EAL ACTIVITY

BOOKLET
FOR PARVANA- by
Deborah Ellis
NAME: CRISTIANO GROSSO
S00118346
UNIT: EDLA 540
LECTURER: MRS. DIANNE
CULLEN

CONTENTS
Page no.
About
Parvana.......................................................................................
......... 4
Parvana
Crossword.....................................................................................
....... 5
Spot the
Errors....................................................... 6
Fill in the
gaps.....................................................................................
... 7
Connect two...........
................................................................... 8
True or
False?.................................................. ........................................
.......... 9
Parvana Word
Search................................................................10
Missing
Info!..............................................................................................
.........11
Q&A: Test your Knowledge
........................................................................ 12
What happened
when?................................................................................. 13

Finish the
Sentence...................................................................................
... 14
Lets be
direct....................................................................................
... 15
What
does_____mean?.........................................................................
....... 16
Watch the
spelling!......................................................................................
. 17
Do you even
tense?.......................................................................................1
8
What Noun am
I?...........................................................................................19
Verb, Adjective or
Adverb?...............................................................................20
Who Am
I?.................................................................................................
.....21
Lets plan an
Essay!..........................................................................................
22
Lets plan an Essay!
(cont.)...............................................................................23
Essay planning
#2..............................................................................................2
4

Multi-Choice Quiz...
25
Multi-Choice Quiz (cont.)..
26
References.
27

ABOUT PARVANA
Parvana by Deborah Ellis, is the story of a young girl growing up in
Afghanistan, in a time where the Taliban (a very radical religious group)
4

ran and ruled most of the country, having total control over what people
could and could not do.

Imagine living in a poor country in the Middle-East with a very harsh

climate, surrounded by desert; a country that is constantly in war.
Imagine living in a place that is under strict government rule where
ordinary people have very few rights, particularly women.
Imagine living somewhere where women and girls are not allowed to
leave the house without a man.
Imagine not being allowed to have an education and in turn a job
just because youre a female and because the government believes
that only men should be educated and have careers.
Imagine being forced to wear clothes that cover every fraction of
your body, together with your face, whenever you go outside in
public... This is the life of Parvana.

When soldiers break into her home and take her father away to prison,
Parvana is made to care for her whole family. In pretending to be a boy by
dressing up and cutting her hair, she tries to make a living to support her
family by working in the marketplace, and in turn risking her life in a very
perilous city.
Parvana is a story of the real life experiences of many refugees in the
world today. It is a touching story of courage in the face of devastating
fear and subjugation.

Parvana Crossword
5

In pairs, work together to complete the crossword with the correct

words corresponding to the clues below!
1
2

---

3
4

--6
7

--9

-----

----10

---

Across
2. Parvana's youngest sibling
4. the city where Parvana's family
lives
7. the place where Parvana and
her father head towards at the
end of the novel
9. the country where the story is
set
10. a long black garment
traditionally worn by Muslim
women

Down
1. the surname of the author who
wrote the novel
3. Parvana's mother's name
5. the main character in the novel
6. the name of the extreme
religious group ruling the society
where the story takes place
8. Parvana's friend from the
market

Spot the Errors

In the passage below, you will find a few errors. These could be
spelling errors or punctuation errors (i.e. full stops, commas, capital
letters). With a red pen, circle them. With the person next to you,
conference and then write the errors in their correct form in the
space provided on the back of this page!

The market was a very busy place. men shoped for there families,
and peddlers hawked their goods and services. Sum, like the tea
shop, had their own stalls. With such a big urn and so many trays of
cups, it had to staye in won place, Tea boys ran back and forth into
the labyrinth of the marketplace. carrying tea to customers who
couldnt leave their own shopz, then running back again with the
empty cups.

Fill in the gaps

Using this extract from Chapter 1, fill in the gaps with the words
provided in the box below. Note: 1 word per gap.

