debenham high school - home page€¦ · web viewword(s) to describe attitude quotation effect of...

Reading non-fiction texts

Cover

© www.teachit.co.uk 2015 24747 1


ContentsIntroduction .................................................................................................................................... 3

Text 1: Jane Austen’s letter to her sister, Cassandra Austen ................................................... 4Lesson 1 ............................................................................................................................... 8Lesson 2 ............................................................................................................................. 14

Text 2: The Guardian article: ‘Why teaching table manners can do more harm than good’ 20Lesson 1 ............................................................................................................................. 22Lesson 2 ............................................................................................................................. 26

Text 3: Excerpt taken from The Elephant Man and Other Reminiscences by Sir Frederick Treves ................................................................................................................................ 30Lesson 1 ............................................................................................................................. 33Lesson 2 ............................................................................................................................. 41

Text 4: Excerpt taken from My Left Foot by Christy Brown ..................................................... 48Lesson 1 ............................................................................................................................. 51Lesson 2 ............................................................................................................................. 53

Text 5: Charlotte Brontë’s letter to her father ............................................................................ 57Lesson 1 ............................................................................................................................. 59Lesson 2 ............................................................................................................................. 65

Text 6: Excerpt from A History of Modern Britain by Andrew Marr ........................................ 69Lesson 1 ............................................................................................................................. 71Lesson 2 ............................................................................................................................. 75

Text 7: Excerpt from Henry Morley, Household Words, ‘Our Phantom Ship: China’ ............ 82Lesson 1 ............................................................................................................................. 84Lesson 2 ............................................................................................................................. 88

Text 8: Excerpt from Behind the Wall by Colin Thubron .......................................................... 95Lesson 1 ............................................................................................................................. 98Lesson 2 ........................................................................................................................... 100

Text 9: Excerpt from Charles Darwin The Voyage of the Beagle .......................................... 105Lesson 1 ........................................................................................................................... 107Lesson 2 ........................................................................................................................... 112

Text 10: Excerpt from Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence ............................................................ 120Lesson 1 ........................................................................................................................... 122Lesson 2 ........................................................................................................................... 126

Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................... 129Extended, printable version of Kevin Rudd’s speech ....................................................... 130



Introduction

This GCSE pack is designed to help students engage with and prepare for the reading

non-fiction elements of the GCSE English Language specifications (2015). It contains 10

non-fiction texts from the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. Each non-fiction text has a

thematically linked ‘partner text’. This means that the texts can be taught discretely, or in

partnership with one another (looking at differences in perspective, context, language

and/or attitudes).

In addition to the non-fiction texts, the pack includes 20 lesson plans, accompanying

resources and suggestions for differentiation.

The pack has been devised for use with the English Language AQA, Edexcel, OCR and

WJEC Eduqas specifications. There are specific resources and exam practice questions

for each of these specifications included within the pack. The activities and ideas will help

students to: read and evaluate texts critically, compare ideas and perspectives across two

or more texts and analyse the use of language and structure to achieve effects and

influence the reader.

Which texts and activities you choose to study, and how many you use, will depend on the

nature of your classes and how much time you have available. The intention is that you

pick the activities that are best suited to your students’ needs.

Our thanks go to our contributor, Helen Millman Jones who wrote this pack.

We hope you enjoy using this pack. If you have any questions, please get in touch: email

[email protected] or call us on 01225 788850. Alternatively, you might like to give

some feedback for other Teachit members – you can do this by adding a comment on the

resource page on Teachit. (Please log in to access this.)


mailto:[email protected]

http://www.teachit.co.uk/reading-non-fiction-texts

Reading non-fiction, Text 1: Jane Austen’s letter

Text 1: Jane Austen’s letter to her sister, Cassandra Austen

XXXIII

Godmersham Park: Saturday (August 24)

MY DEAR CASSANDRA,

How do you do; and how is Harriot’s cold? I hope you

are at this time sitting down to answer these questions.

Our visit to Eastwell was very agreeable; I found Ly.

Gordon’s manners as pleasing as they had been

described, and saw nothing to dislike in Sir Janison,

excepting once or twice a sort of sneer at Mrs. Anne

Finch. He was just getting into talk with Elizabeth as the

carriage was ordered, but during the first part of the visit

he said very little.

Your going with Harriot was highly approved of by

everyone, and only too much applauded as an act of

virtue on your part. I said all I could to lessen your

merit. The Mrs. Finches were afraid you would find

Goodnestone very dull; I wished when I heard them say

so that they could have heard Mr. E. Bridges’ solicitude

on the subject, and have known all the amusements

that were planned to prevent it.

They were very civil to me, as they always are; fortune

was also very civil to me in placing Mr. E. Hatton by me

at dinner. I have discovered that Lady Elizabeth, for a

woman of her age and situation, has astonishingly little

to say for herself, and that Miss Hatton has not much

more. Her eloquence lies in her fingers; they were most

fluently harmonious.



George is a fine boy, and well behaved, but Daniel

chiefly delighted me; the good humour of his

countenance is quite bewitching. After tea we had a

cribbage-table, and he and I won two rubbers of his

brother and Mrs. Mary. Mr. Brett was the only person

there, besides our two families.

It was considerably past eleven before we were at

home, and I was so tired as to feel no envy of those

who were at Ly. Yates’ ball. My good wishes for its

being a pleasant one were, I hope, successful.

Yesterday was a very quiet day with us; my noisiest

efforts were writing to Frank, and playing at battledore

and shuttlecock with William; he and I have practised

together two mornings, and improve a little; we have

frequently kept it up three times, and once or twice six.

The two Edwards went to Canterbury in the chaise, and

found Mrs. Knight, as you found her, I suppose, the day

before, cheerful but weak. Fanny was met walking with

Miss Sharp and Miss Milles, the happiest being in the

world; she sent a private message to her mamma

implying as much. “Tell mamma that I am quite

Palmerstone!" If little Lizzy used the same language

she would, I dare say, send the same message from

Goodnestone.

In the evening we took a quiet walk round the farm, with

George and Henry to animate us by their races and

merriment. Little Edward is by no means better, and his

papa and mamma have determined to consult Dr.

Wilmot. Unless he recovers his strength beyond what is

now probable, his brothers will return to school without

him, and he will be of the party to Worthing. If sea-

bathing should be recommended he will be left there



with us, but this is not thought likely to happen.

I have been used very ill this morning: I have received a

letter from Frank which I ought to have had when

Elizabeth and Henry had theirs, and which in its way

from Albany to Godmersham has been to Dover and

Steventon. It was finished on ye 16th, and tells what

theirs told before as to his present situation; he is in a

great hurry to be married, and I have encouraged him in

it, in the letter which ought to have been an answer to

his. He must think it very strange that I do not

acknowledge the receipt of his, when I speak of those

of the same date to Eliz. and Henry; and to add to my

injuries, I forgot to number mine on the outside.

I have found your white mittens; they were folded up

within my clean nightcap, and send their duty to you.

Elizabeth has this moment proposed a scheme which

will be very much for my pleasure if equally convenient

to the other party; it is that when you return on Monday,

I should take your place at Goodnestone for a few days.

Harriot cannot be insincere, let her try for it ever so

much, and therefore I defy her to accept this self-

invitation of mine, unless it be really what perfectly suits

her. As there is no time for an answer, I shall go in the

carriage on Monday, and can return with you, if my

going on to Goodnestone is at all inconvenient.

The Knatchbulls come on Wednesday to dinner, and

stay only till Friday morning at the latest. Frank’s letter

to me is the only one that you or I have received since

Thursday.

Mr. Hall walked off this morning to Ospringe, with no

inconsiderable booty. He charged Elizabeth 5s. for

every time of dressing her hair, and 5s. for every lesson



to Sace, allowing nothing for the pleasures of his visit

here, for meat, drink, and lodging, the benefit of country

air, and the charms of Mrs. Salkeld’s and Mrs. Sace’s

society. Towards me he was as considerate as I had

hoped for from my relationship to you, charging me only

2s. 6d. for cutting my hair, though it was as thoroughly

dressed after being cut for Eastwell as it had been for

the Ashford assembly. He certainly respects either our

youth or our poverty.

My writing to you to-day prevents Elizabeth writing to

Harriot, for which evil I implore the latter’s pardon. Give

my best love to her, and kind remembrance to her

brothers.

Yours very affectionately,

J. A.

You are desired to bring back with you Henry’s picture

of Rowling for the Misses Finches.

As I find, on looking into my affairs, that instead of

being very rich I am likely to be very poor, I cannot

afford more than ten shillings for Sackree; but as we

are to meet in Canterbury I need not have mentioned

this. It is as well, however, to prepare you for the sight

of a sister sunk in poverty, that it may not overcome

your spirits.

Elizabeth hopes you will not be later here on Monday

than five o’clock, on Lizzy’s account.

We have heard nothing from Henry since he went.

Daniel told us that he went from Ospringe in one of the

coaches.




Lesson 1

Starter activity

1. Quick quiz. Put students into teams and give them five minutes (timing them with the Teachit Timer) to write down as many facts as possible about Jane Austen, such as when she lived, which books she wrote, where she lived etc.

2. Alternatively, give the Jane Austen: true or false quiz resource to each team. Based on their findings, ask students to predict what information a letter from Jane Austen to her sister might contain.

Main activities

1. The name game. While you read the letter to your students, ask them to underline or highlight all of the proper nouns in the letter. They do not need to know all of these references, but the most significant ones are included as footnotes in the text.

Ask students to consider the high frequency of proper nouns – people and places – and what that might suggest about Jane Austen’s life and her letters.

2. Uncovering context: What was life like in 1805? Get students to consider the lifestyle presented in the letter by completing the Uncovering context activity sheet. This is a useful activity for context, but also addresses Assessment Objective 1: Identify and interpret explicit and implicit information and ideas and Select and synthesise evidence from different texts.

There is a differentiated version of this task.



Plenary activity

3. Language change. Ask students to identify all of the features of the letter which indicate that it was written in the 19th century. You might like to show students the vocabulary table below and ask them to write a modern equivalent for the words in bold. (Note: this is also available as an interactive matching activity.)

Jane Austen’s phrase Modern equivalent

Our visit to Eastwell was very agreeable

Excepting once or twice

Fortune was also very civil to me

With George and Henry to animate us

With their races and merriment

His papa and mamma

Have determined to consult

He will be of the party to Worthing

I have been used very ill

I implore the latter’s pardon



Lesson 1 resources

Jane Austen: true or false quiz

Statement True (tick) False (cross)

Jane Austen wrote Wuthering Heights.

Jane Austen had three children.

Jane Austen was American.

When Jane Austen was alive, Queen Elizabeth I was on the throne.

Jane Austen lived in Bristol for some of her life.

Jane Austen wrote about vampires.

Jane Austen wrote Pride and Prejudice.

Jane Austen lived in the Georgian era of British history.

Jane Austen’s father was a vicar.

One of Jane Austen’s heroes is called Mr Darcy.

Jane Austen travelled all over the world during her life.



Uncovering context: What was life like in 1805?

Find a quotation from Jane Austen’s letter to support each of the following statements about society in the early 19th century.

1. The postal service took a long time and was often unreliable.

2. People travelled by horse and carriage.

3. Items of clothing were expensive and not easily replaced.

4. Letter writing was the main method of communication between family members who lived a distance away.

5. People were entertained by traditional games and activities.

6. The upper classes were invited to many social events.

7. Letters were a means of sharing gossip.

8. Medical treatments were fairly primitive.

9. Children were expected to behave well.



Uncovering context: What was life like in 1805? Differentiated version

Match up the following statements about society in the early 19th century with a quotation from Jane Austen’s letter

1. The postal service took a long time and was often unreliable.

A. ‘my noisiest efforts were writing to Frank, and playing at battledore and shuttlecock with William …’

2. People travelled by horse and carriage.

B. ‘I have discovered that Lady Elizabeth, for a woman of her age and situation, has astonishingly little to say for herself …’

3. Items of clothing were expensive and not easily replaced.

C. ‘How do you do; and how is Harriot’s cold?’

4. Letter writing was the main method of communication between family members who lived a distance away.

D. ‘If sea-bathing should be recommended he will be left there with us.’

5. People were entertained by traditional games and activities.

E. ‘I have received a letter from Frank …which in its way from Albany to Godmersham has been to Dover and Steventon.’

6. The upper classes were invited to many social events.

F. ‘The two Edwards went to Canterbury in the chaise …’

7. Letters were a means of sharing gossip.

G. ‘George is a fine boy, and well behaved, but Daniel chiefly delighted me …’

8. Medical treatments were fairly primitive.

H. ‘I have found your white mittens … and send their duty to you …’

9. Children were expected to behave well.

I. ‘I was so tired as to feel no envy of those who were at Ly. Yates’ ball.’



Interactive resources


We’ve included a screenshot of the interactive version here so you can see the resource. To access this resource please log in to the Teachit website and search for ‘24832’ or click here.

http://www.teachit.co.uk/

http://www.teachit.co.uk/index.php?CurrMenu=8&resource=24832



Lesson 2

Starter activity

1. Picture clues quiz. Put students into teams and show them the Picture clues. The idea is that they find a quotation from the letter to illustrate each of the pictures.

Main activities

1. Breaking it down. Give students a copy of the Reading non-fiction text analysis grid which offers students a framework for analysing a single text. Alternatively, give students the Reading non-fiction text comparison grid and ask them to complete the first column, in readiness for a comparison task.

2. Exam Pic’n’mix. The following exam-style questions are tailored to suit different specifications. They all address the following Assessment Objectives:

AO2

Explain, comment on and analyse how writers use language and structure to achieve effects and influence readers, using relevant subject terminology to support their views

AO4

Evaluate texts critically and support this with appropriate textual references.

