Short texts. Hints and help. On the Sidewalk Bleeding by Evan Hunter; My Name is Osama by Thomas S. Lapham; Strange Fruit, performed by Billy Holliday.

Essay questions. Appropriate essay questions are the IDEA question (remembering that the texts are connected by their similar theme), SETTING (you could discuss the social, political and physical settings of the texts), LANGUAGE FEATURES (explaining how at least one language feature in each text helped you understand about racism) and possibly CONFLICT. You *could* talk about Osama and Andy as characters if the question was about a challenge faced by a character.

Hints… A lot of people get N by not actually answering the question properly. To avoid this, answer both parts of the question in the intro. Two characters that faced a challenge in ‘My Name is Osama’ by Thomas S. Lapham and ‘On the Sidewalk Bleeding’ by Evan Hunter were the characters of Osama and Andy. Both characters experienced challenges relating to prejudice and stereotyping- Osama as a Muslim boy after September 11 and Andy as a gang member. Both of these challenges helped me understand that prejudice and stereotyping is wrong, and that is happens in a number of different social and political settings in all different times. Reading these texts, I understand that we shouldn’t judge others without getting to know them first.

Intro. Include the title (s)- in ‘’ if a short story Include the author (s) Include the answer to both parts of the question Include the 2-3 points you will make in your body paragraphs.

Paragraph structure. Your first sentence is always what you put in the intro as your point. This is the topic sentence. In ‘On the Sidewalk Bleeding’ Andy is stereotyped as a gang member. This enables us to see the idea of prejudice through his eyes. Include an explanation of when we see the idea in the topic sentence, quotes that show you this with a mention of language features - e.g Evan Hunter uses a series of rhetorical questions to show us Andy’s growing anxiety over his impending death, ‘what use was the jacket?’ and also to emphasize the horror of the prejudice against Andy as a gang member. The repetition of the rhetorical questions is mirrored in the repetition of “I’m Andy” which reinforces how Andy sees himself and how others see him. From this, and Andy’s first person narration, we can learn that you shouldn’t judge based on what you see, because that’s not always the reality. Also, prejudice based on what you see is awful and has terrible consequences.

Linking paragraphs. To make your essay flow, try and link paragraphs. This means that you could use lines like “A similar point is shown in…’ or ‘The text…. Shows us a similar idea.’ Using the paragraph in the previous slide, how could you link in ‘My Name is Osama’ or ‘Strange Fruit?’

An idea of a way to link texts based on language features. Symbols are also used in ‘My Name is Osama.’ Like the symbol of the jacket in ‘On the Sidewalk Bleeding’ the symbol of the hijab is a reminder of people judging based on physical attributes. The symbol of the hijab, along with the symbol of the plane, links to the racial misunderstandings Osama and his mother experience. Task, in groups, finish this paragraph! Refer to at least one more language feature. Try and use ‘this enables us to see that’ ‘this shows us’ or ‘we can learn that’

List of language features. On the wiki, there are extensive notes on language features on the page for each text. Even if your question is on conflict/character/setting, you SHOULD refer to language features. Refer to your English notes for extra details. For example, ‘the extended metaphor of the bodies as fruit in ‘Strange Fruit’ reinforces the harshness of nature and people on the lynched bodies. Like in ‘On the Sidewalk Bleeding’ when Andy experienced the rain and cold, the bodies experience the harshness of nature. We learn this through the accumulation of images such as ‘for the rain to gather, for the wind to suck.’ The rhyme ‘suck’ and ‘pluck’ and the repetitive structure of ‘for the’ gather the images together to reinforce the harshness and horror of the lynchings. This works together with the juxtaposition of positive and negative imagery…

Group task. Essay planning! Take one question in your groups and come up with an essay plan on A3 paper. You will have texts as resources. Other groups will be able to get ideas from you at the end of the period. Tonight: read over your English notes, learn quotes (5-10 for each Standard), practice essay planning and hand in an essay tomorrow for marking.