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At the beginning of the text it shows how easy it was to get brought into the gangs. It also shows that the eight year old might have been neglected by is parents because it says ' i'd stay at people's houses, sleeping on sofas and on scuffed brown kitchen flours

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At the beginning of the extract it says "I was only 8" this shows how clueless he was to what he was doing and didn't know what was right and wrong. The writer then shows how he grew up and understood it was wrong but he didn't want to have problems with the older boys so he joined in

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The writer shoes at the beginning on the extract how easy it is to join a gang without evening knowing so, this is show when the writer says 'i didn't even know it was happening' this highlights how the writer was unaware of him joining the gang showing how easy it is.

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Task 1 - The writer uses color throughout the extract practically the color 'red'. This shows connotations of hurt and anger in the young man as he had a rough childhood and expressing these feelings through color shows the reader his feelings in detail for the reader to relate to.

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Task 1 - The writer uses color throughout the extract practically the color 'red'. This shows connotations of hurt and anger in the young man as he had a rough childhood and expressing these feelings through color shows the reader his feelings in detail for the reader to relate to.

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Jake mckenna

He proves it was easy to join as he says that he didn’t even know what he was doing and they use to pay him in sweets  he also described the harsh conditions he slept in and the how harshly he got treated when in the gang and how that they only get respected if they do the right jobs

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Throughout the extract, the writer uses adjectives to express his journey to gang life. He uses colours such as red. The colour red suggests violence, dangerous or merciless. This can all be linked to the extract when the writer talks about how the 8 year old boy became full of "anger and fear".
The writer uses an oxymoron when describing a man " who turned yellow and grey" this is when the writer talks about how he saw an old man overdose on drugs and thought that he wanted to do the same.

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The writer shows that in gangs people are treated really badly and not given there respect till they do something dangerous also as task 3 ask you to explain is it easy to get into a gang it is and it isn’t at the same time. It is in the way that you can find a gang and ask to join but the way that it isn’t is that the gang leader or even other members will ask you to do dangerous and illegal things to show that you are loyal and trust worthy of joining that desired gang. Another way that the writer shows it’s an easy way to to join a gang by showing that the 8 yr old was bribed by sweets he didn’t know what he was doing .

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In the extract the writer uses colours to describe what he was seeing when living on the streets. From the extract the writer said "Everything was red". From that quote he explained that it turned him into a violent person but not towards him self . He explained that he "had a lot of anger and fear, a lot of lip and attitude". That changed him into a different person, from a vulnerable 8 year old who was told that he was going to get sweets and money in return but instead changed him to a violent man who cant stop him self from being angry.

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Ok

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The beginning of the text almost gives off an impression to the reader that the boy was neglected almost as a child by his parents and he didn’t have a constant amount of support and care around him at all times. The writer says “ they used to pay me in sweets” the writer uses the noun sweets as a comparison to money almost, as the child at the time seen sweets as handy as most adults see money. The idea that the gang members could so easily manipulate young children to run drugs around for things such as sweets gives a clear visualisation for the reader as to how easy and simple it is for children to be picked up by gangs.

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Adnaan Qurban

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at the start of the extract, the boy started delivering packages. He was forced to take 17 ectersy tablets. then when he turned 13 he was forced to eat cold tins of beans and other types of tinned food. And then he turned 17 and started being violent. he became so violent nobody would lay a finger on him.

he then goes to his gang to delivier more drugs and stuff, but then he says that he has 700 pounds in one pocket and 800 pounds in the other. the writer would then uses an adjective to describe the gang member  by saying that he is green.

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At the beginning of the extract the writer says 'I was eight, and the older boys from my estate used to send me on jobs to collect stuff'. This shows how controlling the gang members were to the younger children that lived on the same street as them.