Ask students to write a plan for one of the following exam-style questions, according to the specification you are following. (Note: All of the points on students’ plans should be supported with a relevant quotation.)



AQA-style question

How does Jane Austen use language to explain and describe her experiences?

OCR-style question

Explore how Jane Austen uses language and structure to explain and describe her experiences.Support your ideas by referring to the text, using relevant subject terminology.

Edexcel-style question

Analyse how Jane Austen uses language and structure to interest and engage her reader.

Support your views with detailed reference to the text.

Eduqas/WJEC-style question

Jane Austen sets out to explain and describe her experiences to her sister. How does she do this?

You should comment on:

what she says about her experiences

her use of language and tone

the way she structures her ideas.

Plenary activity

1. Discuss and evaluate. Share examples from students’ plans and discuss the ways in which they are effective.

Extension/ homework activity

Exam practice. Ask students to write the answer which they have planned.



Lesson 2 resources

Picture clues

A B

C D

E F

G H

I



Answers

A. ‘playing at battledore and shuttlecock with William …’

B. ‘I was so tired to feel no envy of those who were at Ly. Yates’ ball.’

C. ‘I have found your white mittens …’

D. ‘Our visit to Eastwell was very agreeable …’

E. ‘The two Edwards went to Canterbury in the chaise.’ or ‘‘He was just getting into talk

with Elizabeth as the carriage was ordered.’

F. ‘If sea-bathing should be recommended he will be left there with us …’

G. ‘Her eloquence lies in her fingers; they were most fluently harmonious.’

H. ‘I have received a letter from Frank …’

I. ‘After tea we had a cribbage-table …’



Reading non-fiction text analysis grid

Feature of text Text 1

Content and ideas – what is the text about?

Audience – who is the text aimed at?

Purpose – why might the text have been written?

What do you notice about the writer’s perspective and/or attitudes?

What do you notice about:a. the text’s style andb. the text’s

language?

What do you notice about the text’s organisation and structure?

What are your thoughts on the text’s format (layout and presentation)?



Reading non-fiction text comparison grid

Feature of text Text 1 Text 2

Content and ideas – what is the text about?

Audience – who is the text aimed at?

Purpose – why might the text have been written?

What do you notice about the writer’s perspective and/or attitudes?

What do you notice about:a. the text’s

style andb. the text’s

language?

What do you notice about the text’s organisation and structure?

What are your thoughts on the text’s format (layout and presentation)?


Reading non-fiction, Text 2: Table manners Guardian article

Text 2: The Guardian article: ‘Why teaching table manners can do more harm than good’?

Why teaching table manners can do more harm than good

It might be messy, but children should

play with their food to stop them

becoming fussy eaters. What are your

rules at mealtimes?

My seven-year-old daughter has a friend

round for dinner. They’re pretending that

raspberries are lipstick and squidging

them against their lips, with lots of giggles

and red-stained fingers. I could object.

Instead, I smile and start loading the

dishwasher.

It’s not that I think table manners are

entirely unimportant. I have no intention

of raising slurpy, finger-licking, face-

smearing chimps. But I’ve always

instinctively felt that if I wanted my

children to grow up with a positive, happy,

healthy, adventurous attitude to food,

nagging them from a young age to

behave like mini adults at the dinner table

was going to be counterproductive. Not

only would it create tensions at the table,

it would crush their enthusiasm and open-

mindedness towards food pretty damn

quickly.

My own childhood memories of

mealtimes are still marred by my mum

constantly pestering me to hold my knife

right and telling me off for sculpting faces

in my Angel Delight with my spoon. No, if

I wanted my children to explore food by

eating it, I was going to have to relax and

let them explore it in any other ways, too.

Food is, after all, multisensory. It doesn’t

appeal to us through taste alone. The

smell of freshly baking bread can sell

houses. The colour of the inside of a

perfectly ripe avocado is good enough to

be painted on living room walls. And the

snap of a carrot stick is a rather satisfying

sound. A young child learns about the

world directly through their senses. Just

as a five- or six-month-old puts toys in

their mouth as part of their developmental

process, so babies and toddlers naturally

want to touch food, feel it, squidge it,

squelch it, sniff it and see what noises it

makes. It’s not a substitute for eating, or a

distraction from it. It’s an important part of

learning to love food and to be

comfortable around it.


Reading non-fiction, Text 2: Table manners Guardian article

Anna Groom is a lead NHS paediatric

dietitian. She works with children who are

“selective eaters” (fussy buggers to you

and me) on a daily basis. “It’s really

important to let children explore the

sensory side of food as a whole – not just

what it tastes like,” she says. “It makes it

more familiar to them. It makes them feel

‘safe’ with it.” The idea is that they are

more likely to try it, and less likely to

become fussy.

She points out that the emphasis on

keeping everything clean and tidy and

under control at mealtimes often starts at

weaning. Watch many a parent feeding

her baby and notice how they scrape the

spoon around the baby’s mouth after

each mouthful, how they hold the bowl at

arm’s reach when the baby swipes for it

eagerly. Yet exposure to a food, she

explains – any exposure – is a vital first

step, whether the child eats it or not.

“When I work with children who have

become phobic about a particular food, I

get them to draw it, touch it, play with it,

smell it, kiss it, lick it!”

So – even at age seven – I will continue

to let my daughter mould sand dunes out

of her rice, make a clown’s nose out of

cherry tomato or put a blob of peanut

butter on her boiled egg just to see what it

tastes like. I am teaching her table

manners, but I’m doing it gradually and

gently. In fact, I believe it has the most

impact when I talk to her about them

away from the table, when she’s not

hungry and trying to enjoy her food. The

other day, as she was engrossed in using

her fork to make fossil patterns in her

mashed potato, she looked up and said:

“You know Mummy, I wouldn’t do this if I

was in a restaurant.”

My other child is now 14. He has always

eaten everything and anything that comes

his way, with the exception of raw tomato.

How are his table manners? Pretty good.

I’ve noticed he still likes to have a

(discreet) animalistic sniff of a frankfurter

before he puts it in his mouth, but he

knows how to eat politely and conform to

society’s expectations.

By the time I’ve finished loading the

dishwasher, the girls have gone off to

play. I go to clear the last things from the

table. The squashed raspberries have all

been eaten.


Text 2: The Guardian article: ‘Why teaching table manners can do more harm than good’

Lesson 1

Starter activity

1. Discussing the topic. Share and translate the following table manners written by the six-year-old son of Chris Cleave, a Guardian writer.

1. sit on your cher nislee

2. eetign nislee

3. ask if yoy can get out ov the taibl

4. sai pleez and tank you

5. Lai the taibl

6. cleen away the tayb

7. chry evreefing on your food plat

Ask the class to imagine that they are parents.

What order would they place the statements in (working from most to least important)?

What other table manners would they put on their lists?

Extension

You may wish to share The Guardian article by Chris Cleave at Down with the kids: table manners | Life and style | The Guardian

Main activities

1. Summary skills (AO1, AO4). Once you’ve read the article with the class, ask students to complete the Summarise and attack worksheet. This involves getting students to put the writer’s main points in the order in which they appear. It also draws a distinction between arguments and anecdotes or personal experiences, which are used alongside each other in this article. (Note: This is also available as an interactive sequencing activity) The counter argument activity will also prepare students for the writing task which follows.

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2010/feb/27/chris-cleave-down-with-kids-manners

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2010/feb/27/chris-cleave-down-with-kids-manners

2. Letter to The Guardian. The next task addresses the following writing assessment objectives:

AO5

Communicate clearly, effectively and imaginatively, selecting and adapting tone, style and register for different forms, purposes and audience. Organise information and ideas, using structural and grammatical features to support coherence and cohesion and texts.

AO6

Use a range of vocabulary and sentence structures for clarity, purpose and effect with accurate spelling and punctuation.

Before tackling a whole writing task, share examples of possible counter arguments which might be used to challenge the writer’s views.

Then ask students to write a letter to The Guardian, arguing that teaching table manners to children is important. They should counter the arguments in the article and develop at least two new ideas of their own.

It will be helpful to remind students about:

topic sentences

formal letter layout

connectives.

Students should be reminded to refer to the original article in their letter.

Plenary activity

1. Right to reply. Ask students to consider how the writer would respond to their letter if it was printed in The Guardian. What might she say to demolish their counter arguments?

Collect a few examples on the board and try to demolish these as a class.

Lesson 1 resources

Summarise and attack

Number these summary statements in the order in which they appear in the article:

q Parental control around food can cause children to be phobic about food.

q When I was young food was used as a means of discipline.

q My eldest child is not a fussy eater. He still enjoys the sensory aspect of food but understands society’s expectations.

q Enjoyment of food is more important than table manners.

q I allow my child to play with her food because she understands in which situations it is appropriate and in which it isn’t.

q My child likes to play with food and I let her.

q Food naturally lends itself to sensory exploration.

q Failure to allow children to explore food can often turn them into fussy eaters.

Which of the above statements are arguments? Highlight these in one colour.

Which of the above statements are anecdotes or personal opinion? Highlight these in a different colour to the one used for question 2.

Now look at the arguments. Underneath each one, write down a counter argument to challenge it.

Write up your counter argument. You may wish to use the following structure for your points:

Although the writer states that … , I would argue …

I strongly disagree with the view that … ; on the contrary, I believe that …

Text 2: The Guardian article: ‘Why teaching table manners can do more harm than good’

Lesson 2

Starter activity

1. Text features. Ask students to identify the features of this text which make it fit the purpose of argue and persuade. Share the following checklist of features and ask students to find an example of each:

facts

opinions

rhetorical devices

quotes from a reliable source/ expert opinion

personal experience/ anecdote

circular structure

Ask students if they can identify a secondary purpose for the text from this list:

explain

inform

describe

entertain

advise

Main activities

1. Exploring food, exploring language (AO2, AO4). Ask students to complete the worksheet exploring the effects of language in the text. They should identify the technique being used by the writer and consider its effect. This resource leads into a short exam-style answer. There is also a differentiated version of this resource.

2. Prepare to compare. If you are preparing students for the AQA, OCR or WJEC Eduqas specifications you might like to ask students to compare this text with the Jane Austen letter by completing the Text comparison grid. Having completed the comparison grid, you can ask students to ‘zoom in’ on one or two sections of the grid and write a short comparative answer to a sample question such as:

How do the two writers use language and structure to engage and interest their readers?

If you are preparing students for the Edexcel specification, you may wish to find a 20th century text to pair up with the 21st century Guardian article or give students the Text analysis grid so that they can work on this single text.

If you are using the single text approach, then you can ask students to ‘zoom in’ on one aspect of the grid for detailed analysis.

Plenary activity

1. Advice for Parents. Tell students that they have been asked to write an advice sheet for parents who want to know how best to introduce their toddler to food. Get them into groups and ask them to write down about five or so examples of advice that they’d give. Then share the suggestions as a class.

Lesson 2 resources

Exploring food, exploring language

1. Complete the following grid:

Quotation Technique Effect

‘What are your rules at

mealtimes?’rhetorical question

‘I could object.’ short sentence

‘slurpy, finger-licking,

face-smearing chimps’

pattern of three

metaphor

compound adjectives

‘babies and toddlers

naturally want to touch

food, feel it, squidge it,

squelch it, sniff it and

see what noises it

makes.’

list of sensory verbs

‘fussy buggers to you

and me’use of slang

‘I will continue to let my

daughter mould sand

dunes out of her rice,

make a clown’s nose

out of a cherry tomato or

put a blob of peanut

butter on her boiled

egg.’

pattern of three

metaphor

‘I’ve noticed he still likes

to have a (discreet)

animalistic sniff of a

frankfurter.’

humour

adjective

2. Now have a go at this exam-style question:

How does the writer use language to engage the reader with her opinions about table manners?

Choose at least three of the examples from your grid to write about.

Reading non-fiction, Text 3: The Elephant Man

Text 3: Excerpt taken from The Elephant Man and Other Reminiscences by Sir Frederick Treves

The shop was empty and grey with dust. Some old tins and a few

shrivelled potatoes occupied a shelf and some vague vegetable

refuse the window. The light of the place was dim, being obscured by

the painted placard outside. The far end of the shop – where I expect

the late proprietor sat at a desk – was cut off by a curtain or rather by

a red tablecloth suspended from a cord by a few rings. The room was

cold and dank, for it was the month of November. The year, I might

say, was 1884.

The showman pulled back the curtain and revealed a bent figure

crouching on a stool and covered by a brown blanket. In front of it, on

a tripod, was a large brick heated by a Bunsen burner. Over this the

creature was huddled to warm itself. It never moved when the curtain

was drawn back. Locked up in an empty shop and lit by the faint blue

light of the gas jet, this hunched-up figure was the embodiment of

loneliness. It might have been a captive in a cavern or a wizard

watching for unholy manifestations in the ghostly flame. Outside the

sun was shining and one could hear the footsteps of the passers-by,

a tune whistled by a boy and the companionable hum of traffic in the

road.

The showman – speaking as if to a dog – called out harshly: “Stand

up!” The thing arose slowly and let the blanket that covered its head

and back fall to the ground. There stood revealed the most disgusting


specimen of humanity that I have ever seen. In the course of my

profession I had come upon lamentable deformities of the face due to

injury or disease, as well as mutilations and contortions of the body

depending upon like causes; but at no time had I met with such a

degraded or perverted version of a human being as this lone figure

displayed. He was naked to the waist, his feet were bare, he wore a

pair of threadbare trousers that had once belonged to some fat

gentleman’s dress suit.

