The Declaration – Gemma Malley – Knowledge Organiser
Plot summary: Plot summary: Anna is nearly 15 years old and has lived in Grange Hall (a Surplus Hall) for most of her life. She was taken away from her parents at the age of two and now, in
year 2140, she has learned to "hate [her] parents" for bringing her into the world. Anna has also grown up believing that her parents hate her because it is her fault they are imprisoned.
The arrival of a new Surplus at Grange Hall, Peter, begins as just another chore for Anna. As one of the House Matron's most trusted Prefects, she is instructed to make up his bed and leave his
supplies waiting for him. She thinks no more of Peter until he starts to cause problems for her. He tells dangerous stories about the world outside Grange Hall, and calls her "Anna Covey” which
he says is the name given to her by her parents. Peter tells Anna that her parents love her, and that they asked him to be captured so that he would be able to bring her home to them. Anna
disregards everything that Peter says. She sees him as a trouble maker, and believes things would be simpler if Peter would come to terms with his debt to Mother Nature.
Peter begins to get inside Anna's head, however, when Anna is beaten savagely by Mrs Pincent. She overhears Mrs Pincent talking about how she has become 'brainwashed' and realises that
the House Matron does not care for her. She is not a Valuable Asset, and life in Grange Hall becomes meaningless. In the same conversation, Anna learns of a plot to kill Peter, who is still having
difficulty settling into Grange Hall life. She purposely misbehaves and gets herself put into Solitary so that she may communicate with Peter, and the two form the plan to escape "through a
tunnel in Solitary.", which they very narrowly manage to execute. On the run from Grange Hall, the children seek shelter in the garden shed of Julia Sharpe, the Legal who Anna served on her
placement. Julia is frightened to discover Anna and Peter, but reluctantly harbors them and feigns ignorance when the search party comes to her door. Mrs. Sharpe helps Anna and Peter to get
out of the village and drives them to the outskirts of London. Later however, she is pressured into giving them up to the Catchers.
Upon arrival at her parents' house in Bloomsbury, Anna realises that Peter has been entirely truthful in his stories of her parents, and his claims that they love her. Anna's parents have longed
for her return. At this point, Anna discovers she has a younger brother named Ben, who is still an infant. She is overwhelmed with love for her family after her upbringing in the frigid sterility of
Grange Hall. When the children are discovered hiding beneath the floorboards by the authorities, whose search for the missing Surpluses leads them to the Coveys' door, Anna's parents commit
suicide. There is a clause of The Declaration which explains that if a Surplus loses a parent then they become Legal. The two deaths mean that neither Ben nor Anna is a Surplus any longer.
Shortly afterwards, Peter is informed by his grandfather (Richard Pincent) that his father has been killed by his mother, Margaret Pincent (the matron of Grange Hall), and that he is also now a
Legal. In the book's conclusion Peter and Anna live together in her parent's house. They decide to raise Ben, Anna's brother, as their own child. All three are now Legals, and they begin a life of
freedom outside of Grange Hall.
Key characters
Mrs
Pincent
Sheila
Anna
Mrs
Sharpe
Peter
House Matron of Grange Hall. She is a bitter and cruel woman.
One of Anna's fellow Surplus. She believes that she belongs in the Outside
world.
Anna is the protagonist of the first book of this series. She was found by
Catchers around the age of 2 and has lived in Grange Hall ever since.
A Legal who lives in the village close to Grange Hall.
Peter arrives at Grange Hall when he has already reached the age of a
Pending. He is insolent and does not believe that Surplus are ruining things for
everybody else.
Key themes
Context
Stylistic features & relevant
terms
Power –control, fear, Betrayal
Friendship/Loyalty/Love
Old Vs Young
Science Vs morality
Entrapment-physical and
indoctrination
Humanity
The significance of the
butterfly- front cover.
Stem Cell research
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1st person is said to be alive who will
live past 200
Scientific development
Totalitarian states
Medical progress
Imagery
Simile
Sensory
Alliteration
Antithesis
1st person narrative
Key quotations
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My name is Anna. And I shouldn’t be here. I shouldn't exist. But I do."
“He said that we belonged together because he was born with a
flower and I was born with a butterfly and that flowers and butterflies
need each other for survival.”
“Surplus meant unnecessary. Not required. You couldn’t be a Surplus
if you were needed by someone else. You couldn’t be a Surplus if you
were loved.”
“I love you Anna Covey,' he said, his voice barely audible. And slowly,
clumsily, he leant forward, and his lips found hers, and Anna felt him
kiss her awkwardly, she knew that she wasn't a Surplus any more. And
nor was Peter.”
You couldn't be a Surplus if you were needed by someone else. You
couldn't be a Surplus if you were loved.”
“Reading and writing were a dangerous business; they made you
think.”
“Everyone would fear her again. And love her, of course. Mrs Pincent
needed to be loved as much as wanted to be feared-to her they were
two sides of the same coin. Both gave her total control.”
“But it was a restless sleep, and throughout the night her dreams
were filled with crying children, a woman screaming and a little
butterfly, trapped in a cold, grey prison.”
“But each time, nothing was done, because change carried risks,
because change led to instability, because new technology meant
using precious energy, and because, at the end of the day, no one
really cared.”
“Usually she loved to learn new words, treating them as exciting
possessions that she could employ as she chose-in her journal, in her
conversation-relishing the newness and beauty of each one.” “It
doesn't feel dangerous, it feels exciting, even though they're probably
the same thing.”
Useful vocabulary
Surplus
Totalitarian/
oppressive
Social control/
Coercion
Nation state
Infanticide
Social mobility
Repression
Conformity
Indoctrination
Castes system
Propaganda
Futuristic
Surveillance
Surveillance
Extra/not needed.
Total control from
the government.
Forced into an
unjust society.
United by the roles
within society.
Mother killing her
child.
The ability to move
between social
classes.
Sub-dues society by
force.
Forced into
acting/thinking in a
certain manner.
Teach to accept a
set of beliefs
uncritically.
Principal classes
emerged, in
descending order of
prestige.
Information,
especially of a
biased or misleading
nature
Set in a futuristic
world.
Consistently being
watched.
Consistently being
watched.
SPaG Focus
Capital Letter
Parenthetic
Comma
Parenthesis
for brackets
Semi-colon
Ellipsis
Speech Marks
Continuous
Verb
Adverb and
Adverbial
Phrase
Article
Antonym
Compound
Words
Modifier
Suffix
Prefix
Singular and
Plural
Preposition
Pronoun
Synonym
Transitive
Verb
Future Tense
Present Tense
Past Tense
Compound
Sentence
Complex
Sentence
Subject
Object
Subordinate
Clause
Homophone
Homonym
Responding to the (extract, question, etc)
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determine the key points from the text about main ideas,
attitudes and values of the writer
identify the use of literary techniques and confidently explain
and explore why the writer might have used them
explain how individual words shape and influence the reader
explain and demonstrate insight into how the writer
influences and impacts upon the reader’s interpretation of
the text and establishes a relationship with the reader
interpret and infer multiple meanings.