Unfair!
This task can be completed by pencil and paper or online (whtout auto-marking).
Equipment: Unfair! written by Jane Buxton, illustrated by Courtney Hopkinson. School Journal Part 3 Number 3, Learning Media Limited, 2003. To access a PDF copy of this text, click here.
- For pen and paper administration of this task a copy of the text will need to be provided for the students. A PDF version of the text can be found here: Unfair!
- Students completing the task online can access this PDF via a link. However, you may decide to have printed copies available for some students.
- This task can be done individually or in groups.
- Remind students that evidence can be found in both the visual and the written texts.
- Before beginning task b), explain what "justified" means in this context: to have a good reason for the way you feel, think, or behave. For example, "Does Jamie have a good reason for taking the $10 and not helping his sister with the dishes?"/ "Is it right that Jamie took the $10 and did not help with the dishes?" You may also need to explain what "refuse" means in this context: to be unwilling to do something/ to not want to do something.
- For tasks b) and c), tell students that to explain their response of Yes/No/Yes and No, they must support their thinking by using evidence from the text and from their prior knowledge, i.e., things that have happened to them, things they have seen, heard, or read about.
- You may need to explain that "a believable character" (task c) is a character who seems real, someone you could believe is living out there in the world - a credible character.
- Responses can be discussed by teacher and student only, or within larger groups. Group discussion has the advantage of giving students opportunities to consider others' ideas and to practise justifying their own.
- use comprehension strategies
- reflect critically about character
as described in the Literacy Learning Progressions for Reading at: http://www.literacyprogressions.tki.org.nz/The-Structure-of-the-Progressions.
For task a) we have listed evidence that shows us Jamie thinks he is not treated fairly. We have not listed evidence that tells us this because that type of evidence is relatively easy to identify. (NOTE: not all texts have evidence that "tells" about a character.) The evidence we have listed relates to what Jamie looks like (appearance), what he says (dialogue), what he does (action), and what he thinks (thought).
a) How do you know Jamie thinks he is not treated fairly?Appearance (what Jamie looks like)
Note that in Unfair! evidence comes from the visual, not the written, text.Page 8:
- The way Jamie is drawn. He has a startled/ alarmed expression. His arm is outstretched. (This suggests he is trying to resist being pulled or that he has been caught off balance.)Page 10-11:
- The way Jamie is drawn (middle illustration): He has a frown, a growling expression, and a raised fist. Page 12:
- The way Jamie is drawn: In the top picture he is drawn with a pointing/ accusing finger; he has bulging eyes. In the middle picture his teeth are clenched; his hands are raised. (This suggests frustration.) In the bottom picture his face is turned away from his sister, he has a frown, a pouting mouth, and his arms are folded tightly across his chest. In the circular frame at the bottom he looks most angry: he has clenched teeth, a frown, and his hair is drawn standing up-on-end; he has stars and wavy lines radiating from the top of his head. (This suggests fury.)
- Jamie groans: "I don't need looking after."
- "You do not babysit me! I am ten years old! I am not a baby!"
- Jamie grumbles: "Unfair! Unfair!" Page 10:
- "You greedy pig! ...That's not fair!"
- "...You're the babysitter - not me. You're the one who's getting paid! And I have to do my homework, anyway." Page 11:
- "You just want to watch your disgusting video!" (This suggests Jamie feels manipulated into putting Daniel to bed.)
- "What a useless babysitter!" Page 12:
- "You liar! You cheat! You useless, hopeless, lazy babysitter! I looked after Daniel and put him to bed. I read him a story!" Page 13:
- Jamie mutters: "Blah, blah, blah..." (This suggests he thinks his mother's attention on his sister is unfair or unwarranted.)
- Jamie explodes: "No way! ...I'm not doing Hannah's work while she gets paid for watching a video and going to sleep! That is just absolutely and totally..." (Jamie was going to say "unfair".)
- In the visual text: Jamie looks back at his sister and/or Daniel's mother. (This suggests he hopes one of them might step in to help him.)
- Jamie groans. ("I don't need looking after.")
