Activities:

English Study Activities

1. In the film, Ciaran and Kenny change and grow as characters. Write about your personal response to either of them throughout the film. Use the following points to help plan and structure your answer:
   
   
   • First impressions of the character and how these are created
   • The relationships that are important to them
   • Their attitude towards difference
   • Important events that affect their development as characters
     
     
   Points to consider for Ciaran:
   
   
   • Is Ciaran's slogan about the flute an indication that he is sectarian? He seems more angry about his paint brushes being misused as opposed to Martin who wants to break his fingers
   • His loving relationship with Niamh and how this matures throughout the film
     
   • His comment that 'Prods don't have a culture' and his question to Mei about why she goes to a 'Prod school'
   • His attempt to set up an exchange for the flute between Kenny and Martin; his unease with the robbery at the school and making a clean breast of it to Niamh; how he helps and encourages Niamh after they have been threatened; giving back the flute.
     
     
   Suggestions to consider for Kenny:
   
   
   • His unease with his mates' behaviour in the restaurant
   • His developing love for Mei and their shared understanding about the importance of family traditions
   • His mistrust of Ciaran and Niamh and his stereotypical comments about 'Taigs' at various points in the film; Mei's Chinese background isn't an issue for him
   • Meeting Mei; the street fight with Martin and their rival gangs; the cross- community disco; defying the paramilitaries to stay with Mei, Niamh, Ciaran and Eugene.
     
     
2. There are a range of different settings, interiors and exteriors, featured throughout the film. Discuss four settings (two interior, two exterior) that you have found memorable, making clear how they added to your enjoyment and understanding of the film. Use the following points to help start your ideas:
   
   
   • Interior settings (eg living rooms/kitchens, bedrooms, schools, clubs, etc.)
   • What do they tell us about people's lives and the things that are important to them?
   • What is similar/different about them in the different communities?
   • In what ways do interior scenes give a different impression of life in inner Belfast than the exterior scenes?
     
     
   Exterior settings (eg back alleys, street scenes, waste ground, downtown Belfast, the weather, etc.)
   
   
   • From the exterior settings, what overall impression does the film seem to give about life in inner city Belfast? In what ways is this different from the impression of life that is presented in the interior settings and in the closing scene of shopping downtown?
   • In what ways are murals, graffiti, flags, etc. important to the different settings?
     
     
   
   
   Media Studies Activities
   
   Pupil Activities
   
   

1. This shot comes at the end of the sequence in Kenny's bedroom where he has been looking through the box of First World War souvenirs that belonged to his grandfather and trying on his grandfather's sash.
   
   Write a short explanation of what you think the director is suggesting about Kenny's thoughts and feelings about his identity/his sense of 'himself' at this point in the film? The following ideas may help prompt your thinking:
   
   
   • The sequencing of this scene immediately after the scene of Martin in his bedroom with his 'trophies'
   • The effects of the music on mood/atmosphere throughout the sequence
   • Close-up shots on the inscriptions on the medal and dog-tag
   • The deliberate resemblance between the photograph of the grandfather and Kenny
   • His body gestures and cues
   • The slowness of Kenny's actions in unfurling the sash
   • The contrast between the sash heirloom and his modern 'skater' trousers
   • His facial expression; his eye contact with the camera and then looking away
     
     
2. Look again at the street fight scene, (24:50 - 26:58) or the scene in the community hall when Niamh, Ciaran and Eugene go to visit the band (starting at 54:51) and write a response the following question.
   
   Analyse the different techniques used throughout this scene to create dramatic interest. Include references to setting, lighting, music, positioning and movement of characters, camera angles and range, background noise and dialogue, how the scene finishes.

PSHE Activities

Group Discussion activity

Different kinds of relationships are explored in the film. For example:

1. between parents and their children
2. with peers
3. between boyfriend and girfriend
4. between husband and wife

Choose one of the above kinds of relationships to look at in detail. Pick out three scenes that you think are important to how the film explores relationships. Discuss what messages you think the film gives about issues such as love, trust, respect, differences of opinion and anything else that you think is relevant. Compare and contrast ideas with a group who have chosen to look at a different kind of relationship.

Pupil activity

Think about one character in the film that you like/admire very much. On a blank sheet of paper, brainstorm words that describe the qualities of this character that you like/admire. Pick one idea to share with one other person and say why this quality is important to you.



Citizenship Activities

Pupil activity

Prejudice and stereotyping : do I know what this means?

Note for Pupil

1. Prejudice can be described as having negative attitudes about a person or a group without knowing much about that person or group
2. Stereotyping is about using those feelings or attitudes to make judgements or express points of view about all members of a particular group
3. Discrimination means acting (usually in a negative way) towards an individual or a group for reasons based on prejudice and/or stereotyping

Check out your understanding by matching the comments (some of them are from the film) to one of the boxes in the table below. Tick one of the three boxes to show your answer.

Answers to above exercise

Whole-class exercise: Exploring the causes and consequences of Prejudice and Stereotyping

Note for Teacher

Tell pupils that they will be talking in more detail about the consequences of prejudice and stereotyping.

Examples of Stereotyping in the film:

1. Divide the class into three groups and assign each group one of the following roles:
   
   
   • Members of Kenny's community
   • Members of Ciaran's community
   • Members of Mei's family / community
     
     
2. In role, ask each group to talk about and record on one half of a flipchart sheet examples of stereotypical comments made about them as individuals or a group and on the other half of the sheet ask them to suggest reactions, feelings that these comments might have provoked in their 'community'
   
   
   • After an agreed amount of time ask the groups to fold their sheets in half, leaving only the examples of the stereotypical comments on display
   • Ask each group to move to another 'community's' flipchart sheet and to read and then talk about its recordings
   • Repeat the process again so that each group has had a chance to read the comments of the other two groups
   • Take feedback of all the examples and begin to group the comments under broad headings eg physical appearance; offensive language / name calling; inaccurate / unfair beliefs, attitudes, etc.
   • Now ask each group in turn to feed back their ideas about their role group's reactions and feelings. Encourage pupils to see and talk about the similarities in each group's response to the examples of stereotyping eg annoyance or anger; feeling disrespected; feeling not part of (excluded from) the community, etc. Feed in appropriate language (sectarianism; racism) in relation to comments that make generalisations about cultural, religious or political groups
     
     
   Conclusion
   
   Possible response to prejudice and stereotyping:
   
   
   1. Ask pupils to brainstorm examples of how characters in the film tried to challenge or change their own or others' stereotyping behaviours. Encourage responses to their identification with characters' likes/dislikes; things they admired or didn't about characters' actions and attitudes in the course of the film
   2. In pairs and then in larger groups ask pupils to come up with suggestions about how they as individuals and as a class could respond positively to stereotyping. NB Emphasise the importance of acting within the realms of appropriateness and personal safety