University
English
mother

Parvana
afternoon

Customers came and went as the ___________ wore on. Most spoke
Dari, the same language __________ spoke best. When a customer
spoke Pastu, she could recognise most of it, but not all. Her parents
could speak _________, too. Her _________ had gone to __________ in
England. That was a long time ago.

Connect two
The words below are assorted into two columns. Beneath the first
column is a list of single words and under the second column there
is a list of definitions to those words. However, they are all jumbled
up! Your task is to draw lines linking the single words from column 1
to their correct meanings in column 2.

Dari

a person who lives or was born in

Afghanistan
Silk

the most common language spoken in

Afghanistan; a form of Persian

Parvanas eldest sibling

Pashtu

Parvanas youngest sibling

Afghan

a fine strong fiber used to make materials;

made by silkworms
Nooria

an open area where people gather to buy and

sell goods
Myryam

a language spoken by some in Afghanistan; a

form of Iranian
Market

a person who comes from or lives in Persia

Ornament

someone who defeats a place/group of people

and claims
them as their own

Conqueror

an item thats makes someone or something

appear more
attractive

True or false?
You have a list of statements relating to events from the story! Read them
carefully and then, in the space provided after each statement circle
either True or false.

Parvana is happy with the rules that the Taliban is making.

True/False
The soldiers burst into Parvanas house whilst they were having
lunch.

True/False

Before the soldiers took Parvanas father away, they burnt all the
books that they saw in the house that they didnt like.
True/False

Mrs Weera used to be a P.E teacher

True/False

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As well as shopping in the marketplace, Parvana also began working

to earn money for her family.
True/False

Maryam hated going outside

True/False
The only reason women could leave the home was to use transport.
True/False
In Dari, Malali meant strong fighter
True/False

Parvana Word Search

In pairs, work together to complete the Word Search by finding all
the words listed at the bottom of the page!

O
Y
Q
M
Z

A
V
S
E
K

I
Q
R
A
Z

M
D
R
U
N

I
L
A
U
A

X
H
R
B
B

S
F
U
I
I

N
L
W
L
L

I
A
A
A
A

S
K
I
G
T

L
K
J
S
A

A
W
F
R
S

M
P
S
O
M

R
O
D
A
H

D
W
C
V
S
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H
A
D
P
Q
J
U
P
H
Q

I
O
S
M
T
F
S
B
E
T

A
M
M
R
H
U
T
L
Z
I

K
T
P
A
R
V
A
N
A
A

N
H
A
X
K
U
P
K
R
S

ALI
BURQA
HOSSIAN
CHADOR
DARI

S
K
W
O
F
Z
C
E
Q
O

I
P
V
A
O
R
E
Q
U
H

Y
M
T
I
P
W
D
A
R
I

SHAUZIA
WEERA
FATANA
TURBAN
TALIBAN

D
A
T
F
J
O
N
P
N
U

N
M
Z
M
M
D
O
B
V
I

C
S
Y
N
W
Y
O
A
P
A

R
Z
Y
U
P
F
R
X
R
J

O
V
I
X
Q
D
I
I
U
N

PARVANA
MYRIAM
PATSU
MAZAR
NOORIA

C
H
N
I
C
Y
A
X
A
K

T
U
R
B
A
N
G
C
G
M
HOMA
KABUL
ISLAM

Missing Info
You have been provided with two paragraphs taken from Parvana. It
is however, missing its punctuation. In pairs, it is your task to put
any full stops, commas, quotation marks and capital letters needed
in their correct spots!

12

one of the difficulties of living with your whole family in one room
was that it was impossible to really leave anyone alone wherever
nooria went there was parvana and wherever parvana went there
was nooria

both of parvanas parents had come from old respected afghan

families with their education they had earned high salaries they had
had a big house with a courtyard a couple of servants a television
set a refrigerator a car

Q&A: Test your knowledge

Answer the following questions in full sentences. They cover the first
few chapters of the novel.

