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Scottish Short Stories : Brian McCabe - 'The Face'

Scottish Short Stories : Brian McCabe - 'The Face'
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Key Info
  • Scottish Short Stories : Brian McCabe - 'The Face'
  • Duration: 05:20
  • The theme is introduced as a 'father and son story'. We are shown that the child does not fully understand the adult world of the father through the misunderstanding of mining terminology, such as 'coal face', by the young boy. The clip cuts back to the short story where the father tells the mother of John Island's death and they kiss with an air of desperation. This leads to commentary from the author who wanted the kiss to portray adult relationships that are tinged with sorrow. He comments that they stay together in adversity, and the difficulty the child has in understanding this. The next excerpt depicts the father and son going down the mine and the author describes his own personal experience of going down the mine with his father as being a 'rites of passage'.
  • Subject:

    English

       Topic:

    Fiction Post 1900: United Kingdom

  • Keywords: Scottish, short story, childhood, mine, coal, English, ghost story, fiction
Ideas for use in class
  • Get students to think about their own experiences that could be used for a short story. Consider the theme of childhood and where children can often interpret the adult world in a different way. Get students to identify atmosphere and think about which words create this atmosphere. Explore the technique of mixing dialogue with third persona narrative and how this brings about different responses in the reader. Explore structural devises used in the short story. Consider why the writer leaves us with a sense of ambiguity. The social ideas raised focus on recent history through reference to mines and pit closures – links to social studies topics.
Background details
  • Clip language : English
  • Aspect ratio : 16x9
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