The Pack
Teacher’s booklet
Pearson Education Limited, Edinburgh Gate, Harlow, Essex, CM20 2JE
England and Associated Companies throughout the World
© Pearson Education 2006
The right of Bernadette Carroll to be identified as the author of
this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.
The original edition of The Pack is published in the UK by
Random House
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any
form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording, or otherwise without the prior written permission of
the Publishers or a licence permitting restricted copying in the
United Kingdom issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90
Tottenham Court Road, London, W1T 4LP
ISBN-10: 1-4058-2846-3
ISBN-13: 978-1-4058-2846-8
First published 2006
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Introduction
Synopsis
The Pack is the story of a struggle for survival in a dangerous, dysfunctional society
where street children, and their loyal dogs, pit their wits against an array of corrupt
adults. It is the story of their adventures but also of their relationships and their journey
- a physical one through the different sectors of the city and a metaphorical rite of
passage into understanding about humanity, values, trust and ultimately, belief in
themselves. These children are saved by the compassion of the few and by the power of
stories which ‘cannot crumble … cannot burn or be broken’, and through their
adventures, they too have stories to tell.
Teaching The Pack at Key Stage 3
This book is an ideal choice for study with Year 8 as it draws on the familiar theme of the
lives and survival of street children. Texts such as Dickens’s Oliver Twist, Berlie Doherty’s
tale of Dr Barnardo’s children in Street Child and Beverley Naidoo’s No Turning Back
plough similar furrows. The Pack anticipates stories for older readers, such as Coram
Boy, The Other Side of Truth and Daz 4 Zoe, in its dark portrayal of how society treats
children with dispassion or even malice. It echoes other classic texts, from Hamlet to
The Ancient Mariner and White Fang.
This novel provides rich opportunities to explore a narrative structure which will engage
readers. With its stories within stories and division into sections that mirror the sectors of
the world it creates, it draws the reader into piecing together the significance of its
various events and linked references. Work to demonstrate this networking of ideas,
storylines and issues, such as a large display, would be a useful and stimulating support
to learning. The language also offers a great deal: metaphors and analogies (journeys,
stories, animals), recurring motifs (light/dark; blind/eyes; colours; cold/warm) and
vividly drawn characters all enable Year 8 readers to respond in a variety of ways.
Structure of this resource
This resource provides suggestions for activities which can be easily slotted into a
scheme of work around the novel. It consists of two parts: the overview of teaching
and learning and the resources.
The overview of teaching and learning aims to secure progression in learning, rather
than just progression through the pages. It has been divided into eight natural sections.
The overview for each section indicates:
•
•
•
•
the chapters to be read
the features of the text to be explored
the learning aims for the section (including Assessment focuses)
brief descriptions of the approaches to teaching.
The resources comprise:
•
•
•
Pupil worksheets (which can be photocopied)
Teacher support sheets/OHTs etc
Assessment criteria, grids etc.
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Overview of teaching and learning
Section
Features to explore
during reading
Foreword and
Prologue
•
Resources
Resource Sheet
1
Resource Sheet
2
•
•
What titles tell us as
readers: what we can infer
from these about the
story/setting/characters,
and what questions we
have.
The importance of
background: street children
and children brought up by
wild animals; economic
collapse in Russia.
The part the Prologue
plays: how this adds to
reader’s understanding of
the setting and context of
the novel. What we learn
about the world/society of
the novel.
Learning targets
Activities
Learning focuses
To be able to:
• use a range of
reading strategies to
understand the world
of the novel e.g.
visualise, speculate,
establish a
relationship with the
writer, ask questions
• use inference to
identify implied
meanings
• find relevant
information and
incorporate it into
their own work
• use talk to explore
complex issues.
Activity 1: Expectations
• Groups produce a ‘mind map’ of expectations on a large sheet of
paper of the novel based on part and chapter titles.
Assessment focuses
and Framework
objectives
Reading AF2: 8R1, 8R2,
9R1, 9R2
Reading AF3: 8R7
Speaking and Listening:
Talking together 8SL10,
9SL9
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Activity 2: Making decisions
• Foreword: In role as council members, groups read information about
street children (see Resource Sheets 1 and 2), and decide action to
recommend to the next meeting of the council. Class debate follows.
Activity 3: Inferences
• In pairs, pupils explore what the Prologue suggests about the driver,
the world in which he lives and the attitudes of the writer, using
Resource Sheet 2.
Extension
• Research news sources and literature to produce an editorial on what
society should do to alleviate the problems of the world’s street
children.
Section
Features to explore
during reading
Learning targets
Activities
Part 1: The
Zone
Chapters 1–4
and first section
of Chapter 5 (to
‘he and Floris
would make
together.’)
• Portrayal of character:
– The writer’s use of illusion
and reality in creating the
character of the Old
Woman.
– The animal qualities of the
human characters:
empathy and the writer’s
viewpoint.
