Kebabs
Read Kebabs by Catherine Mayo (pages 14 to 19, School Journal Part 4, Number 2, 2009). Then answer the following questions.
Is the Mullah fair in solving it?
b) What is the disagreement between the pauper and the kebab seller about?
Explain why you chose this:
Equipment: "Kebabs" by Catherine Mayo. School Journal Part 4, Number 2, Learning Media Limited, 2009.
- As a traditional tale from Persia, this type of text will be unfamiliar to many students. You might want to consider using this resource only if your students are familiar with stories from literary traditions other than the Western one. (When we trialled this resource we found evidence suggesting some students were distracted by the unfamiliar style of storytelling. As one student said, "The Mullah solves problems but he does it in strange ways." Note that the students did not seem distracted by the story being presented as a play.)
- Give each student a copy of the text. Read the text to them or ask them to read it independently. If you read it to them, they should follow the text as you read.
- The students may do the task independently or in groups.
- Make sure the students understand that a Mullah is a man who leads a Muslim community; he is well educated and understands Muslim law. Also explain that he has a similar role to a judge in New Zealand and that, like a judge, he does not keep the money from the fines. (The students will be unable to give a valid response to c) if they do not have an appreciation of the role of a Mullah.)
- The purpose of questions a) and b) is to focus the students' thinking on particular disagreements and to provide evidence of student ability to use evidence from the text, as well as their background knowledge, to evaluate the Mullah's responses to those disagreements.
- The purpose of question c) is to provide evidence of student ability to use evidence from the text, as well as their background knowledge, to make an overall evaluation of the author's construction of the Mullah. For this question, explain that a realistic character is one who seems real, a believable or credible character - someone you could believe is living, or once lived, somewhere in the world.
Details that show us about Mullah Nasruddin
The following details from the text will help you analyse student responses to questions a), b), and c). Students will draw on these details as they answer those questions. The details are not identified as relating to particular questions because many relate to more than one. We have listed details that show us about Mullah Nasruddin. The details we have listed relate to what Mullah Nasruddin looks like (1 appearance), what he says (dialogue), and what he does (action).
Appearance (what the Mullah looks like)
Note that in Kebabs, evidence comes from the visual, not written, text.Page 14:
- The way Mullah Nasruddin is drawn: He sits reading in a calm, contemplative way.
Pages 16 -19:
- The way Mullah Nasruddin is drawn: His clothes are clean and elegant and his beard is well groomed/trimmed, suggesting dignity, and affluence.
Page 16:
- The way Mullah Nasruddin is drawn: He listens intently, giving consideration to what he hears.
Page 19:
- The way Mullah Nasruddin is drawn: His smile is restrained, suggesting his sense of humour is wry rather than raucous.
Dialogue (what Mullah Nasruddin says)
Page 15;
- "What time do you make it?" Assuming the Pauper will have a watch suggests the Mullah may be out of touch with the reality of living in poverty.
Page 16:
- "Goodness, how?" This suggests he is curious and interested in other people's troubles.
- "Neither of you can tell the truth." This suggests he is direct.
Page 17:
- "I'm buying kebabs, not paying my daughter's dowry ... You might as well hurl me into the gutter ... O descendant of a thousand cockroaches. Would you have my eyeballs too?" This suggests he has a sense of fairness and a sense of humour (a sense of the ridiculous). His use of hyperbole (extravagant exaggeration) suggests he enjoys playing with words and entertaining others with his words.
Page 19:
- "Don't worry yourself." This suggests he is reassuring and confident.
- "Do you hear that lovely clink?" This suggests he can be mocking, that he will ridicule people he concludes aren't worthy of respect.
- "Now go away and let me finish my lunch ... You heard me - shoo ... Oh, no, no, no ... you've already been paid. He's smelt it, you've heard it." This suggests he is direct, assertive, and dismissive of people he concludes aren't worthy of respect.
- "By the way, your kebabs are burning." This suggests he has a sense of humour, especially irony.
Action (what Mullah Nasruddin does)
Pages 16-19:
- He makes a judgement in the disputes between the Goatherd and the Orchard Owner, and the Pauper and the Kebab Seller. This suggests he has authority.
Page 17:
- He enjoys bargaining over the price of the kebabs (as do the Kebab Seller and the Customer). This suggests he values the rituals of social interaction.
Pages 18-19:
- He deceives and ridicules the Kebab Seller. This suggests be believes in retaliating, or at least publicly exposing the offender, when someone is mistreated.
