A Passage To Africa

A PASSAGE TO AFRICA
1.
2.
3.
4.
George Alagiah is a well known and respected news correspondent for

the BBC
He is from Sri Lanka but was brought up in West Africa before moving
to the UK
This extract comes from his autobiography, A Passage to Africa,
which is about his experiences as a correspondent in Africa. It tells the
story of a report he made in Somalia.
Somalia is in the East of Africa, East of Ethiopia and this extract was
written to describe and inform about the brutal war in Somalia.
SOMALIA
PURPOSE
To shock people
To give readers insight into how a journalist,
as opposed to readers, see suffering and
hardship and how they are obligated to report
harsher and harsher news
To emphasise the distance between the
journalist and the people in the feeding
centres
I owe you one - a dedication to the man
who smiled
AUDIENCE
Readers of
newspapers/magazines.
People who like reading
autobiographies.
TONE
At the beginning, callous, inured and distanced
Revulsion for the dying and sick
What might have appalled us ... no longer impressed us much.

Admits it himself - this sounds callous, the ghoulish manner of journalists
a mixture of pity and revulsion
The degeneration of the human body ... is a disgusting thing.
Death described dispassionately
same old stuff

No rage, no whimpering, just a passing away that simple, frictionless, motionless deliverance from a state of half-life to death itself.
It was, as I said at the time in my dispatch, a vision of famine away from the headlines, a famine of quiet suffering and lonely death.
At the end, more personal (and less distance)
I had to find out.

Regrets the fact that he never found out what the mans name was
Shocked at the smile

Futility - the man will never read the article, even though it is written almost in dedication to him
The unknown mans smile moves him while the hardship of the others do not
Pities them: they aspire to a dignity that is almost impossible to achieve
Curious of the mans identity
In those brief moments there had been a smile, not from me, but from the face. It was not a smile of greeting, it was not a smile of joy
how could it be? but it was a smile nonetheless
Tone changes from almost indifferent to hopeful/hopeless
I resolved there and then that I would write the story of Gufgaduud with all the power and purpose I could muster
the only adequate answer a reporter can give to the mans question
QUESTION FOUR
In this passage, how does George
Alagiah present his views about his
experiences as a television reporter in
Somalia?
You may include brief quotations from
the text to support your answer. 10
marks
MODELLED - FOCUSED
ANNOTATION
how does George Alagiah present his views about his
experiences as a television reporter
As we read the text, we are looking for words or phrases
that tell us his views about his experiences.
We are also looking for techniques that are used that
might tell us something about how he feels about his
experiences i.e.
Onomatopoeia noise words
Personification gives it characteristics that people have
Metaphors describing it as another thing
Similes like or as
Repetition repeating the same words over and over
Hyperbole - exaggeration
Like its hardly anything hed become

hardened!
Doesnt
seem very
organised
or
profession
al
this
one
stand
s out
why?
Sees it as ghoulish what does this

suggest?
Suggests
that they
are looking
for more
horrific
images
seems
very cold!
Short
sentence
makes it
seem very
matter of
fact!
Lots of
detail
given to
the
reader
that
makes us
feel
appalled
but he
seems
indifferent
to it
Structure presents her as an object that smells

non human?
One line paragraph this is more important than

Repetition to everything above why?
present to us
how awful the
human
condition is in
Somalia!
Lots of
detail
given to
the
reader
that
makes us
feel
appalled
but he
Metaphor making them seem

absolutely horrific!
Ellipsis like hes

searching for the right
words for what the
army was doing as if
it does make sense!
Metaphor making it seem as if it

actually came over and pushed him;
jolted him
Repetition of it touched; it moved shows the effect that this one
moment had on him.
Rhetorical question shows us that he

is quizzical about this. He is surprised
by his reaction too.
Urged gives a strong feeling of his

desperation
Repetition of smile and extra detail

emphasises how unusual it is that
anyone should be smiling in this
situation.
Used to it and the comparison

emphasises how unsettled he is by
the smile
Another
metaphor to
show how
deeply it
touched him
Final rhetorical
question to end
the paragraph
makes the
reader
understand his
surprise and
engage with
what is
More comparisons to emphasis how

things work
Repetition list of three shows us
how deeply affected he was his
whole world is affected.
Metaphor to emphasise
that this was an earth
moving type of event
literally shook his world!
Ending by talking directly to the man,

use of personal pronouns, makes the
article seem all the more personal!
WRITING ABOUT
IN THIS PASSAGE, HOW DOES GEORGE ALAGIAH PRESENT HIS VIEWS ABOUT HIS EXPERIENCES
AS A TELEVISION REPORTER IN SOMALIA? (10 MARKS) YOU MAY INCLUDE BRIEF QUOTATIONS
FROM THE TEXT TO SUPPORT YOUR ANSWER
PURPOSE
Why has the text
been written?
Evidence
Effect on the reader

The description in the
first sentence
establishes what the
extract will be about
and that it will describe
to us the suffering of
the people of Alagiah
met.
To provoke a response
from the reader
AUDIENCE
Who is the text
aimed at?
An adult audience
There was Amina

Abdirahman and
There was the old
woman who lay in her
hut
Alagiah retells the

stories of people he
meets on his journey
and gives us an insight
in to their lives. This
would be interesting to
those who want to
learn about such
things.
TECHNIQUES
What kinds of
devices are used to
create effect?
Rhetorical Questions
Emotive vocabulary
Repetition
Alliteration
Short Sentences
Verbs
Adjectives
Simile
Ellipsis
Triplet
Evidence
Effect on the reader
EXAM PRACTICE
How does George Alagiah make the suffering of

the Somali people so vivid?
How does George Alagiah show that he is

repulsed by the sights and smells that meet him
on his journey?
There is repeated reference to The face I will

never forget in this extract. What effect does
this encounter have on George Alagiah and how
does he express the extent of its impact upon
him?

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A PASSAGE TO AFRICA

George Alagiah is a well known and respected news correspondent for

At the beginning, callous, inured and distanced

Revulsion for the dying and sick

What might have appalled us ... no longer impressed us much.

Death described dispassionately

same old stuff

At the end, more personal (and less distance)

I had to find out.

Shocked at the smile

Pities them: they aspire to a dignity that is almost impossible to achieve

Curious of the mans identity

Tone changes from almost indifferent to hopeful/hopeless

Like its hardly anything hed become

Sees it as ghoulish what does this

Structure presents her as an object that smells

One line paragraph this is more important than

Metaphor making them seem

Ellipsis like hes

Metaphor making it seem as if it

Rhetorical question shows us that he

Urged gives a strong feeling of his

Repetition of smile and extra detail

Used to it and the comparison

More comparisons to emphasis how

Ending by talking directly to the man,

Effect on the reader

There was Amina

Alagiah retells the

Effect on the reader

How does George Alagiah make the suffering of

How does George Alagiah show that he is

There is repeated reference to The face I will

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