White Teeth - Worksheet

1. Read the extract from Zadie Smith's novel White Teeth and identify the following elements.
a. The passage describes a process in different ways. What is it?
b. Make a list of elements associated with suffering.
c. Make a list of the instruments mentioned in the text.
d. What chemical product is used?
e. What other familiar or even vulgar words are used to refer to this chemical product?
f. Find 5 different adjectives or expressions to describe the result of the process.

2. Use your answers in Activity 1 above to explain what you understood. You may use the following prompts.

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Toolbox
In the passage, black women are all determined to ...
They seem willing to ... in order to ...
It does not matter [how + adjective] it is, the women will stop at nothing to ...
No matter [how + adjective] the process is, the women are desperate to ...
The women knew perfectly well that the process was ..., yet they ...
Although the women knew [how +adjective] the process was ..., they still ...
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3. Discuss your answers with a partner to see if you both understood the text in the same way.