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Nicole caswell
In this  extract the witter shows how he was treated poorly  it all started when he was 8 ‘I was eight and older boys in my estate used to send me on jobs collect stuff giving me sweets  money and praise in return’ what the writer was saying that they were showing  that they were using him because he was only 8 shows he would only do stuff sweets

He was saying he didn’t know that he was selling drugs at the ‘time’ he was only 8

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He uses word "red" black" to show his pain

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Nicole caswell
The writer uses anger and violence because he was ‘addicted to drugs and also words meaning he slept on floors and he had nothing ‘eating cold beans and cornflakes with water ‘ he had nothing

He mentions that he saw a guy ‘overdose’ and he said he was turning yellow and grey  he had a big impact On his life  he
was affected of it all his life he did mention that he wanted try overdosing.

Everything was ‘red’ meaning he saw blood everywhere violence everywhere

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Jake mckenna

The way the writer opens up the paragraph he starts it very openly as straight away he mentions about the gang crime which then eases into his life and how he had to go homeless and sleep on sofas and floors to him experiencing drugs and people overdosing

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He starts of as a 8 year old taking packages for he olders then he is was forced to take 17 ectersy tablets then when he was 12 and 13 he would ate cold tins of beans and other tinned food cold then when he  was 17 he turned to violence and kept getting more and more violent.

He exapressed to the gang that he would deliver drugs but then he says that he had £700 in one pocket and had another £800 in the other pocket. The writer hen uses adjectives to describe the young gang member by saying that he is green, he is young and then tells you that he is respected and gets money

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In this extract the writer show manipulation when it states, “I was 8 and the older boys would send me on jobs collect stuff, give me sweets.” The writer implies that the older boys are showing bribery and manipulation because he’s only a little boy and would do anything for sweets and to impress the older boys. The noun “Stuff” shows it wasn’t something the little boy knew off so it was not legal and was not right for a boy of his age to handle with.

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Suranne A

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Near the beginning of the text the writer says “ I was 8 and the older boys used to send me out with packages” this shows how manipulative the gang members were towards younger children in that area and they used them to do the dirty work. The adjective used visualises the reader to understand this text is in a first person format as he says
“they used to”, this portrays the idea that the man is higher up
in the gang now, or maybe not in it at all.

Later in the text the writer starts to describe how it was for him at an older age when he was 12 to 13. He writes “ the older boys would look down at as if I was pathetically poor” the adverb “pathetically” portrays the idea that the young boy showed signs of being weak and fragile and the older boys took advantage of this to use him as a drug runner. However it could also carry connotations that they seen him almost as project and that they could use this weakness to turn him into one of the best in the business, which later on in the text he explains.

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Adnaan Qurban

The character at the beginning is clueless as to what he's been doing. 'I was eight, and older boys from my estate used to send me on jobs to collect stuff, giving me sweets, money and praise in return. I didn't know it at the time but I was delivering drugs'. He's been conived into doing something by the boys on his estate. His language as the story goes on is more sophisticated as he goes on, bordering philosophical. This can be shown in the quote 'desensitised to the violence' As the life he sees has almost given him a mental callous of what he did not want in life. Then he gets roped back in for the money then the speech goes back to normal

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In the extract the writer uses colours to describe what his life was like. The writer uses language to show how much he didn't enjoy his life when it says "I had seen one guy overdose before turning yellow and grey, I thought I wanted to do the same" this suggest that he was extremely depressed and didn't enjoy selling drugs. The word red is used alot throughout he text which sggests the amount of pain that he went though.

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Throughout the text the writer uses the words “red” and “black” to express the feelings of pain and desperation within the text. He writes “ everything was red” the noun red carry’s connotations of pain and almost makes us feel as if there were lenses of violence constantly on his out look to life as all he seemed to grow up around was gang violence and constant fights.
Near the end of the text he says something like “all he sees is black and red”, the noun black refers to the neglect and mistreatment he received from the multiple members of the gang. It could also carry connotations that none of the gang members having any soul as the colour black is commonly linked towards things such as the grim reaper or death itself.

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the writer uses colour as his life, its dark and dull, and that it reflex's his life; 'scuffed brown kitchen floors' it shows how he's neglected at such a young age. He doesn't have a really family, the boy gets used for selling drugs and has no real home.
another way that colour is used is by 'red' applies that the boys living situation is like hell and shows that the boy probably gets hurt and abused if the drugs are late. the word 'red' symbolises death,blood,hell.