From the intensified painting in the street I had imagined the

Elephant Man to be of gigantic size. This, however, was a little man

below the average height and made to look shorter by the bowing of

his back. The most striking feature about him was his enormous and

misshapened head. From the brow there projected a huge bony

mass like a loaf, while from the back of the head hung a bag of

spongy, fungous-looking skin, the surface of which was comparable

to a brown cauliflower. On the top of the skull were a few long lank

hairs. The osseous growth on the forehead almost occluded one eye.

The circumference of the head was no less than that of the man’s

waist. From the upper jaw there projected another mass of bone. It

protruded from the mouth like a pink stump, turning the upper lip

inside out and making of the mouth a mere slobbering aperture. This

growth from the jaw had been so exaggerated in the painting as to

appear to be a rudimentary trunk or tusk. The nose was merely a

lump of flesh, only recognizable as a nose from its position. The face

was no more capable of expression than a block of gnarled wood.

The back was horrible, because from it hung, as far down as the

middle of the thigh, huge, sack-like masses of flesh covered by the

same loathsome cauliflower skin.


The right arm was of enormous size and shapeless. It suggested the

limb of the subject of elephantiasis. It was overgrown also with

pendent masses of the same cauliflower-like skin. The hand was

large and clumsy – a fin or paddle rather than a hand. There was no

distinction between the palm and the back. The thumb had the

appearance of a radish, while the fingers might have been thick,

tuberous roots. As a limb it was almost useless. The other arm was

remarkable by contrast. It was not only normal but was, moreover, a

delicately shaped limb covered with fine skin and provided with a

beautiful hand which any woman might have envied. From the chest

hung a bag of the same repulsive flesh. It was like a dewlap

suspended from the neck of a lizard. The lower limbs had the

characters of the deformed arm. They were unwieldy, dropsical

looking and grossly misshapened.

To add a further burden to his trouble the wretched man, when a boy,

developed hip disease, which had left him permanently lame, so that

he could only walk with a stick. He was thus denied all means of

escape from his tormentors. As he told me later, he could never run

away. One other feature must be mentioned to emphasize his

isolation from his kind. Although he was already repellent enough,

there arose from the fungous skin-growth with which he was almost

covered a very sickening stench which was hard to tolerate. From the

showman I learnt nothing about the Elephant Man, except that he

was English, that his name was John Merrick and that he was

twenty-one years of age.



Lesson 1

Starter activity

1. Complete the Pre-reading activity which compares an extract from this text with an extract from The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells.

After students have completed the task, let them know the following:

Text 1 is an extract from the science fiction novel The War Of The Worlds by H. G. Wells. This novel – which was first published in 1897 – describes the effects of a Martian invasion. In this extract, the narrator describes his first sighting of the Martian.

Text 2 is an extract from the memoirs of Sir Frederick Treves, a prominent surgeon at the London Hospital. In this extract, Treves describes his first encounter with Joseph (John) Merrick the severely disabled man who was put on display as part of a freak show and became known as The Elephant Man.

Ask students to think about their reactions to these texts:

Does the contextual information now lead them to view them differently? Why? Why not?

Main activities

1. First impressions. Read the first three paragraphs of the text and ask students to answer the following questions:

What sort of mood and atmosphere is conveyed by the description of the setting in the first paragraph?

What are the writer’s first impressions of The Elephant Man and the way in which he is treated?

How would you describe the writer’s attitude towards The Elephant Man in paragraph three?


2. Unpicking imagery. Read the description of The Elephant Man in paragraphs four and five and ask students to complete the Unpicking imagery grid, finding an example of imagery to match each body part. (Differentiation – a simpler matching activity is also available as an interactive matching activity.)

Students should then be encouraged to consider why the writer has used such comparisons and explain the effects of the comparisons chosen by the writer. It might be helpful to share ideas about which comparison is most vivid or most unpleasant.

3. Introducing exam skills (AO2, AO4). Give students the following shorter AQA-style question:

AQA-style question

How does the writer use language to describe The Elephant Man?

Answers should be structured in clear paragraphs and be supported by quotations from the text. (Note: if short on time, students could plan their answer using bullet points and supporting quotations. Alternatively, this could be a homework task.)

Plenary activity

1. Word detective (also available as an interactive matching activity ). Give students the following words from the text and ask them to match them up by guessing their meaning in the context of the article:

dank (adj) made from bone

manifestations (n) an opening or hole

osseous (adj) something which is seen or appears

occluded (vb) something which is crude or basic

aperture (n) hanging down

rudimentary (adj) obstructed or closed

pendent (adj) unpleasantly damp and cold


Lesson 1 resources

Pre-reading activity

Task 1

Read (or listen to your teacher read) the two extracts below. As you read/listen, try to work out what might be being described.

Extract 1

A big greyish rounded bulk, the size, perhaps, of a bear, was rising slowly and painfully … As it bulged up and caught the light, it glistened like wet leather. Two large dark-coloured eyes were regarding me steadfastly. The mass that framed them, the head of the thing, was rounded, and had, one might say, a face. There was a mouth under the eyes, the lipless brim of which quivered and panted, and dropped saliva. The whole creature heaved and pulsated convulsively… There was something fungoid in the oily brown skin… Even at this first encounter, this first glimpse, I was overcome with disgust and dread.

Extract 2

The thing arose slowly and let the blanket that covered its head fall back to the ground. There stood revealed the most disgusting specimen of humanity that I have ever seen … The most striking feature about him was his enormous and misshapened head. From the brow there projected a huge bony mass like a loaf, while from the back of the head hung a bag of spongy, fungous-looking skin, the surface of which was comparable to a brown cauliflower … From the upper jaw there projected another mass of bone. It protruded from the mouth like a pink stump, turning the upper lip inside out and making of the mouth a mere slobbering aperture.

Task 2

Your teacher will now give you some contextual (background) information on the texts. Does this information surprise you? Does it cause you to view the subjects that are described any differently? If so, why?


Task 3

Now complete the table below, making notes in each box.

Extract 1 Extract 2

the creature or subject

how language is used to create description

attitudes

similarities

differences


Unpicking imagery

Task 1

Complete the following grid by doing a ‘close reading’ of paragraphs four and five of the text in which The Elephant Man is described in detail.

Part of body Comparison Effect of comparison

the face

the hand

the skin

the brow

the thumb

the chest

the fingers


Task 2

Choose the comparison you think is most effective / works best. What effect does the language have? What feelings or response does it create in you, as a reader?

Task 3

Now think about why the writer has chosen to use such comparisons. Discuss this with your partner.



Lesson 2

Starter activity

1. Whizzy wiki. Give out the Wikipedia factsheet on The Elephant Man and Frederick Treves. Split the class into two halves and see how many facts they can pick out about their key person in five minutes. Use the Teachit Timer to introduce an element of competition. Share facts on the board.

Discuss what new information students have learned about The Elephant Man and the writer of this text.

Main activities

1. Elephant Man attitudes. Consider the attitudes and perspective of the writer by completing the resource on Frederick Treves: Attitudes towards The Elephant Man. (There are differentiated versions of this task and the tasks build towards answering an exam-style question. The first resource is aimed at middle to lower ability students while the second resource is aimed at higher ability students and contains a less scaffolded approach.)

2. A doctor’s viewpoint. Share ideas with the class and gather a consensus about Treves’ overall attitude. Ask students to consider his medical perspective – how did this affect his attitude/perspective on his subject?


Plenary activities

1. More on Merrick. Share these statements which appear later in Treves’ journal as he recounts his regular visits to Merrick once he was given a ‘home’ in the London Hospital. Ask students whether these alter their perceptions of The Elephant Man?

‘I found Merrick … remarkably intelligent. He had learnt to read and had become a most voracious reader.’

‘He had a passion for conversation, yet all his life had had no one to talk to.’

‘He showed himself to be a gentle, affectionate and lovable creature … free from any trace of cynicism or resentment, without a grievance and without an unkind word for anyone.’

2. Disabilities then and now. Ask class to discuss the following:

To what extent have society’s attitudes towards disabled people changed since John Merrick was alive in the 19th century?

What can we learn, if anything, from his story?

The above discussion will lead into Text 4 which deals with the experiences of the writer and painter Christy Brown. You might wish to bridge the two resources by asking students to complete some research about Christy Brown’s life.


Lesson 2 resources

Whizzy wiki: Factsheet on The Elephant Man and Frederick Treves

Joseph Carey Merrick (5 August 1862 – 11 April 1890), sometimes incorrectly referred to as John Merrick, was an English man with severe deformities who was exhibited as a human curiosity named the Elephant Man. He became well known in London society after he went to live at the London Hospital. Merrick was born in Leicester, Leicestershire and began to develop abnormally during the first few years of his life. His skin appeared thick and lumpy, he developed enlarged lips, and a bony lump grew on his forehead. One of his arms and both of his feet became enlarged and at some point during his childhood he fell and damaged his hip, resulting in permanent lameness. When he was 10, his mother died, and his father soon remarried. Merrick left school at 13 and had difficulty finding employment. Rejected by his father and stepmother, he left home. In late 1879, Merrick, aged 17, entered the Leicester Union Workhouse.

In 1884, after four years in the workhouse, Merrick contacted a showman named Sam Torr and proposed that Torr should exhibit him. Torr agreed and arranged for a group of men to manage Merrick, whom they named the Elephant Man. After touring the East Midlands, Merrick travelled to London to be exhibited in a penny gaff shop on Whitechapel Road which was rented by showman Tom Norman. Norman’s shop, directly across the street from the London Hospital, was visited by a surgeon named Frederick Treves, who invited Merrick to be examined and photographed. Soon after Merrick’s visits to the hospital, Tom Norman’s shop was closed by the police, and Merrick’s managers sent him to tour in Europe.

In Belgium, Merrick was robbed by his road manager and abandoned in Brussels. He eventually made his way back to London; unable to communicate, he was found by the police to have Dr. Treves’ card on him. Treves came and took Merrick back to the London Hospital. Although his condition was incurable, Merrick was allowed to stay at the hospital for the remainder of his life. Treves visited him daily, and the pair developed quite a close friendship. Merrick also received visits from the wealthy ladies and gentlemen of London society, including Alexandra, Princess of Wales.

Aged 27, Merrick died on 11 April 1890. The official cause of death was asphyxia, although Treves, who dissected the body, said that Merrick had died of a dislocated neck. He believed that Merrick—who had to sleep sitting up because of the weight of his head—had been attempting to sleep lying down, to ‘be like other people’.

The exact cause of Merrick’s deformities is unclear. The dominant theory throughout much of the 20th century was that Merrick suffered from neurofibromatosis type I. In 1986, a new theory emerged that he had Proteus syndrome. In 2001, it was proposed that Merrick had suffered from a combination of neurofibromatosis type I and Proteus syndrome. DNA tests conducted on his hair and bones have proven inconclusive. In 1979, Bernard Pomerance’s play about Merrick called The Elephant Man debuted, and David Lynch’s film, also called The Elephant Man, was released the following year.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Image-Fredericktreves.jpg%00%E5%A1%B9%EF%92%81%E1%B4%BB%E4%A1%BF%E2%B2%AF%E5%B6%82%E8%97%84%E6%8C%A7%00%00%EA%AE%A5

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Joseph_Merrick_carte_de_visite_photo,_c._1889.jpg%00%E5%A1%B9%EF%92%81%E1%B4%BB%E4%A1%BF%E2%B2%AF%E5%B6%82%E8%97%84%E6%8C%A7%00%00%EA%AE%A5


Attitudes towards the Elephant Man – version 1

Task one

Read the following sentences:

1. ‘this hunched up figure was the embodiment of loneliness.’

2. ‘The showman – speaking as if to a dog – called out harshly: Stand up!’

3. ‘at no time had I met with such a degraded or perverted version of a human being.’

4. ‘To add a further burden to his trouble the wretched man, when a boy, developed hip disease.’

Task two

Now try to match the above quotations with each of the attitude words given in the first column of the table below. (If you can’t fit each quotation in the table, simply record the relevant number instead.)

Task three

In the ‘effect’ box, make a specific comment on the effect of the highlighted words or phrase in the quotation.


Word(s) to describe attitude

Quotation Effect of word(s) used

pitying

repulsed and horrified

sympathetic

angry

Task four

Now have a go at one of the following exam-style questions:

(NB: Here you are being asked to write about one text only; in the exam you will be comparing how two writers convey their different attitudes to a subject.)

AQA-style question

How does the writer use language to convey his attitudes towards John Merrick?


How does the writer present his ideas and perspectives about John Merrick?

Support your answer with detailed reference to the text.

Answer in PEE paragraphs, using the ideas you put down in the grid above.


Attitudes towards the Elephant Man – version 2

Which of the following statements support Treves’s attitude towards John Merrick?

1. Working with a partner, tick the statements that you agree with.

Treves is mocking in his description of The Elephant Man

Treves is sympathetic towards The Elephant Man

Treves is horrified at the sight of The Elephant Man

Treves is emotionally moved by the sight of The Elephant Man

Treves is angry at the treatment of The Elephant Man

Treves is repulsed by The Elephant Man’s appearance

Treves pities The Elephant Man


2. Find a quotation to support the statements that you agree with and write it beneath each statement.

3. Now try one of these exam-style questions:

(NB Here you are being asked to write about one text only; in the exam you will be comparing how two writers convey their different attitudes to a subject.)

AQA-style question

How does the writer convey his attitudes to John Merrick?

What are those attitudes?

What methods does he use to convey them?

Support your answer with quotations.


How does the writer present his ideas and perspectives about John Merrick?

Support your answer with detailed reference to the text.

Reading non-fiction, Text 4: My Left Foot

Text 4: Excerpt taken from My Left Foot by Christy Brown

Chapter 1, The Letter ‘A’

I was born in the Rotunda Hospital, on June 5th, 1932.