•
The importance of stories.
Learning focuses
To be able to:
• use different reading
strategies to get a
sense of character
e.g. visualise, infer,
establish a
relationship with the
writer, empathise,
hear a reading voice
• tell a story using
mood, pace and tone
for effect
• use drama techniques
to create a role.
Activity 1: Shared reading
• Re-read an extract from Chapter 1 (pages 9–10): ‘So when the Old
Woman … begin again’. Display the extract and use shared reading to
annotate how the Old Woman transforms herself. Pupils use these
details to create a group tableau (still image) to show how the Old
Woman appears to the children. They then re-read Chapter 3 and
identify how the Old Woman transforms herself. Taking a short
section each, groups create a new tableau and drama performance
that portrays the Old Woman’s transformation.
Resources
Resource Sheet
3
Resource Sheet
4
Assessment focuses
and Framework
objectives
Reading AF3: 8R4
Speaking and Listening:
Spoken text and
presentation 8SL2,
Drama skills 8SL14
Activity 2: Character and empathy
• Pupils work in pairs using Resource Sheet 3 to find quotations from
Chapter 2 and group them in a Venn diagram, with the sets ‘Dog-like
qualities’ and ‘Human qualities’ with an overlapping ‘Both’ section.
• Discuss what this activity tells them about Victor.
• Select three quotations and be ready to give an explanation about
what it shows about Victor and how they think he feels.
• Finish with whole class feedback on the discussion: do pupils
empathise with Victor? If so, explain how they think he feels and what
they think the writer is saying.
Activity 3: Creating a ‘back story’
• Explain the idea of characters’ lives outside the world of the novel
(the ‘back story’). In groups, pupils re-read one of the children’s
‘stories’ and discuss its message and purpose. Using Resource Sheet
4. they work individually to plan a back story for Victor, which they
perform for the class.
Extension
• Pupils can write Victor’s story as an extended account; however, be
aware that some might need help in scaffolding the narrative first.
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Section
Features to explore
during reading
Part 1: The
Attack
Chapter 5 (from
‘Hunger’s eyes
flamed in the
night’)
•
Resources
Resource Sheet
5
Full extract
(copied onto A3)
•
The way the writer creates
tension and excitement
through sentence
structure, the sound of
words and punctuation.
The significance of the
journey Bradley is about
to undertake: facing the
dangers he has been
warned about but also the
start of the personal
journey.
Learning targets
Activities
Learning focuses
To be able to:
• explain the effect on
the reader of the
writer’s use of
sentence structures,
punctuation and the
sound of words
• use a drama
technique to explore
character.
Activity 1: Exploring sentence power
• Distribute separate sentence ‘chunks’ from Resource Sheet 5 as well
as the slip at the top of the sheet explaining what pupils have to do:
to read their allotted extract aloud as a class and discuss some of the
sentences.
• Model how to annotate these before pupils regroup to annotate the
whole extract.
Assessment focuses
and Framework
objectives
Reading AF6: 8R12
Speaking and Listening:
Drama skills 8SL15
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Activity 2: Bradley’s thoughts
• Use the ‘conscience alley’ technique to explore Bradley’s thoughts
before he leaves to search for Floris. The class forms two parallel
lines. As a pupil representing Bradley walks down the ‘alley’, each
pupil says what thoughts might be in Bradley’s mind. The pupil in role
as Bradley summarises how he/she thinks Bradley feels about his
situation.
Section
Features to explore
during reading
Part 2: The
Forbidden
Territories
Chapters 6–7
•
Resources
Resource Sheet
6 (OHT)
Resource Sheet
7 (OHT)
Resource Sheet
8
Resource Sheet
9 (copied onto
A3)
Resource Sheet
10
•
•
•
What the reader expects
the Forbidden Territories to
be like.
The shift into the dream
section: how it is woven
into reality and the use of
the present tense.
Links between the Old
Woman’s stories (e.g.
Thomas in Chapter 1) and
other events.
The writer’s presentation of
characters: Red Dog (how
the writer presents his
character through
description, dialogue and
narrated actions) and
Victor (refine pupils’
understanding from earlier
chapters, particularly how
he is becoming more doglike).
Learning targets
Activities
Learning focuses
To be able to:
• infer meanings from
different texts; use
drama techniques to
explore characters
and writer’s viewpoint
• link points to
evidence.
Activity 1: Guided tour
• Before reading Chapter 6, use the ‘guided tour’ drama technique to
explore the Forbidden Territories. Project a large image that could
represent this setting. Put pupils in pairs as A and B. To appropriate
background music, A guides B (eyes closed) on a tour of the scene in
the image, describing what can be seen, heard, smelled and felt
(emotionally and physically), making the scene tangible. B asks
questions. Swap roles. Pause to share vocabulary.
• Pupils summarise their understanding of the setting and how it would
feel to be Bradley entering this place.