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Jake mckenna
The writer uses the words scuffed brown floor to describe how disgusting that the floor looked  from where he was stood , the use of these words came from him telling us that he had to sleep on floors and sofas.

he also mentions how he seen a guy overdose and he described the person as he was turning yellow and gray
which describes the big impact that drugs and overdosing
affect the human body , but he also says that he wants to try overdosing

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in the extract, the writer  uses colour to show what he was seeing when he was living on the streets. In the extract the writer says " Everything was red" the word red shows danger, sacrifice, courage, death, and blood.

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Adnaan Qurban

They dominated him with their superior age to make themselves out to be the role models to him . The use of the colour red has a quite negative and violent connotation. The meaning behind it in this story is that it reflects good or bad times as when he says he has money in his pockets he feels green. When he felt suicidal he thought of grey a very dull quite monotonous colour. This could be a double meaning not just refering to the money but that life is good and is positive.

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The writer structures this extract in chronological order with each stage of his childhood, with each new stage in his life the crime and feelings felt by the writer worsen, we can see this when he says  'there was always fighting' this shows he was around this behavior for a long time, also throughout the extract the language he uses to describe his feelings becomes more mature as if he is reliving his childhood through the language he uses to describe his anger and fear.

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Suranne A
The writer says 'seen a man overdose' he used the colour yellow and grey to show how bad it could be for people that was either forced or wanted to do drugs

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the writer uses the word scuffed on the brown floor to describe how descusting the floor looked

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The writer writer uses color a lot through the extract expesicially red. The adjective 'red' portrays anger which is shown through the 8 year old boy when he is being taken for granted by the gang asking him to pick up and deliver drugs. This shows that the 8 year old has had a very rough and disgusting childhood by sleeping on brown rotten floors and handling drugs.

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A Word Cloud of Language Features you could use

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A Word Cloud of Language Features you could use

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Can you find any of these in the extract?

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Parts of speech to use for Close Word Analysis (CWA)

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Parts of speech to use for Close Word Analysis (CWA)

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If you are stuck with Task 2, use this writing guide to help you.

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'Fighting and blood': Ex-gang member describes his life of drug and violence

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'Fighting and blood': Ex-gang member describes his life of drug and violence

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When I was first involved in gang crime, I didn't even know it was happening.

I was eight, and older boys from my estate used to send me on jobs to collect stuff, giving me sweets, money and praise in return. I didn't know it at the time but I was delivering drugs. Later, I started living on the streets. I'd stay at people's houses, sleeping on sofas and on scuffed brown kitchen floors. People would always be coming in and out, bringing drugs and taking them. I'd get woken up with a kick in the head and the older boys would give me drugs and tell me to take them.

I was scared, angry and rejected, but I had to put on a front and not show any fear.

I was once forced to take 17 ecstasy tablets at a time. I had seen a guy overdose before - turning yellow and gray; I thought I wanted to do the same thing he had - end my life. Instead, I just became addicted to the drugs. For the whole of that time there was a lot of violence happening. One time, I was dragged out of the house to where a man was mercilessly beating the mother of his child. Everything was red. I became desensitised to violence - for me, it was just the way life goes. I still didn't become violent myself, though. I had a lot of anger and fear, a lot of lip, an attitude. But I didn't act on it.

That changed when I was 12 or 13. I was eating cold tins of beans, cornflakes with water. The older boys would see I was pathetically poor and they called me names. I was feeling worthless. They said I could sell drugs. It was the thing I'd promised I wouldn't do. But I thought I had to. And, once I started, I had £700 in one pocket and £800 in the other.

I was young. I was green. I was getting respect and money. I was feeling like I was something bigger. People were praising me. I knew what I was doing was wrong and I wanted to stop. But when I stopped - that's when the violence started. When I was robbing people, if someone said something wrong to me, I would just react and they would get hit.

There was always fighting and blood.

All I can remember from that time was blood.

I would black out. Come to. Blood.

