New
New
Year 10
Eduqas

Analysing 'The Cellist of Sarajevo'

I can understand and analyse the opening of 'The Cellist of Sarajevo'.

New
New
Year 10
Eduqas

Analysing 'The Cellist of Sarajevo'

I can understand and analyse the opening of 'The Cellist of Sarajevo'.

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. The theme of hope permeates the opening of 'The Cellist of Sarajevo'.
  2. Galloway uses powerful verbs to describe the weapon's destruction.
  3. Galloway structures the opening paragraph of his novel to mirror the way in which the weapon falls.
  4. Galloway may have purposely omitted details in his opening to universalise his message.
  5. When we analyse a text, we must consider why a writer chose to make a particular decision.

Keywords

  • Besiege - surround a place with armed forces in order to capture it or force its surrender

  • Permeate - spread through and be present in every part

  • Core - the basic and most important part of something

Common misconception

Students may be confused about when the extract is taking place or what war the extract is about as it references multiple moments of time.

The novel opening takes place during the siege of Sarajevo in the 1990s. However, the reference to the aftermath of WW2 is significant in universalising the themes and messages of the novel.

Asking students to openly discuss what stands out to them in an extract can help encourage a more well-rounded and holistic view of the extract.
Teacher tip

Equipment

You will need access to Chapter 1 of 'The Cellist of Sarajevo' by Steven Galloway for this lesson.

Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of upsetting content
  • Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering

Supervision

Adult supervision recommended

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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6 Questions

Q1.
Which war ended in 1945?
World War One
Correct answer: World War Two
The Cold War
Q2.
Which of the below is not a verb?
fall
hit
collapse
Correct answer: power
Q3.
What is a cellist?
Correct answer: someone who plays the cello
a singer accompanying a band
someone who composes music to be performed with bass instruments
Q4.
What does it mean to analyse?
to make sense of a text
to give your judgement about how well a writer does something
Correct answer: to unpick a text and find patterns
Q5.
If something has great velocity, what does it have?
Correct answer: high speed
huge weight
great height
Q6.
Why might something become charred?
Correct answer: it has been exposed to fire
it has been trampled upon
it has not been touched in a while

6 Questions

Q1.
In 'The Cellist of Sarajevo', where does the cellist live?
Dresden
Correct answer: Sarajevo
Italy
Venice
Q2.
When is 'The Cellist of Sarajevo' set?
1945
Correct answer: 1990s
17th century
Q3.
What is interesting about the way Galloway structures the opening paragraph of 'The Cellist of Sarajevo'?
Correct answer: The pace and order of sentences mirrors the course of the weapon falling.
The writer only uses complex sentences to withhold information for longer.
The writer zooms into the cellist's perspective of the destruction.
Q4.
What story seems to permeate the opening three paragraphs of 'The Cellist of Sarajevo'?
the cellist playing music as a child
the cellist sheltering from an attack
Correct answer: the restoration of a charred musical manuscript
Q5.
What is it important to do when analysing a text?
pick out language techniques
Correct answer: ask yourself why a writer made certain stylistic decisions
find at least five quotations
Q6.
Why might Galloway have used the verbs "screamed", "splitting" and "exploded" to describe the way the weapon falls in 'The Cellist of Sarajevo'?
Correct answer: to emphasise how it had the power to destroy everything in the citizens' lives
to emphasise the hope of the citizens
to emphasise the universality of the brutality of war