Literacy Learning Progressions (Reading)
Because this assessment task was trialled with year 8 students in the second half of the year, the most relevant progression is:
By the End of Year 8. The most relevant bullet point is:
When students at this level read, respond to, and think critically about texts they:
- increasingly control a repertoire of comprehension strategies that they can use flexibly and draw on when they know they are not comprehending fully, including such strategies as:- identifying and evaluating writers' purposes and the ways in which writers use language and ideas to suit their purposes.
This resource was trialled in August, 2010, by 28 Year 8 students from 1 decile 10 school. The story was read to the students.
Question a) What is the disagreement between the goatherd and the orchard owner about?
Responses should include information about the disagreement being over: The number of goats let into the orchard, the amount of time they were in it, and the amount of damage they caused.
Is the Mullah fair in solving it?Just over half the trial students believed the Mullah solved the disagreement fairly.
Following are examples of responses that reflect an awareness of information relating to the disagreement between the 2 men, but do not reflect an awareness of how to reject competing information in favour of that showing both are lying.
We found useful examples from students who thought the Mullah solved the disagreement fairly.
Yes, because they both were lying so they both get fined but in a way one of them could have been telling the truth; Mullah is fair because both these stories were either lies or one was lies, so they both wasted his time so I think fining them 12 copper pieces was fair.
We found useful examples from students who thought the Mullah solved the disagreement unfairly.
No because it is unfair for the orchard owner because not only does he lose some of his orchard but [he] is fined 12 copper pieces as well, and the goatherd only lost 12 copper pieces.
Following are examples of responses that draw on background knowledge about solving disagreements and what is and isn't a fair fine. However, that background knowledge is often inadequate and is favoured over evidence from the text showing both are lying.
We found useful examples from students who thought the Mullah solved the disagreement fairly.
Yes because he was consistent; Yes, because when he solved the problem he listened to both sides of the story and gave both sides the same consequence.
We found useful examples from students who thought the Mullah solved the disagreement unfairly
.... too much money for a small thing; No, he shouldn't have fined them both so much. He should have chosen to believe one of them and fined the other or fined them both, but not as much as 12 copper pieces. Maybe 6 or 4.
Following are examples of responses that reflect an awareness of how to reject competing information in favour of that showing both are lying.
We found useful examples from students who thought the Mullah solved the disagreement fairly.Kind of because they both get the same punishment for not telling the truth; Yes, because they are both lying so he doesn't know what to believe; Yes, because he made them both pay for not telling the truth.
Question b) What is the disagreement between the pauper and the kebab seller about?
Responses should include information about the disagreement being over: The kebab seller accusing the pauper of being a thief for smelling the kebabs without paying.
Is the Mullah fair in solving it?Most of the trial students believed the Mullah solved the disagreement fairly.
Following are examples of responses that reflect an understanding of the subtleties of the events in the story.
We found useful examples from students who thought the Mullah solved the disagreement fairly.Yes because it wouldn't have been fair if he had actually given the kebab seller the money because the kebab seller didn't lose anything; Yes, he knows that smelling kebabs is not stealing and [that] the kebab seller just wants money.
Following are examples of responses that reflect a literal understanding of events in the story but lack the necessary understanding of the subtleties of those events.
We found a useful example from a student who thought the Mullah solved the disagreement fairly. Yes because he is giving 20 copper pieces to the pauper to give/pay back the kebab seller.
We found useful examples from students who thought the Mullah solved the disagreement unfairly. No because he lied and he didn't pay back the kebab seller; I think the Mullah is not fair in solving this problem because he did not return 20 copper pieces to the kebab seller.
Following are examples of responses that reflect an understanding of the subtleties of the events in the story. They also reflect an understanding of how the events are described for artistic effect.
We found useful examples from students who thought the Mullah solved the disagreement fairly.Yes! The Kebab Seller heard the sweet sound of money and the pauper smelt the sweet smell of the kebabs; Yes, I think so because the pauper stole by sense of smell so the Mullah paid it back by noise so the pauper stole by sense and the Mullah paid it back by sense.
Question c) Has the author made the Mullah a realistic character?
Just over half the trial students thought the Mullah was a realistic character and just under half thought he was and he wasn't.
Following are examples of responses that reflect an understanding of how a realistic Mullah behaves but may also reflect a lack of understanding that the story takes place in another time and place.
We found a useful example from a student who thought the Mullah was a realistic character. Because I think that's what a Mullah does and he seems to know what he's doing.
We found useful examples from students who thought the Mullah was and wasn't a realistic character. I think yes, because he is a fair and very good leader ... I think no because you don't see much Mullahs or priests going into town to sort that kind of stuff out; Yes, because he speaks fairly, hearing both sides of the story before giving a definite answer. And no, because well in now days if a Mullah asked someone to pay up they would just say no. But if people looked up to him then he does seem like a realistic character.
