A Passage to Africa (Edexcel IGCSE English Language A)

Revision Note

Written by: Deb Orrock

Reviewed by: Kate Lee

A Passage to Africa Analysis

Students studying the Pearson Edexcel International GCSE English Language A qualification must study all ten of the non-fiction texts in Part 1 of the Edexcel IGCSE English Language Anthology in preparation for Paper 1. You will be given one of the ten texts in your exam, along with another unseen text, which are thematically linked. Section A, Question 4 will specifically be about the anthology text, and Question 5 will ask you to compare the anthology text with the unseen text.

The following guide to A Passage to Africa by George Alagiah contains:

A Passage to Africa overview
A Passage to Africa summary
Themes, ideas and perspectives in A Passage to Africa
A Passage to Africa language

A Passage to Africa overview

A Passage to Africa was written by British newsreader and journalist George Aligiah, who passed away in 2023. It is about Aligiah’s experiences as a television reporter in Somalia, Africa, during the war in the early 1990s, and specifically how an encounter in a village near Gufgaduud affected him more than anything else he witnessed on his journey.

A Passage to Africa summary

This personal and reflective piece of writing begins by establishing the impact of the war in Somalia on ordinary people. It then focuses on a hamlet just outside of Gufgaduud, a remote village which had not yet been reached by any aid agencies. Aligiah describes moving from hut to hut, looking for stories more shocking than what he had already witnessed in order to “move people in the comfort of their sitting rooms”. He describes the quiet and lonely death of a ten-year-old girl while her mother was out searching for food, and an old woman who had been left to die slowly of decay as her relations could not support her to continue.

Aligiah’s writing then focuses on a specific encounter with a man who smiled at him before entering another hut. Aligiah reflects that normally, in these situations, journalists observe and their subjects are merely observed, but that by smiling an embarrassed, apologetic smile, the man had affected Aligiah in a way that all of the horrific sights he had seen could not. This life-changing incident led him to resolve to write the story of Gufgaduud for the world to know.

Themes, ideas and perspectives in A Passage to Africa

Paper 1, Question 4 will ask you to explore how the writer has used language and structure to present a theme or idea within their text. Paper 1, Question 5 will ask you to compare how the writer presents their ideas and perspectives with the unseen text.

What are the key themes in A Passage to Africa?

Theme	Analysis
The realities of war	The article highlights the human cost of war: Aligiah saw “a thousand hungry, lean, scared and betrayed faces” There are so many they form a collective for Aligiah, without any one of them particularly standing out
	He gives a specific example per paragraph of people he encounters, but “reports” on them in the style of a detached journalist: “By the time Amina returned, she had only one daughter.”
	Aligiah presents a human perspective on the desperation the people are facing, illustrating how society ignores their suffering: He uses vivid and sometimes gruesome language to convey this
	The man’s embarrassed and apologetic smile at his situation makes Aligiah himself feel embarrassed by his opposite circumstances: “...how should I feel to be standing there so strong and confident?”
The observer and the observed	Aligiah suggests that being exposed to so many horrific images can desensitise the observer to what he/she is witnessing: “What might have appalled us when we’d started our trip … no longer impressed us much.”
	He writes as a hardened journalist who has become accustomed to witnessing famine, poverty and the extremes of human suffering: “Normally inured to stories of suffering…”
	Aligiah aims to shock the reader, as well as evoking pathos: He does this through the use of emotive language, such as “terminal” hunger
	It is the man’s smile that makes him stop and actually consider the man’s circumstances, and the part he has to play in ensuring that all of the anonymous people who suffer in war have their story heard: “I would write the story of Gufgadudd with all the power and purpose I could muster.”
	It is ironic that the one regret Aligiah has is that he never learnt the man’s name, even though he was the individual that caused the “seminal moment” in the writer’s experiences

How does Aligiah present his ideas and perspectives?

Aligiah uses a variety of techniques to present his ideas and perspectives. These also include how he structures his writing in order to achieve his desired effects.

Technique	Analysis
First-person perspective	The use of “I” gives reliability to the account and stresses its personal quality from the start
Note-form	The first two paragraphs are written in a note style, as though extracted from field notes: This adds to the sense of legitimacy of the account
Detachment	Aligiah sometimes adopts a journalistic tone to suggest the passive role of journalists in reporting from conflict zones For example, “She’d been shot in the leg…”
Tone	Aligiah uses an informal tone, shown by the abundant use of hyphens and colloquialisms, to present an emotional and harrowing topic in an accessible way
Single-line paragraph	The isolated sentence, “And then there was the face I will never forget” emphasises the life-changing importance of the moment
Simple sentences	The writer uses simple sentences to state facts, such as “No rage. No whimpering.”: This adds to the sense of a detached report, which then contrasts with his highly personal response to the man who smiles
Rhetorical questions	Aligiah uses rhetorical questions in the second half of the article to indicate that he is reflecting on his position and thinking to date He is able to describe in great detail what he witnesses in the first half of the piece, but uses the questions in the second half to suggest that his emotions are now harder to explain The ultimate question in the article is how should people react to other people’s suffering He therefore resolves to answer that question in his own way — by writing it down and reporting it
Direct address	Aligiah addresses the nameless man directly in the final paragraph This reminds the reader that this man was a real person who managed to bridge the divide between reporter and reported It focuses the reader’s attention on a single, important individual, contrasting with the “thousand hungry, lean, scared and betrayed faces” Aligiah started with By addressing him directly, Aligiah acknowledges his own part in dehumanising the people he was reporting about, as he regrets never learning the man’s name

A Passage to Africa language

The language choices made by a writer contribute to the overall effect they wish to portray.

Language	Analysis
Imagery	The language used by Aligiah brings to life the suffering and decay experienced by the Somali people For example, “the smell of decaying flesh”, “festering wound” and “It was rotting; she was rotting.” This contrasts with the imagery of the smile, which is normally seen as positive The village is described as “ghost-like” and journalists are described as “ghoulish”: These choices evoke a sense of death in the village and the journalists “feeding off” the dead
Simile	The simile “like the craving for a drug” implies the thirst of the media for ever-more shocking stories and footage, as the public and the reporters become increasingly immune to human suffering
Rule of three	Rule of three, or triads, are employed to emphasise the slow, gradual “degeneration of the human body” For example, “that simple, frictionless, motionless deliverance”
Emotive language	Aligiah employs strong, emotive language not only to evoke pathos in the reader, but also to highlight the realities of reporting from a conflict zone He describes his reactions being a “mixture of pity and revulsion” at the “disgusting” shutting down of the human body Aligiah describes this admission as a “taboo that has yet to be breached”, suggesting that even war reporters do not share all the horrible realities of the situations they witness and experience