Assessment focuses
and Framework
objectives
Reading AF3: 8R7
Reading AF6: 8R15
Speaking and Listening:
Drama skills 8SL15
Activity 2: Considering Fagin
• As a whole class read and annotate the description on Resource
Sheet 6 (OHT). What do we find out about Fagin? Teachers will need
to be sensitive to the racial implications of this description.
Activity 3: Making meaning physical
• Give pupils the extract from Oliver Twist on Resource Sheet 7
(OHT). As a class or in groups, pupils mime the scene. Discuss the
motives of the characters and the viewpoint of the narrator. Pupils
use action narration to verbalise these.
• As the scene is re-enacted, they pause to explain motives before
doing actions e.g. in the context, why do they think Fagin ‘grinned’?
• Higher attaining groups should consider the motives/actions of all of
the characters in the extract.
Activity 4: Annotation, development and comparison
• Distribute Resource Sheet 8. Pupils annotate the underlined phrases
to discern how this new information changes how we view Fagin.
• Re-read Chapter 7 and list quotations about Red Dog and what can be
inferred about him. Using an A3 copy of Resource Sheet 9, pupils
make notes to compare Red Dog and Fagin.
• They use these notes to write a comparison of the characters. Show
pupils how to link ideas together using appropriate connectives and
paragraph structure (Resource Sheet 10).
Extension
Pupils find out what happens to Fagin at the end of Oliver Twist and add
a paragraph to their account comparing the fates of Red Dog and Fagin.
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Section
Features to explore
during reading
Part 2: The
Forbidden
Territories
Chapters 8–10
•
•
Resources
Resource sheet
11 (OHT)
Resource sheet
12
Resource sheet
13
•
•
•
The techniques the writer
uses to build tension
during the dog fights and
the inferences that readers
might make.
The way this whole section
is structured, identifying
references that link events
and descriptions in this
section with previous
chapters.
How the characters’
feelings are conveyed.
The intertextual links that
enhance understanding.
The sequence of events
across the main narrative
and the dream.
Learning targets
Activities
Learning focuses
To be able to:
• re-tell an event,
paying attention to
pace and mood
• explain how details
are organised to
create tension and
how vocabulary is
carefully chosen to
imply particular
meaning.
Activity 1: Fight commentary
• In pairs, pupils produce a ‘live commentary’ of one of the fights,
conveying the tension that the encounter creates.
Assessment focuses
and Framework
objectives
Reading AF3: 8R7
Reading AF4: 8R10
Speaking and Listening:
Spoken text and
presentation
8SL2
Activity 2: Tension graph
• Distribute Resource Sheet 11 (OHT) and use it to model how the
writer creates tension in the first dog fight by filling some of the
columns and adding points to the graph.
• Pairs or groups then have time-out to complete the graph by deciding
how the tension changes during the other stages of the fight.
• The same groups then work independently to create a tension graph
for the second fight.
• Use the graphs to write an analysis comparing the two fights. Pupils
could use Resource Sheet 12 to note down similarities and
differences and plan the structure of their analysis.
Activity 3: Thought-tracking
• Use thought-tracking to explore the real thoughts of the characters in
Chapter 9.
• Focusing on the flashback scene, pupils participate in a dramatised
reading of the text, with other pupils volunteering to voice the
characters’ thoughts at key moments.
Extension
• The title of Chapter 9 is a reference to Hamlet. Pupils could explore
the various intertextual links in this chapter by completing Resource
Sheet 13 and then explore the links to other literature.
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Section
Features to explore
during reading
Part 3: The
Invisible City
Chapters 11–12
•
Resources
Samples of
leaflets and/or
advertisements
for governmentled campaigns or
information
Resource Sheet
14
Resource Sheet
15
Resource Sheet
16
•
•
•
The reader’s changing
impressions of
Skreech/Martha and how
the writer provides
information. Comment on
implied meanings of
specific quotations.
Martha doesn’t tell her
story herself: the use of
story/flashback in these
chapters and how they
compare with others.
The writer’s viewpoint and
how this is communicated
to the reader.
Attitudes towards the
treatment of children.
Learning targets
Activities
Learning focuses
To be able to:
• make inferences
about Martha in
Chapters 7–10 and
11–12
• use reading strategies
(e.g. empathy)
• understand how the
writer makes his
viewpoint clear
• recognise the writer’s
use of irony in the
Prologue and
Chapters 11–12.
Activity 1: Tracking Skreech/Martha
• Produce a class ‘role on the wall’ to record pupils’ developing
understanding of Skreech/Martha.
• Model re-reading the parts of Chapter 7 that involve Screech.
• Identify what Martha pretended to be like when she was with Red
Dog. What is her ‘Screech-mask’ really like?
• Record this information on the outside of a large ‘gingerbread man’
outline. Use the example on Resource Sheet 14 as a model.
