What’s the atmosphere like when Election time approaches in your country? Are the expectations of the people high or are they negative about the likelihood of any change taking place? This is what the story that follows is all about:
THE CANDIDATES AND THE ELECTORATE
Election time was fast approaching in the remote and inaccessible land of Dan Glen and it was being heralded by the inhabitants with the usual apathy that was reserved for such occasions. Everyone knew who would win before it even took place and everyone knew that it would result in no changes. The rich would remain rich as they always did and the poor would continue to suffer. The two main candidates were wracking their brains to come up with new ideas, which they hoped would to appeal to their notoriously disinterested electorate and so bring them out of their hovels to vote.
The leader of the Democracy Party decided to sort out the problem of the daily electricity cuts that had been plaguing the people for as long as most of them could remember. At least this is what he had been told by his team of advisors. or so he’d been told. For years he’d had his own generator so the problem had never really affected him. Anyway, by bribing the right people, within two weeks the supply was restored, the street lights came back on for the first time in years and the one and only cinema re-opened. However, this caught the owner of the cinema by surprise and the only film he had to show was “The Glories of The Revolution” Not surprisingly, it played to empty houses.
The leader of the Justice Party realized had to do something fast to counter the upsurge in the popularity of his main rival. He chose to sort out the problem with the postal service. For years nobody had bothered to post any letters for they knew they had no chance of reaching their destination. The only means of communication with the outside world for the majority of the population had been persuading the few people who could afford to travel to take letters to other countries for them. At least that’s what he’d been told. For years he’d corresponded by email on his computer so the problem had never really affected him. Once again, by paying the right people, the problem was quickly solved and within a couple of weeks the postal service was fully functional again. The only problem was that the Post Office had been caught unawares and no stamps had been printed for years. The only available ones dated back before the revolution and had pictures of the assassinated monarch on them. This coupled with the fact that most houses had no numbers and most streets had no names rather spoilt the effect of the reform.
And so the day of the Election finally arrived, with both of the main candidates confident of their success as a result of the radical improvements they had brought about.
However, they were in for a bit of a surprise. The changes they had introduced only succeeded in making them even more unpopular than they had been previously (if that was possible) with the electorate. The people correctly reasoned that if it was possible to solve the misery caused by constant electricity cuts and the inconvenience caused by a non-existent postal service with such ease, why on earth had these issues not been dealt with earlier? In fact, the turn-out on Election Day was zero percent and both candidates ended up losing their deposits.
There were indeed queues of people on Polling Day, just as the candidates had hoped there would be, but outside the cinema rather than the polling stations. The delighted cinema owner had just received a new film to show, the latest Hollywood blockbuster.
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Find words in the story which mean the same as: a. was getting close b. far away and difficult to reach c. total lack of interest that was normal in such circumstances d. trying as hard as they could to devise novel schemes e. making the people’s lives a misery f. to offer some effective opposition to g. substantial changes they had introduced h. they were about to have a shock
In small groups, work through the following questions, and then elect a spokesperson to present you answers to the rest of the class:
a. How involved are you in national or local politics?
b. Do you believe your vote can make a difference? Why or why not?
c. In some countries people are obliged to vote. Do you think this is a good idea?
d. Describe when and how elections take place in your country.
e. What changes, if any, would you like to see take place?
f. Do you think the voting age should be lowered or perhaps even raised?
g. How do you feel about proportional representation or do you prefer the first past the post system?
h. It has been suggested that all politicians are corrupt. To what extent do you agree with this statement?
Working in small groups, choose a name and create a political manifesto for a new Party. Decide on five new laws that you would like to introduce if you got into power, and then be prepared to justify your policies to the electorate – in other words, the other members of the class. (At the end of the session, when a spokesperson for each Party has presented their respective manifestos, a ballot could then be held to find out if there was a real General election, which Party would be likely to get the most votes).
ANSWERS
Find words in the story which mean the same as: a. was fast approaching b. remote and inaccessible c. usual apathy that was reserved for such occasions d. wracking their brains to come up with new ideas e. plaguing the people for as long as most of them could remember f. to counter the upsurge in the popularity of g. the radical improvements they had brought about h. they were in for a bit of a surprise
Michael Berman BA, MPhil, PhD, works as a teacher and a writer. Publications include A Multiple Intelligences Road to an ELT Classroom and The Power of Metaphor for Crown House, and The Nature of Shamanism and the Shamanic Story for Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Shamanic Journeys through Daghestan and Shamanic Journeys through the Caucasus are both due to be published in paperback by O-Books in 2009. A long-awaited resource book for teachers on storytelling, In a Faraway Land, will be coming out in 2010. Michael has been involved in teaching and teacher training for over thirty years, has given presentations at Conferences in more than twenty countries, and hopes to have the opportunity to visit many more yet. For more information please visit www.Thestoryteller.org.uk.
*ELTWeekly would like to thank Michael Berman for contributing this lesson plan.
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