1. How old is Parvana?

13

2. In what city does Parvana's family live?

3. What is the name of the headcloth worn outside by girls to

cover their hair and shoulders?

4. What is Parvana's older sister's name?

5. What is Parvana's younger sister's name?

What happened when?

Below you have been given a list of events from the novel. Your task is to
number them from 1-9 in the order that they happened in the story.

____ Parvanas mother became depressed

14

____ Parvana meets Shauzia

____ Parvana and Maryam went outside to get some water
____ Parvanas father returns damaged and weak
____ Mrs Weera came to stay with Parvanas family
____ Parvana cut her hair and dressed like a boy
____ The soldiers came and took Parvanas Father away
____ Parvana began working in the marketplace
____ Parvana and Mrs Weera adopt Homa and take care of her

Finish the sentence

Use the words from the box below to complete the sentences taken from a
passage taken from Parvana. Make sure that you insert the correct word in
the gaps provided so that the sentences make sense!

ago
families
sky
militia
letter
history

15

write
war

Parvana would have liked to get a ___________.

Mail delivery had recently started again in Afghanistan, after years of
being disrupted by _______.
Many of her friends had fled the country with their __________.
Afghans cover the earth like stars cover the__________.
Most people in Afghanistan could not read or _________.
History was her favourite subject, especially Afghan ___________.
The Persians came four thousand years ______.
But now the country was ruled by the Taliban __________.

Lets be direct
Using these 2 sentences from Parvana, change them to their opposite
speech form. If the sentence is in direct speech form, change it to its
indirect speech form. If the sentence is in its indirect speech form
however, then change it to its direct speech form!
Direct speech= when the dialogue is actually taking place at this present
time. You can tell if a sentence uses direct speech by the presence of
quotation marks ( ).
16

i.e. I love eating pizza, said Abdul.

Indirect speech= when the dialogue has already taken place, and the
narrator or a character is reporting what was said.
i.e. Abdul said that he loves to eat pizza.

You were such an ugly baby, the Soviets couldnt stand to be in the
same country as you, Nooria was fond of telling her.

Her father said that the Taliban were not making Afghanistan a kinder
place to live.

What does ______mean?

Together with a partner, write in your own words what you think each of
the following words taken from the novel mean.

Taliban__________________________________________________________________________
Burqa17

__________________________________________________________________________
Afghanistan__________________________________________________________________________
Militia__________________________________________________________________________
Refugee__________________________________________________________________________
Dari__________________________________________________________________________
Kabul__________________________________________________________________________

Watch the spelling!

Below youve been given a list of words from the novel which have been
put into groups of three. Only one of the three words is spelt correctly.
Circle the correctly spelt word!

Bom, bomb, bomm

Journey, jurney, journie
Blangkit, blanket, blankit
18

Health, helth, healf

Labywrinth, labrinthe, labyrinth
Mountin, mountein, mountain
Chadoor, chador, chadour
Water, warter, warta
Buket, buquet, bucket
Burca, burka, burqa

Do you even tense?

Below youve been provided with a paragraph from Parvana. It is written
in the present tense. Your task is to, with a partner, transform that
paragraph from the present tense to the past tense. Tip- the only words
that need to change in a sentence to make it change tense, are the verbs!
So, underline the verbs and then change their tense by conjugating them
accordingly.

19

Parvana knew she was mumbling nonsense, but she kept it up anyway.
Maryam was only five, and she couldnt carry a full bucket upstairs.
Mother and Nooria had to wear burqas whenever they went outside, and
they couldnt carry a pail of water up those uneven broken stairs if they
were wearing burqas. Plus, it was dangerous for women to go outside
without a man.