There were nine children before me and twelve after me,

so I myself belong to the middle group. Out of this total of

twenty-two, seventeen lived, four died in infancy, leaving

thirteen still to hold the family fort.

Mine was a difficult birth, I am told. Both mother and son

almost died. A whole army of relations queued up outside

the hospital until the small hours of the morning, waiting

for news and praying furiously that it would be good.

After my birth mother was sent away to recuperate for

some weeks and I was kept in the hospital while she was

away. I remained there for some time, without name, for I

wasn’t baptized until my mother was well enough to bring

me to church.

It was mother who first saw that there was something

wrong with me. I was about four months old at the time.

She noticed that my head had a habit of falling backwards

whenever she tried to feed me. She attempted to correct

this by placing her hand on the back of my neck to keep it

steady. But when she took it away back it would drop

again. That was the first warning sign. Then she became

aware of other defects as I got older. She saw that my


hands were clenched nearly all of the time and were

inclined to twine behind my back; my mouth couldn’t grasp

the teat of the bottle because even at that early age my

jaws would either lock together tightly, so that it was

impossible for her to open them, or they would suddenly

become limp and fall loose, dragging my whole mouth to

one side. At six months I could not sit up without having a

mountain of pillows around me; at twelve months it was

the same.

Very worried by this, mother told father her fears, and they

decided to seek medical advice without any further delay. I

was a little over a year old when they began to take me to

hospitals and clinics, convinced that there was something

definitely wrong with me, something which they could not

understand or name, but which was very real and

disturbing.

Almost every doctor who saw and examined me, labelled

me a very interesting but also a hopeless case. Many told

mother very gently that I was mentally defective and would

remain so. That was a hard blow to a young mother who

had already reared five healthy children. The doctors were

so very sure of themselves that mother’s faith in me

seemed almost an impertinence. They assured her that

nothing could be done for me.

She refused to accept this truth, the inevitable truth – as it

then seemed – that I was beyond cure, beyond saving,

even beyond hope. She could not and would not believe

that I was an imbecile, as the doctors told her. She had

nothing in the world to go by, not a scrap of evidence to

support her conviction that, though my body was crippled,


my mind was not. In spite of all the doctors and specialists

told her, she would not agree. I don’t believe she knew

why – she just knew without feeling the smallest shade of

doubt.

Finding that the doctors could not help in any way beyond

telling her not to place her trust in me, or, in other words,

to forget I was a human creature, rather to regard me as

just something to be fed and washed and then put away

again, mother decided there and then to take matters into

her own hands. I was her child, and therefore part of the

family. No matter how dull and incapable I might grow up

to be, she was determined to treat me on the same plane

as the others, and not as ‘queer one’ in the back room

who was never spoken of when visitors were present.

That was a momentous decision as far as my future life

was concerned. It meant that I would always have my

mother on my side to help me fight all the battles that were

to come, and to inspire me with new strength when I was

almost beaten. But it wasn’t easy for her because now the

relatives and friends had decided otherwise. They

contended that I should be taken kindly, sympathetically,

but not seriously. That would be a mistake. “For your own

sake,” they told her, “don’t look to the boy as you would to

the others; it would only break your heart in the end.”

Luckily for me, mother and father held out against the lot

of them. But mother wasn’t content just to say that I was

not an idiot, she set out to prove it, not because of any

rigid sense of duty, but out of love. That is why she was so

successful.



Lesson 1

Starter activities

1. Artistic challenge. Ask students to take off their shoes and socks and try to draw a picture using only the toes of their left foot. You might specify what you want them to draw or give them freedom of choice.

Alternatively they might work in groups with one person volunteering to do the drawing or you might ask students to complete the task as homework prior to the lesson.

Students should be encouraged to display their pictures and discuss the merits of the pictures produced and the difficulties which they encountered whilst doing them.

2. Introducing Christy Brown. Show students this Bonhams auctions webpage which details letters, paintings and papers produced by Christy Brown. These images will open students’ eyes to what he managed to achieve, using only the toes of his left foot. Explain that Christy Brown was a talented writer as well as an artist and that you are going to be reading an extract from his autobiography. Ask students what they can predict about the nature of his disability?

Main activities

1. Getting going (AO1). Read the first three paragraphs of the article and ask students to share their first impressions of this autobiography. What information do you learn about Christy’s beginnings in life?

2. Challenging negative perceptions. Read from paragraph four when Christy explains the difficulties that he faced as a child with cerebral palsy.

As you read the text, ask students to find and highlight or underline each of the following words or phrases, representing the views of the medical profession about Christy.

http://www.bonhams.com/auctions/21761/lot/184/


hopeless case

mentally defective

beyond hope

imbecile

crippled

dull

incapable

idiot

Ask students to challenge all of those words by replacing them with an antonym or other near equivalent.

3. Role play. Ask students to work in pairs and role play a conversation between Christy’s mother and a doctor. During the conversation, the doctor outlines Christy’s prognosis in negative terms, using some of the words from the text and Christy’s mother challenges those views.

(Students should use some of the pairs of words which they came up with in task 3 above.)

Plenary activity

1. Give students the opportunity to show their role plays.

2. Discuss early 20th century treatment of disabled people.

Would Christy be treated like this by doctors today?

Why or why not?



Lesson 2

Starter activity

1. Attitudes and prejudices. Bring up these BBC news links to Ellie Simmonds and Cerrie Burnell. (You could also link students to images of Stephen Hawking, Warwick Davis or Stevie Wonder.) Ask students to identify the people presented and discuss their contribution to society.

What sort of attitudes and prejudices might they face in their lives on account of their disabilities?

How can we challenge those prejudices?

Main activities

1. Prepare to compare. This task is designed to address the following objectives:

AO2

Explain, comment on and analyse how writers use language and structure to achieve effects and influence readers, using relevant subject terminology to support their views.

AO3

Compare writers’ ideas and perspectives, as well as how these are conveyed across two or more texts.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-ouch-24988596

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23878645


Give students the worksheet on Exploring and comparing attitudes in this text. This is aimed at preparing students to tackle a comparative question which forms a key part of the assessment criteria for all exam boards. It is important to note that this task asks students to compare ideas and perspectives within one text.

2. Linked writing (AO5, AO6). Give students a choice of writing tasks which reflect the style of tasks on the writing exam papers, along these lines:

Write a speech in which you argue that disabled people are positive role models in society.

Write a letter to the director of Channel 4 outlining your views about the representation of disabled people on television. The following link might be helpful: The Undateables: Freak show TV or challenging prejudice? - Features - TV & Radio - The Independent

‘Attitudes towards disabled people are as bad in the 21st century as they were in the 19th century.’ Argue your view.

Plenary activity

1. Drawing links between the writing of Christy Brown and Frederick Treves. Give students the following statement, which is modelled on an OCR exam-style question:

‘These texts are powerful because they show people standing up to prejudice about disability.’ How far you do agree?

2. Planning task. You may wish to take this further with your class and ask them to plan an exam answer in response to the above statement. If so, the following bullet points will be useful at providing them with a structure. This is modelled on an OCR exam-style question, but the bullet points will support all students to consider what they learn from these texts:

Discuss what you learn about prejudice and disability from the texts

Explain the impact of these ideas on you

Compare the ways ideas about prejudice and disability are presented. (Look at structure and language.)

Use quotations from both texts to support your answer.

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/the-undateables-freak-show-tv-or-challenging-prejudice-7584595.html

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/the-undateables-freak-show-tv-or-challenging-prejudice-7584595.html


Lesson 2 resource

Exploring and comparing attitudes

Christy’s mother and the medical profession view Christy’s condition very differently. Use the following grid to explore those differences.

1. Find a quotation to support each of the statements on the grid:

Extension: Add extra points of your own.

Christy’s mother The medical profession

Optimistic about her son’s prospects. Pessimistic about Christy’s prospects.

Believes that, despite his physical disabilities, he is intelligent.

Believes that Christy is mentally deficient.

Loves her son and wants him to be a part of her family.

Believes that Christy should be ignored.


2. Now write up your ideas as an answer this question:

Compare how the writer conveys the different attitudes of Christy’s mother and the medical profession towards his disability.

Note that this type of question will normally require you to gather information from two separate sources. Here you are using the material from one text to show that you can make comparisons between the different attitudes shown.

It is important to address the ‘how’ part of the question by exploring the effects of the words in the quotations that you use.

Here is an example:

In the extract from My Left Foot the writer tells us that his mother was optimistic

about his prospects, despite his physical disabilities. He writes that ‘mother’s

faith in me seemed almost an impertinence’ to the doctors. The quotation

suggests that his mother’s belief in him was very strong, despite the opposition

from the doctors. The word ‘faith’ is a hopeful word, suggesting that Christy’s

mother had an instinctive and deep conviction that her son could have a future.

Useful linking phrases for contrast:

In contrast to this … Whereas …

However… Whilst …

On the other hand …

Reading non-fiction, Text 5: Charlotte Brontë’s letter

Text 5: Charlotte Brontë’s letter to her father

TO REV. P. BRONTË

‘112 GLOUCESTER TERRACE,

‘HYDE PARK, June 7th, 1851.

‘DEAR PAPA,—I was very glad to hear that you continued

in pretty good health, and that Mr. Cartman came to help

you on Sunday. I fear you will not have had a very

comfortable week in the dining-room; but by this time I

suppose the parlour reformation will be nearly completed,

and you will soon be able to return to your old quarters.

The letter you sent me this morning was from Mary

Taylor. She continues well and happy in New Zealand,

and her shop seems to answer well. The French

newspaper duly arrived. Yesterday I went for the second

time to the Crystal Palace. We remained in it about three

hours, and I must say I was more struck with it on this

occasion than at my first visit. It is a wonderful place—

vast, strange, new, and impossible to describe. Its

grandeur does not consist in one thing, but in the unique

assemblage of all things. Whatever human industry has

created, you find there, from the great compartments filled

with railway engines and boilers, with mill-machinery in full

work, with splendid carriages of all kinds, with harness of

every description—to the glass-covered and velvet-spread

stands loaded with the most gorgeous work of the

goldsmith and silversmith, and the carefully guarded

caskets full of real diamonds and pearls worth hundreds of


thousands of pounds. It may be called a bazaar or a fair,

but it is such a bazaar or fair as Eastern genii might have

created. It seems as if magic only could have gathered

this mass of wealth from all the ends of the earth—as if

none but supernatural hands could have arranged it thus,

with such a blaze and contrast of colours and marvellous

power of effect. The multitude filling the great aisles

seems ruled and subdued by some invisible influence.

Amongst the thirty thousand souls that peopled it the day I

was there, not one loud noise was to be heard, not one

irregular movement seen—the living tide rolls on quietly,

with a deep hum like the sea heard from the distance.

‘Mr. Thackeray is in high spirits about the success of his

lectures. It is likely to add largely both to his fame and

purse. He has, however, deferred this week’s lecture till

next Thursday, at the earnest petition of the duchesses

and marchionesses, who, on the day it should have been

delivered, were necessitated to go down with the Queen

and Court to Ascot Races. I told him I thought he did

wrong to put it off on their account—and I think so still.

The amateur performance of Bulwer’s play for the Guild of

Literature has likewise been deferred on account of the

races. I hope, dear papa, that you, Mr. Nicholls, and all at

home continue well. Tell Martha to take her scrubbing

and cleaning in moderation and not overwork herself.

With kind regards to her and Tabby,—I am, your

affectionate daughter,

‘C. BRONTË.’



Lesson 1

Starter activity

1. Make predictions. Give students the word sort activity sheet to encourage students to make predictions about this text. This activity uses a crunched extract of the text about the Great Exhibition to encourage students to investigate vocabulary choices, group words according to categories and make predictions about the text.

2. Creative extension. You might ask students to produce their own creative response or text using some of the words in this extract. Suggestions might be: a poem, a collage or a short piece of narrative writing.

Main activities

1. Read/reflect. Read the letter to your class and reflect on the predictions made by students in the starter activity.

2. Uncovering context. Explain the context of the letter by introducing information about the Great Exhibition. The following British Library webpage and slide show is useful: www.bl.uk/learning/histcitizen/victorians/exhibition/greatexhibition.html

The Victorian School is another useful website:

www.victorianschool.co.uk/Gt_exhib.html

You might also like to give students the Whizzy wiki factsheet and ask them to complete the Great Exhibition quiz in teams.

http://www.victorianschool.co.uk/Gt_exhib.html

http://www.bl.uk/learning/histcitizen/victorians/exhibition/greatexhibition.html


3. Information retrieval (AO1). Ask students to consider the wider content of Charlotte Brontë’s letter and retrieve information and ideas from it by completing the Letter writing lingo sheet.

Plenary activity

1. Reflect on the main purpose of the letter by asking students to consider the following question:

How successfully has the writer conveyed her experience of visiting the Great Exhibition?


Lesson 1 resources

Word sort activity

The following words are all taken from this text and re-arranged here in alphabetical order and frequency:

a a a a a all all all and and and and and and and and arranged as as as assemblage bazaar bazaar be blaze boilers but but but called carefully carriages caskets colours compartments consist contrast could could created created describe description diamonds does earth eastern effect ends engines every fair fair filled find from from full full gathered genii glass-covered goldsmith gorgeous grandeur great guarded hands harness has have have have human hundreds if if impossible in in in industry is is it it it it it its kinds loaded machinery magic marvellous mass may might mill most new none not of of of of of of of of of of of one only or or pearls place pounds power railway real seems silversmith splendid stands strange such such supernatural the the the the the the the the there thing things this this thousands to to unique vast velvet-spread wealth whatever with with with with with with wonderful work work worth you

Group the words according to categories of your choice:

Predicting the text

What sort of text do you think this might come from?

