| Teaching
Ideas and Units - Beaut Ideas
Secrets
in the Fire
- a celebration
of the human spirit!
Students
investigate the issue of landmines in this deeply moving story from
Mozambique.
Secrets
in the Fire is a translated novel which tells the deeply
moving story of Sofia Alface and her indomitable will to survive a horrific
landmine accident in Mozambique. Steven Figg designed these activities
for a Grade 9 English class at Ogilvie High School but they could be easily
adapted for both younger and older students.
Reading
Journal Activities:
As
students read the novel, they should reflect on the following ideas and
issues:
- Do you
agree with MuazenaÍs view early in the novel that:ñHappiness is what
we realise we have had, after weÍve lost itî?
- To what
extent do you agree with the view early in the novel that you donÍt
need to see happiness, sorrow or pain to understand it?
- How did
Sofia react to her sisterÍs death and the loss of her legs? How would
you cope in such a situation?
- At one
stage Sofia wonders whether it would be worse to have artificial legs
or to be blind. What do you think?
- How did
you react to MuazenaÍs view late in the novel that:ñWithout your family
you are nothingî?
- How are
you positioned to respond to SofiaÍs accident? Are you expected to feel
sorry for her? How does Henning Mankell achieve this?
- Why could
Secrets in the Fire be described as a celebration of the
human spirit?
Responding
to the Novel:
Students
should complete a number of the following writing tasks. Teachers should
model the structures and features of diaries, magazine interviews, personal
reflective writing, formal letters, novel reviews, newspaper reports and
argumentative essays.
- Write
a newspaper report about Sofia and Maria AlfaceÍs accident with the
landmine.
- Imagine
that itÍs one year after SofiaÍs return to her home village.What do
you think has happened to her during this time? Tell part of her story
of the year through a series of diary entries.
- Write
an interview with one of the following characters:
Dr
Raul
Jose-Maria
Totio
Hermengarda
Fatima
What would they have to say about Sofia and her family? You should present
the interview as a spoken or performance text.
- Write
a letter to the Prime Minister of Australia or the Premier of Tasmania
where you argue for the banning of landmines.
- Write
a review of Secrets in the Fire to be published in a magazine designed for an adolescent
audience.
- Write
an argumentative essay on the following topic:
ñLandmines
have no place in the twenty-first century.î Do you agree?
- What have
you learned about personal strength and courage from reading Secrets
in the Fire? Do you admire Sofia Alface for her strength
and courage? Can you imagine what it would be like to be
in her situation?
Investigating
the Problem of Landmines:
Students
should visit the International Campaign
to Ban Landmines Website to gather information to present a Power
Point presentation on the worldwide problem of landmines.
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