- Jamie grumbles. ("Unfair! Unfair!") Pages 9-13
- There is extensive use of exclamation marks to show that Jamie shouts or, at the very least, raises his voice. Page 10:
- Jamie went to see what Hannah was doing while he was playing cards with Daniel. (This suggests he suspects she will be relaxing while he is doing the babysitting.)Page 10-11:
- In the visual text: Jamie raises his fist.Page 12:
- In the visual text: Jamie frowns, points at (accuses) Hannah, clenches his teeth, raises his hands in frustration, folds his arms tightly across his chest, and looks away from Hannah.
- Jamie angrily/ vehemently/ vociferously accuses Hannah of using him/ leaving him to do all the babysitting chores.Page 13:
- Jamie mutters. ("Blah, blah, blah...")
- Jamie explodes. ("No way! ...I'm not doing Hannah's work while she gets paid for watching a video and going to sleep! That is just absolutely and totally...")
- Jamie leaves Hannah to do the dishes on her own.
Thought (what Jamie thinks)Direct thought (thought offered directly, as if we were over-hearing the character's mind)
Page 11:
- '"I can't believe this," I thought.'
Indirect thought (thought that is reported by the storyteller/ narrator or author) Note that in Unfair! the storyteller reports his own thoughts.
Page 11:
- 'I was like - well, who is the babysitter here?'
This resource was trialled by 18 Year 5 and 6 students from 3 schools.
Task a) How do you know Jamie thinks he is not treated fairly?
Appearance - No trial students noted appearance as evidence of Jamie thinking he was not treated fairly. However, a character's appearance, including their clothing, features, shape, and objects associated with them (such as the house they live in) make statements about the character - including what kind of person they are.
Students may have overlooked clues about Jamie's appearance because they did value or recognise visual cues as valid evidence, or because they do not understand how to infer from illustrations.
Dialogue - Almost all trial students noted dialogue as evidence of Jamie thinking he was not treated fairly. Dialogue allows the writer to efficiently convey this to readers, and allows them to suggest image, personality, or emotion. This moves the narrative forward and deepens the reader's understandings.
Most students noted dialogue where Jamie used the words 'not fair' or 'unfair', for example, "Unfair! Unfair!" (page 9), "That's not fair!" (page 10). About a half of the trial students noted "You liar! You cheat! You useless, hopeless, lazy babysitter! I looked after Daniel and put him to bed. I read him a story!" (page 12). Other common answers included "I am not a baby!" (page 9), "You greedy pig!" (page 10), "useless" (pages 11 and 12), and "Blah, blah, blah..." (page 13).
Action - About half of the trial students noted Jamie's actions as evidence of him thinking he was not treated fairly. About half the students also noted the unfairness of the situation on pages 10 and 11 where Jamie does all the babysitting jobs while Hannah watched a video. No students noted Jamie's groaning, grumbling, muttering, and probably shouting as evidence of him thinking he is not treated fairly. This suggests that, although they readily noted what Jamie said, they were not aware of the importance of how he spoke.
Thought - a small group of trial students noted Jamie's thoughts as evidence of him thinking he was not treated fairly. Although "I can't believe this" clearly states Jamie's sense of injustice, it was noted by only about half this group. "I was like - well, who is the babysitter here?". The use of a rhetorical question in this statement makes it more difficult to analyse. Students may have been unaware that a rhetorical question is asked for effect or to make a statement rather than to get an answer.
NOTE: Tasks b) and c) require readers to make a judgement of a character and justify their response, drawing on both the text and their prior knowledge. The quality of the justifications they give for their stance is more important than a "right" or "wrong" answer.
Task b) Is Jamie justified in taking the $10 and refusing to help his sister with the dishes?
This task requires readers to make a judgement of and evaluate a character and justify their response, drawing on both the text and their prior knowledge. The quality of the justifications they give for their stance is more important than a "right" or "wrong" answer.
- He did all the work and that's not fair. So Hannah has to do the work now and Jamie doesn't need to help because that's just life. (Yes, Jamie was justified.)
- Hannah didn't help him with the babysitting or his homework so he thinks why should I help her? (Yes, Jamie was justified.)