What ideas do you have about the content of the text?


Whizzy wiki: Factsheet on The Great Exhibition

The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations or The Great Exhibition, was an international exhibition that took place in Hyde Park, London, from May 1st to October 11th, 1851. It was the first in a series of World’s Fair exhibitions of culture and industry that were to become a popular 19th-century feature. The Great Exhibition was organized by Henry Cole and Prince Albert, husband of the reigning monarch, Queen Victoria. It was attended by numerous notable figures of the time, including Charles Darwin, Samuel Colt, members of the Orléanist Royal Family and the writers Charlotte Brontë, Charles Dickens, Lewis Carroll, George Eliot and Alfred Tennyson.

Manufactures and Commerce as a celebration of modern industrial technology and design. It was arguably a response to the highly successful French Industrial Exposition of 1844: indeed, its prime motive was for “Great Britain [to make] clear to the world its role as industrial leader.” Prince Albert, Queen Victoria’s consort, was an enthusiastic promoter of the self-financing exhibition. Queen Victoria and her family visited three times. Although the Great Exhibition was a platform on which countries from around the world could display their achievements, Great Britain sought to prove its own superiority. The British exhibits at the Great Exhibition “held the lead in almost every field where strength, durability, utility and quality were concerned, whether in iron and steel, machinery or textiles.”

Sophie Forgan says of the Exhibition that “Large, piled-up ‘trophy’ exhibits in the central avenue revealed the organisers’ priorities; they generally put art or colonial raw materials in the most prestigious place. Technology and moving machinery were popular, especially working exhibits.” She also notes that visitors “could watch the entire process of cotton production from spinning to finished cloth. Scientific instruments were found in class X, and included electric telegraphs, microscopes, air pumps and barometers, as well as musical, horological and surgical instruments.”

A special building, nicknamed The Crystal Palace, or “The Great Shalimar”, was built to house the show. It was designed by Joseph Paxton with support from structural engineer Charles Fox, the committee overseeing its construction including Isambard Kingdom Brunel, and went from its organisation to the grand opening in just nine months. The building took the form of a massive glass house, 1851 feet (about 564 metres) long by 454 feet (about 138 metres) wide and was constructed from cast iron-frame components and glass made almost exclusively in Birmingham and Smethwick. From the interior, the building’s large size was emphasized with trees and statues. The building was later moved and re-erected in an enlarged form at Sydenham in south London, an area that was renamed Crystal Palace. It was destroyed by fire on 30 November 1936.

Six million people—equivalent to a third of the entire population of Britain at the time—visited the Great Exhibition. The average daily attendance was 42,831 with a peak attendance of 109,915 on 7 October. The event made a surplus of £186,000 (£17,770,000 in 2015), which was used to found the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Science Museum and the Natural History Museum.


Great Exhibition quiz

1. For how long was the exhibition held?

2. Where was it held?

3. Which member of the royal family was jointly responsible for organising it?

4. How many times did Queen Victoria visit?

5. Name two famous people who attended the exhibition.

6. What was the exhibition designed to celebrate?

7. Were all of the exhibits British?

8. Who built the Crystal Palace in which the exhibition was held?

9. What other name was the building known by?

10. How long did it take to build it?

11. How many people visited the exhibition?

12. How much money was raised by the exhibition?

13. What was the profit used for?


Letter writing lingo

Look at each of the following reasons for writing a letter to a family member in Victorian times. Tick whichever purpose you think is relevant to Charlotte Brontë’s letter and find a quotation from the text to support it.

Reason for writing Evidence from the text

conveying personal news

enquiring about family members

conveying news of national importance

giving opinions

sharing trivial news or gossip about people

giving condolences

describing a special or noteworthy experience



Lesson 2

Starter activity

1. Matching task. Ask students to complete the What was the Great Exhibition like? matching activity in pairs. This will consolidate their ideas about Charlotte Brontë’s visit to the Great Exhibition and provide them with quotations for analysis later in the lesson.

Main activities

1. Discuss or debate. Ask for feedback about the word and quotation pairings. Invite discussion about the best choice of quotations to illustrate the words. There is likely to be some debate about the pairings, but this is to be encouraged.

2. Language zoom. Ask students to select at least five word and quotation pairings and highlight or annotate the quotation, highlighting interesting vocabulary choices and considering their effect.

3. Unpicking imagery. In addition to the rich vocabulary choices, adjectives, compound adjectives, adverbs etc., Charlotte Brontë also uses imagery to bring the scene to life.

Ask students to identify the technique used, and its effect, in these examples:

1. ‘… it is such a bazaar or fair as Eastern genii might have created.’

2. ‘… as if none but supernatural hands could have arranged it’

3. ‘… the living tide rolls on quietly, with a deep hum like the sea heard

from the distance.’


4. Exam skills. Ask students to draw their work on language together and write an answer to this exam-style question:

How does Brontë use language to describe her experiences of visiting the Great Exhibition? (AO2, AO4)

Plenary activity

1. A modern exhibition. As a way of connecting this text to the next one, ask students to write down what 10 features they might include if they were staging an exhibition to celebrate the 21st century.


Lesson 2 resources

What was the Great Exhibition like?

All of the following words could describe Brontë’s view of the exhibition. Match up the words with the quotations which follow. Cut out the 12 words so that you can move them around as separate cards.

unique impressive magical

exotic colourful powerful

captivating varied popular

beautiful awe-inspiring extravagant


Cut out the 12 quotations so that you can move them around as separate cards.

‘It is a wonderful place’

‘It seems as if magic only could have gathered this mass of wealth from all the ends of the earth.’

‘Whatever human industry has created, you find there …’

‘Its grandeur does not consist in one thing, but in the unique assemblage of all things.’

‘the glass-covered and velvet-spread stands loaded with the most gorgeous work of the goldsmith and silversmith …’

‘such a blaze and contrast of colours …’

‘marvellous power of effect.’

‘The multitude filling the great aisles seems ruled and subdued by some invisible influence.’

‘it is such a bazaar or fair as Eastern genii might have created.’

‘vast, strange, new and impossible to describe.’

‘the thirty thousand souls that peopled it’

‘carefully guarded caskets full of real diamonds and pearls worth hundreds of thousands of pounds.’

Reading non-fiction, Text 6: A History of Modern Britain

Text 6: Excerpt from A History of Modern Britain by Andrew Marr

But other historic changes went ahead. Both devolution and the Irish

peace process reshaped the country and produced clear results. So

did other constitutional initiatives, such as the expulsion of most

hereditary peers from the Lords, ending its huge inbuilt Conservative

majority, and the incorporation of the European human rights

convention into British law, allowing cases to come to court here.

Neither produced the outcomes ministers expected. The Lords

became more assertive and more of a problem for Blair, not less of

one. British judges’ interpretation of the human rights of asylum

seekers and suspected terrorists caused much anguish to

successive home secretaries; and the ‘human rights culture’ was

widely criticized by newspapers. But at least, in each case, serious

shifts in the balance of power were made, changes intended to make

Britain fairer and more open.

Other early initiatives would crumble to dust and ashes. One of the

most interesting examples is the Dome, centrepiece of millennium

celebrations inherited from the Conservatives. Blair was initially

unsure about whether to forge ahead with the £1 bn gamble. He was

argued into the Dome project by Peter Mandelson who wanted to be

its impresario, and by John Prescott, who liked the new money it

would bring to a blighted part of east London. Prescott suggested

New Labour wouldn’t be much of a government if it could not make a

success of this. Blair agreed, though had the Dome ever come to a

cabinet vote he would have lost. Architecturally the Dome was

striking and elegant, a landmark for London which can be seen by

almost every air passenger arriving in the capital. Public money was

spent on cleaning up a poisoned semicircle of derelict land and

brining new Tube and road links. The millennium was certainly worth


celebrating. But the problem ministers and their advisers could not

solve was what their pleasure Dome should contain. Should it be for

a great national party? Should it be educational? Beautiful? Thought-

provoking? A fun park? Nobody could decide. The instinct of the

British towards satire was irresistible as the project continued

surrounded by cranes and political hullabaloo. The Dome would be

magnificent, unique, a tribute to daring and can-do. Blair himself said

it would provide the first paragraph of his next election manifesto.

A well-funded, self-confident management was put in place but the

bright child’s question – yes, but what’s it for? – would not go away.

When the Dome finally opened, at New Year, the Queen, Prime

Minister and hundreds of donors, business people and celebrities

were treated to a mishmash of a show which embarrassed many of

them. Bad organization meant most of the guests had a long,

freezing and damp wait to get in for the celebrations. Xanadu this

was not. The fiasco meant the Dome was roasted in most

newspapers and when it opened to the public, the range of mildly

interesting exhibits was greeted as a huge disappointment. Far fewer

people came and bought tickets than was hoped. It turned out to be a

theme park without a theme, morphing in the public imagination into

the earliest and most damaging symbol of what was wrong with New

Labour: an impressively constructed big tent containing not very

much at all. It was produced by some of the people closest to the

Prime Minister and therefore boomeranged particularly badly on him

and the group already known as ‘Tony’s cronies’. Optimism and

daring, it seemed, were not enough.



Lesson 1

Starter activities

1. Celebrating the 21st century. Following on from the lesson on Charlotte Brontë’s letter, ask students to reflect on the features which they would include in an exhibition to celebrate the 21st century. Discuss ideas and students’ reasons for them.

2. Introducing the Dome. Explain the concept of the Millennium Dome to students. They might not have heard of the project, but will no doubt have heard about or visited the O2.

Show students the following promotional video about the Millennium Experience. Ask them to write down some words to convey its aims and aspirations as they are watching the clip. They will refer back to these words after reading the extract written by Andrew Marr.

The clip can be found at the following link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgmQJfDkYCA

Main activities

1. Ways in. Read paragraph one of the text and ask students to highlight any words which they do not understand. Discuss the words selected and explain their meaning.

What can they predict about the writer’s perspective from the language that is used?

2. Comprehension questions. Read the rest of the text with your class and give students a copy of the task sheet Comprehending the text which provides questions to be answered during the reading of this text.

The questions are designed to be answered in stages, so that you can discuss and check students’ understanding after each paragraph.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgmQJfDkYCA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgmQJfDkYCA


Plenary

1. Key facts. Ask students, ‘What have you learned about the Millennium Dome?’ Working in pairs or small groups, get students to compile a list of key ideas or facts based upon their reading.


Lesson 1 resources

Comprehending the text

After reading paragraph one

1. Which political changes in the 1990s brought positive results, according to Andrew Marr?

2. Which political changes in the 1990s brought negative results, according to Andrew Marr?

3. What does he say was the overall benefit of the changes that were made in politics?

Now read paragraph two …

1. How does Andrew Marr suggest that the Millennium Dome project was a failure?

2. How much money did the Dome project cost?

3. Which two politicians persuaded Tony Blair to go ahead with the project?

4. Which three reasons does Andrew Marr put forward in favour of the Dome project?

5. How does Andrew Marr suggest that the government was uncertain about the project?

Extension questions – looking at language

6. What does Andrew Marr mean when he says: ‘The instinct of the British towards satire was irresistible as the project continued surrounded by cranes and political hullabaloo’?

What is the effect of the language in this sentence?


Now read paragraph three …

1. What two reasons does the writer give for the failure of the New Year’s opening for VIPs?

2. What two reasons does the writer give for the failure of the opening to the public?

3. Who, according to the writer, suffered the most from its failure?

Extension questions – looking at language

4. What is the effect of the sentence: ‘Xanadu this was not’?

5. How does the writer use language to link the failure of the Dome project to problems with the government (New Labour)?



Lesson 2

Starter activity

1. Caption competition. Show students the photograph of the Queen and Tony Blair at the opening night of the Dome. Ask them to come up with two captions for the photograph:

for a positive newspaper article

for a mocking or satirical newspaper article.

Main activities

The following activities hit the following Assessment Objectives:

AO3Compare writers’ ideas and perspectives, as well as how these are conveyed across two or more texts.

1. Prepare to compare. Give students the What was the Millennium Dome like? matching activity in pairs. Once they have completed the activity, they should reflect on the words chosen and consider links between this text and Charlotte Brontë’s letter.

2. Comparison chain. Give students a copy of the Chain of comparison sheet. The first part of each paragraph has been scaffolded in order to demonstrate how comparative paragraphs can be built up.

Students can complete the paragraphs by filling in the missing details. They can then use this framework to write another comparative paragraph about this pair of texts. The chain of comparison model can be used with other texts in the pack.


3. Debating the Dome. As a class, complete a grid of reasons for and against the Dome. Hold a class debate, along the lines of a debate in the House of Commons. Divide the class into two factions – one in favour of the Dome project and one against and prompt each side to question the other.

Plenary activity

1. Dome or no Dome? Hold a class vote to decide whether the Dome project should go ahead.


Lesson 2 resources

Caption competition



What was the Millennium Dome like?

All of the following words could describe views of the Millennium Dome expressed in Andrew Marr’s account. Match up the words with the quotations which follow. Cut out the 12 words so that you can move them around as separate cards.

potentially exciting impressive expensive

unpopular aimless disappointing

disorganised mocked embarrassing

regenerative controversial political



Cut out the 12 quotations so that you can move them around as separate cards.

‘Public money was spent on cleaning up a poisoned semicircle of derelict land and bringing new Tube and road links.’

‘The Dome was roasted in most newspapers …’

‘But the problem ministers and their advisers could not solve was what their pleasure Dome should contain.’

‘Architecturally the Dome was striking and elegant.’

‘The £1bn gamble.’

‘Blair agreed, though had the Dome ever come to a cabinet vote he would have lost.’

‘The project continued surrounded by cranes and political hullabaloo.’

