Which of these is NOT a rule for Annie?

Which of these words best describes Annie as she grows up?

Which of these items does Annie hide underneath the house?

Which of these words means 'independence'?

Which of these books CAN'T be described as a bildungsroman?

Breaking the Rules:

﻿Hi, everyone. We're going to focus on a really important aspect of Annie John today. It's an aspect that hinges on injustice, cruelty, and power. And it's an aspect that's so important it's even in the news at the moment. So you're going to need a quiet place to work, a pen and a piece of paper. And when you're ready, let's get started by looking at a photograph. Have a look at this photograph. What do you think is happening in it? Why has this statue been covered in red paint? Well, this statue represents Christopher Columbus and I wonder how many of you remember who he is? Who was Christopher Columbus? Choose the correct answer, say it aloud to your screen. And the correct answer is option b. Columbus was the first European to arrive in the Caribbean. He gave Antigua its modern name when he saw it in 1493 and named it after the Santa Maria La Antigua church in Seville Spain where he had prayed, before leaving on his second voyage. Now Columbus is an extremely controversial figure. If someone is controversial, they are often argued about or debated. Let's find out why Columbus is such a controversial figure. Now, for some people in history, Columbus is a hero. He explored the world at a time when it was unknown and unmapped. He discovered the Americas and this led to the region's colonisation by European powers, which made enormous wealth for Europe. Those who think Columbus is a hero have put up grand statues of him celebrating his achievements. Here you can see him commemorated in Barcelona on the left pointing the way his ship went when it left Europe. And on the right in the USA marking the lands that he colonised. If you commemorate something or someone you celebrate it, or then often in a public way. However not everyone agrees that Columbus should be commemorated. As you can see in this photo, some people have covered the statue in red paint. Now, what do you think this red paint might symbolise? That's right. The red paint symbolises blood. Because when Columbus first arrived in the Caribbean, he started a chain of events that would lead to the destruction of the peoples who lived there, and their ways of life. His arrival marks the start of a long period of European conquest in islands like Antigua, with the aim of making as much money as possible. Colonies were established to grow cash crops mainly sugar and enslaved peoples from Africa were taken by force to the Caribbean to work on the plantations, under horrific and inhuman conditions. When slavery was abolished, a new form of unfree labour was introduced called indentureship, which brought people from India to maintain the plantations, and the exploitation continued into the 20th century. And exploitation is using something or someone unfairly to take advantage of it. And it's because of this exploitation, that many people today are angry that grand statues still commemorate colonial figures such as Columbus. And you might have seen on the news that some statues have been brought down. Such as this one, the statue of the slaver Edward Colston in Bristol. And similar debates are happening up and down the country as we speak. So today we're going to look at how Kincaid presents Columbus in her novel Annie John. Now some of you will remember that we can describe Jamaica Kincaid as a post-colonial writer. Because she was writing after the colonial period ended. So make a prediction. Do you think that she will be celebrating and commemorating Columbus as a hero? Or do you think she's going to be critical about Columbus and his role in the Caribbean? Before we find out, let's check our understanding of some important words. We've got six pieces of vocabulary on the left, that we've already discussed today. We're going to match them to the definitions on the right. Let's do the first one together. Colonialism is... Taking control over another territory, usually for profit. I'd like you to press pause now please, and match the rest of the words to their definitions. Off you go. Okay, let's check your work. Post-colonial means... The experiences of the country after it has become independent. So because Jamaica Kincaid was writing after Antigua became independent, we can call her a post-colonial writer. Commemorates means to... Celebrate someone or something. And we've already seen those statues that were put up to commemorate Christopher Columbus. Exploitation is using someone unfairly to take advantage of them. Symbolise is to represent. And we've already seen that the red paint that was splattered over those statues, might symbolise blood. And controversial means argued about or debated. And we've already discussed that Christopher Columbus can be seen as a very controversial figure. Right, let's check your memory of those. I'd like you to shout out to your screen please. Which of these words means using someone unfairly to take advantage of them? Say it aloud... And well done if you said exploitation. Which one means taking control over another's territory, usually for profit? Say it aloud... Well done if you said colonialism. Which one means the experiences of a country after they have become independent? And you should have said post-colonial. Which one means represent? Well done if you said symbolise. Which one means argued about or debated? That's right, you should have said controversial. And finally, which one means to celebrate someone or something? Say it aloud please... You should have said, commemorate. Good job. We're not going to practise using some of these words. What I'd like you to do, is to describe what is happening in this photograph, using the vocabulary that we've learned. You might want to start with something like, in the photograph there is... You could continue with the