Mrs Sutherland's English Classroom



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S1 Drama Unit

Burning Everest

Act 1, Scenes 1, 2 and 3

1. By what name is Chomolungma normally known?

2. What does Jim compare its beauty to?

3. What are the names of the three men trying to conquer Chomolungma?

4. Why do you think Jim daydreams so much about Chomolungma?

5. Of the Welland family, who is least happy about Jim’s arrival? Give a reason for your answer.

6. What reason does Mrs Welland give for Jim going off the rails?

7. What does Matt threaten to do to Jim? Why?

8. What disability does Stubby have? How do people treat him as a result?

9. How do you think he will cope without Jim? Why do you say this?

10. What does Jim’s mum do when she sees him? How do you think this makes him feel?

Act 1, Scenes 4, 5 and 6

Look at the sentences below. They describe what happens in scene 6. Rewrite the sentences in your jotter as a paragraph in the correct order.

Number 1 has been done for you.

1. Miranda is reading a book while her mum makes a salad.

• Tony leaves the Jim and the family alone.

• Miranda puts on her horror eyes to make Jim laugh.

• Jim says he liked his old school.

• Mr Welland explains that the family are eating couscous.

• Miranda tries to talk to Jim.

• Tony tells him that he was always truanting.

• Jim finds out he and Miranda are in the same class.

• Jim enters looking as yobbish as possible.

• Jim tells them that his hamster died after it ate Semolina.

Act 1, Scenes 7, 8 and 9

Answer the questions below in your jotter. Look closely at the play to help you answer the questions. All of your answers should be written in sentences.

1. How do you know that Mr Cooper is quite disorganised?

2. What is Mr Cooper’s opinion of the Head Teacher at St Xavier’s?

3. The Head speaks to Jim when he arrives. Do you think he has a good opinion of Jim? Give a reason for your answer.

4. How would you describe Peter? Give reasons for your answer.

5. How does Jim react to the ambitions Peter and Miranda have for the future?

6. Who is Jim’s hero and what did he do?

7. What does Peter call Jim? Why do you think he dislikes Jim?

8. How old was Sharon when she had Jim?

9. What other family problem has Sharon had to cope with recently?

10. What does Mr Cooper give Jim a hard time about during the dance class? Do you think this is fair? Why?

Act 1, Scenes 10, 11 and 12

• You have now read the first twelve scenes of the play and should have a good idea of the main characters.

• Draw the table below in your jotter and choose five words that you think best describe each character. Write these down in your table.

|Jim |Miranda |Stubby |Matt |Mr Welland |

| | | | | |

| | | | | |

| | | | | |

| | | | | |

Daydreamer , aggressive, angry, Victim, PRIVILEGED, CLEVER, LAZY, IMPATIENT, KIND, AMBITIOUS, THOUGHTFUL, DISORGANISED, STERN, HAPPY, TRUANT, IMPULSIVE, TROUBLEMAKER, BRAVE, UNDERSTANDING, UNPLEASANT, VIOLENT, Disturbed, unconvinced, harsh, Unloved, loving, cruel, funny, Foolish, well meaning, Poor, wealthy, unfortunate

Act 1, Scenes 13 and 14

Copy the paragraphs below into your jotter filling in the missing words from the word bank below.

1. Jim goes to meet Stubby who is playing __________. He is really here to see his ___. Stubby asks if she will take Jim back and Jim simply ______. Stubby asks about the Wellands and Jim says that they make him _____.

2. The boys are bored so they decide to play a game. They will pretend to be ___________ and climb Mount ______. Stubby says he does not want to miss ____ ____ on television so Jim tells him he is to be _____.

3. Jim tries to show off by beating Stubby at basketball but the ball crashes into some ____. ____ hears the noise and comes out to complain. He calls Stubby a ‘______’ and tells them to clear off. Jim is furious but Matt simply sets his ___ on them.

