Lesson Summary: A Passage to Africa This lesson delves into George Alagiah’s extract from A Passage to Africa, exploring the impact of war and famine in Somalia. Students engage in analysing how Alagiah uses language to depict suffering, as well as the ethical and emotional dilemmas journalists face when reporting on such crises. Through a blend of group discussions, guided readings, and writing tasks, students will develop a deeper understanding of the passage and Alagiah’s message. Lesson Objectives: Understand the context and purpose of Alagiah’s narrative as a journalist’s account. Analyse how language techniques (e.g., metaphors, sensory imagery) are used to convey suffering. Discuss and reflect on the ethical challenges of journalism in conflict zones. Activities: Group discussions on media representation of humanitarian crises and the role of journalists. Guided reading with a focus on identifying key language devices and their effects. Analytical writing tasks using structured approaches like PEE (Point, Evidence, Explanation) or PETAL (Point, Evidence, Technique, Analysis, Link) to respond to a question about Alagiah’s use of language. Skills Developed: Critical analysis of non-fiction texts and understanding the ethical dimensions of journalism. Empathy and cultural awareness through exploration of real-world humanitarian issues. Structured analytical writing, focusing on language effects and textual evidence.

A detailed unit of work for ‘The Reluctant Fundamentalist’ including lots of articles and extracts for wider reading. There are PowerPoints for each chapter and suggested assignments throughout.

Detailed notes on the following poems: Ambulances Arundel Tomb Dockery and Son Essential Beauty High Windows Talking in Bed Vers De Société Wild Oats

A selection of quotations from ‘Of Mice and Men’ including detailed analysis.

A comprehensive resource pack on Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’. Assessments are tailored towards the OCR A level English course, however, could be adapted for a number of other exam boards. There are a number of practice assessments with model answers.

This booklet contains a variety of unseen passages for the unit on ‘The Immigrant Experience’. Texts include: ‘American and I’ - Anzia Yezierska ‘Exit West’ – Mohsin Hamid ‘Brick Lane’ – Monica Ali ‘Enemies: A Love Story’ – Isaac Bashevis Singer ‘The Assistant’ – Bernard Malamud ‘The Namesake’ – Jhumpa Lahiri ‘The Buddha in the Attic’ – Julie Otsuka ‘The Lonely Londoners’ – Sam Selvon ’The Road Home’ - Rose Tremain ‘Terrorist’ – John Updike ‘My New American Life’ – Francine Prose ‘The Fortunate Pilgrim’ – Mario Puzo ‘The Association of Small Bombs’ – Karan Mahajan ‘Black-Eyed Women’ from ‘The Refugees’ - Viet Thanh Nguyen ‘The Secret River’ – Kate Grenville ‘The Third and Final Continent’ from ‘Interpreter of Maladies’ - Jhumpa Lahiri ’Call it Sleep’ - Henry Roth ‘A Long Way Home’ – Saroo Brierley ‘The Blue Between Sky and Water’ – Susan Abulhawa ‘Shantaram’ – David Gregory Roberts ’Eva’s Story’ - Eva Schloss ‘Girl in Translation’ – Jean Kwok ‘Café Scheherazade’ – Arnold Zable ‘Brooklyn’ - Colm Tóibín I set ‘The Blue Between Sky and Water’ as a Mock Examination so I have included indicative content for this which would work as a mark scheme and two model answers for ‘A Long Way Home’ and ‘Brooklyn’.