6.1 Simba Goes Home to Africa

[[Patterns 13e: e-Reading for Narration]]

Born Free Foundation

The Born Free Foundation is an international wildlife charity that was founded in 1984 by English actors and conservationists Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers. Among other activities, the foundation rescues individual animals living in miserable conditions and, according to its website, “gives them lifetime care in spacious bush sanctuaries.” McKenna and Travers first got interested in lions, specifically, and wildlife, generally, while starring in the wildlife film Born Free in 1966.

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Questions

Watch “Simba Goes Home to Africa,” and respond to the following questions.

Comprehension

Question 6.1

How long does Simba’s journey from Belgium to Malawi take?

Question 6.2

In the video, Virginia McKenna singles out the “amazing support from two special groups of people.” What are those groups?

Purpose and Audience

Question 6.3

What is the purpose of the video?

Question 6.4

Who do you think the audience is?

Mode

Question 6.5

This video is polished and professional. In your opinion, do viewers generally go to YouTube for content like this? Would Simba’s story be more compelling if the video had been produced by amateurs? Less compelling? Why or why not?

Question 6.6

How do the filmmakers use music to create moods and even further the film’s narrative?

Writing Workshop

Question 6.7

This film narrates the story of Simba’s return to Africa using film, music, voice-overs, and images. How would you translate this account into a purely written text? Retell the story of Simba as a written narrative.

Question 6.8

Presumably, Simba’s return to Africa—and his “comfortable life” afterward—came at considerable expense, even if money and services were donated. Do you think this kind of elaborate animal rescue is a worthy charity and a reasonable use of time and resources? How would you compare it to other charitable enterprises?