1. What reasons could I have for giving my main protagonist this name?
Character Analysis: L/O – to analyse the narrative voice in Purple Hibiscus
The name Kambili is an Igbo name that means "Let Me Live"" and is of African origin.
What reasons could I have for giving my main protagonist this name?

2. The big question: How does Adichie present the narrator Kambili?
Character Analysis: L/O – to analyse the narrative voice in Purple Hibiscus
The big question: How does Adichie present the narrator Kambili?
Think carefully & discuss:
The Start
How are we introduced to her?
What does she say or do?
Is she biased? What person is the novel in?
Why is she narrating?
What do we find out about her?
Think carefully & discuss:
The Middle
What has happened to Kambili in her life?
Who is she close to in her family?
What themes or topics start to emerge in the novel that link to Kambili?
How do others see her? (at school /Cousins/Father/Aunt)
How does witnessing and being physically abused affect her?
Think carefully & discuss:
The End
Who is in control in the end of the novel?
How does this control take place?
Is the ending hopeful for Kambili?
What has happened to her life?
How does she feel about her mother and father and Jaja?
Success Criteria:
Answer the question
Explores examples from the novel and links these
Uses the three adjectives/ideas to drive the argument
Analyses using – What – How – Why to show understanding of character
Embeds context
Explores the effect of language using terminology
Compile your notes
What is Kambili like?
How does she interact with other characters?
What is her personality traits?
Does she stay the same or change across the novel?
Select evidence from the novel now to support what she is like in different places.
Answering the big question: Modelling
I will model introductions using 3 adjectives to describe the characters life.
We will discuss a range of other adjectives/ideas that you could include (using your notes)
You will write your own introduction
We will repeat this process for the first paragraph.
Teacher Notes: Introduce the big question and unpick on the board with the students. Ask them to offer ideas at this stage of how she is presented. Capture these ideas in a vocabulary bank. Encourage students to have their knowledge organiser in front of them.
Slowly reveal the think carefully and discuss elements for the start – middle and end of the novel. At each part ask students to discuss in pairs and use the book to find information. Students should also look back at their previous work on character/theme/etc. Students can stop mind map and teacher could crowd source these mind maps on the board at this point.
Compile your notes. Ask students in note form to answer the questions about Kambili. At this point they should work independently using the notes that they have already made.
Write about Kambili – Teacher models an introduction – students and teacher discuss what other ideas could be used. Student writes their own intro with the teacher circulating to check, support and prompt. Repeat this process for one paragraph – Explain the success criteria. Throughout the lesson their will be numerous opportunities to stop, discuss and feedback. The outcome will be a whole text essay that answers the question. Modelling should be done live and not pre-prepared with teacher exploring the thinking process as they complete the task.