The Last Night (from Charlotte Gray)

By Sebastian Faulks

OVERVIEW OF TEXT• Section B (Fiction) of anthology.• Set in France in the 1940’s, occupied by Germans during the

second World War.• Charlotte Gray = A long novel, deals with the themes of memory

and loss.• The extract describes the waiting and struggle that the boys and

adults suffered when waiting for transportation to their final destination. The situation is described and a tense atmosphere is created for the reader.

• It is “THE LAST NIGHT” before they go to the concentration camp where they will face death, although they may not all realize this at this moment.

• The reader is filled with fear and dread for the people.

THE INTRODUCTION

• This short introduction explains that the two young boys are about to be transported to the concentration camp. From our own general knowledge we know what is likely to happen there!

READ THE TEXT NOW …

CHARACTERS & ROLESHow many main groups of people are there in the story and what role does each group play in the story?

TASK 1• Copy out and complete the table on the next slide to help

you to understand the roles of the characters in the story.

CHARACTERS KEY QUESTION COMMENT KEY QUOTATION

Andre – the older child.

What is his importance to the passage?

Faulks focuses on what he sees and hears – he begins to understand...

“It came to Andre that she was not looking in hatred”

Jacob and the other younger children

How does the way they are described and the way they act affect the reader?

Adult deportees Do they behave differently to the children?

The Jewish orderly Betrayer or helper?

Bread women Who are these women? Mothers who have not been deported?

Terrible ferocity woman – mother of a

child deportee

What does her look mean?

French police What responsibility do they bear?

Bus driver Just doing his job?

CONNOTATIONS

DETAIL RESPONSEThe deportees have a postcard on which to write a final message

Final – before departure or before death? Foreboding sense of finality. Last record of their existence.

Camp orders prohibit posting the cards, so they must be thrown out of the train

Only two or three pencils survived the barracks search

The conditions in which these children are living are barely fit for animals

Obviously there are many examples. Explore the whole text and do not restrict yourselves to these four choices.

TASK 2: Copy out and complete the table below to help you to understand how the writer has used specific word choices (connotations) to communicate emotion and meaning in this this text.

REMINDER:

TASK 4: For each of the following words/phrases, write a sentence explaining what thoughts or feelings they might evoke in the reader.

• Line 13: ‘soft bloom of his cheek’ • Line 13: and line 33 ‘dung’ and ‘filthy straw’• Line 15: ‘slumped’ • Line 16: ‘spared’• Line 25: ‘homely’• Line 27:‘ trembling’

• Matter of fact, does not over emphasise details• Direct contrast with the reality of horror they are facing

TONE, FEELINGS & MOOD ...

CHALLENGE QUESTION: For you personally, what details or techniques create the greatest pathos (definition: the quality in

something that makes people feel pity or sadness) in this passage?

LANGUAGE QUESTION

• The writing reflects the anger and suffering felt in the story.

TASK 3: Write a P.E.A.(E.A.)L paragraph supporting the following statement. You may want to use some ideas from the table on the next slide to help you.

USE OF LANGUAGE EXAMPLE EFFECT

Contrasting words

“... The soft bloom of his cheek laid, uncaring, in

the dung.”

Emphasises the difference between the children and the conditions... Consider also the effect of “uncaring”

Weighty words “trembling” (used of the buses)

Ironically applies to the people and foreshadows the terrors ahead

Movement

“A sudden ripple, a quickening of muscle and

nerve”

The ripple implies fast movement and quickening picks this up – also, remember that quickening has a second meaning – coming alive.

Complex and heightened

The look of “terrible ferocity”

Emphasises the depth of feeling felt by the woman.

CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONSTASK 5: Answer the following questions to help give you a thorough

understanding of the meaning behind this text.

1. Why were there so few pencils? What does this suggest about the conditions people are living in and the way they are being treated?

2. What are the characters feeling? Scan the text looking for places where the author has referred to or suggested an emotion that a character is feeling. Highlight the examples you find.

3. In line 43, Andre is described as holding his brother’s hand ‘hard’. What does this suggest to us about Andre’s thoughts/feelings? How does this description relate to the previous paragraph?

4. What delayed the bus leaving the barracks? Why has the writer chosen to include this detail?

5. Read the final lines 49 – 52 again. What is the writer describing in this sentence? Why do you think he has chosen to express this in such a long sentence?

ESSAY QUESTION SAMPLE

How does the writer build up strong feelings of fear and uncertainty?

YOU SHOULD WRITE ABOUT:• How the adults who are being deported respond• What Andre does and thinks• What the other people do• The use of language including vivid details.

Refer closely to the text and use brief quotations.