Assessment focuses
and Framework
objectives
Reading AF3: 8R4, 8R7
Reading AF6: 8R13
Activity 3: Viewpoint
• Distribute Resource Sheet 16. Discuss the annotated text as a class.
• Pupils work in pairs to complete the grid, which should lead them to
analyse how the writer conveys his viewpoint
Activity 2: Finding clues
• Explain that Bradley had not guessed that Skreech was a girl.
However, both Bradley and the narrator gave clues that Skreech was
different. How many did they notice when they first read it?
• Use Resource Sheet 15 to explore the clues the writer gives about
what Martha is really like. Pupils have time-out to annotate some
quotations independently before adding the information to the inside
of the ‘role on the wall’ figure.
Activity 4: Government poster
• Explain that the authorities of the Invisible City have created lots of
new policies: child care for street children, work, shorter holidays,
compulsory professional advancement, working week facility/family
weekend.
• Ask pupils to choose one of these and, based on their reading of the
whole of Chapter 11, to create a government poster advertising the
benefits to the inhabitants of the Invisible City. This may need to be
modelled using examples of state/bureaucratic information sheets
(i.e. NHS, government initiatives etc).
Extension
• Tell pupils to imagine that the inhabitants discover the truth about
their city. Create an alternative poster/announcement that breaks the
news to the nation that they have been deceived.
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Section
Features to explore
during reading
Part 4: North
Chapters 13–15
•
Resources
Resource Sheet
17
•
•
•
Repeated references that
create a web of links
across the different layers
of the novel.
The structure of this
section, compared with
what would be the
chronological sequence of
events told in dreams and
flashbacks.
The connections between
events in the past and the
present.
The way characters have
changed and the reactions
of different characters and
of the reader to them.
Learning targets
Activities
Learning focuses
To be able to:
• use active reading
strategies (e.g.
reading backwards
and forwards,
speculate, visualise)
and infer meaning
• understand how the
writer creates links
across the text
• identify the sequence
of events and the
effect of how the text
is organised
• understand how
characters are
developed.
Activity 1: Reading connections
• Explain that there are many recurring references and events in the
book. For example, what two examples of storms are there in the
book? Also, the pack were attacked in a basement earlier in the
novel; which event in ‘The Storm’ mirrors this?
• Pupils work in pairs and larger groups, using Resource Sheet 17 to
look for other links between things.
Assessment focuses
and Framework
objectives
Reading AF3: 8R4, 8R7
Reading AF4: 8R5, 8R13
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Activity 2: Bradley’s dreams
• As a class, review all three of Bradley’s dreams and piece the events
together. Agree a re-telling of his story to Martha. Compare Bradley
and his family in the dreams and in the real time.
Activity 3: Red Dog changed?
• Pupils work in groups to find evidence (in the form of quotations)
from the opening of ‘The Storm’ and the whole of ‘The Lake’ chapter,
for and against Red Dog, from the point of view of one of the
characters.
• A representative from each group presents evidence at a class debate
on whether he has ‘truly changed’.
Section
Features to explore
during reading
Part 4: North
Chapters 16–17
•
Resources
Resource Sheet
18
Resource Sheet
19 (copied onto
A3)
•
•
How the story is more than
an adventure story: the
messages it conveys.
How the story reflects the
personal difficulties the
characters have to
overcome.
The effectiveness of the
ending and any
unanswered questions.
Learning targets
Activities
Learning focuses
To be able to:
• understand how a
writer develops literal
and metaphorical
ideas, for example
through ‘rites of
passage’
• identify how
characters change as
a result of their
experiences
• understand the
writer’s purposes.
Activity 1: Journeys – real and metaphorical
• Explain that the characters travel from the Zones, through the
Forbidden Territories, the Invisible City, past the compounds and out
to the North. From the very beginning, reaching the forests and lake
of the North was their quest, the place where ‘for so long no one had
dared to go’.
• On one level, this book is about their adventures during that journey.
It is Chloe who says to Bradley, “We’re going on an adventure”. While
we hear no more of her journey, for Bradley, that adventure (the
‘outside-him world’) is also a journey of discovery into his past (the
‘inside-him world’). Each of the characters makes a personal journey
of discovery and at the end of the adventure, when they reach the
forest, we can judge whether they have also reached their personal
destination.
• Distribute Resource Sheet 18 and ask pupils to read it and decide
what Bradley’s destination is.
Assessment focuses
and Framework
objectives
Reading AF2: 8Wr17
Reading AF4: 8R5, 8R10,
8R13
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Activity 2: Creating a journey chart
• Discuss the journey of discovery another character takes – Red Dog,
and ask pupils to create a comparable chart for him.
Activity 3: Sympathy for the devil?
