A PASSAGE TO AFRICA

Pre-reading discussion

Look at the slide entitled Wanting a Meal. Is it morally right for journalists to take photos of starving people?
Why do you think people in the developed world not do more to help those dying of starvation?

Look at the slide of the People in Need advertisement. What do you think the organisation is trying to accomplish in
this poster?
Is it a powerful message or a piece of bad taste?

Context Building

What do you think the term fair-trade means?

Watch the Youtube clip presented by the BBC journalist, George Alagiah . As you watch take notes on the main
points of the presentation.

Now get into a group of 4 or 5 and compare your notes. Present your finding to the class.

Vocabulary focus

a. What is the meaning of the following words?

hamlet ghoulish callous enervating
terminal putrid taboo surreptitiously
aspire inured seminal

b. Work out the part of speech of each of the words above

c. Find a synonym for each of the words

Reading: Quick Questions

1. Why does Alagiah decide to go to Gufgaduud?

2. Why does Amina Abdirahman leave her daughters and what happens while she is away?

3. How does the old woman in paragraph 5 sustain her terrible wound?

4. What is the emotion that Alagiah feels in feeding centre? Why is he guilty about this?

5. Which examples does Alagiah provide of starving people aspiring to dignity?

6. What is the ultimate reason that Alagiah gives for writing the story of Gufgaduud?

7. What is Alagiahs final regret as he concludes the passage?

Homework

Find 3 photographs of war or starvation. Explore how they affect you and why they are so effective in terms of
conveying a meaning.
Write a 100-150 words for each.

Speaking and Listening Assignment

Alternatively, each member of the groups brings in an image of war and/or suffering. They introduce it to the group
explaining what the photographer has tried to achieve and saying how effective they find it.
The group then discuss the images and try to reach a consensus about which picture is the most effective and why.


A PASSAGE TO AFRICA


Deeper Questions

1. Why does Alagiah compare journalists to drug addicts? How effective is this comparison? (3 marks)

2. Describing the death of Habiba, Alagiah writes, No rage, no whimpering, just a passing away that
simple, frictionless, motionless deliverance from a state of half- life.
Explore this sentence carefully, commenting on what you think Alagiah is trying to convey. How does his
description help us understand the idea of famine away from the headlines? (5 marks)

3. What elements of Alagiahs description of the dying woman make it so painful to read? (lines 24-31)
Present your findings in the form of a table:

Word or phrase Why it produces a painful effect upon the reader


(6 marks)

4. In lines 46-66 Alagiah explores the effect that a smile has on him. How does Alagiah make this encounter
such a dramatic moment in the passage? (6 marks)

Extension

In another article concerning human suffering Alagiah writes:

Filming over, we shared a charter flight back to base with another television crew. There's a ritual on these journeys.
You make light of what you've been through. 'Was that village an eight or nine on the Richter scale of good pictures?'
It's not callousness - it's called keeping your distance. 'We'll meet again,' says the pilot. 'There'll be another disaster
some place else - on that you can bet.'

He is right, of course. What will I do next time? What kind of pictures will it take to move people then? There's only
one answer and it's the one I try to judge my work against. You're there to tell the story, not to market misery.

How far do you agree with the view of journalism that Alagiahs articulates above? Is he being honest or does
this assessment seem cynical to you?



Exam Practice - Writing
How does the writer create a sense of human suffering in this passage?
In your answer you should write about:
How the atmosphere is built up and developed
How the events are described and how the narrator reacts to these events
Particular, words, phrases and techniques used by the writer

(12 marks)