From A Passage To Africa

Question 1

How does the writer show the struggle of journalists today? Para 1

Answer 1

He gives the reader an impression of what journalism is really like and shows us the harsh reality.

Journalists on the hunt for the most striking pictures

The search for the shocking is like the craving for a drug

Impressed us much

Question 2

Journalists on the hunt for the most striking picture

Answer 2

Bestialisation- metaphor

Compares journalists to an animal hunting for its prey to show that they target the weak for their own good

Question 3

The search for the shocking is like the craving for a drug

Answer 3

Similie

Shows that once you start taking photos, you want to take more and more, even though you know it’s wrong.

Question 4

Impressed us much

Answer 4

Belittles the meaning behind the photos and shows that he is desensitised to the photos- doesn’t view them as real people, simply a slice of income.

Question 5

How does the writer show the struggle of journalists today? Para 2

Answer 5

Provides anecdotes to help the reader understand what they are going through

• includes the anecdote of a young girl and an old woman to show that this happens to all ages and to touch on the readers emotions by showing the ‘weaker’ memebers of society
• ‘Habiba had died’ short, matter of fact sentance shows that this was not an unusual thing and the journalist was used to it.
• ‘simple, frictionless, motionless’ tri-colon to create an image

Question 6

How does the writer show the struggle of journalists today? Para 3

Answer 6

Describes the importance of the mans smile and how it effected his state of mind

• ‘and then there was the one face I will never forget’ simple sentance on its own to build suspense and show importance
• ‘the face turned away’ ‘its owner retreated’ referring to the face as if it is not human (shows his view before)
• ‘what was if about that smile’ ‘it was not a smile of joy- how could it be?’ ‘How should I feel to be standing there so strong and confident?’ Uses rhetorical questions to show how this threw him off
• ‘if you are still alive, I owe you one’ shows that he finally accepts him as a human figure and understands that he is a person with a life as well.