Monday Starter: Wordshake

Wordshake
 Paper 1 Prose
Extract Questions
By the way, what
Feedback
is Jaja’s real
name?
Chukwuka Achike
December 5th 2022
Your S1 Exam – Tuesday 20th December
(AM)
• 1 hour – Answer ONE of two questions

• ONE Extract and ONE whole-text question (character/theme focused)

• Full length essay.

• Same assessment objectives/marking criteria as for poetry (in your

notebooks)
In Nsukka
• Summarise in 5 bullet points the 5 more significant events of the time
when K and J are in Nsukka and the impact of these.

• Conside Adichie’s intention and major themes (e.g. silence, fear, the
practice of religion)
QUICKFIRE ROUND CHAPTER 11 – BACK IN ENUGU,
EUGENE LOSES CONTROL, KAMBILI’S CHANGES
• What happened to Ade Coker?
• How does Papa react to what happened to Ade Coker?
• How does the government try to punish Papa, the owner of the Standard?
• What changes do we see in Eugene’s behaviour towards his kids?
• What changes do we see in K and J?
• While in St.Agnes Hospital, why might Kambili want Mama to call Aunty Ifeoma?
• What is meant by the phrase “When a house is on fire, you run out before the roof
collapses on your head”.
• What surprises Kambili about her private tutor?
• What other details at the end of this chapter show that Kambili has changed since
Nsukka?
 Chapter 11 – back home from nsukka
• Following his expose of the murder of the freedom fighter Ogechi, Ade Coker is killed by a loaded package
sent by the Head of State. Kambili and Jaja come home that day to find Papa sobbing on the sofa, looking
small and broken
• Eugene sets up a trust for Ade’s family and buys them a house; he pays all of the workers of the Standard to
take a long leave of absence. Kambili starts having nightmares about Ade getting blown up, but sometimes in
her dreams it is Papa dying in an explosion at a meal, and she is the daughter at the table with him.
• Rats are planted in Eugene’s factory and it is shut down for infestation by government officials.
• Jaja and Kambili openly look at the painting of Papa-Nnukwu, not even trying to hide it when Eugene comes
into the room. Eugene is furious, as Kambili predicted he would be, and rips up the painting. Both children say
it is theirs and refuse to back down to Eugene’s bullying.
• Kambili curls up on the floor in distress and Eugene kicks her over and over again, breaking her ribs and
causing internal bleeding.
• She wakes up days later in St Agnes’ hospital and is being given the Last Rites by a priest. She asks Beatrice to
call Aunty Ifeoma.
• Father Amadi and Aunty Ifeoma come to the hospital. Ifeoma says that things cannot go on like this and insists
that Jaja and Kambili come back to Nsukka with her. She also suggests that Beatrice should come too.
• Eugene keeps watchful, concerned vigils by Kambili’s bedside and hires a tutor for her while she is in hospital.
• Somehow, Ifeoma gets Eugene to agree to the children going back to Nsukka with her.
 The 3 Passages.
• ”Option 3” – Chapter 5 – following K+J’s first visit to Papa Nnukwu – they
are still in the big house in the village of Abba at Christmas, the imagined
violence and eventual request for prayer, conflict between Papa and
Anikwenwa

• Study Guide – Kambili at school struggling socially and with her voice,
Ezinne tries to connect and offer advice, Chinwe is described as she seeks to
be Head Prefect – why Kambili does stay and talk after school – Chapter 4

• ‘Mock’ – C4 – Visit to Papa N’s during Abba trip – dialogue and Kambili’s
observation.
Key Areas for Development
1. (For some) Introductions and conclusions do not show sufficient understanding
of the text, Adichie’s intentions and the importance of the extract as a whole.
2. Zooming in – commenting specifically on the connotative meaning of individual
words and phrases (e.g. slap. yank, tug, backkyard snob, or the nature of dialogue
– short monosyllabic responses, Papa’s use of closed questions and imperative
commands)
3. Use present tense for discussing the text.
4. Exploring the WHY - (e.g. Papa-N’s affectionate, loving, humourous,
granfatherly language with K vs short formal greetings/responses = distance –
seemingly bordering on rude/inhospitable -but where does this distance come
from and what ’big idea’ is strongly evoked through this juxtaposition?)
Getting the balance right….
• The key issue for many of you is balance….

