The following material was created by young people from Year 6 at Lyndon Green Junior School in Birmingham. Click on an image to download a larger version.
In this section:
An inspiration to us all?
These are people that Fawkes names as role models for Scarlett. Find out what you can about them, there is some information below to start you off. You might like to discuss the following questions or find other similar people he could name. Is Scarlett like any of these people? Why does Fawkes name these people? What is it about them that he thinks will impress Scarlett? Does what Fawkes asks Scarlett to do, compare with the deeds of any of these people? All these people are from history is there anyone alive today you could add to Fawkes’ list?
Rani of Jhansi
Rani became queen of Jhansi province when her husband died; she commanded her army well and led them against the British Empire troops in the Sepoy uprising of 1857. She was killed in battle in 1858. She is shown in statues riding a horse with the reins in her teeth so that she could use swords in both hands.
Toussaint l’Ouverture
Toussaint was a black slave in Haiti who led the revolution in 1791 travelling between plantations he was able to spread revolutionary ideas. He fought for the independence of Haiti and the freedom of slaves against Spain and England. Deciding eventually to negotiate peace with Napoleon, the emperor of France, he was betrayed during peace talks and arrested. He died in prison in 1803.
Che Guevara
Che was an Argentinean revolutionary who as a young man travelled around South America where he saw great poverty and injustice – he decided that the only way to stop this was world revolution. He was active in the social reforms in Guatemala and fought with Castro against the Cuban dictator Batista. He was instrumental in the new Cuban government and wrote a manual on guerrilla warfare before fighting in the Congo and then Bolivia where he was killed in 1967. His face is used as a symbolic icon of revolution on t shirts, posters and flags.
Boudicca
Boudicca became queen of the Iceni when her husband died in approximately AD60. The Romans, who were ruling Britain at the time, tried to claim their lands for themselves so Boudicca led an army against them. The army destroyed the town we now call Colchester and defeated a Roman Legion and went on to burn London and St Albans to the ground. Boudicca was defeated in a battle on Watling Street in the West Midlands but her actions prompted the emperor Nero to consider withdrawing roman troops from Briton.
Joan of Arc
Joan was a French peasant girl who claimed to hear voices from God that told her to drive the invading English from her homeland. She led the French troops during the siege of Orleans in 1429. Disobeying the orders of commanders she gathered ordinary soldiers and attacked and captured castles that were held by the English. She re-established a stable monarchy in France before she was captured and put on trial for heresy and burned at the stake in 1431.
Gunpowder plot timeline
The persecution of The Catholics in Britain began when Henry VIII broke from the Church of Rome and established the Church of England and it continued under the reign of Elizabeth I. Catholics endured heavy fines, imprisonment and executions and there were several un-successful attempts to re establish influence.
The gunpowder plot is probably the most well known of these. The timeline that follows is an attempt to distil some of the key moments whilst reflecting some of the implications for the wider Catholic community.
1533-1540: King Henry VIII took control of the Church of England from the Catholic Church in Rome. The Catholic Church would not allow him to divorce Catherine of Aragon and marry Anne Bolen. Tension grew between the two branches of Christianity
1533: Elizabeth I, daughter of Henry VIII came to the throne and continued to persecute Catholics, making them swear an oath of allegiance to her, fining, imprisoning and executing any who continued to practice their faith.
1587: The Catholic Mary Queen of Scots, Elizabeth’s cousin, was executed for plotting against the Queen. Many Catholics thought she should be the Queen of England.
1603 – 1606:
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1829: Catholic relief act was passed removing most of the laws that persecuted Catholics
Continuum
Before working on the activity below, imagine that you live in The Circle community. You feel that The Realm is not listening to your people and some of the things they are unhappy with.
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Terrorist or Freedom Fighter?
Have a look at the photos below. You could print off copies, or you could bring them up on the computer. You can enlarge the images by clicking on them. (Click here for a full size pdf of the pictures).
Ask the young people (or think about if you’re doing it yourself):
- Do you know who the people in the photographs are?
- What can you find out about them and what they have done?
- How is the world different because of what they have done? Is it better or worse?