• Pupils examine the changes in Red Dog during the novel by
completing Resource Sheet 19. They come to some conclusions
about what sympathy, if any, the reader might feel for Red Dog. After
writing their comparison of Red Dog at the beginning and end of the
novel, pupils use Resource Sheet 10 to assess their work.
1
Pupil Resource Sheet 1
Task
You are a member of the city council. In your city, there is a problem with
children who live on the street. However, there are lots of people who are living
in poverty and it is not easy to know what you should do to make the situation
better.
•
Read the following extracts from articles about street children.
•
In your group, talk about the problems these children face, why they are
in this situation and what the authorities should do to help them.
•
Your own city has similar problems, and you are going to present your
ideas for helping these children to the next meeting of the council. Make
sure you and the other members come up with ideas!
Many street children are:
• Orphans – because of disease and conflict
• Separated from families – because of domestic violence and every kind
of abuse
• Ill – through HIV/Aids … Malnutrition severely affects their growth and
resistance to tropical diseases such as malaria…
• Stigmatised – they live on the edge of society
• Uneducated – they have no access to schooling
• Abused – they are at best seen as a 'nuisance', at worst beaten by
police and those in authority
• Anonymous – they have no birth registration documents, no health
cards, no identity within their community
But did you know that many street children are:
• Ambitious – they have dreams and aspirations to do well
• Tough – surviving in the roughest of environments
• Resilient – you have to survive on your own and rely on no one
(Street Child Africa website)
The Pack Pupil Resource Sheet 1
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2
We didn’t sleep at all last night. That’s why we’re sleeping now, during the
day. Night is the most dangerous for us. The police come while we’re
sleeping and catch you off guard, and grab and hit you.
(Human Rights Watch website)
“They have tried to simply clear the city of street kids, rather than take
responsibility for helping them.”
(Christian Science Monitor, 19 December 2001 – www.csmonitor.com)
Some of the family relationships are marked by crime, drugs or physical
violence and the child runs away to the street into freedom from these
realities.
(Dreams Can Be website)
‘Little Runaways’ shelter: “We are creating a database of abandoned and
runaway kids in Moscow,” says Mr Babushkin. “We bring them here, feed
them, listen to their stories, and refer them on to other specialised
agencies, foster homes, or back to their own families.”
(Christian Science Monitor, 19 December 2001 – www.csmonitor.com)
The Trust's objectives are to:
• Ensure the basic needs, safety and well-being of children and
adolescents on the streets and at risk.
• Offer positive opportunities.
• Educate for proper citizenship.
• Train in vocational skills and trades.
• Transform and improve lives.
(ABC (Action for Brazil’s Children) Trust – ABCTrust.org.uk website)
The Pack Pupil Resource Sheet 1
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Pupil Resource Sheet 2
Task
You can find out a great deal about the writer’s attitude and viewpoints by
exploring the way characters are described. In pairs, start by matching each
quotation on the left with what you think it might suggest on the right. An
example has been done for you (showing the key clues).
Then, with your partner, choose three quotations and explain:
• what it makes the reader think about the driver and the world he inhabits
• what it suggests the writer thinks.
‘Thick black smoke from his cigarette washed
over one eye and he cursed.’
He doesn’t want to be
controlled. He wants to be
treated as an individual.
‘…hollow-cheeked, shambling migrants...’
The driver is not upset by
death and the evidence will
be quickly removed.
‘…he had put his foot down on the pedal and his
fist on the horn. They had scattered like
pigeons. Sure, there were casualties at the
start. How else would they learn?’
The poor were starving and
always searching for work.
They didn’t look capable of
doing much.
‘What amazed the driver was how accepting the
Zones-folk became. Like the best trained dogs…’
He likes to be dominant, even
if it means being violent.
‘…envy could have a corrosive effect and it
needed to be guarded against.’
The poor were passive and
obedient.
‘…in the Dead Time, there was someone else
writing everyone’s script. Someone or
something – a vague but ruinous power,
indifferent to anyone’s dreams.’
He is reckless and gets a thrill
out of driving.
‘The driver smiled to himself – ahead the lights
of the Invisible City burned brightly, and he
knew the depot had a powerful hose.’
Some people had more than
others. The State didn’t want
any trouble between people
with plenty and those without.
‘It had been so different in the Dead Time. For
what, in your tiny world, did you have power
over then? Perhaps only those you could
terrorize into giving up some of their food for
your own brats…’
The people’s lives were not
important.
‘Careering down the route, feeling that surge of
power, still gave him pleasure.’
He is easily frustrated and
becomes bad-tempered/angry.
The Pack Pupil Resource Sheet 2
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Pupil Resource Sheet 3
Task
1 Create a Venn diagram of two overlapping circles in the space below and
label them ‘Dog-like qualities’ and ‘Human qualities’.
2 Sort these quotations about Victor into the two circles by writing the
corresponding letter. If you think they are relevant to both, put them in
the overlapping section.
