Empathy writing planning sheet – Task 1 a Somalian

Paragraph focus Details I Want to Include

1. Introduction:
Today is a new day for the world; a day of
new experiences and opportunities just
waiting to be lived and explored. But for
me, and the many thousands that
surround me, today is already as old as the
day before: only another day of pain,
suffering, and hunger awaits us/is ready
to greet us.
A short paragraph to explain who I am and
an overview of how my life has
changed/why it has changed.
 Key phrases or sentences that
include a metaphor or simile, for
example
 Key sentences I do not want to
forget
 Record spellings that I usually
find difficult or repeatedly
misspell

You must use details from the text but can

create your own too, as long as they SUIT
the content of the text.

2. What your current situation is. What

suffering are you experiencing? What
help, if any, have you received?
Describe recent events.

3. Your thoughts about what the war has

done to your country? Howa are others
suffering? What else have you seen?
Who is helping you here or in the rest
of the world?
 4. What did you think when this reporter
(Alagiah) came to your location? How
did you feel about him looking at you
and taking photographs? What do you
think about people seeing you like this?

Conclusion:
Tomorrow is a new day for the reporters
and the audiences they dutifully inform
but for me and many others, tomorrow is
a day we might not live to see.
Explain your thoughts about the future.
What are your fears? Can you feel any
sense of hope?
Empathy writing planning sheet – Task 2 George

Paragraph focus Details I Want to Include

1. Introduction:
Dear diary, today was a day that has left me
troubled and questioning the very nature of
the work I do. I am proud of my work as a
journalist; it is a duty – not just a job –to bring
the attention to the suffering of the world’s
weakest and most vulnerable. And yet as I lie
in my hotel room back in Mogadishu, I cannot
erase the images of today’s horror that scroll
across my mind’s eyes.
 Key phrases or sentences that
include a metaphor or simile, for
example
 Key sentences I do not want to
forget
 Record spellings that I usually
find difficult or repeatedly
misspell

A short paragraph to explain how I feel

from today’s events (but will go into detail
later)

2. Thoughts about the village and getting

there. What was the journey like? What
kind of things did you see on the
roadside? What were you expecting?
What was the mood amongst the other
journalists?

3. What most upset you about the people

you saw? How did you feel about the
suffering? Why were you unable to
help?
 4. Why did the man with the smile make
such an impact on you? How did he
make you feel about taking
photographs of him?

Conclusion:
Will NOT say ‘In conclusion’

Tomorrow I will wake again in my clean

sheets, fill my stomach with a well-cooked
breakfast and set off with my cameraman
to hunt out yet more grotesque scenes in
yet another broken village.

Explain your thoughts about the rest of your

time in Somalia, having to go in search of more
images. What do you want your viewers back in
the UK to know about the war out here?