It may be helpful to provide some initial information on each to start the ball rolling:
1. Nelson Mandela (a member of ANC, an organisation that advocated bombing)
2. Osama Bin Laden (leader of Al Qaida, seen to be behind 9/11)
3. Guy Fawkes (attempted to blow up parliament and assassinate the king)
4. Malcolm X (who advocated “by any means necessary”)
5. Martin Luther King (conducted public demonstrations)
6. Rosa Parks (her actions provoked a bus boycott)
7. Suffragettes (engaged in civil disobedience)
8. Robin Hood (resisted taxation, opposed the rule of King John)
If you’re doing the activity as a group, divide into smaller groups to research one of the people and feedback to the rest what they have found out. Do these people have anything in common?
For instance, they have all tried to change the world and have been criticised as trouble makers. Some have been imprisoned or killed. Some have been denounced as terrorists.
Ask your group to try putting the people in a list with those they think of as terrorists at one end and freedom fighters at the other (or do it yourself if you are on your own). Ask:
- Can you draw a line across the list to divide terrorists from freedom fighters?
- What is the difference between the people on either side of the line?
- Were these people right to fight for what they believed to be right?
- Can you think of other people who might appear in this list?
- Where would you place them on the list?
- Will this list be the same in twenty years (will Osama Bin Laden be nearer the freedom fighter end for instance?)
- How far should people go to make change happen?
- Should they use “any means necessary”?
- In what other ways can people change things for the better?
Other people who could be included in this activity are:
- Gandhi (conducted peaceful protests and went on hunger strike)
- French resistance in WW2 (blew up bridges and trains)
- William Wallace (rebelled against the English army in a war of independence)
- William Tell (his actions started an uprising)
Unity and division
After the bombing in London on July 7th 2005 the mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, said “More unites us than divides us”. Do you think this is true for the characters in On the Edge?
Read the statements below. Decide which of them might have been said by members of The Circle, and which of them might have been said by members of The Realm. Write the statements in the appropriate places of the circles below. Are there any statements which could apply to both? Put them in the middle section.
Here are some suggestions to get you started. You could probably think of others.
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They refuse to fit in
They don’t understand us
They hate us
We are held back
They should listen to us
We are not understood
Our way of life is threatened
We can not live the way we choose
Why should we do what they want?
They expect us to change our ways
We are responsible for one another
Everyone should do the best that they can
We have no choice
They must abide by our rules
We must respect one another
We must stand against them before it is too late
We are not free to walk our own streets
Circle of consequences
An example of a possible set of consequences
The diagram below shows a circle of consequences. Each segment of the circle represents a different line of consequences that may arise from the central action. Use the circle of consequences below and ask the group to come up with consequences for the actions listed below, or work on it yourself. Encourage people to think about consequences that are both intended and unintended. One series of examples is given in the diagram here:
Circle example…
A member of The Arc throws a brick through the window of The Realm offices
1 – The Arc member is arrested by an Officer of The Realm and imprisoned
2 – News spreads of the arrest and Arc members are outraged
3 – The Arc leads a protest outside the Offices of The Realm
You can try these other examples too, or think of your own, using the blank circle shown here:
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Leaders of The Arc make themselves known to The Realm, and surrender.
The Chancellor of The Realm resigns.
The Office of The Realm is burnt down.
The meeting place of The Arc is vandalised by a citizen of The Realm.
The Chancellor of The Realm outlaws Circle belief and practice.
A law is introduced which says that all Circle members must wear Realm badges.
A member of The Arc gains takes a job within the Offices of the Realm.
A sign of the times…
There are a series of signs and symbols in On the Edge that have important meanings to the members of “The Realm”, ”The Circle” and “The Arc”.
Who do these symbols represent? What do they mean?
The symbols below can be seen all around us. Where might you see them? Can you click and drag the words from the list to match the correct symbol?
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Who might use them?
What do they mean?
Which are your favorites?
Does your school have an emblem of some kind? What is it? Why has that been chosen?
Did you know the logo for the campaign for nuclear disarmament is made from the positions of the flags in semaphore that represent the letters N and D?
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+ |  |
= |  |
| N | D | CND |
If you were to design a graphic which symbolizes you, what would it look like?
