1. ‘Pieces of Silver’ Karl Sealy point of view KEYWORDS: characterisation
symbolism
personification
contrast
imagery
antithesis
repetition
alliteration

2. RECAP
What happens to the boys who contribute a shilling to the Head’s leaving present?
What happens to the boys who contribute nothing?
Who gives Clement the idea of raising money by singing?
Their last visit is to the house if a Mr Megahey who gives them their ‘biggest taking of the night…sixpence’. What is ironic about this?

3. ‘The acting head was a squat _____ of a man, fierce-eyed and unsmiling.
‘The house was a poor, wretched _________ of a room…’
‘Her plate was resting on her lap, and she scraped and pecked and foraged her food like a __________ _____
‘She listened as attentively as a ________, and as she listened, she put her hand around his neck and drew his head gently down upon her young bosom.’
“‘There are eight,’ he told the gaping schoolmaster. ‘One for each of us.”’
His voice struck through the silent school, clear and thrilling as a star’s light.’

4. Underline/copy the quotations that in the text and write some notes on what you think each one shows about the ways Sealy presents them to us and about the conflicts between them.
Clement
Evelina
Their parents
Chase

5. Thematic headings
FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS
POVERTY
THE CRUELTY OF OFFICIALS
SUFFERING AND HARDSHIP
UNFAIRNESS
For each of them decide-
When Sealy brings them out most strongly
two other stories that also bring out this theme.

6. LANGUAGE
Explain how the language Sealy has used in the following extract brings out some of the story’s central ideas. Use key terms.
“Hmm. Wa’ threepence boy? Why in de name of de lord must poor starving people got to find threepences for Jim Megahey what’s got his belly sitting so pretty wi’ fat?”
Lines 140-2