A Critique of the Proposed National Education Policy Reform
a-passage-to-africa.pptx
1. Starter Activity 1
LESSON 1
• Watch the following clip and write down your
impressions/emotions as you watch.
Somalia Civil War
2. Starter Activity 2
• Read Carol Anne Duffy’s poem
War Photographer. With a
partner COMPARE the similarities
and differences between the
poem and the passage from ‘A
Passage to Africa’ by George
Alagiah.
3. A Passage to Africa
Assessment Objective 2 (i)
Read with insight and engagement, making
appropriate reference to texts and developing
and sustaining interpretations of them.
4. Background
George Alagiah was born in Sri Lanka, but when he
was five years old his family moved to live in West
Africa. He now lives in the United kingdom and
works as a newscaster for the BBC.
This passage comes from his book A Passage to
Africa. In this autobiography he writes about his
life and experiences as a TV reporter working
mainly in Africa. In this extract, he writes about a
report he made when he was covering the civil
war in Somalia for the BBC
5. Homework
• Find some information about George Alagiah.
You can look for a profile on him at
www.bbc.co.uk
• Try to find out something about the civil war
in Somalia in the 1990s, which continues to
this day
• WRITE 100-150 words on each of these bullet
points.
6. Pair work
• Share your ideas on the following questions:
1. Why do you think people watch news on television?
Do you watch it? Why or why not?
2. Have you ever watched a news programme
reporting a war on the humanitarian crisis, for
instance a famine or an earthquake? What do you
remember about it and the effect it had on you?
3. Does the TV reporting of terrible events (e.g. floods,
famine) help the people who are suffering?
7. Group Task:
• Read through the text wearing your allocated
COLOUR De Bono hat and be prepared to feed
back your ideas in 15 minutes’ time.
8. Group work:
De Bono’s SIX Thinking Hats
• Group 1: White Hat (information and facts)
Ask questions about the text that require factual answers. Find out dates, names, places or
explore the social and historical context.
• Group 2: Red Hat (Feelings, emotions and intuition)
Ask questions about the emotions of different character(s), or/and about how the text makes
the reader feel.
• Group 3: Black Hat (Judgment or why something might not work)
Think about any issues, or difficult situations that the characters face. Consider anything
about the text that doesn’t work for you.
• Group 4: Yellow Hat (Brightness and optimism)
Ask about the good things in your text. Was it positive? Useful? Did you learn something
from it?
• Group 5: Green Hat (Creativity, possibility and new ideas)
What would happen if you retold the text? Turn it into something different – a painting, a
film, a dance...
• Group 6: Blue Hat (Managing the thinking process)
Think about how the writer creates effects. What is it about the language being used that
makes us think a certain way? Is the experience the same for everyone?
9. Understanding the text
Purpose?
To explain his role as a reporter, giving his
thoughts and feelings about a particularly
challenging incident. He is also trying to
challenge us as readers, to make us think
about our role.
10. Understanding the text...continued
• Read the text again and try to find answers to the
following questions. Remember more than one
point can be made to answer each question.
Question Answer and Evidence
What kinds of pictures and stories do
the television news companies want?
1. Powerful images - the most
striking pictures
2. ...
3. ...
What do the television news
companies not want to show or
report?
1. Yesterday’s news – old pictures are
written off as the same old stuff
2. ...
3. ...
What do we learn about TV audiences
from this passage?
1. ...
2. ...
3. ...
12. Understanding the text...continued
• Look at the list of statements about the smile
and then find a quotation to illustrate each
one.
• Then put into YOUR OWN WORDS what you
think the importance of the smile is.
It
reverses
roles
It asks
questions
It
stimulates
actions
It affects the
writer very
powerfully
13. Understanding the text...continued
CONTRADICTIONS
What happens in the passage is often
puzzling because of the contradictions. For
instance, a smile is usually a sign of
happiness, but not here.
Can you find any other examples of
things which seem to be the
opposite of what they should be?
14. What can you say about LANGUAGE?
• In this passage George Alagiah is writing
both as a journalist and about being a
journalist. He describes what he saw in a
vivid way but at the same time he gives
the reader an insight into the world of
reporting where journalists compete with
each other to get the highest ratings.
15. What can you say about language...continued
• Complete the following table to think about the differing uses and kinds of
language in the passage.
Language Style Example
Emotive words are used to convey the
world of the victims.
1. Adjectives emphasise their poverty
– e.g. hungry, lean, scared
2. ...
3. ...
Words give you a vivid image of the
world of the television journalist.
1. They are like predators – e.g. on
the hunt
2. ...
3. ...
Sentence structure is varied to engage
the reader.
1. Incomplete sentences are used for
effect, for instance: And then there
was the face i will never forget.
2. ...
3. ...
16. EXAM PRACTICE
• Read the sample exam response.
Then using the mark scheme
work with a partner and award a
mark for the response. Annotate
the essay to show where you
would award marks and why. Be
ready to feed back in 10 minutes.