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Use the following Subject Terminology as a minimum:

adjectives
connotes
suggests
symbolises
infers
implies

Make sure you link back to 'HIS JOURNEY TO GANG-LIFE'

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Sephton Henry has lived a life of rejection, drugs, gangs and extreme violence, has been jailed multiple times and suffered from mental illness.
Here, he describes his descent into crime and his eventual path to redemption.
When I was first involved in gang crime, I didn't even know it was happening.

I was eight, and older boys from my estate used to send me on jobs to collect stuff, giving me sweets or money and praising me. I didn't know it at the time but I was delivering drugs.

Later, I started living on the streets. I'd stay at people's houses, sleeping on sofas and on kitchen floors. People would always be coming in and out, bringing drugs and taking them. I'd get woken up with a kick in the head and the older boys would give me drugs and tell me to take them.

I was scared, angry and rejected, but I had to put on a front and not show any fear.

I was once forced to take 17 ecstasy tablets at a time. I had seen a guy overdose before, and I thought I wanted to do the same thing he had, and end my life. But I just became addicted to the drugs.

For the whole of that time there was a lot of violence happening.

One time I was dragged out of the house to where a man was beating the mother of his child. I became desensitised to violence - for me, it was just the way life goes.

I still didn't become violent myself, though. I had a lot of anger and fear, a lot of lip, an attitude. But I didn't act on it.

That changed when I was 12 or 13. I was eating cold tins of beans, cornflakes with water.

The older boys would see I was poor and they called me names. I was feeling worthless. They said I could sell drugs. It was the thing I'd promised I wouldn't do. But I thought I had to. And once I started I had £700 in one pocket and £800 in the other.

I was young, and I was getting respect and money. I felt like I'm something bigger. People were praising me.

I knew what I was doing was wrong, and I wanted to stop. But when I stopped - that's when the violence started.

The other boys attacked me, and I joined a gang - a group really.

Because I had seen some horrific things I had a high capacity for violence, I moved up the ranks quickly. I would rob everybody. Any person that I saw I would rob.

I was getting into fights all the time. I couldn't go two days without fighting.

The main thing that would come with me was my bottle. I wouldn't go anywhere without my bottle. I would wear a bandana and tie it round my face and wouldn't take it off. I was suffering with mental health issues but not knowing.

When I was robbing people, if someone said something wrong to me, I would just react and they would get hit.

No-one wanted to fight with me because it was a situation where there would be violence. No-one would come and test me because they knew there'd be blood. There wouldn't be anything else.

If I was having a fight there was never a nice one. It was over the top, every time. I was a persistent and prolific offender, a PPO.

There was always fighting and blood. All I can remember from that time was blood. The situation would black out and people would be getting hurt.

I believe there are guys who want to be gangsters, guys who are gangsters, and others that are made to be gangsters.

They don't want it, but there's things that happened that caused them to be that way. I was the last one. I didn't want to be involved, but there was always something that kept dragging me back.

Of course, after all of this I ended up in prison. And not just one: I was in Feltham, Rochester, Brixton, Aylesbury - seven times.

I became institutionalised. My mental health deteriorated even more. I was even more violent. I didn't think there was ever going to be a way out. I wanted to hurt everyone: I was just walking, functioning with one need, to hurt people.

In the end, I got out of it because I discovered Jesus Christ.

At first I didn't want to listen when people were telling me about faith. But then one day I realised I need help - I had searched everywhere and felt there was nothing on earth that could help me.

I also had mentors and got a lot of support from different people.

I think we can change things with gangs and knife crime, but everyone who's doing stuff now is doing it wrong. If you look at who's doing interventions in knife crime, it's the wrong people.

There's not enough young people, it's older people who are trying to do interventions for young people.

We need to give more control to people on the ground, people at youth centres who really know what's going on, people like me who have been through that life.

Right now, people are being told what to do from above. They're speaking to gang members but not listening. We need to empower the people who know about it to really do the job.

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'Fighting and blood': Ex-gang member describes his life of drugs and violence

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Sephton Henry has lived a life of rejection, drugs, gangs and extreme violence, has been jailed multiple times and suffered from mental illness. Here, he describes his descent into crime and his eventual path to redemption. When I was first involved in gang crime, I didn't even know it was happening.