‘The fiasco.’‘Far fewer people came and bought tickets than was hoped.’

‘The range of mildly interesting exhibits was greeted as a huge disappointment.’

‘most of the guests had a long, freezing and damp wait to get in.’

‘The Dome would be magnificent, unique, a tribute to daring and can-do.’



Chain of comparison

Structuring a comparative answer can be tricky, but the following chain might help you to organise your ideas.

1. Point of similarity

Both writers express the view that the exhibition that they are writing about was impressive.

Point about Text 1

Charlotte Bronte describes the Great Exhibition as impressive when she writes:

Quotation from Text 1

‘Its grandeur does not consist in one thing, but in the unique assemblage of all things.’

Analysis/comment on language

The word ‘grandeur’ is very effective at conveying both size and elegance, and the contrast between ‘one thing’ and ‘all things’ makes the exhibition seem hugely impressive.

Link to Text 2

In contrast, Andrew Marr writes that the Millennium Dome was …



Effect of difference



2. Point of difference

The writers give different views about the popularity of the exhibitions that they are writing about.

Point about Text 1

Charlotte Bronte describes the Great Exhibition as popular


when she describes ‘the thirty thousand souls that peopled it.’


The huge number ‘thirty thousand’ helps to convey the sheer size and scale of the exhibition, and the word ‘souls’ suggests that visiting the Great Exhibition was a spiritual experience.

Link to Text 2

In contrast, Andrew Marr writes that the Millennium Dome was …



Effect of difference


Reading non-fiction, Text 7: ‘Our Phantom Ship: China’

Text 7: Excerpt from Henry Morley: Household Words, ‘Our Phantom Ship: China’

Household Words periodical, June 1851

Our Phantom Ship: China

OUR Phantom Ship has deposited our friend, Henry Rubley, Esquire, at Adelaide, and has now returned to China.

Since a typhoon occurs not much

oftener than once in about three

years, it would be odd if we should

sail immediately into one; but we are

fairly in the China seas, which are

the typhoon’s own peculiar sporting

ground, and it is desperately sultry,

and those clouds are full of night

and lightning, to say nothing of a

fitful gale and angry sea. Look out!

There is the coast of China. Now for

telescope to see the barren, dingy

hills, with clay and granite peeping

out, with a few miserable trees and

stunted firs. That is our first sight of

the flowery land, and we shall not

get another yet, for the spray begins

to blind us; it is quite as much as we

can do to see each other. Now the

wind howls and tears the water up,

as if it would extract the waves by

their roots, like so many Ocean’s

teeth; but he kicks sadly at the

operation. We are driven by the wild

blast that snaps our voices short off

at the lips and carries them away;

no words are audible. We are

among a mass of spars and men

wild as the storm on drifting broken

junks; a vessel founders in our sight,

and we are cast, with dead and

living, upon half a dozen wrecks

entangled in a mass, upon the shore

of Hong Kong; — ourselves safe, of


Reading non-fiction, Text 7: ‘Our Phantom Ship: China’

course, for left at home whatever

could be bruised upon the journey.

How many houses have been blown

away like hats, how many rivers

have been driven back to swell

canals and flood the fields, (whose

harvest has been prematurely

cropped on the first warning of the

typhoon’s intended visit,) we decline

investigating. The evening sky is

very wild, and we were last night

under the typhoon at sea; to-night,

are in the new town of Victoria, and

will be phantom bed-fellows to any

Chinaman who has been eating

pork for supper. The Chinese are

very fond of pork, or anything that

causes oiliness in man. A lean man

forfeits something in their

estimation; for they say, “He must

have foolishness; why has he

wanted wisdom to eat more?”

Hong Kong was one of the upshots

of our cannonading in the pure and

holy Chinese war; and as for the

new town of Victoria, we shall walk

out of it at once, for we have not

travelled all this way to look at

Englishmen. The island itself is eight

or ten miles long, and sometimes

two or sometimes six miles broad. It

is the model of a grand mountain

region on a scale of two inches to

the foot. There are crags, ravines,

wild torrents, fern-hills; but the

highest mountain does not rise two

thousand feet. We stand upon it

now. Quite the contrary to our usual

experience, we found, in coming up,

the richest flowers at the greatest

elevation. The heat and dryness of

the air below, where the sun’s rays

are reflected from bare surfaces, is

said to be oppressive, and perhaps

the flowers down there want a

pleasant shade.



Lesson 1

Starter activities

1. Chinese wisdom. Show your students a range of Chinese proverbs and ask them to translate them into a clear moral message. For example:

He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever.

It is always better to ask if you don’t understand something.

He that takes medicine and neglects diet, wastes the skills of the physician.

You cannot prevent the birds of sorrow from flying over your head, but you can prevent them from building nests in your hair.

He who seeks revenge should remember to dig two graves.

Teachers open the door. You enter by yourself.

A man of leisure will never taste the fruit of success.

Share this one from the text you are about to read. See if any of the class can work it out:

He must have foolishness; why has he wanted wisdom to eat more?

You can return to this once you have read the article with your class and ask them again to work it out in context.

2. Look out! There’s a typhoon. In order to prepare students for the main focus of this text, show them a video of a typhoon in China or Hong Kong. The following link of typhoon Kalmegi might be useful, but others are available on YouTube:

Typhoon Kalmaegi hits fishermen in China – video | World news | The Guardian

Main activities

1. Read the text with your class and ask them to decide the purpose of the writing. Can they find evidence for any of these purposes? Get them to highlight any evidence they find in the text.

to inform

to explain

to describe

to persuade

to argue

to entertain

2. Zooming in. Ask students to complete The typhoon unravelled activity sheet using an extract from the whole text.

Once they’ve done this, take feedback from the activity and lead students towards answering the following question which addresses AO2 and AO4:

How does the writer use language to describe his experiences of a typhoon?

3. It’s on the news. Put students into groups of three or four and ask them to script a television news report for the 10pm news about this typhoon. They will need to interview the writer as an eye-witness and at least one other survivor. Answers should reflect the language of the text.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2014/sep/17/typhoon-fishermen-rescued-kalmaegi-china-video

http://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2014/sep/17/typhoon-fishermen-rescued-kalmaegi-china-video

Plenary activity

1. Fit for purpose? Listen to some of the news broadcasts and discuss how successful students have been at capturing the authenticity of the language and using relevant detail from the text.

Lesson 1 resources

The typhoon unravelled

Annotate the following extract from the text, labelling the following features:

sensory details – sight, sound, smell, taste, touch

use of imagery – simile, metaphor, personification

use of present tense verbs

use of sentence structure.

That is our first sight of the flowery land, and we shall not get another yet, for

the spray begins to blind us; it is quite as much as we can do to see each other.

Now the wind howls and tears the water up, as if it would extract the waves by

their roots, like so many Ocean’s teeth; but he kicks sadly at the operation. We

are driven by the wild blast that snaps our voices short off at the lips and carries

them away; no words are audible. We are among a mass of spars and men wild

as the storm on drifting broken junks; a vessel founders in our sight, and we are

cast, with dead and living, upon half a dozen wrecks entangled in a mass, upon

the shore of Hong Kong; — ourselves safe, of course, for left at home whatever

could be bruised upon the journey. How many houses have been blown away

like hats, how many rivers have been driven back to swell canals and flood the

fields, (whose harvest has been prematurely cropped on the first warning of the

typhoon’s intended visit,) we decline investigating.

Now answer the following question in PEE paragraphs. Aim to use at least four quotations in your answer.

How does the writer use language to describe his experiences of a typhoon?


Lesson 2

Starter activity

1. Persuasive language focus. Remind students of some key persuasive language techniques – emotive language, repetition, rhetorical questions, contrastive pairs, imperatives, pattern of three etc.

Now ask them to re-write the final paragraph of the text for inclusion in a tourist brochure.

Before they write, you may wish to show them this example and discuss its persuasive features.

Explore Hong Kong tours

Hong Kong has many sides to its complex personality and not every visitor takes the time to explore these to their fullest. Come and discover a different side to the city with this series of tours that reveal Hong Kong’s local foodie secrets or show you what cultural artefacts exist on its doorstep. These one-off special interest adventures will make your holiday unforgettable!

Main activities

1. Exploring point of view. Ask students to complete the activity sheet Views about visiting China. This will enable them to consider attitudes and perspectives in this text, prior to comparing it to the one written by Colin Thubron.

There is a differentiated version of this task which provides students with some quotations to match up as evidence.

Plenary activity

2. Venn diagram. Give pairs of students the Comparing attitudes about China Venn diagram resource sheet or draw/display one on the board. Now give each pair the Attitude adjectives sheet and ask them to decide which words they would use to describe the feelings and attitude of the writer. They must justify their choices.

Extension

Decide on some additional words to add to the adjectives sheet. Students can put the chosen words on the left hand side of the Venn diagram.

Lesson 2 resources

Views about visiting China

1. True or False? Decide whether you think that these statements about the attitude of the writer are true or false.

He is surprised that the ship sails into a typhoon. TRUE / FALSE

He is impressed by his first sight of China. TRUE / FALSE

He is very concerned about the destruction that he sees around him. TRUE / FALSE

He is interested in the habits of Chinese people. TRUE / FALSE

He wishes to discover what Hong Kong is like. TRUE / FALSE

He finds Hong Kong different to expectations. TRUE / FALSE

2. Prove it! Provide evidence for your view of the statements by finding a quotation to support each of them and writing it underneath.

3. ‘Zoom in’ on language

Highlight or underline words in your chosen quotations which you find interesting.

Identify examples of specific techniques which have been used e.g. imagery, repetition, use of pronouns, vocabulary choices etc.

Comment on the effect of the techniques used.

Views about visiting China (Differentiated task)

1. True or False? Decide whether you think that these statements about the attitude of the writer are true or false.

True or false

A. He is surprised that that the ship sails into a typhoon.

B. He is impressed by his first sight of China.

C. He is very concerned about the destruction that he sees around him.

D. He is interested in the habits of Chinese people.

E. He wishes to discover what Hong Kong is like.

F. He finds Hong Kong different to expectations.

2. Prove it! Provide evidence for your view of the statements by finding a quotation to support each of them.

A. He is surprised that that the ship sails into a typhoon.

1. ‘Quite contrary to our usual experience, we found, in coming up, the richest flowers at the greatest elevation.’

B. He is impressed by his first sight of China.

2. ‘we are fairly in the China seas, which are the typhoon’s own peculiar sporting ground.’

C. He is very concerned about the destruction that he sees around him.

3. ‘We shall walk out of it at once, for we have not travelled all this way to look at Englishmen.’

D. He is interested in the habits of Chinese people.

4. ‘Now for telescope to see the barren, dingy hills, with clay and granite peeping out, with a few miserable trees and stunted firs.’

E. He wishes to discover what Hong Kong is like.

5. ‘The Chinese are very fond of pork, or anything that causes oiliness in man.’

F. He finds Hong Kong different to expectations.

6. ‘How many houses have been blown away like hats, how many rivers have been driven back to swell canals and flood the fields … we decline investigating.’

3. Now ‘Zoom in’ on language

Find and highlight or underline one example of each of the following techniques:

inclusive pronouns ‘we’

adjectives (words which describe)

repetition of words or phrases.

Comparing attitudes about China

Henry Morley Colin Thubron


Attitude adjectives

inquisitive surprised unimpressed calm

shocked angry impressed nervous

embarrassed intrigued


Reading non-fiction, Text 8: Behind the Wall

Text 8: Excerpt from Behind the Wall by Colin Thubron

People’s images of countries are rich in such buried sediment, which

goes on haunting long after experience or common sense has diluted

it. And by now – as we floated above the wrung-out steppes of the Gobi

– other strata had overlaid it first. In the anarchy of the Cultural

Revolution, between 1966 and 1976, the Chinese people had not

merely been terrorised from above but had themselves – tens of

millions of them – become the instruments of their own torture. The

land had sunk into a peculiar horror. A million were killed; some thirty

million more were brutally persecuted, and unknown millions starved to

death. Yet it was less the numbers which appalled than the refinements

of cruelty practised – in once province alone seventy-five different

methods of torture were instituted – and I never thought of the country

now without being dogged by a tragic question-mark.

The woman was rummaging in her handbag. In the seats behind us a

conclave of Beijing businessmen sprawled, their shirt collars open, their

eyes closed. I was seized by the foolish idea that each one of them

was withholding some secret from me - some simple, perfect

illumination. Because that is the foreigner’s obsession in China. At

every moment, round ever corner, the question Who are they? erupts

and nags. How could they be so led? How could they do what they had

done? And had they ever changed – this people of exquisite poetry and

refined brush-strokes and pitilessness?

A billion uncomprehended people.

Beneath us now, where the last hills tilted south-eastward out of Inner

Mongolia into the huge alluvial basin of the Yellow River, I could see

the divide between plateau and plain, agricultural hardship and



sufficiency, drawn vertically down the earth’s atlas with the precision of

a pencil-stroke. To the west brown, to the east green.

Within half an hour we would be landing in Beijing – old Peking – and

as if these last airborne minutes might liberate us from inhibitions, I

started talking with the woman about the Cultural Revolution. She

turned quizzically to me and asked: ‘What do you think of Mao Zedong

in the West?’

I said we thought him a remarkable leader, but inhumane.

She said coldly: ‘Yes. He made mistakes.’

Mistakes! He had caused more than sixteen million deaths. Sometimes

he had acted and talked about people as if they were mere disposable

counters on an ideological gameboard. And she talked of mistakes. It

was how the Russians spoke of Stalin. I said tightly – I felt this might be

my last (and first) chance to vent anger in China: ‘All that suffering

inflicted on your people! How can you forgive that?’ Then I added: ‘I

think he became a monster.’

