The Last Spin

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The Last Spin

• By Evan Hunter

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Unit Learning Intentions

• By the end of studying this text you will be able
  to
• Analyse characters and their relationship
• Discuss how the setting contributes to the themes
  and plot of the story
• Analyse the language used to create certain
  effects
• Explore and discuss the themes of the story
• Select relevant quotations to show certain
  themes/features of the story
• Construct and write a critical essay

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The Last Spin

• This is a short story set in America about gang
  violence.
• It tells the story of 2 boys Danny and Tigo
  who are from rival gangs who have been elected by
  their gangs to play a game of Russian Roulette to
  avoid too much violence on the streets.

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The Last Spin

• Learning Intentions
• By the end of the lesson you will be able to
• Show an understanding of the plot of the story
• Show an understanding of the structure of the
  story.

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The Last Spin

• Task One The Plot
• Write a summary of the story in your own words.
  Be sure to include the significant details of the
  story.
• Your summary should be between 50 and 100 words.

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The Last Spin

• For Example
• The Last Spin by Evan Hunter is about 2 boys
  called Danny and Tigo who have been elected by
  their respective gangs to solve a dispute by
  playing Russian Roulette. They are in a basement,
  taking turns to fire the gun and as the story
  progresses they realise they have a lot in common
  and become friends. They both decide to leave
  their gangs and Tigo suggests the next shot
  should be the last but sadly Danny is killed.

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The Last Spin

• Task Two The Ending
• Think about the ending of the story.
• Write the answers to the following questions IN
  FULL SENTENCES
• Did you expect it? If not, what did you expect?
• Do you think it was satisfying? Give reasons for
  your answer.
• Why do you think Evan Hunter chose to end the
  story this way?

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The Last Spin

• The story builds towards a climax (or turning
  point) a significant moment in the story where
  tension is at its highest and the outcome of the
  story is determined.
• What do you think the climax of the story is?
• In what way is it a turning point?

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The Last Spin

• The story builds towards a climax (or turning
  point) a significant moment in the story where
  tension is at its highest and the outcome of the
  story is determined.
• What do you think the climax of the story is?
• In what way is it a turning point?

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Themes

• Learning Intentions
• By the end of the lesson you will be able to
• Explain what the themes are in the story
• Justify your ideas with reference to the text.

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Themes

• As you already know, every text has a purpose
  behind it a message of viewpoint the writer
  wants to communicate to their readers.
• Today we are going to explore the themes of the
  story.
• What do you think the themes of the story are?

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Themes

• Some themes
• violence/gang violence N, K, C, H, K
• peer pressure C, L, C
• friendship S, R, C
• desire for escape S, A, L
• innocence J, S, D, A

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Themes

• Now, in your pair/small group, identify parts of
  the story that highlight your allocated theme.
• Be prepared to share your answers with the class,
  and to make notes on the other themes that others
  in the class have explored.

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Characters

• Learning Intentions
• By the end of todays lesson you will be able to
• Describe the characters personalities
• Pick out examples from the text to justify your
  ideas about the characters

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Characters

• This story could be described as intimate there
  are only two characters and they are sitting in a
  room for the whole story.
• The story is very heavy on dialogue to give us an
  insight into the characters personalities and
  feelings. Today, we explore them.

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Characters

• The class are going to be split in two one half
  looking at Danny, the other at Tigo.
• In your jotter, make detailed notes on the
  character you have been allocated. You can choose
  how you lay this out (bullet points, mind-map
  etc) but your notes must contain the following
  information

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Characters

• A profile of the character and how he changes
  throughout the story (use the beginning, middle
  and end structure)
• Quotations to support each of your claims about
  the character. In an essay you must be able to
  justify your opinions so this is good practice!

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Characters

• For Example
• Danny
• Start doesnt want to connect with Tigo The
  boy sitting opposite him was his enemy repeats
  enemy to enforce Dannys feelings.

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Setting and Language

• Learning Intentions
• By the end of this lesson you will be able to
• Comment on the setting and how it contributes to
  the overall impact of the story
• Identify features of the language used and how
  they contribute to the overall impact of the
  story.

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Setting and Language

• As has been stated before, this is a very
  intimate story in that it is quite small scale.
• In what way do you think the setting contributes
  to the themes/ideas/plot of the story?

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Setting and Language

• The setting is a small basement room where the
  two boys are sitting at either side of a table.
  This suggests the division between them the
  table separates them in the same way that their
  jackets do. The fact that the room is in a
  basement suggests how claustrophobic the place
  would be, mirroring how trapped the boys are by
  their situation. They are almost buried before
  the story even begins by being underground,
  suggesting that neither of them will escape no
  matter who dies.

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Setting and Language

• The language used in the story is quite basic.
  There is very little fancy description no
  similes or metaphors etc.
• Why do you think that might be?

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Setting and Language

• One possible reason is to let the characters lead
  the story the dialogue is the most evocative
  and tells the story more than the narrative. The
  characters personalities are revealed through
  their actions and words as opposed to the
  narrative voice telling us. This allows us to
  connect more with the characters as we learn
  about them more gradually.

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Setting and Language

• Take a moment to look back through the story and
  find the parts that contain description or
  examples of figurative language.
• Why are these parts described in detail but not
  others?

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Setting and Language

• Parts/things described in detail
• jackets different colours indicates different
  gangs therefore sets up enemy relationship
• Tigo Ds focus is on him because of their
  situation. Prepares us for their relationship and
  adds to shock with D is killed as we expect it to
  be T.
• gun a lot of focus on the gun because the boys
  are obviously very aware of it, and it is the
  only prop used. Its use drives the story onwards.
• Tigos reaction when Danny is killed the first
  instance of figurative language gives this moment
  impact as the violent imagery gives it prominence
  and highlights Ts pain.

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Critical Essay

• Learning Intentions
• By the end of this task you will be able to
• choose an appropriate question from a past paper
• construct an argument in response to the essay
  question
• select relevant areas of the text to discuss (in
  the form of quotations)

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Critical Essay

• This is one of the last critical essays we will
  write. It will be done as a practice and will be
  started in class and finished as homework.

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Critical Essay - Reminder

• For the first essay we wrote on poetry I taught
  you the 5 stages to writing an essay.
• What are they?

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Critical Essay - Reminder

1. Read the question BOTH parts
2. Identify the key words write them at the top of
   your answer paper
3. Plan the essay decide on main points, the order
   you will discuss them in and what evidence you
   will use
4. Write the essay using the PEA structure
5. Check it over does it make sense? Fix any
   mistakes technical accuracy can fail an essay.

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Critical Essay - Reminder

• I want to see evidence of ALL of these stages in
  the essay you hand in.
• Past papers Int 2 07, 08, 10, 11, 12
• Past papers Int 1 07, 08, 09, 10, 11, (12)

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PEA Structure- Reminder

• P stands for
• POINT the first sentence of your paragraph
  highlighting the main points in your argument
  (using key words from the task).
• E stands for
• EVIDENCE the reference to or quotation from the
  text that proves the point youve made.
• A stands for
• ANALYSIS your explanation of HOW the evidence
  proves the point you have made (using key words
  from the task).

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Success Criteria

• To be successful your essay should
• Follow the PEA structure
• Use key words from the question in your point and
  in your analysis
• Only use quotations that are relevant to the task
• Analyse in as much detail as you can
• Summarise the points youve made in your
  conclusion
• Make a judgement on how successful the writer has
  been in relation to the task.