Joe Meets My Parents

Joe Meets my Parents answers

Vocabulary - find equivalents in the text Decouvrir Find out Répondre d’un ton brusque Snap

Regarder qqn droit dans les yeux Look straight at Continuer Go on

Enorme Tremendous Doucement Quietly

Laisser échapper Blurt sth out Lancer un reqard furieux To glare at

Les aînés Elders D’un ton sec Curtly

Avoir le droit, la permission de To be allowed to Envoyer promener qqn To send sb packing

D'un air sévère Sternly Ca ne sert a rien It’s no use + Ving

Céder Give in

Joe 1. Describe Joe's attitude at the beginning: pick four adjectives and justify by quoting the text Embarrassed - arrogant - enthusiastic - polite - frank - shy - apologetic - scared Embarrassed  He "cleared his throat" Polite, apologetic, "I'm sorry", I apologise" Frank: "I wanted to talk to you in person" “he looked straight at Mum"

2. Explain exactly why Joe is there Joe is there because he has just learnt that Jess has not told her parents that she played in the team he coaches. He wants to make things clear and to make sure they agree.

Jesse's parents 3.True or false? Justify by quoting the text. Jesse's parents believe that ... a. Jess should study instead of playing. True: "Jess has no time for games. She'll be starting university soon” b. Jess should listen to her parents, not to her coach. 'True, "What bigger honour is there than respecting your elders?" c. Football is for boys, not for girls. False: They do not use this argument. d. Jess has no chance of becoming a football player. 'True: "and you think they’ll let our girls in?

4. Lines 17 to 28: say who or what the following words refer to: "our team”  The father's school team in Kenyan "this country”  England/ the UK "these bloody goreh”  English cricket players (white people) "our boys”  Indian boys “our girls”  Indian girls

5. Explain in your own words what happened to Mr Bhamra in his youth When he was young, Mr Bhamra was a great cricket player, but when he emigrated to Britain and wanted to continue playing, he was ejected from all the teams. Jesse 6. What is Jesse's attitude at the beginning? First she is silent, then she gets irritated and starts arguing with her parents

7. Give Jesse's two arguments. Does she manage to convince her father? Jess explains that playing for the team is an honour (line 13) but her mother retorts that the biggest honour is for her to respect her parents. Then she tries to make her father understand that things are changing (line29) but once again her mother points out that her example is irrelevant. At the end of the text, her father does not seem to be convinced al all .

8. Explain what Jesse must think at the end about her parents and about Joe. Now Jess must be ashamed of her parents and bear a grudge against them for not listening to Joe's arguments. She may think that! Joe has completely given up on her, that he will never do anything for her again, or that she made a fool of herself because she could not convince her parents .

• Additional questions: Say what Joe does at the end of the text and why: At the end, Joe leaves the house: he has understood that there is no way he can convince Jess's parents: they are too stubbornl /narrow-minded

Who answers Joe’s arguments? Her mother does. But less was answering her father. So we can see that Jess's mother does not let her husband answer. It could show she does not trust him. Later in the story her father will be the one who ylelds and hides Jess's activities from her mother, who is portrayed as somebody who is more radical than her husband.

Are Jess’ parents' arguments strong enough? Her parents' arguments are very personal and not very rational: her mother thinks she should stay at home, and her father bears a grudge against English people for not letting him play cricket. So he doesn't want his daughter to play for them. So their arguments are certainly not strong enough. However, as they are her parents they have the last word.

Imagine what Jess can do now to play football. It seems that her parents will never let her play, so she certainly has play in secret, but this is risky and she doesn’t know how her parents will react if they learn about it... Jess could also decide to wait until after her exams: she will certainly be freer to do what she wants

Expression écrite: After Joe leaves. Jess decides to talk to her father. Imagine the dialogue.