She went quiet and stared somewhere beyond me. The fact did not

seem to have occurred to her before. Then she said simply: ‘Yes.’

For some reason I felt ashamed. Whatever she meant by her ‘Yes’, its

tone – distant, as if admitting something irrelevant – signalled that I did

not understand. She fastened her seat-belt. I said: ‘Of course it’s hard

for us in the West to imagine …’

Us in the West. We must seem outlandish, I thought, with our garish

self-centredness, our coarse opulence, our sentimentality. Somebody

had told me that the Chinese found our big feet and noses

preposterous, and that to them we smelt. The next moment I had asked

the woman penitently: ‘Do we smell?’

Her fragile face smiled back at me. ‘Yes, of course.’



I baulked. ‘Very much?’

‘Oh yes. All the time.’

I suppose that her bemused smile was there to cover the

embarrassment. But I asked finally, edging a little away: ‘Do I smell?’

‘Yes.’

It was too late to go back now. ‘What of?’

‘What?’

‘What of? What do I smell of?’

‘Oh!’ She plunged her face into her hands in a sudden paroxysm of

giggles. ‘Smell. I thought you said smile!’ The tinkle and confusion of

her laughter sabotaged the next few sentences, then she said: ‘Only in

the summer. Westerners sweat more than Chinese. That’s all, that’s all.

No, you don’t … smell. No, really … no …’

We were coming in to land.




Lesson 1

Starter activity

1. Show your class the following comedy clips based on misunderstandings between people. They are good examples of how a misunderstanding based on hearing something incorrectly or as a result of a language barrier can result in humour and will therefore introduce a key aspect of this text.

Fork handles, the two Ronnies

Fawlty Towers – Basil gives Manuel a language lesson

Main activities

1. Understanding the text. Read the text with your class and give them the Comprehending the text questions to answer either individually or in pairs. There are some extension questions included, designed to encourage students to probe the language of the text in some more detail.

2. Cross purposes talk. Ask pairs to read out the dialogue between the narrator and the woman on the aeroplane without any narrative. Alternatively, choose one pair of students to read it in front of the class.

Plenary activity

1. What does the narrative do? Ask students to consider the impact of leaving out the narrative sections. Does it still manage to create humour? How important is Colin Thubron’s narrative at conveying the reactions of the tourist and the Chinese woman?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-oH-TELcLE

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=fork+handles+2+ronnies


Lesson 1 resources

Comprehending the text

Answer these questions in full sentences and support with a short quotation wherever possible.

1. How many people does the writer claim were affected by the Chinese Cultural Revolution?

2. What does the writer find most shocking about the events which took place?

3. What does the writer think about China?

4. What do you think is the ‘foreigner’s obsession in China’ according to the writer?

5. When the writer looks out of the aeroplane window he uses a series of contrasts to describe what he sees. Write down one of these contrasts. What might it suggest about China?

6. How does the writer feel about the woman’s comment that Mao Zedong (also known as Mao Tse-tung) ‘made mistakes?’

7. Which question does the writer ask the woman about western habits?

8. Which question does the woman think the writer has asked?

9. How does the woman’s confusion and misunderstanding create humour at the end of the article?

Language and structure extension questions

10.The writer describes the Chinese as a ‘people of exquisite poetry and refined brush-strokes and pitilessness.’ Which techniques has he used in this sentence to make his point more powerful?

11.What does the writer mean when he writes, ‘We must seem outlandish … with our garish self-centredness, our coarse opulence, our sentimentality’. What do you notice about the writer’s use of language in this quotation?

12.How does the end of the excerpt contrast with the beginning of the excerpt? Consider content, tone and language.




Lesson 2

Starter activity

1. Images of the revolution. Show the class the images of the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Ask students to discuss these in light of the text they have read. Do they reflect the information given by the writer? Why or why not?

This might lead into some interesting discussion about the role of propaganda in communist dictatorships.

Main activities

1. Prepare to compare AO3. Return to the Attitude adjectives activity that students did with the Phantom Ship. Ask students to re-visit the words and decide which might be used to describe this writer’s attitudes about his visit to China.

Words can be placed in the remaining sections of the Venn diagram. This should lead to some discussion about the similarities and differences between these writers.

2. Exam pic’n’mix. Ask students to plan and write an answer for an exam question. The following questions are worded to reflect the longer comparative question across different specifications:



AQA-style question

Compare how the two writers convey their different attitudes to visiting China.In your answer you should:

compare their attitudes

compare the methods they use to compare their attitudes

support your answer with quotations from both texts.

16 marks

OCR-style question

‘In these texts China is presented in a positive way.’

How far do you agree with this statement?

In your answer you should:

discuss your impressions of China based on these extracts

explain what you find interesting about their presentation of China

compare the different attitudes of the two writers.

Support your response with quotations from both texts.

18 marks


Compare how the writers of Text 1 and Text 2 present their ideas and perspectives about visiting China.

Support your answer with detailed reference to the texts.

14 marks

WJEC Eduqas-style question

Both of these texts are about visiting China. Compare the following:

the writer’s attitude towards their visit

how they get their experiences across to the reader.

10 marks



Plenary activity

1. Bringing it all together. After students have planned and/or written their responses to the longer comparative exam question, gather ideas on the board to summarise what they have discovered about the two writers’ attitudes and the way that they are presented.

This might take the form of a comparison table, a mind-map with different colours for each text, a continuum from positive to negative etc.

The summary should consider the what (what attitudes are shown) and the how (how they are conveyed through methods and language).



Lesson 2 resources

Chinese cultural revolution

Propaganda poster during the Cultural Revolution, 20th century, China CREDIT: Photo12 \ Universal Images Group

22nd November 1973: Chinese primary school children file past a billboard. A quotation from Mao Tse-tung is written on the board which includes drawings of children. CREDIT: Keystone / Hulton Archive Editorial / Getty Images / Universal Images Group/ COPYRIGHT: © Getty Images



Photograph taken of posters of Mao and quotations along the Nanking Road during the Cultural Revolution in 1967, Shanghai, China, AsiaCREDIT: Ursula Gahwiler / Robert Harding World Imagery / Universal Images Group / COPYRIGHT: © Robert Harding

For Education Use Only. This and millions of other educational images are available through Britannica Image Quest. For a free trial, please visit www.britannica.co.uk/trial


http://www.britannica.co.uk/trial

Reading non-fiction, Text 9: Darwin’s The Voyage of the Beagle

Text 9: Excerpt from Charles Darwin The Voyage of the Beagle

While going one day on shore near Wollaston Island, we

pulled alongside a canoe with six Fuegians. These were

the most abject and miserable creatures I anywhere

beheld. On the east coast the natives […] have guanaco

cloaks, and on the west they possess seal-skins. Amongst

these central tribes the men generally have an otter-skin,

or some small scrap about as large as a pocket-

handkerchief, which is barely sufficient to cover their

backs as low down as their loins. It is laced across the

breast by strings, and according as the wind blows, it is

shifted from side to side. But these Fuegians in the canoe

were quite naked, and even one full-grown woman was

absolutely so. It was raining heavily, and the fresh water,

together with the spray, trickled down her body. In another

harbour not far distant, a woman, who was suckling a

recently-born child, came one day alongside the vessel,

and remained there out of mere curiosity, whilst the sleet

fell and thawed on her naked bosom, and on the skin of

her naked baby! These poor wretches were stunted in

their growth, their hideous faces bedaubed with white

paint, their skins filthy and greasy, their hair entangled,

their voices discordant, and their gestures violent. Viewing

such men, one can hardly make oneself believe that they

are fellow-creatures, and inhabitants of the same world. It

is a common subject of conjecture what pleasure in life

some of the lower animals can enjoy: how much more

reasonably the same question may be asked with respect

to these barbarians! At night five or six human beings,

naked and scarcely protected from the wind and rain of

this tempestuous climate, sleep on the wet ground coiled © www.teachit.co.uk 2015 24747 105


up like animals. Whenever it is low water, winter or

summer, night or day, they must rise to pick shellfish from

the rocks; and the women either dive to collect sea-eggs,

or sit patiently in their canoes, and with a baited hair-line

without any hook, jerk out little fish. If a seal is killed, or

the floating carcass of a putrid whale is discovered, it is a

feast; and such miserable food is assisted by a few

tasteless berries and fungi. […]

Their country is a broken mass of wild rocks, lofty hills,

and useless forests: and these are viewed through mists

and endless storms. The habitable land is reduced to the

stones on the beach; in search of food they are compelled

unceasingly to wander from spot to spot, and so steep is

the coast, that they can only move about in their wretched

canoes. They cannot know the feeling of having a home,

and still less that of domestic affection; for the husband is

to the wife a brutal master to a laborious slave. Was a

more horrid deed ever perpetrated, than that witnessed on

the west coast by Byron [John Byron (1723-86),

navigator], who saw a wretched mother pick up her

bleeding dying infant-boy, whom her husband had

mercilessly dashed on the stones for dropping a basket of

sea-eggs! How little can the higher powers of the mind be

brought into play: what is there for imagination to picture,

for reason to compare, for judgment to decide upon? to

knock a limpet from the rock does not require even

cunning, that lowest power of the mind. Their skill in some

respects may be compared to the instinct of animals; for it

is not improved by experience: the canoe, their most

ingenious work, poor as it is, has remained the same, as

we know from Drake, for the last two hundred and fifty



years.




Lesson 1

Starter activity

1. Who was Charles Darwin? Put students into groups and ask them to share their knowledge. Compile information as a class.

Main activities

1. Quick quiz. After a first reading of the text, ask pairs to take part in the Quick recall quiz.

2. Feelings about the Fuegians. Give out the Attitudes towards the native tribes card sort activity to groups of students. After deciding which five words best describe Darwin’s feelings, they should scan the text for evidence to support each of them.

3. Modelling PEE. Before students answer the exam question which is relevant to the exam board that they are studying, it is worth modelling PEE style paragraphs. Here are two examples in answer to the AQA-style question:

How does Charles Darwin use language to convey his feelings about the Fuegians?

Students can be asked to compare the paragraphs below and discuss the difference between them.

Ask them where each example answer pinpoints specific comments about language.



Example paragraph 1

Darwin dislikes the appearance of the Fuegians when he first sees them in the canoe. He describes them as ‘the most abject and miserable creatures’. The words ‘abject’ and ‘miserable’ suggest that Darwin finds them horrible to look at and could imply that he feels a bit sorry for them.

Example paragraph 2

In this extract, Darwin seems to be surprised by the appearance of the Fuegians when he first sees them in the canoe. He describes them as ‘the most abject and miserable creatures I anywhere beheld’. In this quotation, Darwin uses the adjectives ‘abject’ and ‘miserable’ to convey his feelings of dislike and possibly pity for their appearance. Furthermore, the superlative ‘most’ heightens his feelings towards them; it implies that he has seen many native tribes and the Fuegians have the worst appearance of any that he has encountered.

4. Exam pic’n’mix. Give students an exam-style question to complete on this text. Select the question which is most appropriate for your class.

AQA-style question

How does Charles Darwin use language to convey his feelings about the Fuegians?

Support your answer with close reference to the text.


What do you think and feel about Charles Darwin’s attitude towards the Fuegians?

You should comment on:

what is said

how it is said.




Charles Darwin attempts to engage the reader through the description of his first encounter with the Fuegians.

Evaluate how successfully this is achieved.

Support your views with detailed reference to the text.

OCR-style question

Explore how Charles Darwin presents his feelings about the Fuegians.

Support your ideas by referring to the text, using relevant subject terminology.

Plenary activity

1. Peer assessment. Students should swap answers and complete a peer marking activity using your in-house marking style which might be WWW (what went well) and EBI (even better if) or another means of giving positive feedback and targets.

Students should be encouraged to look for focused comments on language. These could then be shared with the class.



Lesson 1 resources

Quick recall quiz

1. What is the name of the ship which Charles Darwin travelled in?

2. On which island in Tierra del Fuego was Charles Darwin near when he went on shore?

3. How many Fuegians did Charles Darwin see in the canoe?

4. What did he notice about their clothing?

5. What did they have on their faces?

6. How do they sleep?

7. What do they eat?

8. Which part of the island do they live on?

9. How do they treat their wives?

10. What is their greatest achievement?



Attitudes towards the native tribes

Which words describe the writer’s attitude towards native tribes?

Cut out the 12 words so that you can move them around as separate cards.

Consider and discuss all of the words.

In groups agree on the five that best illustrate the writer’s view.

Find textual evidence to support each word that you choose.

disbelief pity disgust

shock compassion revulsion

sadness admiration interest

curiosity fear horror




Lesson 2

Starter activity

1. Formal and informal vocabulary. Give students the Formal and informal vocabulary grid and ask them to find informal alternatives to Charles Darwin’s choices. A differentiated version of this activity is available as an interactive matching activity.

Main activities

1. Writing technique (AO2, AO4). Charles Darwin not only writes in a sophisticated, formal style, but he also uses a variety of techniques in this text. Give students the Close-up on writing technique resource and ask them to work with a partner or in a small group to find an example of each writing technique. The key part of this task is for students to explore the effect of each example chosen.

There is a differentiated version of this task which provides students with relevant quotations. Extension: ask students to find an example of at least one other technique used and add it to their grids.

2. Animal vs. human. Ask students to highlight or underline all of the places in which humans are compared to animals. Imagine that Charles Darwin has to put forward a case to people who are sceptical about evolution. He uses the Fuegians to illustrate his theory that man is descended from apes. Write a short speech in which Charles Darwin makes his case. (AO5, AO6). Remember to use a range of rhetorical devices.