3 Find further quotations from Chapter 2 to add to the circles.
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
Victor
Victor cocked his head, then looked h) … his stomach thought for him
i) He lunged at Bradley’s arm with his
down.
Victor stared back at Bradley
teeth…
j) Victor wanted to take his piece in his
through his tears.
Victor scrambled up and retreated
mouth straight from Bradley’s
fingers…
behind Floris.
The sealed lips of the scars he
k) …instinct told him Floris was weak
and needed food.
carried on his arms and legs had
been speaking to him again.
l) …Victor pounced. Using his knuckles
as front paws, in an enclosed space
…he heard Victor’s breath rasping in
fear and anger.
Victor was as fast as a cat.
m) From his nest, Victor watched him.
…Floris had been able to see past
the animal in Victor to the small,
frightened boy he was.
Victor stuttered out his own broken
laugh…
The Pack Pupil Resource Sheet 3
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Pupil Resource Sheet 4
Task
Sometimes it can help to understand a character by imagining or researching his
or her ‘back story’ (how they got to where they are when we first meet them).
Based on what you know about Victor and the stories in the first four chapters,
create a back story for Victor. Use this sheet to help you plan your ideas.
1
Use Chapter 2 to research information about Victor’s past.
Why had Victor had
to leave the Zones?
Where did Bradley
find Victor?
What did Victor look
like when Bradley
found him?
How did he behave
when he was
found?
How does he still
behave now?
What might life
have been like for
Victor before he
was found?
2
Try to imagine how Victor came to be wild and alone. Note your ideas.
1. It started when Victor…
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
3
Think about the Old Woman’s stories in this novel. When you are telling a
story, how do you keep the audience interested? Write down TWO ways.
1.
2.
The Pack Pupil Resource Sheet 4
Pearson Education 2006
1
Teacher Resource Sheet 5
Give out copies of the top half of this worksheet to all pupils, then distribute a
separate sentence ‘chunk’ below to individuals.
The Attack
TASK: This activity is about how writers create effects through punctuation,
sentence structure and so on.
Your teacher will give you a sentence or section from the text.
Read your sentence aloud to your group, then discuss how your sentence
should be read. Should it be slow or quick pace? Should there be pauses?
Think what it is about the sentence that makes you come to this decision.
Consider: the sound of the words, the way they are organised in sentences,
the punctuation etc.
Your task will be to take part in a whole class reading of the extract which
includes your sentence or section. You will need to listen carefully so you
follow on smoothly from the previous sentence.
(1) That night, a snowfall muffled footsteps.
(2) Warning smells carried in the air were swept off track, swirled above the
rooftops.
(3) Hunger padded the basement, confused.
(4) Fearless and Shelter too took a long time to settle.
(5) It seemed Victor had gone back to his old ways, squatting on his blanket, his
head swivelling like an owl’s, his eyes burning through layers of darkness.
(6) He had almost convinced himself of safety, when he heard too late, as
Hunger did, the crush of snow as a foot steadied itself.
(7) A moment later, a club splintered the window slats and the camouflage door
was wrenched open.
(8) The torches soon followed. Flaming rags wrapped around sticks. The flames
drove the dogs wild, but they angered as much as scared them.
(9)They stood at the doorway, their hackles up, as four shadowy figures
advanced and retreated, banging dustbin lids.
(10) Victor meanwhile yowled and stamped and half rolled on the flames.
The Pack Teacher Resource Sheet 5
Pearson Education 2006
2
(11) Hunger and Fearless snarled and snapped, baring their perfect rows of
teeth. The attackers showed no inclination to try their luck – none of them
appeared to be much bigger than Bradley was himself – but still they stood their
ground, each banged lid goading a growl from the dogs.
(12) ‘Come any further and my dogs’ll tear you to pieces,’ Bradley called. ‘I
mean it.’
‘Come any further. I don’t think so.’
‘Into your stink hole.’
‘Smell it from here. Piss-the-beds.’
‘No thank you very much…’
‘Cheesy-feets.’
‘Good one!’
(13) ‘So what do you want?’ Bradley shouted above the banging.
‘What do we want? What do we want? What do we want?’ echoed the singsong voices.
(14) But in the commotion – the flare of flames and the darkness – they could
not see what was happening in the back of the basement.
(15) The weasel man had slipped in through two ripped-out slats and grabbed
Floris, who had been cowering, limp with terror. He had shoved her back through
the slats and was almost free himself.
(16) He was pulling his legs through, when Fearless spotted him.
(17) She bounded over and leaped up, fastening her teeth round part of the
weasel’s bare calf.
(18) The weasel howled in pain and kicked at Fearless’s head with his other foot.
(19) Fearless fell to the ground, but even in the darkness you could see the spill
of blood on the concrete floor and the weasel could be heard outside: ‘Bastard
dog! Bastard dog! I’m going to poison the lot of them!’