statue was originally put there to... And you could finish your description with however... And I'd like you to use as many of these words, as you possibly can. Press pause and write your paragraph now, please. Okay. What kind of thing could you have written? Here's a nice example that uses all of the words. In the photograph there was a statue of the controversial figure Christopher Columbus. The statue was originally put there to commemorate Columbus and to celebrate colonialism. However it's been covered in red paint, which might symbolise blood. And this is because many post-colonial thinkers criticise the exploitation that Columbus's travels has led to. Look at your own work please, and underline all the high level vocabulary you've used in your answer. Did you use all six words? Well done if so. We now going to have a look at how Kincaid incorporates the controversial figure of Columbus in the story of Annie John. In the section we're going to read today, Annie is in a history lesson with her unpopular teacher, Miss Edward. And you might remember from last lesson and Miss Edward got Annie into quite a lot of trouble. So she's not very popular with Annie. Annie is in this lesson, but she's not really listening. Her mind is wandering and she's flicking through her textbook in front of her. And she's skipping ahead to a chapter and she sees a picture. And this picture shows Christopher Columbus chained up. She's going to describe what she sees now. And let's read together. In this picture, Columbus was seated in the bottom of a ship. He was wearing the usual three quarter trousers and a shirt with enormous sleeves. Both the trousers and shirt made of maroon-colored velvet. His hat, which was cocked up on one side of his head, had gold feathers in it, and his black shoes had huge gold buckles. His hands and feet were bound up in chains, and he was sitting there staring off into space, looking quite dejected and miserable. The picture had as a title "Columbus in Chains," printed at the bottom of the page. What had happened was that the usual quarrelsome Columbus had got into a disagreement with people who were even more quarrelsome, and a man named Bobadilla, representing King Ferdinand and queen Isabella, had sent him back to Spain fettered in chains attached to the bottom of a ship. What just deserts, I thought, for I did not like Columbus. How I loved this picture, to see the usually triumphant Columbus brought so low, seated at the bottom of a boat, just watching things go by. I wrote under it the words, "The Great Man Can No Longer Just Get Up and Go." I had written this out with my fountain pen, and in old English lettering, a script I had recently mastered. As I sat there looking at the picture, I traced the words with my pen over and over so that the letters grew big and you could read what I had written from not very far away. I don't know how long it was before I heard that my name, Annie John was being said by this bellowing dragon and the form of Miss Edward bearing down on me. Okay. Let's have a little think about what's going on here. In this picture that Annie's looking at Columbus is fettered which means he's chained up at the bottom of this ship. Annie thinks it is his "just deserts". What does that mean? It means that for Annie, he deserves it. Annie believes he deserves being chained up at the bottom of this boat. Annie says, she says, I don't like him very much. She's glad to see him fettered and brought so low. Here, Annie is criticising Columbus. She doesn't explicitly say why she's glad that he's brought so low, but we can infer is because, she doesn't think he should be commemorated or celebrated as a hero. In fact, she blames him for some of the horrors of her colonial past. Okay. Let's check your understanding. You've got four questions here. I'd like you to press pause and answer them using those sentence starters. Off you go. Okay, let's check your work. Number one, what lesson is Annie in? Annie is in a history lesson. What is unusual about the picture Annie sees in her textbook? Well in the picture, Christopher Columbus is tied up in chains when normally we would associate him with a position of power and authority. How does this picture make Annie feel and why? Well, this picture makes any feel glad because Columbus has been brought low, and she thinks he shouldn't be celebrated. She thinks he deserves to be chained up at the bottom of the ship. And how do you think Miss Edward will react? Well, I think miss Edward will probably be very furious and punish Annie. And let's find out if that happens, we'll continue reading. Miss Edward's face was on fire. Her eyes were bulging out of her head. And I was sure that any minute they would land at my feet and roll away. The small pimples and her face, already looking as if they were constantly irritated, and now ballooned into huge, on-the-verge-of-exploding, boils. Her head shook from side to side. Her strange bottom, which she carried high in the air, seemed to rise up so high that it almost touched the ceiling. Why did I not pay attention? she said. My impertinence was beyond endurance. She then found a hundred words for the different forms my impertinence took. On she went. I was just getting used to this amazing bellowing when suddenly she was speechless. In fact, everything stopped. Her eyes stopped, stopped her bottom stopped, her pimples stopped. Yes, she had got close enough so that her eyes caught a glimpse of what I had written, at what I had done to my textbook. The glimpse soon led to close inspection. It was bad enough that I had defaced my school book by writing in it. That I should write under the picture of Columbus "The Great Man," et cetera, was just too much. I had gone too far this time, defaming one of the great men in history, Christopher Columbus, discoverer of the island that was my home. And now look at me. I was not even hanging my head in remorse. Had my peers ever seen anyone so arrogant, so blasphemous? So we can see just how furious