English Career Resources

Key Stage 4: Star or extra?

Case studies

Look at these case studies.

Anne Frank

An ordinary girl living in an extraordinary time. She was one of 6,000,000 Jews exterminated by the Nazis – these included writers, composers, artists, lawyers, bankers, doctors and yet their names are not remembered in the same way as hers.

In life she would have been seen as an extra; someone without whom the lawyers, doctors and artists would not exist. And yet her diary has allowed generations to glimpse and gain some understanding of the Holocaust.

Rubin 'The Hurricane' Carter

A boxer in the 1960s who spent 20 years in jail for a murder he claims he did not commit. Bob Dylan wrote a song about his case in the 1970s; the World Boxing Council awarded him an honorary championship in 1993 and Denzil Washington played him in the hit movie 'The Hurricane' in 1999.

Both Anne Frank and Rubin Carter were people living ordinary lives but circumstance and opportunity combined to allow their skills and strength of character to be seen and appreciated by a wider audience.

Question: Are they stars or extras?