1.       The use of appropriation and intertextuality in satire:
Cherub.
Dear makers of South Park,
I have proposed an episode for your television series that I believed would be very good and easily saterised. The Cherub series is a book in which children are trained to be spies so that they will not be easily detected by the drug lords or the adults.
In my episode it would be from the parents perspective when they are realizing that they have been foiled by a child and how stupid they look. They all meet up on Saturdays and discuss how to uncover whether the child is a spy or an everyday kid otherwise they will look like an absolute fool and they do not want to look like a fool as they are way to powerful and don't want to ruin their "good image" as a drug lord. So the drug lords devise different traps that always make them look ridiculously stupid and the police always wonder how they are caught by these kids even though they are criminal geniuses. 
The reason that children are so obsessed with this series of book is the fact that they wish they could be like the child spy within the book. The children that read this book generally have a decent or perfect life but the kids within the book are a lot different. Although it looks like they're lives are perfect they have actually lost their parents and are constantly in danger. But they don't realize that they actually have it very well off.
Thank you and I hope you are able to use my episode idea.

Wei-Lei and Me (Aditi Gouvernel)

     1.  What word in the opening sentence means ‘short and flat’?

      'Pug' is a dog with a very short and flat face. It is a very ugly dog and is quite vicious. The author describes Barry West as having a 'Pug nose'. The pug refers to the child as having a very small nose that made him look a bit like a dog.

     2.What is so ‘Australian’ about Barry West?

      'He had the stained red face of the Australian summers'. This shows that the child is sun burnt      from the blaring Australian sun which classifies the stereotypical Australian. Also the racism which is not infamous to the Australian people alone is something that the Australians can be renowned for. 

     3. What is the opening interaction between the two characters about?

       At the start of the story the author and a bunch of kids from school are playing tag and the   author was 'it'. Another boy playing was called Barry West. As soon as Aditi scrapes the boys shoulder he stops and stares at her angrily telling her that she 'wipes her hands with her butt' and that he doesn't want her 'Indian shit on him'. This is a racist interaction and the girl is startled and confused. This boy is introduced as a bully at the start of the story.

     4. What is the protagonist’s home country?

      The protagonist home country is Delhi in India. A city filled with palaces, temples, gardens and  tombs. She seems to miss Delhi as she tells us how her parents moved her from her playground under the tower of Qutab Minar to Canberra. Which shows us that she did not want to move as she must have been fairly reluctant.

     5. What word means “noble and splendid”? (p75)

      'Aristocratic World' is what the author means as noble and splendid. She must think that Delhi is for the higher classed people and is a very grand place. She must think that the place holds certain power and again this shows that she must miss her old home.

     6. In what way is the protagonist’s home country “aristocratic”

      Because her home country is noble and splendid she describes it as being an 'aristocratic world' where she lived. As described above she thinks that is a grand and splendid place to live with many temples gardens and tombs.

     7. Where did the protagonist’s father move his family to? Why?

      The authors father moved the family to Melba in Canberra. He moved his family to Canberra because it was large, spacious and full of gaps that could be added to. Her father and the rest of the family agreed that Canberra would be a place that they could create a new identity. Delhi on the other hand was not like this. It was not spacious and they already had an identity. The family moved so that they could start afresh. 

     8. What is the protagonist’s attitude towards the citizenship ceremony? (pp75-6)

      It is hard to read her attitude towards the whole thing and she says that she recalls very little of the ceremony. Although when she tells us of the ceremony she doesn't describe it as nice and gives it quite a dull and emotionless explanation. She says that it took place in a small room in the cinder block building of the Department of Immigration. Then later on she tells us that the citizenship papers signed by her parents and their jewellery were locked in a vault and the way she describes this shows us that she was probably not that happy about them doing that and she was maybe a bit untrustworthy. 

     9. How is Barry West the antagonist?

      Barry West is the antagonists because he gets the other children in the playground to believe that Aditi had a disease and that she was covered in shit. After a while the kids started to believe this and stopped talking to her. She then says that on the rare occasions they did talk to her they would just combine their hatred in a circle around her saying various things like, "She even looks like shit" and "That's so gross". I Believe Barry West is the antagonist because he started the whole rumor and he is the reason that the author had no friends in school.

    10.What is the irony of the comments made by Amy and Cris? (p76)

      It is fairly ironic the racist comments they direct towards the author as they have very foreign sounding names a swell and just because their skin wasn't dark didn't mean that they were from another country. With names like Pulawski and Kovacic, it is obvious to me that they are probably bullying Aditi because they don't want to get bullied themselves for being foreign.

    11.What is “you have to face the world” a metaphor for? (p76)

      You can't just keep hiding from everything. The author tries to get off school almost everyday when she is getting bullied about the colour of her skin but her mother eventually makes her and says "You have to face the world". She is trying to say that you cannot hide from the world, sometimes it is better to face it and confront it and take things into your own hands to help yourself.

