Intervening in "Neighbours"

You have read the Tim Winton story, Neighbours. Choose a point at which to intervene in the narrative, writing in the first person as one of the neighbours of the young couple.

Consider the following before you begin:

At what point do you plan to intervene in the story?
Who are you writing as?
What is happening at this point in the story? What topic or issue do you want to articulate your character's attitude to? (This is the 'ideas' part of the 'ideas, attitudes and values' dot point.)
What attitude do you want to show your character has to the topic/idea?
What does your character value in relation to this topic?
 

Where is your character at the start of your narrative?

What is he or she doing?
What is going to happen?
Who else is there?
What dialogue will there be?

Post your work to your blog at the end of the lesson.

 

Week 7 Writing

Intervene in the narrative by telling the story of the walk to the tram stop which occurs on pages 43 and 44 from Johnno's point of view. Write in first person, articulating to the reader Johnno's thoughts and feelings about Dante, the visit and his reaction to what Dante did.

 

Remember that this is a narrative, so you should also narrate actions and include some dialogue.

You should begin by re-reading pages 43 and 44 to establish what the text contributes to our understanding of this situation.

 You should also begin to practise the deliberate use of language features that will make your writing more effective - see the editing checklist.

 

 

Editing checklist 

1           Sentence length – varied length or deliberately chosen length. 

2           Sentence openings – varied openings. 

3           Punctuation – used correctly? 

4           Have you tried to use something other than commas and full stops? 

              Vocabulary – try to use the most effective word – look at verbs particularly.  

              Have you tried to use examples of figurative language or imagery?

 

Who is David Malouf?

 

 

One approach to reading a text is to explore the relationship between it and the author. Read the documents on Blackboard and make notes under the following headings about David Malouf:

 

Full name:

Date of Birth:

Place of Birth:

Where lived throughout his life:

Family background:

Books published (list as many as you can):

Awards received:

What are his passions:

What does he say about why he write 'Johnno':

 

Anything interesting:

Week 6 homework Johnno

Re-read Chapter 1, pages 13 and 14.

From Soapie’s point of view, write a description of a lesson in which Johnno is thrown out.

 

 

 

Practising the feature article genre

Working in a small group, write the following sections of an article about the way work has always been – and still is – a central part of the Australian character.

 

Produce a headline, by-line, picture with caption, an introductory paragraph and a tic toc paragraph in which you refer to the words of the National anthem – both versions.

 

Put your work onto a word document and email it to me.

Monday's lesson

In a group, read one of the three poems dealing with migrants and their experience of Australia and Australians.

Present the text to the rest of the class by:

• reading it aloud
• explaining the point of view expressed and giving evidence from the poem
• sharing an annotated copy of the poem
• discussing this, giving your response to the issues raised

For homework, plan the headline, by-line and opening sentence of a feature article focussing on the contribution of migrants to Australia. Include a picture with a caption as well.

Thursday's lesson

"Be a Proud Aussie Quietly".

Once you have read the article and tried to identify the positioning techniques, have a look at the annotated version to see if you were correct.

Read the poem, Clancy of the Overflow, and fill in the table of nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs associated with the city and with the country. This is in the document "Clancy of the Overflow binary opposition activity".