opens and closes across the chapter." in six words or fewer without losing the nuance.
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how close the narrator stands to the character
6.Compress: express the idea behind "By page 30 we know this is an unreliable narrator." in six words or fewer without losing the nuance.
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a narrator the reader is invited to distrust
7.Compress: express the idea behind "The opening chapter is almost entirely in free indirect style." in six words or fewer without losing the nuance.
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third-person narration coloured by the character's voice
8.Read one of your own paraphrases aloud. Which word choice is doing the most work? Replace everything around it.
1.Rank and justify: order the ideas in Which sentence shifts the distance most sharply? / Where is the narrator MOST invisible? / Where would a less skilled writer have used 'she thought'? from most to least convincing. Defend your top choice.
2.Role-play: Three minutes silent reading + two minutes discussion of where you agree. Take the position you least agree with.
3.Decision task: you have two minutes to reach a single recommendation on 250-word response + one sentence on the strongest reviewer point you didn't beat.. State it in one sentence.
4.Now switch sides and argue the opposite for 60 seconds. Which language had to change?
5.Follow-up — push further: Paragraph A: a mother attending her daughter's wedding. Add a counter-example.
6.Follow-up — push further: Paragraph B: a man re-reading an old letter. Add a counter-example.
1.Paragraph ordering: draft your four topic sentences only, then decide their best order and say why.
2.Partial writing: write only the concession paragraph of Write a 200–220-word literary paragraph: one character, one ordinary moment (a phone call, a queue, a meal). You MUST: (a) include at least one passage of free indirect style, (b) include at least one moment of authorial irony toward the character, (c) shift narrative distance at least twice, (d) use at least three target items in the brief author's note (50 extra words) at the end. — 60–80 words.
3.Editing pass: cut 15% of your words without losing content. What went first?
4.Audience switch: rewrite your opening for a hostile reader, then for a sympathetic one.
5.Self-check: underline every repeated word and replace two with precise choices from this lesson.
1.Take any one sentence from today's excerpt. Write TWO sentences naming the technique used and the effect. Aloud.
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When asked 'which extract suggests the narrator distrusts the character', look for ironising adjectives, gentle parenthetical comments, and adverbs the character would never use about themselves.
2.Find the evidence: which exact words in the text/script support this — Find ONE clear free-indirect sentence.
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'She was, she told herself, fine — really, fine; what on earth was there to be not fine about…' — character's voice, third-person frame, no 'she thought'.
3.Find the evidence: which exact words in the text/script support this — Find ONE ironising move toward the narrator.
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'the kind of pile that suggested either great care or a person with nothing else to do' — the narrator gently mocks Margaret's habit of mind.
4.Find the evidence: which exact words in the text/script support this — Where is psychic third doing the work?
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'Whatever it was she had felt during the call had moved, by now, into her hands' — the narrator names what the character cannot quite name.
5.Key word transformation: rewrite "**External**: She walked into the foyer at five to seven." using the structure from Voice on the page: narrator, persona and free indirect style, in 3–8 words.
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Narrative voice at C2: (a) EXTERNAL THIRD ('She walked in') keeps the narrator outside; (b) PSYCHIC THIRD ('She walked in, certain she would forget the speech') gives the narrator access; (c) FREE INDIRECT ('She walked in. What was she going to say?') puts the character's thought into third person without saying 'she thought'; (d) UNRELIABLE ('She walked in like a woman who knew exactly what she was doing — which, of course, she did not') signals doubt about the narrator's framing.
6.Reflection: which part of this task type costs you most time, and what will you do differently next time?
1.True, false or not stated? Decide for each, then correct the false ones: "'She was, she told herself, fine — really, fine; what on earth was there to be not fine about…' — character's voice, third-person frame, no 'she thought'." · "'the kind of pile that suggested either great care or a person with nothing else to do' — the narrator gently mocks Margaret's habit of mind." · "'Whatever it was she had felt during the call had moved, by now, into her hands' — the narrator names what the character cannot quite name."
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Find ONE clear free-indirect sentence. → 'She was, she told herself, fine — really, fine; what on earth was there to be not fine about…' — character's voice, third-person frame, no 'she thought'. | Find ONE ironising move toward the narrator. → 'the kind of pile that suggested either great care or a person with nothing else to do' — the narrator gently mocks Margaret's habit of mind. | Where is psychic third doing the work? → 'Whatever it was she had felt during the call had moved, by now, into her hands' — the narrator names what the character cannot quite name.
2.Retrieval race: in 60 seconds, list every word from this lesson you can remember, then check what you missed.
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narrative distance, an unreliable narrator, free indirect style, to inhabit (a voice), to ironise (the narrator), authorial sympathy / distance
3.Use "narrative distance" in a sentence about a completely different topic from the lesson.
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how close the narrator stands to the character
4.Use "an unreliable narrator" in a sentence about a completely different topic from the lesson.
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a narrator the reader is invited to distrust
5.Use "free indirect style" in a sentence about a completely different topic from the lesson.
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third-person narration coloured by the character's voice
6.Teach it back: explain Voice on the page: narrator, persona and free indirect style to someone who has never met it, in under 45 seconds.
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Narrative voice at C2: (a) EXTERNAL THIRD ('She walked in') keeps the narrator outside; (b) PSYCHIC THIRD ('She walked in, certain she would forget the speech') gives the narrator access; (c) FREE INDIRECT ('She walked in. What was she going to say?') puts the character's thought into third person without saying 'she thought'; (d) UNRELIABLE ('She walked in like a woman who knew exactly what she was doing — which, of course, she did not') signals doubt about the narrator's framing.
7.Which novelist do you trust most as a narrator, and why?