One phrase for each job: Learn one or two phrases for each job in the oral. They work on any extract.
| Job | Phrases |
|---|---|
| Present | "This extract is taken from…" / "The scene takes place…" |
| Quote or describe | "As the narrator puts it, '…'" / "The metaphor of… suggests…" |
| Give an opinion | "I would argue that…" / "It could be argued that…" |
| Link | "Turning to…" / "This brings me to…" / "Beyond the novel, I think…" |
| Buy time | "Well, let me think…" / "What I mean is…" / "Do you mean…?" |
Stronger than 'says': Use a verb that interprets: suggests, reveals, emphasises, conveys.
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Three slips, three fixes: Here they are on the final scene of The Winter Kitchen, the invented practice novel.
Extract: the street festival (shortened): I stood behind the big pot in Rosa's old apron, which was too long for me, and served the winter soup to people I had walked past for months without seeing. A man from the new roastery asked what was in it. I told him the words, the real ones, and then I told him what they meant. Rosa, sitting on a chair by the door, did not correct me once.
Slip
- Only quoting: "Rosa does not correct her once."
- Mixing up voices: "The author wears Rosa's old apron."
- Hedging a fact: "Perhaps Mira serves the soup."
Fix
- Interpret: "Rosa 'did not correct me once', which suggests quiet pride."
- Narrator vs writer: "Mira wears the apron; the writer uses it to show she is growing into Rosa's place."
- Hedge the reading: "Mira serves the soup. It could be argued that she now belongs to the street."