The First Night

• Engels
• Further Education (Key Stage 5)

Goals for today 

Writing a postcard 

Introduction The White Tiger 

Concepts and conceptual questions The White Tiger 

BOW - infographics 

Reading - homework for Tuesday 10th Sept 

Seating plan DP2  Lang Lit  HL

board

Window

Door

Huub - Catherina

Merel - Roos

Charlotte - Cecilia

Manuel - Samuel

Louie - Quirine 

Tashiva - Zoe

Francesco - Sikander

your first and surname

Street  23

Postcode

Place (Hilversum)

Leave enough room for a stamp.

Write a postcard to your future self. Add your address. 

I will post it to you after your exams. 

Thank yourself for what you did to pass your exam. 

Be specific about the choices, actions and attitudes you had to be successful. 

Thank any other people who contributed to your success. 

The White Tiger 

by Aravind Adiga​

Factual: In what ways are people in poverty kept in poverty? In what ways is a middle class created? 

Conceptual: To what extent is The White Tiger a fair representation of Indian people and their struggles? 

Conceptual: What is culture? Is there such a thing as one Indian culture? Is the culture of India, as presented in The White Tiger, problematic? 

Debatable: To what extent does Aravind Adiga have a right to write about poverty in India after having lived such a privileged life? 

Aravind Adiga is an Indo- Australian writer and journalist. His debut novel, The White Tiger, won the 2008 Man Booker Prize. He was born in Madras (now Chennai) in 1974. He emigrated with his family to Sydney, Australia in 1989 and later he studied English literature at Columbia College of Columbia University in New York City. He began his journalistic career as a financial journalist at The Financial Times.

1. The author establishes the distinctive narrative voice of Balram right from the beginning of the novel. Describe that narrative voice using at least three of these adjectives or others that you think of. 

2. For each adjective you have 

chosen, find a quote that gives 

evidence for this choice. 

3. Then divide the adjectives 

into positive and negative 

character traits. 

ambitious​

arrogant ​

blunt ​

brave ​

confident ​

courageous​

cynical​

darkly humorous ​

entertaining​

insightful 

immoral 

intelligent ​

ironic ​

irreverent ​

pragmatic​

resilient​

resourceful​

ruthless​

shrewd​

stubborn​

superstitious​

unreliable 

Narrative voice

Epistolary = a literary work in the form of letters 

The author roots the reader immediately in 21st Century Bangalore and introduces us to the additional settings of Balram’s impoverished village and other locations. 

Settings

There are four settings 

- Laxmangarh - New Delhi

- Dhanbad - Bangalore

Settings

New Delhi

Bangalore

Dhanbad

Laxmangarh

2. What biographical information have you learnt about Balram? 

3. Which important characters are introduced in this chapter? What do you think that their significance will be? 

Biographical details of the narrator 

Central concepts in The White Tiger

Inequality corruption education freedom 

Supporting concepts 

caste/social system

entrepreneurship

bribery & fraud

power & privilege

globalisation

Conceptual relationship questions 

How does corruption influence inequality?

What is the role of education in freedom?

What effect do inequality and corruption have on freedom?

What is the role of inequality in corruption? 

Goals for today 

Assigned reading overview 

Symbolism in Chapter 1 

Questions to explore your reading 

Cornell note taking for homework (17th Sept) 

16th Sept HLE proposal & assigned reading 

Assigned reading 

11th Sept - Chapter 1 - The First Night

16th Sept - Chapter 2 - The Second Night 

23rd Sept - Chapter 3 & 4 - The Fourth Morning & The Fourth Night

30th Sept - Chapter 5 & 6 - The Fifth Night & The Sixth Morning

7th October - Chapter 7 & 8 - The Sixth Night & The Seventh Morning

Symbolism in The First Night 

Adiga employs a lot of symbolism. Some symbols are culturally defined. What abstract idea could the following symbols be evoking? 

The Lizard

The Mother's funeral 

The Black Fort 

Iqbal's poem 

      "I am talking of a place in India, at least a third of the country, a fertile place, full of rice fields and wheat fields and ponds in the middle of those fields choked with lotuses and water lilies, and water buffaloes wading through the ponds and chewing on the lotuses and lilies. Those who live in this place call it the Darkness. Please understand, Your Excellency, that India is two countries in one: an India of Light, and an India of Darkness. The ocean brings light to my country. Every place on the map of India near the ocean is well-off. But the river brings darkness to India – the black river.​

     Which black river am I talking of – which river of Death, whose banks are full of rich, dark, sticky mud whose grip traps everything that is planted in it, suffocating and choking and stunting it?​

     Why, I am talking of Mother Ganga, daughter of the Vedas, river of illumination, protector of us all, breaker of the chain of birth and rebirth. Everywhere this river flows, that area is the Darkness."

"The White Tiger" by Aravind Adiga pgs 14 - 15

How does the symbol of Ganga add additional depth to the metaphor of light and darkness? 

The First Night 

1. Why is it difficult for Balram Halwai (Munna) to develop his identity?

2. What do we get to know about the way most Indian families work?

3.What do we get to know about Balram’s school and the education system?

4. What is Balram’s opinion on religion and politicians in general.

5. Discuss Balram’s distinction between the India of Light and the India of Darkness.

Quote to support your ideas

6. What is Ashok’s opinion on parliamentary democracy?

7. Discuss the role of the four animals and the importance of the water buffalo (the animal not the person). 

8.What do we get to know about Indian weddings and their consequences?

9. List the examples of poverty, famine and segregation that can be found in the first chapter.

10. Speculate on the story behind the police poster.

11. How and why does Balram get the nickname "White Tiger"?

12.How does Balram view China?

Quote to support your ideas

Reconstruct the wanted poster in your exercise book

Step 1 Divide your exercise book in the way shown. When you take notes, complete the sections highlighted in red but they leave the other sections blank. 

Not doing any more is actually a vital part of the process.

In order to learn you have to 

forget part of it first....

So, wait at least 24 hours

for step 2!

Step 2 Students complete 

the Questions 

/ Key Words section

After a pause of 24 hours, complete the section highlighted in green. You will have to thoroughly review and think hard about the material in the notes section to do this.

“Memory is the 

residue of 

thought.”

Step 3: complete the summary section. You don't need to wait 48 hours, but, if you want to test yourself, you can. 

Question:

Why is the BLUE part 

the HARDEST part?

Regularly review your notes. 

To prepare for application of this information, cover or fold over the red part and use the green column to test yourself.