Through Our Eyes for KS4

24 brilliant texts to enrich your GCSE English curriculum Contributors: Ali Al-Jamri, Joanne Benjamin-Lewis, Payal Bhavsar, Djamila Boothman, Jamila Gavin, Mike Gould, Jo Heathcote and Lindsay Skinner

Through Our Eyes 24 brilliant texts to enrich your KS4 English curriculum TEACHER PACK

Series editor: Jo Heathcote Authors: Ali Al-Jamri, Joanne Benjamin-Lewis, Djamila Boothman, Mike Gould, Jo Heathcote and Lindsay Skinner Series consultants: Payal Bhavsar and Jamila Gavin

Contents Foreword

iv

Introduction: How to use this resource

v

About the author and contributor team

vi

Lesson overviews

vii

Lessons Non-fiction 1. Akala, from Natives

1

2. Raifa Rafiq, from ‘Not Just a Black Muslim Woman’

6

3. Lindsay Skinner, from ‘When they ask, “Miss, are you a lesbian?”’

11

4. Henry Fraser, from The Power In You

17

5. James O’Brien, from How To Be Right

22

6. Xiaolu Guo, from Once upon a time in the East

28

7. Elif Shafak, from ‘Home Sweet Homes’

34

8. Hadley Freeman, from House of Glass

39

Poetry 1. Vanessa Kisuule, ‘Hollow’

45

2. Wioletta Greg, ‘All About My Grandmother’

51

3. Jacob Sam-La Rose, from ‘Speechless’

56

4. Sophia Thakur, ‘FEDs’

62

5. Jackie Kay, ‘Old Tongue’

70

6. George the Poet, ‘St Raphael’s Estate’

75

7. Hafsah Aneela Bashir, ‘Cumin Seeds’

80

8. Amal Al-Jubouri, ‘Baghdad Before the Occupation’ and ‘Baghdad After the Occupation’

85

Fiction 1. Kamila Shamsie, from Home Fire

90

2. Tomi Adeyemi, from Children of Blood and Bone

96

3. Dean Atta, from The Black Flamingo

102

4. Shahla al-Ujayli, ‘The Memoirs of Cinderella’s Slipper’

109

5. Alex Wheatle, from Crongton Knights

116

6. Salena Godden, from Mrs Death Misses Death

122

7. Rosie Garland, from The Night Brother

128

8. Malorie Blackman, from Boys Don’t Cry

133

Appendices

139

Acknowledgements

157

Extract 4

The Power In You by Henry Fraser

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17

Non-fiction: Lesson 4

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" % " " # +*+* Glossary tetraplegic: a person whose four limbs are paralysed (paralysis is the loss of the ability to move – and sometimes to feel anything – in part of the body) paraplegic: partial or complete paralysis of the lower half of the body, usually due to injury or disease of the spinal cord functional: the way something works or operates paraphrase: a rewording of something written or spoken

About the author, text and context Henry Fraser is a British artist and motivational speaker. Henry was 17 years old when he severely crushed his spinal cord while on holiday in Portugal. He was paralysed from the neck down and spent over six months in hospital, recovering and learning how to breathe again.

Fraser talks about initially thinking that his life was over but then rediscovering his love for painting, drawing and creating. He is a believer in ‘the gift of adversity’ and adapting to life’s challenges.

The full title of Fraser’s book is The Power In You: How to accept your past, live in the present and shape a positive future.

If you liked this...

Try reading The Pretty One by Keah Brown, which also seeks to offer insight into living with disability and to address limiting stereotypes by sharing some of her experiences and the challenges that she has overcome.

Dan Eley is also a motivational speaker who suffered a spinal cord injury and was paralysed as a result. He set up a charity whose objective is to help young people living in disadvantaged circumstances access educational opportunities, vocational training and other opportunities for self-development. Find out more online at The Dan Eley Foundation.

© HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2022

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Non-fiction: Lesson 4

Lesson 4

The Power In You by Henry Fraser

Learning objectives:

Resources:

• To examine a writer’s use of rhetoric to convey a viewpoint • To consider alternative perspectives

• • • •

Assessment objectives: • GCSE English Language AO2

Non-fiction: Extract 4 Non-fiction: Worksheet 4 Sticky notes Highlighter pens

This lesson looks at physical disability from the perspective of someone experiencing it. It examines attitudes and preconceptions that some people have, so students must be encouraged to use considerate language.

Getting started

•

Pose the questions: Do you know anyone who is living with a physical disability? Do you have any insight about living with a physical disability that you can share with the class? Students write responses on sticky notes and place them on the wall. Share some of their responses and the lesson objectives.

•

Distribute copies of Worksheet 4. Students complete Activity 1 in pairs as a means of gaining some useful context and understanding around key definitions. Collect responses and explain that the extract students will be reading in this lesson is told from the perspective of Henry Fraser, who is tetraplegic.

Whilst he examines the viewpoints of others, the text reveals a lot of his views about living with a disability, and he uses a range of rhetorical devices to counteract some of the viewpoints others have.

•

Hand out copies of Extract 4. Direct students to read the first two paragraphs aloud, then instruct them to complete worksheet Activity 2, gathering information about how Fraser is treated and made to feel by others. Collect feedback. Suggested responses include: People are/feel too polite or scared to ask questions; they imagine disabled people are bored and inactive; they feel horrified/imagine indignity.

•

Explain that rhetoric is the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing. Students then complete Activity 3, which checks their knowledge of rhetorical devices. Answers: 1c, 2d, 3f, 4g, 5b, 6e, 7h, 8a.

