THIRD LEVEL
FOURTH LEVEL
THE SAVAGES BY MATT WHYMAN
You can take this activity
further by asking the group of
pupils to produce a trailer for
Vernon English’s book – check
out our comprehensive
resources on book trailer
creation:
www.scottishbooktrust.com/
booktrailer-masterclass
CREATE VERNON ENGLISH’S
BOOK
ENG 3-31A, EXA 3-03A, EXA 306A, ENG 3-27A, LIT 3-29A, LIT
3-23A
Private investigator Vernon
English writes a Christmas
best-seller about how he
solved the mystery of
Lulabelle Hart’s
disappearance and
uncovered the grisly truth
about the Savages.
ANGELICA SAVAGE – A LESSON
IN MONEY MISMANAGEMENT
MNU 3-09B, LIT 3-09A, LIT 3-24A,
ENG 3-27A, HWB 3-19A, TCH 3-03A
AND TCH 3-04A (IF YOU MAKE A
VIDEO)
Ask a group of pupils to take
the following roles:
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Writer – write an
imaginary excerpt from
Vernon’s book (perhaps the climactic
scene, or maybe an introduction to the
Savage family with detailed character
descriptions);
Illustrator – in charge of the cover art.
Needs to think about what images will
give the reader a strong idea of content,
and capture the mood and tone of the
book;
Editor – makes suggested changes to
the first draft of the excerpt;
Publicist – writes the blurb for the book,
and designs promotional materials
including flyers, posters, scripts for
adverts, etc.
These activities create nice opportunities for
discussion about how to write in an
entertaining way, what makes a good blurb,
what job a cover image should do, how to
edit work, and how to appeal to the book’s
intended readership.
Resource created by Scottish Book Trust
Angelica’s spending on consumer goods is
out of control, and she provides an
illustration of our recent spending culture.
This creates lots of opportunities for
discussion and cross-curricular activities.
Tell your pupils they are going to produce a
video (or other informative text) to show how
and why people get into debt, and the
negative effects debt can have. They are
going to use Angelica as a case study,
focusing on the following areas:
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Why does Angelica shop? What other
problems are driving her to behave this
way?
How is it affecting her relationship with
her family?
What lengths does she have to go to in
order to repay the debt?
You can also ask pupils to investigate the
following:
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How have lenders been irresponsible in
their targeting of people like Angelica?
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How much interest would Angelica have
to pay on a typical credit card?
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influence the behaviour of people like
Angelica?
If you’re interested in exploring money
management further with your pupils check
out Skint!, our interactive graphic novel,
featuring stories of financial struggles:
www.scottishbooktrust.com/learning/adultlearners/skint
THROUGH THE KEYHOLE WITH ANGELICA SAVAGE
ENG 3-27A, LIT 3-03A, EXA 3-14A
Angelica Savage is determined to project an
image of the perfect family home. Ask your
pupils to imagine they are Angelica, and want
to create a persuasive video to show people
the perfect family life of the Savages. The
pupils will be responsible for deciding which
aspects of the family and home should be
included in the video, writing suitably
persuasive dialogue for the video and acting
in the roles of the different family members.
MEAT IS MURDER – MAKING THE CASE FOR AND
AGAINST VEGETARIANISM
LIT 3-02A, LIT 3-03A, LIT 3-09A, LIT 3-29A (IF PUPILS
WRITE ESSAYS), LIT 3-14A, LIT 3-28A (IF PUPILS WRITE
RECIPES)
OTHER ACTIVITY SUGGESTIONS
Sasha feels the benefit of becoming
vegetarian, but she comes up against people
with militant stances on the issue.
Whether you’ve got a class set or just one
copy of the book, there are options available!
If just one pupil is reading the novel, you can
incorporate it into their classwork by asking
them to produce a news report based on the
Savages, an interview with Vernon English, or
a suitably macabre short story of their own.
Ask your pupils to research arguments for
and against vegetarianism, and then you can
either hold a debate, write a discursive essay,
or, if you want to try something new, hold a
Word War (see these resources for more
information: www.scottishbooktrust.com/
learning/teachers-librarians/authors-live/
teacher-ambassador-programme-poetry-slam).
You could also challenge your pupils to
investigate how a vegetarian diet can provide
plentiful nutrition and include lots of delicious
meals. Ask them to research vegetarian
recipes: further up the school, they could
write their own, or cook them in Home
Economics.
LIT 3-11A FOR FURTHER READING
If your pupils are looking for similar books to
get their teeth into, the following might be a
good starting point:
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Roald Dahl’s Tales of the Unexpected;
Jack Cantos’ The Love Curse of the
Rumbaughs
Tom Baker’s The Boy Who Kicked Pigs
Vernon Scannel’s A Case of Murder
(poem);
Edgar Allan Poe’s Tales of Mystery and
Imagination
Neil Gaiman’s Coraline
Tim Burton’s The Melancholy Death of
Oyster Boy