• Balancing detailed explanation with coverage of the passage.

• Balancing the amount of explanation you do with keeping focus on the question
• Balancing explaining the effect/relation to theme/characterisation with exploring
denotative/connotative meaning
• Balancing your consideration of quoted evidence from across the extract.

• For many of you, it is about:

Using planning/annotation to be selective in discussing the BEST evidence
Being concise and avoiding repetition in your analysis
 Getting the introduction right…
Which book? Who is the
author?
• This extract happens at the end of chapter 5 when Kambili and Jaja

returned from the trip to Papa Nnukwu’s house. This passage

Ok - yes - but how were they described
becomes powerful and dramatic because of how Papa’s reactions - try to charcterise the nature of these
‘reactions’’ in 1–2 adjectives
toward Kambili and Jaja disobeying his orders were described and

Kambili’s thoughts about it. Also, Papa’s actions towards

Anikwenwa, a visitor to their compound, gives the audience a sense

Repetition of power and vague as well
of power from Papa, which gives power to the passage. - what else is Adichie telling about Papa
and why (what big ideas does it
highlight/develop/)
Analysis – Papa Eugene
• Papa is a mess of contradictions: he's politically
brave, personally tyrannical, rigidly religious, and
impressively philanthropic, and yet he ultimately
accepts the dominant political order of the
international stage--in other words, he supports the
idea of the supremacy of Western civilization over the
African world. At a time when other Nigerians were
fighting for supremacy and independence from the
West, Papa is satisfied to accept whiteness as
superior, even in matters as supposedly universal as
religion.
 Getting the introduction right…
• Adichie makes this passage significant by revealing the depression

within Kambili’s mind and how it affected her behaviours/acting at

school. What is missing from

this introduction?

Where is it perhaps
imprecise?
 Purple Hibiscus Extract Questions

3-4 sentence introduction Verbs to show the writer’s

intention / purpose:
Use your thesis
Warns
• Guiding questions to help you develop your 3 sentence introduction: Critiques statement to
Subverts
• What is the extract about?
Reveals
help you.
• What big ideas does it explore? Illustrates
Challenges
• How does the writer feel about the topic? Questions
Explores
• Is the context significant? Attacks
• What does the extract do in terms of furthering/highlighting/shifting Deconstructs
the presentation of a particular theme/character Interrogates
Commemorates
• What do you believe in terms of the question? How do you respond
to the question?

Success criteria:
 Author’s name/name of novel
 Keyword from the question
 Your opinion / idea / viewpoint /
argument
 Verb to show Adichie’s message,
intention or purpose.
 Another good introduction
• In Adichie’s bildungsroman novel, Purple Hibiscus, the protagonist Kambili is
portrayed as a young girl growing up in an affluent household of post-colonial
Nigeria, yet suffers long-term oppression from her father’s suffocating control
and harsh religious indoctrinations. This extract was chosen before Palm Sunday,
from the section ‘Speaking with Our Spirits’ and illustrates the annual visit of Prestige is not the first word
that comes to mind when
Kambili and Jaja with their grandfather Papa-Nnukwu. The passage reveals the considering Papa -N - I’m
difference between Kambili and Jaja’s life and social status compared to Papa- wondering if this is the right
word here and if it is - how
Nnukwu through the stark contrast presented between the two families, the you will develop this idea
difference in social status demonstrating the prestige Papa-Nnukwu holds , and from the extract.
the juxtaposition between the characteristics Kambili develops under the
strangulating regulations of her household and Papa-Nnukwu’s humorous and
carefree attitude towards life.
 2. Zooming in…. “The word choice of….”
– this is always a good
“Papa-Nnukwu welcomes his granchildren with a sign of AO3.