- When he went out the door he was going to the shop to buy himself something and that is selfish. (No, Jamie was not justified.)
The judgements made by a small group were primarily based on background knowledge. For example:
- Big sisters do things like that all the time. (Yes, Jamie was justified.)
These findings suggest some students struggled to evaluate due to their over-reliance on background knowledge, and under-use of evidence from the text.
Justifying - a small group were not able to provide justification for their 'Yes and No' response. Responses were accepted only if they gave reasons why Jamie was and was not justified in taking the $10 note and refusing to help his sister with the dishes. For example:
- He earned the money so he can spend it but he still needs to help with the dishes. This was accepted because it gives a reason why Jamie was justified and a reason why he wasn't.
Some students failed to give reasons for both parts of their 'Yes and No' response:
- It's a bit fair taking revenge for what Hannah did. (Yes, he was justified.)
- Two wrongs don't make a right. (No, he was not justified.)
Task c) Has the author been successful in making Jamie a believable character?
Appropriateness - most students appeared to understand that for a character to be believable, they need to behave in a way that is appropriate to who they are. Writers achieve this through explicitly stating or implying appearance, tone, and action.
Appearance - No students noted that Jamie did or did not look like a typical boy.
Tone - A large group of students noted Jamie's dramatic tone and his sense of injustice as appropriate:
- He was good at acting and turning it on when he needed to, like in the car when he 'let Hannah have it'.
- Boys like Jamie always moan and groan.
- He often got angry when his sister told him to do things.
- Most younger siblings think it's unfair that, just because they're older, their older siblings get more ice-cream and parents usually spend more money on them. As a younger sibling myself, it seems like parents do have their favourites.
Action - A small group noted Jamie's actions as appropriate:
- I know that my little brothers make me pay back when I do things like that to them.
- I think he's real because he's like me. I do all the chores and my siblings say that they did them.
Ability to use text details when making a judgement about an author's construction of a character - only a small group were able to use text details. Most made rather general statements.One student noted:
- I can easily imagine someone reacting like that.
This student forms an opinion about the credibility of Jamie as a character but does not justify their opinion with detailed evidence. They could have noted the author's use of details showing how and why Jamie gets really angry with Hannah as evidence of Jamie's believable behaviour. A question like "which details make you think this?" might help students to actively justify their opinions.
Suspending disbelief - a small group of students were not able to accept the illusion created by fiction as "real". This group made responses such as:
- In real life you don't have to do your big sister's job.
Writers of fictional narrative create illusion by attempting to reproduce the emotional impact of everyday life for the reader so that powerful feelings such as love, fear, embarrassment, and frustration can be experienced without the reader having to risk the consequences of such feelings. To experience fiction, the reader must suspend disbelief and believe the illusion.
Next Steps for this task have been described in relation to Key Competencies. 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 more work 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 "How do you know Jamie thinks he is not treated fairly?", "Is Jamie justified in taking the $10 and refusing to help his sister with the dishes? and "Has the author been successful in making Jamie a believable 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:
I was furious. "You do not babysit me! I am ten years old! I am not a baby!" (p.9)
However by telling the reader that he was "furious" the writer has not given the reader the opportunity to come to their own conclusions about how Jamie might be feeling; 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:
His [Daniel's] bottom lip was wobbling. (p.10)
Here the reader must infer how Daniel might be feeling: perhaps he feels scared, perhaps he feels upset.
Ask your students to compare how they respond to having the opportunity to come to their own conclusion about how Daniel might be feeling with how they would respond if the storyteller had simply told them "Daniel was upset".
Details: general and specific
When writers tell readers about characters they use details that are general or broad. For example the storyteller tells us:
Daniel's remote control car sure was awesome. (p.10)
The word "awesome" 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 "awesome" 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 "awesome" 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:
While Daniel was laying out the cards for a game, I sneaked away to see what Hannah was doing. She was watching the video with chocolate cake in one hand and a glass of fruit juice in the other. (p.10)
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 something being "awesome" (you may need to explain at some point that it is impossible unless they imagine a specific situation).
For more information on the terms "abstract" and "concrete": http://www.nzcermarking.org.nz/help/AbstractInformation.html