“Away In a Manger”
Task One
Copy and Complete
Introduction
Away in a Manger is an effective short story written by
_____________. It is set at _________________ and deals with
issues such as _______________ and attitudes towards
_________________. The main characters are
___________ and ____________. They are on their way to see
______________________. The writer uses many techniques to
encourage us to think about our own attitudes to Christmas and
homelessness. Some of these are ___________________,
_________________ and ________________________.
Amy’s character shows innocence and naivety in the world. She is almost
angel like and Anne Donovan’s descriptions of her add to this. She is
describes as “______________________________________”. She is
also wearing “________________________________________”.
These are effective descriptions of the little girl as it emphasises
__________________________________________________.
Amy shows her naivety and innocence through her questions. She asks
about “__________________________________________” and also
“ __________________________________________________”.
This helps to show ________________________________________.
Her character contrasts with that of Sandra who is less enthusiastic
about Christmas. She appears cynical and exhausted by it all. We know
this as the story is written in third person but we still are privy to some
of her thoughts. She thinks
“___________________________________________________”
and “_______________________________________________”.
She is not the only one who feels this way about Christmas as the woman
on the bus beside her also comments
“__________________________________________________”.
Commercialism is spelt out to us with the use of Anne Donovan’s clear
descriptions . She describes the shops as having
“_____________________________________”,
“_______________________________________________” and
“________________________________________________”.
We are reminded of the magic of Christmas when the characters enter
George’s Square. The lights are described as
“________________________________________________” and
“_____________________________________________”. These are
effective descriptions because
_____________________________________________________.
The glitter is quickly overshadowed by the description of the homeless
people. Sandra wonders now over the appearance of homeless people and
can’t understand _______________________________________.
The real meaning of Christmas is brought to us when our characters are
looking at the manger scene and their discussion on Christmas carols. Amy
tells us her favourite carol is “______________________”. Thus,
showing us that the magic and truth of Christmas is still very much alive
in the young girl. The manger scene also reminds us of the true meaning
of Christmas and parallels from the Christmas story can be seen here.
Amy asks of the homeless man “______________________________”.
Sandra’s reply is “_______________________________________”.
The story is not a dream like tale of Christmas. It is a story which shows
the contrast of attitudes to Christmas, makes us question the meaning of
Christmas and is steeped in realism.
Task Two
Make a list of reasons why this is a very realistic story.
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Working class family,
Paper girl selling papers at bus stop,
Scots dialect, based in Glasgow George’s square, etc.
Task Three
Make a list of reasons why this is similar to ‘All that Glisters’ and ‘Dear
Santa’
* Female Protaganist
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Make a list of reasons why this is different.
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