(20) Victor was the first to realize what had happened. ‘Floris! Floris! Floris!’ He
ran at the row of four attackers, but one of them thrust his shield forward,
meeting Victor head on. Victor rolled backwards, his nose pouring blood.
(21) ‘Come on, we’ve got one of them,’ the weasel shouted.
(22) Victor let out a high-pitched cry, but before Bradley and Hunger could act,
the attackers brought the patched door crashing back into place and held it with
a wooden plank.
The Pack Teacher Resource Sheet 5
Pearson Education 2006
Teacher Resource Sheet 6
OHT
[Fagin] … was a very old shrivelled Jew,
whose villainous-looking and repulsive face
was obscured by a quantity of matted red
hair. He was dressed in a greasy flannel
gown, with his throat bare; and seemed to
be dividing his attention between the fryingpan and a clothes-horse, over which a great
number of silk handkerchiefs were hanging.
Several rough beds, made of old sacks,
were huddled side by side on the floor.
Seated round the table were four or five
boys, none older than the Dodger, smoking
long clay pipes, and drinking spirits with the
air of middle-aged men. These all crowded
about their associate as he whispered a few
words to the Jew; and then turned round
and grinned at Oliver. So did the Jew
himself, toasting-fork in hand.
From Charles Dickens: Oliver Twist
The Pack Teacher Resource Sheet 6
Pearson Education 2006
Pupil Resource Sheet 7
Task
This extract from Oliver Twist shows Fagin and the boys seeming to be
very kind to Oliver.
1
Prepare a short mime of this scene as a group, with a separate
narrator who speaks these lines as you and your group enact
them.
The Jew grinned; and, making a low obeisance to
Oliver, took him by the hand, and hoped he should
have the honour of his intimate acquaintance. Upon
this, the young gentlemen with the pipes came
round him, and shook both his hands very hard –
especially the one in which he held his little bundle.
One young gentleman was very anxious to hang up
his cap for him; and another was so obliging as to
put his hands in his pockets, in order that, as he was
very tired, he might not have the trouble of
emptying them, himself, when he went to bed.
These civilities would probably have been extended
much farther, but for a liberal exercise of the Jew’s
toasting-fork on the heads and shoulders of the
affectionate youths who offered them.
2
Once your group has performed, look again at the extract
above.
Which words in this extract show that the narrator really means
the opposite of what he says, but is being ironic?
The Pack Pupil Resource Sheet 7
Pearson Education 2006
Pupil Resource Sheet 8
Task
Read these later extracts from Oliver Twist.
Annotate the underlined phrases to show how this information adds to
or changes the reader’s understanding of Fagin.
There was a rascally smile on his white face as he turned
round, and, looking sharply out from under his thick red
eyebrows, bent his ear towards the door, and listened.
‘Where’s Oliver?’ said the Jew, rising with a menacing look.
‘Where’s the boy?’
The young thieves eyed their preceptor as if they were
alarmed at his violence; and looked uneasily at each other.
But they made no reply.
‘What’s become of the boy?’ said the Jew, seizing the
Dodger tightly by the collar, and threatening him with horrid
imprecations. ‘Speak out, or I’ll throttle you!’
It was a chill, damp, windy night, when the Jew: buttoning
his great-coat tight round his shrivelled body, and pulling
the collar up over his ears so as completely to obscure the
lower part of his face: emerged from his den. … It seemed
just the night when it befitted such a being as the Jew to be
abroad. As he glided stealthily along, creeping beneath the
shelter of the walls and doorways, the hideous old man
seemed like some loathsome reptile, engendered in the
slime and darkness through which he moved: crawling
forth, by night, in search of some rich offal for a meal.
The Pack Pupil Resource Sheet 8
Pearson Education 2006
1
Pupil Resource Sheet 9
Task
1
Re-read Chapter 7.
2
Select quotations about Red Dog and add them to the grid.
3
Do the same for Fagin.
4
For each of the examples of evidence you have gathered, make
a separate note about how the two are similar or different.
Feature
RED DOG
FAGIN
Similar or different?
Explain your views.
Body
‘Huge’
Face
Hair
The Pack Pupil Resource Sheet 9
Pearson Education 2006
‘old, shrivelled’
They are different in
size. Fagin seems
small and hunched
over. Red Dog is a big
man.
2
Clothes
Way he
speaks
Behaviour
Writer’s
attitude
towards
him
The Pack Pupil Resource Sheet 9
Pearson Education 2006
Pupil Resource Sheet 10
Task
Write a comparison of Red Dog and Fagin, explaining the similarities
and differences between them.
Remember:
Making comparisons means you have got to think about how you
organise your points. You need to make it clear which of Red Dog’s
features are like Fagin’s and which are different. Here are some
phrases you should try to use.
End your comparison by writing down which character you think the
reader would least like to meet.
Connectives
that start new
sentences.
