The repetition of 'smile' in these paragraphs shows his fascination with it, then when his translator explains the smile it is revealed that smile was an 'apology' for being in such a bad conditions, as though 'you had done something wrong.' This makes the reader feel pity, and shame themselves because the man feels that he has to apologise for himself, despite having done nothing wrong. 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. 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.’ 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 Compare and Contrast the Ways in Which Two Poets Create Sympathy for Their Characters – ‘on a Portrait of a Deaf Man’ and ‘the River God’. Normally inured to stories of suffering, accustomed to the evidence of deprivation, I was unsettled by this one smile in a way I had never been before. There is an unwritten code between the journalist and his subjects in these situations.There’s pity, too, because even in this state of utter despair they aspire to a dignity that is almost impossible to achieve. An old woman will cover her shriveled body with a soiled cloth as your gaze turns towards her. Or the old and dying man who keeps his hoe next to the mat with which, one day soon, they will shroud his corpse, as if he means to go out and till the soil once all this is over. Rhetorical questions are questions that require no answer. The question remains unanswered in the piece. George Alagiah is describing a visit to Africa. He is discussing the horrors that he saw on his visit and how they have haunted him since. context 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. 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.

Paragraph 5 describes an 'old woman' who has a wound which hasn't been treated and who is rotting in her house, unable to find food for herself. The narrator's tone changes in the next paragraph, returning to the face which he only saw for 'a few seconds', showing his fascination about the juxtaposition of a 'smile' in this landscape. The narrator cannot understand it, saying only what it was 'not' a smile about, but unable to understand why it is there. 'It touched me in a way I could not explain', showing his confusion both about why he is touched and for why the smile happened in the first place. There is contrast between things he shows very vividly in the first half and things which he cannot explain (as they are emotional) in the second half. If he was embarrassed to be found weakened by hunger and ground down by conflict, how should I feel to be standing there so strong and confident?” wonderful book! so well-written, funny and erudite. It gives a wonderful overview of some of Africa's most harrowing histories. I was really impressed with the chapter on Mandela. There are no sacred cows and lots of villains in this book. Makes us all look at ourselves a little harder.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. 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. From a Passage to Africa How does the writer, Alight, use language to inform the reader about the harsh realities of being a journalist? In this story “From Passage to Africa”, George Alight creates sense of pity by using emotive language. In the extract you can see that he uses extract when he says “hungry’, “scared”. This shows that he is using emotive language to engage with his readers. George Alight creates also creates pity when he uses words such as “hut”, “dirt floor. passage to Africa’- ambiguous title, could mean anything like a journey to Africa or more likely a dedication to Africa (his purpose is to serve Africa in some way) Supplemental understanding of the topic including revealing main issues described in the particular theme;

The title itself is significant. The noun ‘Passage’ is ambiguous; of course the obvious meaning would be that the following is an extract, a piece of writing. But it could also be interpreted as a path, a way, a journey to Africa. Also the use of the word ‘to’ imply that the passage is not a mere informative work on Africa, but a dedication to the country. Each episode is given greater poignancy by the author’s on-the-ground experience and insight, using his journalistic eye for an unbiased story. 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!

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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 In this story “From Passage to Africa”, George Alagiah creates sense of pity by using emotive language. In the extract you can see that he uses extract when he says “hungry”, “scared”. This shows that he is using emotive language to engage with his readers. George Alagiah creates also creates pity when he uses words such as “hut”, “dirt floor”. This shows the difference between our normal world and the one affected by the famine. The fact that he writes about the terrible things in Somalia and there are people who don’t care what is happening increases the pity.

I saw that face for only a few seconds, a fleeting meeting of eyes before the face turned away, as its owner retreated into the darkness of another hut. In those brief moments there had been a smile, not from me, but from the face. It was not a smile of greeting, it was not a smile of joy — how could it be? — but it was a smile nonetheless. It touched me in a way I could not explain. It moved me in a way that went beyond pity or revulsion. George Alagiah writes about his experiences as a television reporter during the war in Somalia, Africa in the 1990s. He won a special award for his report on the incidents described in this passage. no longer impressed by us much’- apathetic shows the profession is insensitive but because the public crave this type of news 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. like a ghost village’- simile suggests its almost soulless and depressing and barely alive emphasises povertyThe passage describes the journalists as 'ghoulish' while searching for 'striking pictures', showing how they may not be searching for them for the right reasons. The simple one sentence sixth stanza ‘And then there was the face I will never forget’ implies the great significance of the meeting it alludes to , how important it must have been for the author.