Plenary activity

1. Charlie in the hot-seat. Ask for a volunteer or several volunteers to represent Charles Darwin in a hot-seating activity. Students should ask as many questions as they can about the text and the student (or students) representing Darwin should answer in role, drawing on their knowledge of the text.



Lesson 2 resources

Formal and informal vocabulary grid

Complete the following grid by providing an informal, modern equivalent for each of the formal words in the left-hand column. Before you set about doing this, locate each word in the text and use the contextual clues to help you with its meaning.

Word from the text Informal equivalent

abject

beheld

sufficient

mere

bedaubed

entangled

discordant

conjecture

tempestuous

putrid

lofty

unceasingly

laborious

deed

perpetrated

mercilessly

ingenious



Close-up on writing technique

Charles Darwin employs a wide range of techniques to make this account vivid for the reader. Find an example of each technique and explore its effect as thoroughly as you can.

Technique Example Effect

adjectives

exclamatory sentences

opinion

fact

lists



adverbs

rhetorical questions

pattern of three

simile or metaphor

emotive language



Close-up on writing technique (differentiated)

Charles Darwin employs a wide range of techniques to make this account vivid for the reader. Comment on the effect of each example which has been provided for you.

Technique Example Effect

adjectives‘These were the most abject and miserable creatures …’

exclamatory sentences

‘the sleet fell and thawed … on the skin of her naked baby!’

opinion‘Viewing such men, one can hardly make oneself believe that they are fellow-creatures …’

fact‘as we know from Drake, for the last two hundred and fifty years.’

lists‘their hair entangled, their voices discordant, and their gestures violent.’



adverbs‘they are compelled unceasingly to wander from spot to spot …’

rhetorical questions

‘How little can the powers of the mind be brought into play?’

pattern of three

‘for imagination to picture, for reason to compare, for judgment to decide upon?’

simile or metaphor

‘about as large as a pocket-handkerchief.’

‘coiled up like animals.’

emotive language

‘her bleeding dying infant-boy, whom her husband had mercilessly dashed on the stones …’


Reading non-fiction, Text 10: Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence

Text 10: Excerpt from Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence

In this section, two young Aboriginal girls are forcibly removed from their family and home.

Molly and Gracie finished their breakfast and decided to take all their

dirty clothes and wash them in the soak further down the river. They

returned to camp looking clean and refreshed and joined the rest of

the family in the shade for lunch of tinned corned beef, damper and

tea. The family had just finished eating when all the camp dogs

began barking, making a terrible din.

“Shut up,” yelled the owners, throwing stones at them. The dogs

whinged and skulked away.

Then all eyes turned to the cause of the commotion. A tall, rugged

white man stood on the bank above them. He could easily have been

mistaken for a pastoralist or a grazier with his tanned complexion

except that he was wearing khaki clothing. Fear and anxiety swept

over them when they realised that the fateful day they had been

dreading had come at last. They always knew that it would only be a

matter of time before the government would track them down. When

Constable Riggs, Protector of Aborigines, finally spoke his voice was

full of authority and purpose. They knew without a doubt that he was

the one who took their children in broad daylight – not like the evil

spirits who came into their camps in the night.

“I’ve come to take Molly, Gracie and Daisy, the three half-caste girls,

with me to go to school at the Moore River Native Settlement,” he

informed the family.

The old man nodded to show that he understood what Riggs was

saying. The rest of the family just hung their heads refusing to face

the man who was taking their daughters away from them. Silent tears

welled in their eyes and trickled down their cheeks.



“Come on, you girls,” he ordered. “Don’t worry about taking anything.

We’ll pick up what you need later.”

When the two girls stood up, he noticed that the third girl was

missing. “Where’s the other one, Daisy?” he asked anxiously.

“She’s with her mummy and daddy at Murra Munda station,” the old

man informed him.

“She’s not at Murra Munda or at Jimbalbar goldfields. I called into

those places before I came here,” said the Constable. “Hurry up then,

I want to get started. We’ve got a long way to go yet. You girls can

ride this horse back to the depot,” he said, handing the reins over to

Molly. Riggs was annoyed that he had to go miles out of his way to

find these girls.

Molly and Gracie sat silently on the horse, tears streaming down their

cheeks as Constable Riggs turned the big bay stallion and led the

way back to the depot. A high pitched wail broke out. The cries of

agonised mothers and the women, and the deep sobs of

grandfathers, uncles and cousins filled the air. Molly and Gracie

looked back just once before they disappeared through the river

gums. Behind them, those remaining in the camp found strong sharp

objects and gashed themselves and inflicted wounds to their heads

and bodies as an expression of their sorrow.

The two frightened and miserable girls began to cry uncontrollably;

their grief made worse by the lamentations of their loved ones and

the visions of them sitting on the ground in their camp letting their

tears mix with the red blood that flowed from the cuts on their heads.

This reaction to their children’s abduction showed that the family

were now in mourning. They were grieving for their abducted children

and their relief would come only when the tears ceased to fall, and

that would be a long time yet.




Lesson 1

Starter activity

1. Give students the Pre-reading exercise to complete individually or in pairs. Share ideas about the text.

Main activities

1. Getting to grips with the text. Read the rest of the text and ask students to underline the reactions of the children and their families. Now give out the resource on the The language of pain and suffering (AO2) which also asks students to consider the writer’s perspective (AO3). Write an exam-style answer.

2. White vs. aboriginal. Compare the presentation of the aboriginals with the white man in this text. Identify the language used to present Constable Riggs – his appearance, his actions and his language. Does this fit with or challenge our view of the writer’s perspective?

Plenary activity

1. Uncovering context. Watch the video about the Stolen Generation at this link:

Stolen Generations / Australian Aboriginal Brief History - YouTube

This also includes extracts from the 2008 apology by the Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fNvEm8wlPw


Lesson 1 resources

Pre-reading activity

The following extract is taken from a longer text which you will be using to develop skills for the GCSE Reading non-fiction exams. Read and annotate it carefully, using the questions which follow as prompts.

Then all eyes turned to the cause of the

commotion. A tall, rugged white man stood on the

bank above them. He could easily have been

mistaken for a pastoralist or a grazier with his

tanned complexion except that he was wearing

khaki clothing. Fear and anxiety swept over them

when they realised that the fateful day they had

been dreading had come at last. They always

knew that it would only be a matter of time before

the government would track them down. When

Constable Riggs, Protector of Aborigines, finally

spoke his voice was full of authority and purpose.

They knew without a doubt that he was the one

who took their children in broad daylight – not like

the evil spirits who came into their camps in the

night.

What type of text is this extract from?

Where is it set?

What is happening in this extract?

What do you learn about the man who is described?

What predictions can you make about the rest of the text?



The language of pain and suffering

The following extracts from the text use emotive language to convey the pain and suffering of Molly, Gracie and their families when they are forcibly removed from their home.

Complete the following grid. The bold text draws attention to one or two specific language techniques for you to explore.

Quotation Technique Effect

‘the rest of the family just hung their heads’

alliteration

‘Silent tears welled in their eyes and trickled down their cheeks.’

verbs

‘tears streaming down their cheeks ...’

present participle verb

‘A high pitched wail …’ adjective and noun

‘Cries of agonised mothers …’

adjective



‘the deep sobs of grandfathers, uncles and cousins filled the air.’

adjectivesthree part list

‘gashed themselves and inflicted wounds … as an expression of their sorrow’

verbs

‘The two frightened and miserable girls began to cry uncontrollably …’

adjectiveadverb

‘the family were now in mourning.’

metaphor

What does the language used by the writer suggest about her attitude towards the events that are being described?

Choose five quotations to write about.




Lesson 2

Starter activity

1. What does this extract teach us about Aboriginal culture? Think about the following things:

lifestyle

the importance of family

treatment of animals

superstition and religion.

Main activities

1. Filming the extract. Ask students to prepare a 10 shot storyboard for this scene. Compare with the film version of the scene. The link can be found at:

Rabbit Proof Fence Stolen Generation - YouTube

2. Comparing with Darwin (AO3). Return to the card sort activity relating to the writer’s attitude towards native tribes. Put students into groups and ask them to choose words which best describe this writer’s attitude towards the aboriginals. What similarities and differences are there between this writer’s perspective on native tribes and Darwin’s?

3. Exam pic’n’mix. Ask students to plan and write an answer for an exam question. The following questions are worded to reflect the longer, comparative question across different specifications:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KD4yu0cvi2o


AQA-style question

Compare how the two writers convey their different attitudes and perspectives to native tribes.


compare their different attitudes.

compare the methods they use to compare their attitudes.

support your ideas with quotations from both texts.

16 marks

OCR-style question

‘In these texts the writers present negative attitudes towards native tribes.’

How far do you agree with this statement?


discuss what you learn about their attitudes

explain the impact of their attitudes on you

compare how their views are presented.

Support your response with quotations from both texts.

18 marks


Compare how the writers of Text 1 and Text 2 present their ideas and perspectives about native tribes.

Support your answer with detailed reference to the texts.

14 marks


Both of these texts are about native tribes. Compare the following:

the writers’ attitudes towards the native tribes

how they get their attitudes across to the reader.

10 marks



Plenary activity

1. Nana Fejo’s story. Direct students to the following apology speech, given by Kevin Rudd, Australian Prime Minister in 2008. Share the story of Nana Fejo as explained by Kevin Rudd in his speech. You might also find the following links useful:

extended, printable version of Kevin Rudd’s speech

the Australian News full transcript of PM’s speech

full video of Kevin Rudd’s speech on YouTube.

2. What similarities are there between her experiences and those of Molly and Gracie? What can we learn from her story?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiLnsFyAVqE

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/full-transcript-of-pms-speech/story-e6frg6nf-1111115543192


Acknowledgements

Extracts

Text 2: Claire Potter, ‘Why teaching table manners can do more harm than good’, The Guardian. Copyright Guardian News & Media Ltd 2013, reprinted by permission

Text 4: From My Left Foot by Christy Brown, published by Secker. Reprinted by permission of The Random House Group Ltd

Text 6: From A History of Modern Britain by Andrew Marr, published by Pan Books. Copyright © Andrew Marr, 2007. Reprinted by permission of Pan Macmillan UK

Text 8: From Behind the Wall by Colin Thubron, published by Secker. Reprinted by permission of The Random House Group Ltd

Text 10: From Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence by Doris Pilkington/Nugi Garamara, published by University of Queensland Press. Reprinted by permission of University of Queensland Press

Images

Cover: Typewriter image adapted from the original image, shared freely by Florian Klauer on Unsplash

Page 77: © Alpha / Globe Photos INC

Page 103-4: From Britannica Image Quest. For Education Use Only. This and millions of other educational images are available through Britannica Image Quest. For a free trial, please visit www.britannica.co.uk/trial


http://www.britannica.co.uk/trial

https://unsplash.com/florianklauer


Exploring context

Extract from Kevin Rudd’s 2008 Apology speech: Nana Fejo’s story

Let me begin to answer by telling the parliament just a little of one person’s story –

an elegant, eloquent and wonderful woman in her 80s, full of life, full of funny

stories, despite what has happened in her life's journey. Nanna Nungala Fejo, as

she prefers to be called, was born in the late 1920s.

She remembers her earliest childhood days living with her family and her

community in a bush camp just outside Tennant Creek. She remembers the love

and the warmth and the kinship of those days long ago, including traditional dancing

around the camp fire at night.

She loved the dancing. She remembers once getting into strife when, as a four-

year-old girl, she insisted on dancing with the male tribal elders rather than just

sitting and watching the men, as the girls were supposed to do.

But then, sometime around 1932, when she was about four, she remembers the

coming of the welfare men. Her family had feared that day and had dug holes in

the creek bank where the children could run and hide.

What they had not expected was that the white welfare men did not come alone.

They brought a truck, two white men and an Aboriginal stockman on horseback

cracking his stockwhip.

The kids were found; they ran for their mothers, screaming, but they could not get

away. They were herded and piled onto the back of the truck. Tears flowing, her

mum tried clinging to the sides of the truck as her children were taken away to the

Bungalow in Alice, all in the name of protection. A few years later, government

policy changed. Now the children would be handed over to the missions to be

cared for by the churches. But which church would care for them?

The kids were simply told to line up in three lines. Nanna Fejo and her sister stood

in the middle line, her older brother and cousin on her left. Those on the left were

told that they had become Catholics, those in the middle Methodists and those on

the right Church of England.



She and her sister were sent to a Methodist mission on Goulburn Island and then

Croker Island. Her Catholic brother was sent to work at a cattle station and her

cousin to a Catholic mission.

Nanna Fejo’s family had been broken up for a second time. She stayed at the

mission until after the war, when she was allowed to leave for a prearranged job as

a domestic in Darwin. She was 16. Nanna Fejo never saw her mum again. After

she left the mission, her brother let her know that her mum had died years before, a

broken woman fretting for the children that had literally been ripped away from her.

I asked Nanna Fejo what she would have me say today about her story. She

thought for a few moments then said that what I should say today was that all

mothers are important. And she added: Families – keeping them together is very

important. It’s a good thing that you are surrounded by love and that love is passed

down the generations. That’s what gives you happiness.

Nanna Fejo’s is just one story. There are thousands, tens of thousands of them:

stories of forced separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from

their mums and dads over the better part of a century.

The 2008 Kevin Rudd apology speech was reproduced from the Parliament of Australia website with the kind permission of the Commonwealth of Australia (Department of Parliamentary Services). The Hansards can be downloaded for free from parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22chamber%2Fhansardr%2F2008-02-13%2F0003%22 subject to copyright conditions.


http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22chamber%2Fhansardr%2F2008-02-13%2F0003%22

http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22chamber%2Fhansardr%2F2008-02-13%2F0003%22

debenham high school - home page€¦ · web viewword(s) to describe attitude quotation effect of...

Documents