warm hug, but instead of reciprocating this

warmth, Kambili highlights the “strong,
unpleasant smell of cassava that clung to him”.
The word choice of “clung” emphasises the Nice combinations of
simplicity of Papa-Nnukwu’s diet and the evidence layering the
analysis.
olfactory imagery combines with the more visual
picture of “yellowed” teeth” and a “browned”
singlet “slung” over him to create an overall
impression of his relative poverty but also his
acceptance and comfort with his lot in life. Sense of personal
response and deeper
thought here.
Title: “Zoom-in sentence” – Write 1-2 zoom-in sentences like the exemplar above
focusing on connotative meaning and effect of individual words/phrases.
 4. WHAT, HOW, WHY
Also, in this passage Chinwe speaks for the first time in the
novel, and through Kambili’s description of her, we see that
they juxtapose strongly through their appearance and the
way they behave. Chinwe “had a high, bird-like voice” and
she makes up nicknames for every girl in the class (for
instance she calls Ezinne “Ezi-butterfly”) except Kambili, Look back through
whom she calls a “backyard snob” since she thinks Kambili your essay – what is
is too arrogant to speak to anyone. Chinwe is extremely your bakance of
popular, girls in class always followed her to tuck shop and WHAT, HOW and
copied her hairstyle each week. She is presented as similar WHY? What do you
Kambili in terms of a wealthy family who is able to travel need to do more or
abroad and her academic abilities to compete for first place less of?
in class, however, Chinwe’s freedom to express and her
popularity among other girls formed a powerful contrast
that only heightens our sense of Kanbili’s oppression and
stunted emotional development under the tyranny of Papa.
How you approach the extract question –
Think of the extract as a whole
How is the whole extract
significant/revealing/important to the
text? How does it shape or reshape what
you already know as a reader?

How does Adichie say it? Think about the

extract’s structure, as a whole. What
dominates? What is there less of? What
is significant about the beginning and
end?

What patterns can you see? What do

they suggest about Adichie’s messages,
or about a character’s development?
Example: Study Guide Extract
How does Ezinne’s manner and use of language
emphasise how controlled/trapped Kambili is in
her silence?

How does Chinwe act as a foil for Kambili?

Where is the text densest and most

descriptive? Is this outward speech or inward
thoughts/imaginings?

What is repeated? How does this reinforce a

key thematic idea?

How are the themes of tyranny and violence

evoked near the end of the passage?
Task: So, what are the areas for development,
in your perspective?
• Based on feedback and your own feeling when writing, what are the
main challenges/obstacles in producing excellent responses to
passage-based questions. (this is NOT me saying you are not already
writing excellent responses)

• Write 2-3 areas, based on the feedback in this PPT and the comments
you received, that you wish to focus on ahead of the S1 exam.
Task: Selecting Key Evidence – a new extract
• For the second extract question in the study guide (page 26/27),
highlight a maximum of 10 words/phrases lines that you think you
would be most likely to use in answering the question given. You may
wish you colour code these.
• Look to draw lines between them and annotate with brief comments.

• Be ready to explain and justify your choices.

Adichie
 Extract Questions –
Where do you get
marks?
Use context to interpret meaning – integrate
discussion/use of context – do NOT bolt-it on at the
beginning or end?

What does the author want you to know? to

understand?
What is noteworthy/revealing about the narration
and the narrative voice?
What dominates/is repeated? Dialogue? Inner
thoughts? Flashback? Environmental description?

This is about how you express yourself, organise

your ideas clearly, and have your own
thinking/response.
Putting it together - Paragraphs
Note of Caution: Only use the verbs you’re familiar with unless you take the time to examine the definition
in the dictionary. This is not a list of synonyms. Each word has specific uses that are unique to its meaning.

Key Stage 4: Active verbs for writing about texts...

Advises Criticises Exemplifies Implies Refers

Affects Deepens Exhibits Indicates Reinforces
Alludes to Denotes Expands Informs Reiterates
Amplifies Depicts Explains Intensifies Relates
Argues Describes Explores Introduces Remarks
Articulates Determines Exposes Juxtaposes Represents
Builds Demonstrates Expresses Manifests Reveals
Clarifies Displays Forces Means Shows
Compels Echoes Foreshadows Mentions Signifies
Confirms Embodies Foretells Narrates Symbolises
Connotes Emphasises Forms Perceives Suggests
Considers Encourages Highlights Persuades Supports
Constructs Establishes Heightens Portrays Tells
Contradicts Evokes Hints Presents Typifies
Conveys Exaggerates Illustrates Promotes Underlines
Creates Examines Impacts Recognises
Putting it all together - Exemplar
Spend 10 minutes reading through
the student response I posted on
TEAMS. Look at how:

- the introduction is crafted and the

thesis is specific
- a simple but clear structure
emerges in paragraphs.
- How the assessment objectives are
tackled in a balanced way.
- How the student ‘shows off’
knowledge of the text and what
Adichie might be trying to do