Star Trek , sick, basketball, mountaineers, shrugs, Everest, Odell, Matt, bins, mum, spastic, dog

Jim’s Letter Home

• Imagine you are Jim. Write a letter to your mum after your first couple of days at the Wellands. You will want to tell her all about what has been happening. Remember, though, that you want to go back to your mum. You will want to try to persuade her that this is a good idea and maybe make her think that you are so unhappy with the Wellands that you would be better off at home…

You will want to mention:

• The house itself: What is it like? Big or small? Pleasant or unpleasant? Give details

• The Wellands: What are they like? Describe each one in detail. Do they have any funny habits? Do you like them or not? How did your first meeting go with them? What happened?

• Your first day at school: How did the teachers and other pupils treat you? Did you say anything interesting in class? What is your opinion of the school?

• Your time in the house: What have the Wellands done to help you fit in? How did you react to this? Why?

• The Quarry: What happened? What were you doing? What did you talk about? How did it end?

REMEMBER TO USE THE CONVENTIONS OF INFORMAL LETTER WRITING…

Miranda’s Diary

• Imagine you are Miranda. Write a diary entry covering the first couple of days of Jim’s stay with you. Explain what has been happening and your impressions of Jim. You will want to describe your feelings about having Jim in the house and the upheaval it has caused. What do you hope will come of Jim’s stay?

You will want to mention:

• Jim’s arrival: What was he like? How did he act? How did you react? How did you feel after talking to him?

• His first day at school: How did the teachers and other pupils treat him? Did he say anything interesting in class? Did this change your opinion of him?

• His time in the house: What have mum and dad done to help him fit in? How did he react to this? Hoe did this make you feel?

• His friends: What is Stubby like? How does Jim get on with him? Where do they spend time?

• The Quarry: What happened? What were they doing? What did you talk about? How did it end? How do you feel about Jim now?

Act 1, Scenes 15

Answer the questions below in your jotter. Look closely at the play to help you answer the questions. All of your answers should be written in sentences.

1. Why are the weather conditions ‘against an attempt on the summit’?

2. How does Miranda know about Pemmican?

3. What is Pemmican and why is it useful?

4. Why does ‘Odell’ go first?

5. Why does Miranda not think Stubby should go first? Is this fair? Give a reason for your answer.

6. What is Stubby having for tea?

7. What secret does Miranda tell Jim? Do you think she should? Why / why not?

8. What does her father do when he is unwell?

9. What does Jim promise? Do you think he will keep this promise? Give a reason for your answer.

10. What does Jim do when he is back in the alley?

Act 2, Scenes 1, 2 and 3

Copy the paragraphs below into your jotter filling in the missing words from the word bank below.

1. The Wellands are furious with Jim because he has been brought back by the ______. He smashed the window of Matt’s _______. Tony tells Jim that he must get used to his new ____. One way he can make his mum _____ is to do better at ______. He decides to try to do his _________. Miranda tells him that when her dad is ill he sits around and cuts out _____ from newspaper.

2. We later see the teachers sitting in the _________. Mr Cooper is marking _______ without even looking at them. The _____ appears and complains about Jim. Mrs Pryce sticks up for him but Mr Cooper says he should be boiled in ___ and served with _____. It is clear that they are not giving Jim a ______.

3. In History Jim tries to give the head his _______. Mr Bryant will not ______ to him when he says he has done it. Eventually Jim has to read out his work. He has written about _______ and his climb. When asked why he wanted to conquer Everest he said “Because it’s _____.” The Head is _____ about Jim’s work but _______ is impressed.

Mallory, chance , proud, police, rude, Fish, staffroom, jotters, school, Chips, Miranda, there, homework, Oil, listen, Head, work, takeaway

Act 2, Scenes 4, 5, 6 and 7

Copy the paragraphs below into your jotter filling in the missing words from the word bank below.

1. Jim meets Stubby in the _____. Stubby is not happy because Jim has not been to see him. Jim apologises and says he has been ____. Stubby has been _______ because they did not finish climbing the ______. Jim asks Stubby to give Sharon a ______.