miss Edward is here at what Annie has done to her textbook and what she wrote underneath it. Let's check our understanding. You've got two questions here. And number one, how does miss Edward feel when she sees what Annie has written in her textbook? Choose the correct answer, jot it down, continue with number two. Press pause now please. And you've got two more questions here. Check your knowledge. And let's go through those answers. Miss Edward is outraged when she sees that Annie has written in her textbook, she shouts about Annie's impertinence and we can work out that that means Annie's rudeness. When Miss Edward calls Annie impertinent, she's calling her rude. Miss Edward is speechless, why? Because she's so, so angry. She's furious. And some tricky vocabulary here, Miss Edward calls Annie blasphemous for defaming Columbus. And what does that mean? Well, blasphemous means you go against God. Defaming means criticising. So when Miss Edward calls Annie blasphemous for defaming Columbus, she thinks Annie has gone against God, for criticising Columbus. Alright. Well done if you've got all four of those right. So we can see here that, Annie has done something that shocked her teachers. But what do you think about what Annie has done? Do you think she's crossed the line and should be punished? Or do you think she's done the right thing in questioning and challenging her school curriculum? And is she trying to work out her own opinion about some of the figures her school celebrates? Now, if you ever had a similar experience like Annie in your school, when you've been questioning some of the things that you've been taught? And secondly, what do you think Kincaid believes about Columbus? Do you think she celebrates him and thinks he's a hero like miss Edward? Or do you think she criticises him, like Annie does? Well, let's find out. Kincaid is highly critical of Columbus and colonialism. She explores how colonialism in the past damaged the Caribbean, and left it's peoples enslaved. And she explores how teaching about the colonial encounter as a heroic story in school continues at this harm. And in fact, we could see Annie's experiences as quite autobiographical. Because when Jamaica Kincaid was at school, she also questioned the curriculum. And she also questioned the powerful figures that her school was asking her to celebrate. In fact, she said in an interview this, she said, "When I was nine, I refused to stand up at the refrain of "God Save Our King". I hated "Rule Britannia", and I used to say that we weren't Britons, we were slaves." So Annie is very similar to Jamaica Kincaid in this way, and we can kind of imagine that when Kincaid is writing the story, she's putting her own experiences into Annie's life. Now we've done a huge amount today and we've covered a lot of high concepts and a lot of useful vocabulary. Let's review them quickly now. We've looked at how Christopher Columbus can be seen as a controversial figure, and lots of people still argue and debate his role in the world today. It was his arrival in the Americas from Europe, that sparks the whole process of colonialism, when one nation takes control over another. And when a writer is writing after the colonial period, looking back on what it was like, we can call them a post-colonial writer. Now for some people like miss Edward, figures like Christopher Columbus are seen as heroes, and they want to celebrate them and commemorate them. And we still see structures around today that commemorate these colonial figures. But for other people like Jamaica Kincaid, the colonial legacy is actually very damaging. And they criticise the figures that led to such widespread difficulties, including the exploitations of the original Aro-Indian peoples. and the enslaved peoples brought over from Africa. Okay. We're going to finish with a piece of writing that incorporates some of this high level vocabulary. I would like you to write about colonialism, I want you to write one extended paragraph, and I want you to use some of the sentence starters on the left. When Annie writes under the picture of Christopher Columbus in her textbook, Kincaid explores... When miss Edward is furious with Annie, Kincaid reveals... And from the section of the novel, it seems likely that Kincaid is criticising... I'd like you to use as many of the high level words you can see on the box on the right. You're going to be writing for about 10 minutes, so press pause now please. Right, let's see what you could have written. Here's one example of a paragraph that incorporates the high level vocabulary. It says, when Annie writes under the picture of Christopher Columbus in her textbook, Kincaid explores different attitudes towards this controversial figure. Annie is glad to see Columbus in chains and she believes that he has got his "just deserts". Annie believes that colonialism has had a damaging impact on her island of Antigua. However, when miss Edward is furious with Annie, Kincaid reveals that some people still consider Columbus a hero, and wanting him to be commemorated. From this section of the novel, it seems likely that as a post-colonial writer, Kincaid is criticising colonialism and the school system for celebrating the man whose actions led to widespread exploitation of Antigua. Have a look at your work, and underline the high level vocabulary you've used, and if you would like to redraft your work and add in any more, please do so now. So you can see that some of the issues and the debates that Kincaid raises in this novel are still being discussed today. And I invite you to do some research and get to know what's going on in your area. So you can join in the debate and you can decide your own opinions. Next time we'll be learning about how Annie goes through some quite serious difficulties as we near the end of the book. I'd love you to remember the incredibly impressive vocabulary we've learned today. So don't forget to do the exit quiz to check your learning. Well done everybody, bye, bye.

