A Passage To Africa
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I saw a thousand hungry, lean, scared and betrayed faces as I criss-crossed Somalia between the end of 1991 and December 1992, but there is one I will never forget. famine away from the headlines, a famine of quiet suffering and lonely death', this uses anaphora (where a word is repeated at beginning of successive clauses) in this case 'famine'. This is used not only to emphasize the severity of the famine but also to make the reader feel guilt and pity for those suffering in a famine without anybody to hear them or know that it is happening. He lists incidents that he has seen over the years that will forever be in his head. It is as though he is traumatised by all he has seen, from a mother with her children to an old woman. structure It is the list of 3 adjectives that create the pity and empathy that we feel for the situation. Another example is:
Author is writing about a time when he went to Africa during the war, describing what he sees and the suffering of people living. Passage changes focus from the general to the specific, starts in Somalia with 'I saw thousand hungry, lean scared and betrayed faces' and a whole then moves to the village of Gufgaduud, then to families in the village and finally to the one man he will not forget - a man who is smiling even amidst all of this suffering, who he eventually dedicates the passage to. but there is one I will never forget’- intrigues the reader and encourages them to read on but at same time shows he doesn’t care for any others. Shows his profession made him sensitive. At this point, Alagiah marks a shift. He was the ‘ observer‘, but becomes, in a parallel sentence construction using polyptoton, ‘ the observed‘. He’s no longer the ‘ active‘ watcher of ‘ passive‘ sufferers, at a safe distance, but part of the scene. The distance of the initial antithesis is reversed and he’s now uncomfortably close.Immediately the introduction shows where the focus of the passage will turn to, the 'one I will never forget', which interests the reader about why he will never forget this face. Rhetorical questions are questions that require no answer. The question remains unanswered in the piece. through my notes and studied the dispatch that the BBC broadcast, I see that I never found out what the man’s name was. Yet meeting him was a seminal moment in the gradual collection of experiences we call context. Facts and figures are the easy part of journalism. Knowing where they sit in the great scheme of things is much harder. So, my nameless friend, if you are still alive, I owe you one. In paragraph 3 the writer tells us that they have seen so much horror that they can't appreciate it any longer. Finally, he uses a short fragment paragraph ‘ And then there was the face I will never forget ’. This builds tension, because out of all Alagiah has seen which he says eventually becomes numbing, he uses the absolute ‘ never forget ’ to indicate how much this affected him. In this section, he builds suspense using rhetorical questions ‘ What was it about that smile?’ as he seeks to uncover the mystery of why this one man affected him so much. This man is the only one who speaks directly to us – albeit through a translator ‘ he’s embarrassed to be found in this condition ’. Alagiah becomes connected to the subject, personally, where normally, he says he’s ‘ inured‘.
How does the writer, Alagiah, use language to inform the reader about the harsh realities of being a journalist? Alagiah finishes his testimony on a note of optimism, which sadly seems somewhat unfounded when one looks at the present situation in almost all of these countries. From a personal perspective, as one living in South Africa these past ten years, it's especially saddening to see that his hope for the future of this beautiful country, put on a positive and inclusive road by Nelson Mandela, has since succumbed to the twin blights of corruption and governmental mismanagement. I first read this book soon after it was published but it was no hardship to re-read it when it was chosen by my reading group! His cynicism is again shown in how he refers to the famine which permeates the place as ‘a famine away from the headlines,’ as if all of the desolate scenes around him are not gruesome enough anymore to act as material for news. The ghastly horror of slow death does not hold the strength to leave an impact on anyone. Tributes will rightly be paid to a fantastic journalist and brilliant broadcaster – but George was the most decent, principled, kindest, most honourable man I have ever worked with’ Jon Sopel
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Other questions will be long questions. For these questions, you must look at using analysis. You will also be asked to compare. Think carefully about the key comparisons and plan your answer first. He is writing reflectively and his attitude towards the events seems to have changed since he originally reported on the event. This seems most clear in the final line, when he discusses his regret at not knowing the man’s name. It suggests that his purpose and empathy level is different now that it was then. language The village is called a ghost village bringing emphasis to how empty the village is devoid of people, peace and slowly dying. While recounting the case of Amina, the use of her name make the readers more affected by her plight, the name reminding the readers, that this is a story of a person, with feelings and pain just like everyone else. George also gives details about the situation to provide more context, like the mud floor that tells us how impoverished the population there is. The child dies without any sound, “ No rage, no whimpering, just a passing away” thus reminding the readers how helpless the people are, too starved to even make a sound or move. “No rage”, again emphasising that they are beyond the point of anger and resistance, even if they want to resist and change things around them they are simply denied any chance to do so by the structures and nature around them, no one to lend a hand and no one to listen.