2. Stubby sees Sharon and hands over the letter. Jim has written that he _____ her and is doing better at ______. He is desperate for her to stay _______ with him. Sharon hugs Jim. Suddenly ____ appears. He says that he and Sharon have an ________. He does not want lumbered with someone else’s kid when they get _______.

3. At school Jim is in a foul ____. The Head shouts at him and at first he does not _______. Jim barely responds and the Head gets even more _____. He tells Jim that he has a low opinion of him. Jim tells him to “___ off!” The Head is _________ and Jim ____ away.

Mood , alley, friends, agreement, runs, Sod, loves, angry, quarry, Matt, Answer, speechless, busy, bullied, Married, school, letter

Act 2, Scenes 8, 9 and 10

Jim often behaves badly. Sometimes he has no real excuse for this. At other times he is provoked. Occasionally the fault is both Jim’s and somebody else’s.

Copy out the table below into your jotter. Look at all the examples of his bad behaviour and try to put them in one of the three columns.

|Jim’s Fault |Partly Jim’s Fault |Not Jim’s Fault |

| | | |

| | | |

• Being rude to the Wellands when he first arrives

• Calling Stubby “Plastic Man”

• Kicking Mr Cooper’s cassette player

• Being rude to Matt

• Cutting up his new clothes

• Shouting at Tony

• Smashing Matt’s window

• Swearing in front of the Head

• Pestering his mum

• Telling the Head to “Sod Off!”

• Mocking Mr Welland about his depression

• Being rude about Peter and Miranda’s ambition

Characters

• You have now read the first few scenes of the play and should have a good idea of the main characters.

• In groups or pairs come up with the best words to describe each character:

|Jim |Miranda |Stubby |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

Daydreamer, aggressive, angry, Victim, PRIVILEGED, CLEVER, LAZY, IMPATIENT, KIND, AMBITIOUS, THOUGHTFUL, DISORGANISED, STERN , HAPPY, TRUANT, IMPULSIVE, TROUBLEMAKER, BRAVE, UNDERSTANDING, UNPLEASANT, VIOLENT, Disturbed , unconvinced, harsh, Unloved, loving, cruel, funny, Foolish, well meaning

Quotes Exercise

Write down all the quotations in your jotter. Beside each, write down who is responsible for the quote. After you have done that write down what the person is talking about.

1. “I’m good with scissors” p26

2. “That awful Jim McLindon’s in the class.” P46

3. “No one wants you round here.” P6

4. “I’ll show you spastic.” P40

5. “I might be stupid but at least I’m not mad.” P57

6. “Boil him in oil and serve him with chips?” p47

7. “I knew it would be a waste of time coming round here.” P29

8. “He can do all sorts when he wants to.” P38

Critical Essay

Write about the character of Jim in ‘Burning Everest’. Is his bad behaviour his own fault, other people’s fault or a mixture of the two?

I have recently read ‘________ ______’ by _____ ____. In it the character of Jim is often in trouble. In my essay I will discuss whether or not his behaviour is his own fault or not.

Now write a paragraph explaining what the play is about. You will want to mention 1) Why Jim cannot live with his mum and where he instead must go; 2) Jim’s mum and Matt’s relationship and how he feels about it; 3) Jim’s obsession with Chomolungma; 4) Jim’s running away from the Wellands and how the play ends.

Jim has a reputation for bad behaviour and sometimes this means people do not give him a chance. Now give some examples of people not giving Jim a chance. In particular this happens at school. Add a quote to back up what you are saying.

Sometimes Jim’s behaviour is totally unacceptable and he has no excuse. Now give some examples of Jim’s behaviour being inexcusable. Who does he hurt the most? Add a quote to back up what you are saying.

There are times, though, when we can see that although Jim is misbehaving, he has been provoked. Now give some examples of Jim’s behaviour being poor but understandable. Add a quote to back up what you are saying.

Despite his bad points, Jim can be kind and a loyal friend. Now give some examples of Jim’s good points. Remember, he is particularly kind and loyal to Stubby. Add a quote to back up what you are saying.

Finally write a conclusion saying what you thought about the play and the character of Jim. Did you sympathise with him and why (or why not)?

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