How is Christopher Columbus shown in the picture in Annie's history text book?

Which word best describes Annie's attitude towards Columbus?

Which character considers Columbus heroic?

Which word means 'argued about or debated'

Which word means 'celebrate someone or something'?

Which word means 'taking control over another's territory, usually for profit'?

Columbus in Chains:

In this lesson, we will see how Annie questions her school curriculum and challenges the colonial narratives imposed upon her.

English

Y8 English

Key Stage 3

Year 8

Columbus in Chains

Annie John by Jamaica Kincaid

UNIT

Context and Introduction to Annie John

Annie John's Fascinations and Fears

Mothers and Daughters

Annie John's school

Annie John's memoir

Annie John and the Red Girl

Breaking the rules

Blessings and adversity

The Argument

The Long Rain

I Am Annie John

Writing about Annie John

Where is Annie John set?

What do you call a book written about a character who grows from a child into an adult?

Which of these best describes a memoir?

Which word means 'going through difficulties or unpleasant situations'?

What is Kincaid's view of colonialism?

What does the trunk symbolise?

Those that left the Caribbean to work in Britain from the 1940s to the 1970s are known as the ________ generation.

What job does Annie plan to do in England?

Which word means having mixed emotions?

As Annie grows up, she challenges and questions the world around her. Which of these does she NOT challenge?

Lesson overview:Columbus in Chains

Core Content

Annie John by Jamaica Kincaid: