An introduction to the exam task set by the Cambridge IGCSE board.

1. Empathic Genre Conversion

2. IGCSE English : Question 1

3. What is empathy?

5. Empathy is NOT sympathy!

6. Reading most texts requires some degree of empathy in order to appreciate the perspective of the narrator or characters presented

7. How can you identify the elements which reveal the thoughts, feelings, opinions and attitudes expressed by characters in a text?

8. Explicit statements madeImplicit information conveyed through:Dialoguelanguage choicesWhat is left ‘unsaid’Tone

9. This task requires you to empathise with the thoughts, feelings and opinions expressed by one or more people in the text and then DEMONSTRATE that understanding

11. Imagine and expand beyond the text while maintaining faith with the original text

13. What type (genre) of writing might you be asked to convert the source text into?

14. Newspaper reportMagazine articleJournal entrySpeech / interview / debateReportFormal / informal letter

15. Each genre has a set of features which define them in the same way that a film type has a set of recognisable elements:

16. Special effects Dramatic soundtrack Technophobic theme Muted colour scheme Stark lighting Pseudo spiritual or philosophical exploration

17. StructureNarrative perspectiveFormalityVocabularyTone

18. What are the features of a newspaper report?

19. What are the features of a journal entry?

20. What are the features of a debate transcription?

21. What are the features of a formal letter?

22. So you might read a magazine article about homelessness and then have to write a journal entry from the perspective of a homeless person

23. Or you could be asked to read a transcript of interviews with a survivor of a house fire and a local domestic safety advisor. Then you’ll need to convert the information into a newspaper report on the incident.

24. Let’s try a sample question...

25. Max Brooks

26. What is the genre and form of the text? How do you know?

27. From whose perspective is the text written?

28. What are the thoughts, feelings, opinions and outlook presented by Sardor Khan?How do you know?

29. Which other characters also feature and how might their perspective differ from Khan’s?What leads you to this conclusion?

30. Sergeant MukherjeeGeneral Raj-Singh

31. What empathetic genre conversion tasks might be suitable to set for this source text?

32. Write a newspaper account reporting on the demolition of the bridge (you may adopt a sympathetic or antagonist stance)

33. Assume that General Khan survived the demolition. Write his journal entry from that evening.

34. Write the transcription for a debate with an extended comment from each of the following participants:Sergeant Mukherjeea surviving relative of a victimSardor Khan

35. Write a letter from Sardor Khan to the surviving widow of General Singh expressing your respects and thoughts about her late husband.