Senses & Atmosphere — Around the World in Eighty Days

1

The Wager at the Reform Club

⏱ 4 min

📖 Your Story Begins…

You have made a foolish bet.

Accompanied only by your loyal servant, Passepartout, you will attempt to circumnavigate around the world in eighty days. You will feel the ice of the mountains and see the glittering desert sands. You will hear the voice of the jungle and taste the finest foods of Europe. You may even smell the money, if you return and claim your prize.

This will be a journey of the senses!

🧑‍🏫 Tutor:

The five senses are hugely important in your writing, and you should aim to use all of them when writing descriptively.

Why use senses in our writing?

1. They are a key part of imagery, when writers create pictures in the reader’s mind. When we think of a picture, we think only of the sense of sight, but imagery is more than that. We can hear the music, smell the perfume, taste countless flavours: we can feel imagery in every sense. So do not limit yourself to just what is seen — make your writing come alive.

2. Life (and writing) is also about emotion. We often call our senses ‘feelings’ for a reason. When we create a setting, we want to give it a mood. This is called atmosphere. A beach might have an excited atmosphere, a castle a haunted atmosphere, and a shop a busy atmosphere. You must decide your atmosphere before you start writing, and use all the senses to help create it.

Imagery

when writers create pictures in the reader’s mind. When we think of a picture, we think only of the sense of sight, but imagery is more than that. We can hear the music, smell the perfume, taste countless flavours: we can feel imagery in every sense.

Atmosphere

When we create a setting, we want to give it a mood. This is called atmosphere. A beach might have an excited atmosphere, a castle a haunted atmosphere, and a shop a busy atmosphere.

You must keep all your senses on full alert in order to survive this adventure… Use them, or lose your bet (or worse!).

2

Senses & Atmosphere

⏱ 5 min

🧑‍🏫 Tutor:
[Placeholder teaching — define atmosphere (the mood or feeling a setting creates) and the five senses writers use to build it: sight, sound, smell, taste, touch. Show one short Verne extract and label the senses.]

[Placeholder extract — short paragraph from Around the World in Eighty Days where senses are doing the work.]

🧠 Quick check: What does atmosphere mean in writing?

The weather described in a story The mood or feeling a setting creates The plot of the story

3

Around the World

⏱ 15 min

🧑‍🏫 Tutor:
Click each glowing pin on the globe to visit Fogg's stops. Each location has a sensory challenge — complete all four to win the bet and unlock the finale. Drag the globe to spin it.

Drag to spin · Click a pin to visit

Locations completed: 0 of 4

🐅Bandhavgarh Jungle, India

You are lost in the dense jungles of Bandhavgarh, India, famed for their Bengal tigers…

A forested wildlife landscape in central India, famous for its tigers and dense jungle.

🎧 Close Your Eyes & Listen. You've stepped off the elephant into the heart of the Bandhavgarh jungle. Press play and listen carefully — then write down three different sounds you can hear. Try to use a verb as well as the thing making the sound (e.g. "parakeets screeching" rather than just "birds").

Jungle ambience — Bandhavgarh

Press play to listen.

Tip: it loops — keep it playing while you write each sentence.

1

2

3

Sounds saved: 0 / 3

As night falls, something stirs in the dark…

🏜️Suez, Egypt

The mighty Suez Canal connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea. Ships pass through it endlessly beneath the ancient Egyptian sun. You will need to navigate carefully, and avoid being cooked…

📷 The Photographer's Eye. You've stepped off Fogg's steamer onto the dusty quay. Use your camera to scan the scene — drag the image, zoom in and out, then capture three different details. For each picture, write one sentence describing what you can see (the camels, the hillside, the heat shimmer…).

REC

×1.0

Tip: drag the image, scroll to zoom, or use ◀ ▲ ▼ ▶ and + / − keys.

Captioned photos: 0 / 3

By midday, the air begins to shimmer over the canal…

🏔️The Rocky Mountains, USA

You are travelling along a winding railway through the Rocky Mountains, the highest range in North America. Their beauty is matched only by their danger.

A vast mountain range cutting through the American west — snow, pines, and bitter, biting winds.

🌶️ Taste a feeling… Great writers can describe a feeling as if it had a flavour — fear, for example, isn't chocolatey, it's metallic. Match each emotion below to the taste that best captures it.

⚡ Tasting excitement

What might excitement taste like?

😨 Tasting fear

What might fear taste like?

💔 Tasting disappointment

What might disappointment taste like?

Questions answered: 0 / 3

Hours later, the engine begins to splutter…

🌊The Pacific Ocean

Welcome to the world’s largest and deepest ocean: the Pacific. Your ship sails above the 11,000-metre-deep Mariana Trench and past glorious coral reefs. Let us hope you can complete the journey without disaster…

🔍 Spotting Tactile Imagery. The calm has shattered. Search the wreck for things a writer could describe through touch — splinters, lashing rain, the cold weight of soaked timber. Click on five different areas of the painting that could be turned into tactile imagery.

Move your mouse across the painting — when the cursor changes, you've found a clickable detail. Each one reveals a tactile-imagery suggestion. (On a touch screen, just tap to explore.)

Tactile spots found: 0 / 5

The sky darkens. Something is coming…

4

Almost Home and Dry

⏱ 6 min

📖 The Atlantic Ocean

You are almost home and dry!

As you cross the Atlantic Ocean, your ship begins to run low on fuel…

You will need to use all your senses to stay alive.

🧑‍🏫 Tutor:

It’s time to test what you have learnt. Every question mistake loses a life — you have five in total. Spend them carefully…

1. What is imagery?

Just the pictures and drawings printed in a book Words that create pictures in the reader’s mind, using all the senses The plot of a story

2. What is atmosphere?

The weather described in a story The mood or feeling that a setting gives the reader The order of events in the story

3. Why is it important to use all five senses in your writing?

To make the writing longer Because readers can only really understand sight To bring the setting to life and build a stronger atmosphere

4. What does ‘balmy’ mean?

Bitterly cold and biting Pleasantly warm and comfortable Loud and chaotic

5. ✍ Writing challenge: use three senses to create a frightening atmosphere.

5

The World is Yours

⏱ 1 min

🏆

Congratulations!

📖 The Reform Club, Eighty Days Later

Nobody can quite believe their eyes.

You stride through the doors of the Reform Club to the gasps of the gentlemen within. Phileas Fogg has done the impossible. The wager is yours.

The world is yours.

£20,000 added to your inventory

—

Score

—

Lives

—

Time

🐅Bandhavgarh Jungle, India

🏜️Suez, Egypt

🏔️The Rocky Mountains, USA

🌊The Pacific Ocean

Passepartout to the rescue!

Congratulations!