Peel Polo with a headless goat.

Wednesday 19 April 2023

Consider the typical sporting event reported in a newspaper.

What do you notice about this one?

Why does the headline make you want to read the article?

What can you tell me about the sport of polo?

A report of a sporting event

There are three races here.

º The donkey race º The spectators’ race º The writer’s race to get the best pictures.

Find one quotation for each of these, to show that there are three races taking place.

• Is the main focus of the reader’s interest the race, or the people involved? What do you think? Find some evidence to support your point of view.

Only one event?

The passage can be defined as a series of linked paragraphs, describing events in a sequence of time and concluding with the end of the race and the writer’s

overview of what happened. The internal structure is much more complex than this simple outline suggests.

Structure and form tasks

The following list presents the kinds of writing that can be found in the passage:

Description, dialogue, informational writing , narrative, evaluation, commentary.

Read through the text and highlight or note down one example of each

How does each of the examples you have found add to the reader’s interest in the passage?

Structure and form

In this passage there is a real mixture of the comic and the serious, with a lot of information given as well. You need to consider each part of it carefully.

What words and phrases try to bring out the humour of the race?

Language used

What words and phrases help to convey the excitement of the races?

Find three examples of each of these:• words that convey movement• words that suggest sound• words that create visual images

EXCITEMENT

What words and phrases show that the passage has some serious moments?

Make sure all your answers are annotated clearly in your copy of the anthology, as well as written in your yellow books…

BUT, time to get serious

AO2: All students will be required to demonstrate an ability to:

(i) read and understand texts with insight and engagement

(ii) develop and sustain interpretations of writers’ ideas and perspectives

(iii) understand and make some evaluation of how writers use linguistic and structural devices to achieve their effects.

Now, a task:

In this extract how does Emma Levine create excitement and interest in the Karachi donkey race?

Plan and write this essay. Aim for an introduction and three clear “argument” paragraphs. You will need a conclusion.

45 minute HWK task