The height of pity is reached in the eighth paragraph when Alagiah describes how the people, defeated by death, crushed by its oppression and helpless in its absolution still refuse to give up whatever shard of dignity they have left: the woman covers herself up, the man does not let go of his gardening hoe. These people are graceful even in their defeat. Among these is the face Alagiah catches sight of, the face that smiles. It is a face, not a man, not a name, simply a face; as were those faces that he saw and forgot that were mentioned before. But the smile is what makes it special, something unearthly in its beauty. He cannot pin down what the smile means, he describes it in negative sentences, it is not one of greeting or joy. He wonders at it as it has moved him to a feeling much ‘beyond pity and revulsion.’ no longer impressed by us much’- apathetic shows the profession is insensitive but because the public crave this type of news The very beginning of the excerpt speaks of the condition of the people of Somalia, calling them “a thousand hungry, lean, scared and betrayed faces” emphasising how they were betrayed by the people who were supposed to protect them or pretend that they will protect them. The author even throws shade at his own venture inside the land in search of more terrible sights, calling it a ghoulish hunt, portraying the inhumane greed of the media world that prides itself on being the first to uncover stories and venture in search of suffering and monetises them. There was the old woman who lay in her hut, abandoned by relations who were too weak to carry her on their journey to find food. It was the smell that drew me to herEven in these moments of desperation and impoverishment, the people are ashamed of the predicament that was forced upon them, they are ashamed of being weak. This makes George think, if helplessness makes them ashamed what should people like him, who are healthy and in search of suffering to make money out of it feel about their actions as they carry on without lending the people a helping hand? A Passage To Africa | Context Pathos and pity is evoked in the reader by the next paragraph, its impact strengthened by the use of names as the plight of two daughters and their mother is described. The anaphora in ‘no rage, no whimpering’, the dash followed by adjectives such as ‘motionless, simple and frictionless’; all are used to diminish death, as if it is a matter of no importance or significance, an everyday occurring which is inevitable. Seeing death up close on a daily basis, Alagiah feels that it is rather life which is the difficult part, as in seen by his description of the girl’s existence as a ‘half-life’ and her death as ‘deliverance’ as if life is a punishment, something to be saved from. The writer also creates pity by describing the old woman “the smell of decaying flesh”. With this quote George Alight is able to engage the reader as they are imagining the smell of the decaying flesh. One way the writer creates horror is by describing the “ghost village” as if people are dead; however they are alive (barely). Also he creates horror by using words such as “festering wound the size of my hand”. George Alagiah successfully increases the pity in the extract by telling us how much he has seen. He talks about a mother and her two starving children and the mother loses one of her daughter because of hunger and that happens while she was out looking for food. The writer also creates pity by describing the old woman “the smell of decaying flesh”. With this quote George Alagiah is able to engage the reader as they are imagining the smell of the decaying flesh.
In vivid and evocative prose and with a fine eye for detail, Alagiah’s viewpoint is spiked with the freshness of the young George on his arrival in Ghana, the wonder with which he recounts his first impressions of Africa and the affection with which he dresses his stories of his early family life. This simultaneous degradation of the village people and elevation of the journalists is ironical as it proves that in the author’s mind it is the village people who are above them as he views himself as nothing more than a relentless animalistic hunter who is following a trail. This feeling of revulsion which the hunter feels towards himself is further shown in the ellipses in ‘my cameraman… and I’ as if he hesitates a little, out of shame and self-disgust, before admitting that he too was involved. This hatred that he harbors for his own feelings is explained when he admits that all those things that might have appalled him before don’t even leave an impression on him now, showing how his job is changing him, making him harder, more cynical and detached. enervating’ choice of language shows the life is drained away from the Somalien people through hunger It is interesting that the description of the place comes before we understand why Alagiah was in Africa. This creates a sense of disgust and repulsion. Pity is stirred in paragraph 9 as well, describing how the dying find no dignity in death, an old woman covers up her 'shrivelled body' as though she is ashamed of it, she has so little dignity. Also expresses the false hope of a 'dying man' who keeps his 'hoe' next to him (a farming tool), as though he still hopes to go and 'till the soil once all this is over'. This creates pity through his hope is the face of inevitable death. Sowing things is very symbolic for the hope of new life, yet life is exterminated in this place.
Similar English resources:
He compares reporting to addiction. It is as though they are always wanting something more controversial and more repulsive.It also seems as though the profession is bad for him: much like a drug.
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- EAN: 764486781913
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