What Noun am I?
Below you have a list of nouns found in Parvana. Your task is to write on
the lines given, what type of noun each word.
Your options are Proper Nouns (specific names of people, places or things
that begin with a capital letter), Common Nouns (names of general
people, places or things that do not take capital letters), Collective Nouns
(names for groups of people, places or things) or Pronouns (words that are

20

used to refer to people, places or things without stating their names- I,

Me, You, He, Him, She, Her, It, We, Us, They, Them).

Parvana-

____________

water-

____________

bucket-

____________

us-

____________

day-

____________

Homa-

____________

You-

____________

basin-

____________

Mazar-eSharifwife-

____________
____________

Verb, Adjective or Adverb?

Below are a list of words taken from Parvana. Your task is to label
them as either verbs (doing words), adjectives (describing words) or
adverbs (words that describe a noun- these normally end in ly but
not always).

tossed-

_______________

angry-

_______________

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slowly-

_______________

vibrant-

_______________

put-

_______________

married-

_______________

loudly-

________________

grew-

________________

calmly-

________________

long-

_________________

almost-

_________________

Who Am I?
Youve been given 4 profiles of characters in Parvana. Your task is to
identify what character each profile is describing!

___________is the main character in this story. She had to grow up really
fast especially after her father was taken away. Even though much of her
innocence was lost, she is still very much a child. She will do almost
anything for her family.

22

___________is the eldest child in Parvanas family. Shes very bossy to

Parvana because she feels very alienated from the rest of the family,
especially since her and Parvana became distanced after their brother
died. She is not allowed to leave the house and cant go to school but she
can take care of her family and she takes this quite seriously.

___________ is Parvanas mother. She goes into a complete breakdown

when her husband is taken away and is therefore unable to physically or
emotionally take care of her family. This is why Parvana has to assume
that responsibility.

____________is an old family friend who really helps the family out. She is
wise and understanding.

____________ is very intelligent and well educated. He tries to always stay

positive even after being taken away to prison. When he returns home he
is very weak but he still does not give up.

Lets plan an essay!

You have been given the following essay question:
In the novel Parvana, the characters come to experience a number
of changes. What are these changes and how do they eventuate?
Your task is to begin planning your essay.

1...Underline and define any difficult words that are in the question.
23

2...Now that you understand the question, use your own words to
turn it into a statement.

3...Think of 3 points for discussion/arguments that you can use in

your essay to answer this question, and write them down.

4...Under each discussion point, use dot points to make notes about
each and find quotes from Parvana which you can use as examples
in your essay to support your argument.

Argument
Points
about
argument

24

Quotes
from
novel
supportin
g
argument

Essay Planning #2
You have been given the following essay question. Use this alternative
template to begin planning your essay!

Introduction
Topic

Topic

Topic

Topic

Topic

Sentenc

Sentenc

Sentenc

Sentence Sentence

e
25

Argume

Argume

Argume

Argumen Argumen

nt 1

nt 2

nt 3

t4

t5

Conclusion

Multi-Choice Test
Complete the following test with questions about Parvana. You have been
given four possible answers for each question. Circle the correct one!

1. Prior to being restricted to the home, what did Parvana's mother do

for work?
Mail distributor
Writer for a radio station
A writer of letters
School teacher

26

2. Before his job in the markets, what did Parvana's dad do for work?
Doctor
History teacher
Sports teacher
Soldier

3. Parvana's older brother Hossain was killed at age 14. How did he
die?

By a land slide
By a land mine
From illness
From starvation

4. What reason did the Taliban soldiers give for imprisoning Parvana's
father?
He lied to the police
He stole something
His daughter had gone outside without a male
He had previously studied at university overseas

5. What was the name of the woman who came to live with Parvana's
family after her father was imprisoned?
Mrs Shauzia
Mrs Weera
27

Mrs Asif
Mrs Leila

Reference List
Cullen, D. (2014). Lecture notes from class.
Ellis, D. (2000). Parvana. Crows Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin.
Many Things (2010). Easy Things for Beginners: Interesting
things for ESL Students. Retrieved from
http://www.manythings.org/e/easy.html

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