Bessora and Sarah Ardizzone

In this broadcast you can watch author Bessora and translator Sarah Ardizzone discuss their graphic novel Alpha: Abidjan to Gare du Nord, and how it was inspired by the refugee crisis. The broadcast explores the story of Alpha, a man who makes the desperate journey from North Africa to Europe, and as well as the novel's translation from French into English. 

If you're looking activities that you can do in class after watching the broadcast, read our article about Greenfaulds High School's cross-curricular art project inspired by (this will open in a new window)Alpha.

You can download a full transcript of this event if needed.

If you only do one thing

We know time is tight, so here is just one activity to inspire creative learning before or after watching this broadcast. 

Refugees in the media LIT 3-02a, LIT 3-04a, LIT 3-08a, LIT 3-09a

Use Alpha and the points explored in the broadcast as a starting point for a class discussion of refugees in the media. Provide pupils with newspaper articles and show them TV clips about current conflict and refugees seeking asylum. Ensure the articles show a variety of viewpoints on this topic. You can also compare newspaper articles to invidivual migrant stories. Ask pupils to consider how refugees are presented in the media. Do your pupils agree with this presentation? Do they think it is always fair? Are all sides of the story presented? Encourage pupils to think critically about the newspaper articles they are reading. Can they detect any bias presented by the journalist? Do they agree? 

For shorter clips from this event visit the BBC Scotland Learning(this will open in a new window) website.

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