Cal

1. S5/6 Unit Cal

2. Death and violence reinforced by the novel’s setting – wider setting (Northern Ireland)/ chapters setting (abattoir). Main protagonist Cal, father Shamie – fractured/strained relationship due to the past and Cal’s current unemployment. Difficult living conditions as some of the few Catholics living in Northern Ireland (near Belfast) and being forced out by the UVF. Given impression that Cal is an isolated figure. Threatening/ hostile environment created through post office description and boys with scarves outside. Crilly is illustrated as a fierce bully who enjoys and indulges in recreational violence. Cal’s attempt to give Smicker the pen back highlights his conscience and sets him apart from Crilly. Chapter 1 – Summary

3. Due Wednesday 31st October. Homework – Context jigsaw task

4. Where does Cal go at the beginning of the chapter and who does he meet there? What is appropriate about the sermon? What does he find strange about seeing Marcella there and why do you think that he feels this way? What is Cal plagued by, made clear during the football match? Why does he refer to the place the game is being played as the ‘real’ Ireland? Who does Cal meet in the toilet and what do they discuss? Who offers Cal some work and why does he take the job? What happens to Cal at the abattoir and how does this make him feel? What happens at the farm and what is significant about what Mrs Morton tells Cal? Chapter 2 – key questions

5. Select what you feel is the most significant quotation in this chapter of the text and as a group complete a PEEP paragraph that you will feed back to the rest of the class. Group Task

6. “He felt that he had a brand stamped in the middle of his forehead which would take him the rest of his life to purge.” P88 Use this key quotation to write a detailed PEEP paragraph. Why do Cal and Crilly rob the off-licence in Magherafelt? How does Cal feel about it? “Not to act – you know – is to act” P64. What does Skeffington mean by this statement? Describe the relationship between Cal and Dunlop. What is Shamie’s reaction to their home being set on fire? Why is Cal made uneasy by Marcella in the library when the discuss reading habits? The murder of Marcella’s husband – Robert – took place a year previously. Why is it described at this point in the novel rather than earlier? Chapter 3 – Key Questions