Similar
Both Red Dog and Fagin
are/have …
Different
On the other hand, Fagin
…
Similarly, Fagin
However, Fagin …
Likewise, Fagin
Connectives
that join
sentences
together.
Fagin also …
Just as Fagin …, so Red
Dog also …
Whereas Fagin is …, Red
Dog is …
Although Fagin is …, Red
Dog is …
While Fagin is …, Red
Dog is …
Ask a partner to review your response and give you feedback by
completing this grid with Red, Amber or Green.
Can make a point about a character
Can select quotations from the text to use as evidence
Can make inferences by explaining the quotation and developing the
point further
Can make similarities and differences clear by using connectives
accurately
Can comment on the writer’s purposes
Can comment on the effect on the reader by expressing a personal
opinion and revising it in the light of new evidence
Select one of the skills in the grid that is amber or red. Discuss with
your partner how you are going to improve that skill next time you are
asked to compare characters.
The Pack Pupil Resource Sheet 10
Pearson Education 2006
O
O
O
O
O
O
Pupil Resource Sheet 11
Tension
Task
Will Hunger survive? Record on the grid how much tension you think the reader is feeling at each stage of the fight. Explain
your reasons, using quotations from Chapter 8.
Reason
Incident
The way the
opponents are
described
The Pack Pupil Resource Sheet 11
Pearson Education 2006
The atmosphere
before the fight
The tactics Hunger
uses
The way the
opponent responds
How the crowd
react during the
fight
How Hunger wins
the fight
1
Pupil Resource Sheet 12
Task
In The Pack, there are many links between events. In this section of the novel, there are two dog fights. What reasons can
you think of to explain why the writer included the second fight? Whilst the two fights are not the same, they also have
similarities. Explain the similarities and differences between the two fights. Use this grid to help you plan your answer.
Fight with Tender
Stage
The way the
opponents are
described
The atmosphere
before the fight
The tactics
Hunger uses
The way the
opponent
responds
The Pack Pupil Resource Sheet 12
Pearson Education 2006
Fight with Hound of Hell
2
How the crowd
react during the
fight
How Hunger
wins the fight
The atmosphere
after the fight
The Pack Pupil Resource Sheet 12
Pearson Education 2006
1
Pupil Resource Sheet 13
The Pack makes references to other literature. This is called
intertextuality. Writers refer to other texts to help the reader gain a
wider understanding, to pay homage to other texts and sometimes to
be clever and have fun!
For example, you will probably have recognised Fagin from Oliver Twist
in the character of Red Dog. Readers who are familiar with Fagin will
use their reactions to him to help them decide what they think of Red
Dog.
Task
In Chapter 9, the novel also makes references to Hamlet, by William
Shakespeare.
Can you work out the link between The Pack and the following Hamlet
references?
Hamlet
Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark,
says: ‘Something is rotten in the
State of Denmark,’ and suspects
there is corruption and sin all
around him.
Hamlet’s father, the King, dies.
Hamlet starts behaving very
strangely. He even sees his
father’s ghost.
Hamlet’s mother remarries very
quickly (too quickly, according to
Hamlet) after the death of her
husband. As Hamlet says:
‘Within a month … she married – O
most wicked speed.’
The Pack Pupil Resource Sheet 13
Pearson Education 2006
The Pack
2
Hamlet’s father returns as a ghost
to tell Hamlet that he was
murdered – by his brother, telling
his son:
‘Thus was I, sleeping, by a
brother’s hand of life, of crown, of
queen at once dispatched.’
Hamlet believes that his mother
was not really upset at the death
of her husband. She did not mourn
properly.
Hamlet’s father and uncle, though
brothers, are very different. As
Hamlet says…
‘My father’s brother, but no more
like my father than I to Hercules.’
In the final chapter, the narrator mentions three books: White Fang,
Oliver Twist and Peter Pan.
Choose one of these to research.
Explain what you think the links are between that book and this one.
The Pack Pupil Resource Sheet 13
Pearson Education 2006
Pupil Resource Sheet 14
The children in The Pack survive by hiding their fears and feelings from
each other, except at night when many are troubled. The writer says
that their real feelings are ‘masked’ during the day. They also take on
roles that cover up their real characters: ‘Most of them learn to wear
disguises.’ The writer mentions several times that Skreech put on a
‘mask’, like a ‘shell’, that hid her real self.
Task
As a class, you are going to create a ‘role on the wall’ to represent
Skreech/Martha.
1
Start by re-reading the parts of Chapters 7–10 that involve
Skreech.
What did Martha pretend to be like when she was with Red Dog?
What is her ‘Skreech-mask’ really like?
2
Add comments about Martha’s masked self to the display, with
comments about Martha inside the figure and those about
Skreech around the outside, like this.
Skreech
Martha
The Pack Pupil Resource Sheet 14
Pearson Education 2006
The Pack Pupil Resource Sheet 14
Pearson Education 2006