I’m Not Scared

Close Analysis
Chapter Four
PREPARATION…
▪ Reread Chapter Four
▪ Identify the key moments of plot development
▪ Identify what has changed during the course of the chapter
▪ Identify which characters are involved and list their actions

TOPIC:
“Chapter Four is the most important chapter in
the novel”
Discuss.
TOPIC:
“Chapter Four is the most important chapter in
the novel”
Discuss.
▪ What is my response?
– The statement is valid
– The statement is invalid
– The statement is partly valid.

▪ What are the key arguments or ideas I am going to put forward to support my
position?
▪ What evidence from the text am I going to use to back it up?
 Plan your response – Key Ideas

First Reason
• Arrival of Sergio ▪ These key arguments or ideas
• Mastermind of Filippo’s Abduction
• Personification of cultural evil
form the BASIS of each of your
body paragraphs
Second Reason
• We see the dehumanizing effects of Filippo’s ▪ The opening sentence, or TOPIC
imprisonment sentence of each body
• Seen from Michele’s perspective paragraph, MUST address each
Third Reason of these key arguments or ideas.
• Michele discovers that his father is responsible for ▪ What are they?
Filippo’s abduction
– An event? A character? A growth in
knowledge? A change in awareness?
Fourth Reason – optional extra para
* Michele’s fears and imagination collide
 Plan your response – Introduction
Opening Sentence
“Chapter four is pivotal to the narrative of I’m
Not Scared for several reasons”
Second sentence
Firstly, Chapter four heralds the arrival of
Sergio, the mastermind behind Filippo’s
abduction.
Third Sentence
Secondly, we witness through Michele’s eyes the
dehumanising effects of Filippo’s imprisonment.
Fourth Sentence
However, the most significant development for
the reader in chapter four is Michele’s
discovery of who Filippo really is and why he is
chained up in the hole.
Fifth Sentence
It is these developments that force Michele
to confront reality and the fact that he will
no longer see the world in the same way.
His innocence has been irrevocably lost.
 Plan your response – Body Paragraph 1
The first example where Michele’s perspective
is irrevocably changed is with the arrival of
Sergio. At this point, Michele believes his
father to be the most important man in Acqua
Traverse. He overhears a conversation
between Sergio and his father where Sergio
admonishes Pino, saying “you’re an imbecile.”
Michele’s reaction is profound; “I felt as if I’d
been stabbed in the heart. Nobody ever talked
to papa like that. Papa was the boss of Acqua
Traverse.” The reader is now very much aware
that Michele’s perspective has shifted. He refers
to Sergio as “the emperor”.
▪ The opening sentence, or TOPIC sentence,
addresses a key argument or idea.
▪ It MUST then be supported by evidence from
the text. Show how your key argument or
idea is valid by showing where the
information resides in the text. – A quote or,
at the very least a detailed reference to the
text. It should avoid summarizing the plot.
▪ A discussion should then address the effect
upon us (the reader). What reaction do we
have? What judgement do we make? What
are we encouraged (or positioned) to think/to
feel/to believe/to know or to do in relation to
a particular character, or their actions?
Plan your response Body Para 2 - STD
Plan Your Response Body Para 3
Plan your response Body Para 4
 Plan your response – A conclusion

Opening Sentence – Revisit the topic: What is learned/discovered? What has changed?
Chapter four is the most important part of the narrative of I’m Not Scared because
Michele’s imaginary world of monsters suddenly becomes real.

Second sentence - Address how our understanding, as the reader, has been changed
The narrative focus for us as readers shifts, from Michele’s childlike inquisitiveness
and fertile imagination, to a darker realisation that there is evil in Acqua Traverse.

Third Sentence - Ultimately what has been achieved in relation to the novel as a
whole? What do we now know or anticipate?
We begin to contemplate (and anticipate) what Michele can do to save Filippo from