A Passage to Africa - George Alagiah

Structure
 1st person perspective, making it highly personal
 Past tense as it is a memory of a past event
 Some short sentences to make certain points stand out
 Some short, single sentence paragraphs have the same effect
 Beginning – a single sentence paragraph focuses on the faces Alagiah saw and but
there is one I will never forget’ acts as a narrative hook as the reader wants to know
what is special about this particular face
 The text then proceeds to describe certain images he remembers from his time in
Somalia
1. Amina Abdulrahman and her daughters
2. The old woman who was shot
3. Image of an old woman trying to retain her dignity
4. Image of a dying old man who thinks he will recover and be able to farm his land
5. Finally, he gets to the face
 Alagiah tries to explain the effect the man’s smile had on him and how it made him
completely re- evaluate his role as a journalist
 Ending – unusual. The informal phrase I owe you one suggests a closeness between
Alagiah and the unknown man, highlighting how important meeting him was.

The Smile
When Alagiah realises the man was smiling out of embarrassment to be seen in such a poor
state, he believes he himself should be even more embarrassed standing there so healthy and
well-dressed, yet doing nothing to help. He comes to a realisation that he and other journalists
are exploiting victims such as refugees to create images and stories for their newspapers. At
the same time, the rich people in western countries who read the papers ‘in the comfort of
their living rooms ’are also doing little to help. After seeing the man, he decides to treat
victims as people rather than as mere subjects for his newspaper articles.

Language
Paragraph 1
 Listing of negative emotive adjectives creates sympathy for refugees
 Narrative hook of the face encourages readers to read on
Paragraph 2
 like a ghost village -simile with diction of death suggests the people are both
abandoned and dying
Paragraph 3
 Lots of negative diction to criticise journalists (including himself) who are just out to
get the ‘perfect’ picture to shock readers and ultimately sell more newspapers
ghoulish
on the hunt (which suggests they are predators and the victims are the prey)
craving for a drug (they are addicted to getting more and more shocking images)
Paragraph 4
 The way Habiba dies is described very calmly and quietly which adds to the pathos
(feeling of extreme sadness) - no rage, no whimpering
Paragraph 5
 Olfactory imagery which is deliberately shocking to highlight the suffering of the old
woman
 Both olfactory and visual imagery create a vivid image
Paragraph 7
 Here Alagiah is very honest about the taboo of feeling disgusted or revolted by some
aspects of human suffering. It is OK to show pity for the victims, but reporters never
say they feel disgusted by what they see
 Anaphora (a phrase which is repeated in 2 consecutive sentences)
To be in a feeding centre…..To be in a feeding centre . This highlights the disgusting
things he encounters
 Next, he contrasts this with two examples which make him feel pity (the woman
trying to cover up her naked body with a rag in order to retain some dignity and the
old man who is lying next to his hoe (farming tool) as if he will recover and farm his
land again. Both these examples create a strong feeling of pathos in the reader.
Paragraph 8
 Repetition of the word face stresses the impact seeing the man had on Alagiah
 Repetition of smile conveys how unexpected this reaction was to the writer. He can’t
understand how anyone in that situation could smile.
 Rhetorical question how could it be? shows how Alagiah is trying to understand why
the man smiled.

Paragraph 9
 Another rhetorical question as Alagiah tries to understand why the man was smiling
Paragraph 10
 Balanced, parallel phrases - The journalist observes, the subject is observed, to try and
clearly explain the usual role of journalists
 Idioms – turned the tables, cut to the heart make the text more accessible
Paragraph 11
 Alliteration power and purpose gives words strength (harsh /p/ sound)
 Military diction muster appropriate as the man’s condition is because of war
Paragraph 12
 Informal phrase I owe you one conveys his gratitude to the man as though he is a
close friend and highlights how much he feels indebted to the man for enabling him to
re-evaluate his role as a journalist and therefore become a better and more sensitive
one