Exploring

•

Now read from paragraph 3 of Extract 4 to the end aloud, prompting students to highlight the challenges that Fraser identifies. Students then read the paragraph to themselves a second time, using a different colour to highlight Fraser’s responses or solutions to the identified challenges. Indicate that with each response/solution, Fraser uses a rhetorical device as a means of convincing readers that their preconceptions about living with a disability are often misconceptions.

•

Students complete worksheet Activity 4, identifying Fraser’s responses to the functional challenges that he faces and exploring his attitude towards his disability. Collect responses, ensuring that students have identified the rhetorical devices used to convince readers that the challenges are surmountable and need to be looked at with a different mindset. Suggested responses include: ‘I need to eat – I have to be fed’/ ‘I get a cab – just like you may.’/ ‘how do you eat, how do you shave, how do you get around. But I have come to see that life is about so much more than the functional.’/ ‘To paraphrase Barack Obama: the sun will rise in the morning whether you are able-bodied or disabled. It’s the same sun, it’s the same day.’

Responding

•

Allow 20 minutes for students to complete worksheet Activity 5 in their exercise books, responding to the question: How does Fraser use rhetoric to convey his viewpoint about living with disability?

Worksheet Activity 4 serves as a planning sheet and Activity 5 offers a model and sentence starters.

It might be helpful to live model and provide students with success criteria that includes: 1. Functional challenge; 2. Fraser’s response/solution; 3. Rhetorical device; 4. What it reveals about his viewpoint.

•

As a lesson plenary, again pose the question: Do you have any insight about living with a physical disability? Students write their responses on sticky notes and add them to the wall.

Find out more Read about how Henry has adapted to lockdown life during the pandemic via his interview for Enable Magazine, available online (search for ‘Enable Asks… Henry Fraser’).

© HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2022

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Non-fiction: Lesson 4

Worksheet 4

The Power In You by Henry Fraser

The image below illustrates two types of paralysis. Paralysis is the inability, whether temporary or permanent, to move a part of the body due to damage to the brain itself or the spinal cord, which sends and receives messages from the brain to the body.

Today’s text is written by Henry Fraser, who is tetraplegic and wants to offer insight into living with a disability.

Activity 1 Consider and write down in your exercise book: •

What questions would you ask about Fraser’s disability?

•

What challenges might he face?

Paraplegic

Tetraplegic

Activity 2 Read lines 1–20 of the extract (up to ‘may once have felt impossible.’). In your exercise book, list three things that Fraser says about the opinions and behaviours of others. For example: Many believe that his disability means that he cannot do very much.

Activity 3 Match the rhetorical devices with their definitions. The first one has been done as an example.

Rhetorical device

Definition

1. Repetition

A. A collection of three words, phrases, sentences; known together as a triad

2. Direct address

B. A short amusing or interesting story about a real incident or person

3. Anaphora

C. The act of doing or saying something again (more than once)

4. Rhetorical question

D. A speaker talking directly to an individual or group

5. Anecdote

E. A view or judgement about something, not based on fact or knowledge

6. Opinion

F. Repetition of a word or phrase at the start of successive clauses or sentences

7. Alliteration

G. Question asked to create a dramatic effect or to make a point rather than to get an answer

8. List of three

H. The same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or connected words

Activity 4 Identify Fraser’s responses to the functional challenges that he faces, exploring his attitude using the table on the next page. Consider: •

his response to the challenges that he faces (this includes perceived challenges)

•

his use of rhetorical devices to reveal his viewpoint.

© HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2022

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Non-fiction: Lesson 4

Functional challenge

Fraser’s response/ solution

Rhetorical device

What it reveals about his viewpoint

‘Certainly, there are moments when I wish I could go to the toilet without being helped.’

‘I need to go to the loo – I need help’

Anaphora

Fraser is comfortable with the reality of his situation. It is simple and straightforward. He is honest and open about his needs.

‘there are moments when I’d like to be able to eat without someone feeding me’ ‘there are days when I’d like to hop on the tube and go into town, alone’ ‘I have found that people’s questions for the disabled are so focused on the functional’ ‘much of it is taken up with functionality – at a level that an able-bodied person might never consider’

Activity 5 How does Fraser use rhetoric to convey his viewpoint about living with disability?

Complete your analysis using the writing frame and sample answer below as a guide.

Fraser accepts

acknowledges

refutes

that (functional challenge).

He reflects on

considers

questions

the fact that… (Fraser’s response). The words… (embedded quotation) reveal that… (deeper analysis).

This is emphasised

reinforced

supported

by the use of… (rhetorical device), which demonstrates…

(Fraser’s viewpoint).

The reader thinks

considers

recognises

experiences

… (effect on reader). The reading of these words feels (reader’s emotion).

Fraser acknowledges that he would like to ‘go to the toilet without being helped’ but reflects on the fact that he needs the help. The words ‘I need to go to the loo – I need help’ reveal that he is open and honest about his needs. This is emphasised by the use of anaphora, which demonstrates that Fraser is comfortable with the reality of his situation. It is simple and straightforward and the repetition of the phrase ‘I need’ not only emphasises his vulnerability but his drive and determination to not be held back by the functional challenges that he faces daily. The reader recognises that preoccupation with the minutiae of the functional only serves to create a divide between those living with disability and those who are not. The reading of these words feels matter of fact, and Fraser’s acceptance of his needs encourages the reader to accept them too.

© HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2022

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Non-fiction: Lesson 4