Following are examples of responses that reflect an understanding of how to state a belief but lack an understanding of the need to justify it.
We found useful examples from students who thought the Mullah was a realistic character.Because I do believe that a person like that is real; Yes, because the Mullah is like people I have met before.
Following are examples of responses that reflect an understanding of how a realistic Mullah behaves and an understanding of abstract ideas including ones about problem solving, cultural differences, learning from experience, and making comparisons.
We found useful examples from students who thought the Mullah was a realistic character. Because this is how they might solve problems in other countries and he is fair but they don't learn a lesson. That's how most problems are sorted out so it seems pretty realistic; Because he is the person the people in the village go to when they need help or when they need a problem solved. Kind of like the police but he doesn't stop crime like they do; Yes, I think he is realistic because he's just a person with a lot of power over the people in his village. Some of the characters are less realistic so it makes the Mullah more; Because in the Middle East there are people just like the Mullah. He solves problems in the village.
The following section: Students who need to focus on using text details, is presented as an example of how you might foreground the Key Competencies within reading. In particular, it exemplifies how you might foreground "Using language, symbols, and texts" and, to a lesser extent, "Thinking" within reading through a focus on the way authors construct characters with carefully chosen details. This approach requires students to not just understand the text but to understand how the text is constructed and why it is constructed that way. This idea is expanded below. In the table below, "Using language, symbols, and texts" has the largest bolded font because it is the most important to this particular example.
Students who need to focus on using text details
Writers build characters with details. Good writers are meticulous in their choice of details, including only those that add value and meaning to the description of a character. It is these details, as well as background knowledge, that a reader uses in order to respond to questions such as "What is the disagreement between the goatherd and the orchard owner about?" and "Is the Mullah fair in solving it?", "What is the disagreement between the pauper and the kebab seller about?" and "Is the Mullah fair in solving it?" and also, "Has the author made the Mullah a realistic character?"
Details: telling and showing
Writers may choose to use details that tell readers about characters if they want to convey information quickly. For example:
The Mullah is a wise man. (Note there are no details in this text that tell the reader about the characters so an example has been constructed.)
However by telling the reader that the Mullah is a wise man, the writer has not given the reader the opportunity to come to their own conclusion about what kind of a person the Mullah is; and, increasingly, modern readers expect to have that opportunity.
More commonly, writers of fiction will choose to use details that show characters to readers. For example:
PAUPER. How should I know? I can't afford a watch (sighing). (p.15)
Here the reader must infer why the pauper sighs: Perhaps he is resentful? Perhaps he feels despondent?
Ask your students to compare how they respond to having the opportunity to come to their own conclusion about why the pauper sighs with how they would respond if the author had simply told them (the pauper is resigned to a life without the hope of a better future).
Details: general and specificWhen writers tell readers about characters they use details that are general or broad. For example, a narrator in a story might say:
The Mullah is a wise man. (Note there are no details in this text that tell the reader about the characters so an example has been constructed.)
The word "wise" is general (or abstract); it has a broad rather than specific meaning because it can be generally applied to all sorts of situations. You might like to ask your students to tell you about the situations "wise" can be applied to in an attempt to show them that it is not specific to any particular situation. (Note that at this point your students will probably be unclear about why "wise" is general; in fact they may even argue that it has a specific meaning. It will probably not be until the end of the following exercise that they have a clearer understanding.)
However, when writers show characters to readers they use specific (or concrete) details. For example:
The PAUPER leans towards MULLAH NASRUDDIN as he passes by and sniffs deeply. (p.17)
Here readers create an image that is specific. They create a vivid picture in their heads; they can "see" this image. Most importantly, it is vivid pictures like this one that have impact upon readers. Finally, ask your students to attempt to create a picture in their heads of someone who is "wise" (you may need to explain at some point that it is much easier when they imagine a specific situation).
For more information on the terms "abstract" and "concrete": http://www.nzcermarking.org.nz/help/AbstractInformation.html
References
- Burroway, J. and Stuckey-French, E. (2007). Writing Fiction: A guide to narrative craft. Seventh Edition. New York, NY: Longman.
- Ministry of Education, (2007). The New Zealand curriculum. Wellington: Learning Media.
- Ministry of Education (2010). The literacy learning progressions: Meeting the reading and writing demands of the curriculum. Wellington: Learning Media.
Notes1 According to Burroway and Stuckey-French (2007: 81-82), "our eyes are our most highly developed means of perception...it is appearance that prompts our first reaction to people". A character's appearance, their clothing, features, shape, style, the way they hold themselves and objects associated with them such as the car they drive or the house they live in, make statements about who the character is, what kind of person they are, their character, the "inner" person.