    12.What is the teacher’s hair compared to? Is this an example of a metaphor or simile? (p77)

      "My teacher walked in, a halo of curly red hair." This is a metaphor as it is describing a halo upon a teachers head which is not really applicable to her at all. A halo is something that an angel has upon their head. I do not know whether the author describes the teacher hair as 'a halo' because she likes her and thinks she is fairly angelic. But I believe that this phrase is a metaphor.

    13.How is the children’s cruel creativity put into action once Wei-Lei arrives? (p77)

      The author says 'it took the class exactly thirty seconds to shorten his name to Wee. By morning recess he was called Piss.' This shows the cruel creativity used by the children against a new foreign Chinese boy. He is the new centre of attention and the new play thing for the bullies throughout the year. Barry then starts to say, "Chinese boys 'have no dicks'." which forces Wei- Lei to pull down his pants to the year in the first week. The author then describes that Wei-Lei's shoulders start to stoop and after a week he would walk outside and avoid talking to anyone.

    14. Explain the relevance of the ‘cat and toy’ metaphor. (p77)

      The 'cat and toy' metaphor is extremely relevant to this part in the story as it depicts Wei-Lei being the toy and the bullies within the year as the cat. They are throwing insults at him and metaphorically pawing and playing with him. Wei-Lei is the students new toy, they are able to bully and harass the poor child and seeing as he is quiet he doesn't really say anything back, he just takes it. This symbolizes a toy as a toy does not do anything back to its attacker.

    15.How does the children’s cruel creativity have a more sinister side?

      The sinister side to the teasing bullying is that the child being harassed has been forced to strip in front of the harassing students. Aditi had to pull up her shirt and expose her nipples to prove 'Indian girls have boobs' and Wei-Lei has had to pull down his pants to prove that Asians do in fact 'have dicks'. This is quite sinister as it causes the child to be extremely quiet and avoid the other students keeping to themselves. To have a child resort to exposing their privates in front of class mates is extremely sinister and is not just cruel creativity.

    16.What does the protagonist mean by “the afternoon passed like a death sentence”? (p78)

      After she saved Wei-Lei from strangulation by smashing a rock over his attacker Barry West's head. The two run off and avoid Barry for the rest of the day. He stares menacingly at them during class and as soon as the bell goes off the author sprints out the class and down the street. The afternoon passes like a death sentence as she is so nervous that it does in fact feel like a death sentence to her.

    17.Why does the protagonist see everything Indian “lit by a spotlight”? (p78)

       She suddenly realises how many foreign and Indian things there are on display inside her house and she is very worried that Wei-Lei will see them and use them as evidence for how different she is compared to the other kids. Everything in the house that is Indian is suddenly very obvious for her to see and she suddenly worries what Wei-Lei will think. 

    18.How does the story build to a climax? (p79)

      After Barry West kicking the back of the author's chair on the bus for an agonising thirty minutes he stands up and comes over to her seat. He then spits directly in her face. After this Aditi is extremely angry and remembers her hitting the rock over Barry's head. She thinks to herself, 'this time I felt I could do something- the rock had taught me that.' This leaves the page as a climax as you know that the author has a plan. She is determined to get this bully back and it is obvious that she has something big up her sleeve to get the boy back.

    19.What is the irony of Barry’s fate? (p80)

      The author at the Parliament house grabs a yellow cricket back and bashes the back of Barry's neck with it then smashes he face. The author is sent home and her mother tells her that she must apologise but she says, "Never". The next day she is sent to the principles office but neither Aditi nor Barry get in trouble. She soon finds out why, Barry is moving to Jakarta. This is extremely ironic as Barry the bully of all foreign kids is moving to a foreign country. He himself will be foreign to the place he is going and hopefully karma will catch up to him. 

    20.Explain what the protagonist means by “as our faces changed, so did Canberra” (p81).

      She says this because as they grew up their faces changed with puberty and growth. But so did Canberra. To them Canberra became a better place with a local Indian restaurant and a very busy China Town. They say this because they believe that Canberra has matured as they have, it has become a more multicultural town compared to when they were much younger. 

    21.What do you think the protagonists’ definition of being Australian would be? (p81)

       I think her definition of being Australian is love your country and 'face the world' as she did before. Treat everyone as equals because in the end Australia is home to Australians which includes Asian Australians, Indian Australian and Australian born Australians. 

Why Does it matter?

Spiderbait, Annette Shun Wah


This story is about an eight year old girl that lives on a farm first shire north of Brisbane. At the start of the book she says' You don't have to look back to Medieval times to find the worst jobs in History. Not if you grow up on a poultry farm run by Chinese parents with a cleanliness obsession.' These first two sentences let us know that this girl has had to struggle living with chicken poo, chicken guts and chicken death everyday of her life with a family that is obsessed with cleanliness.
This is a very good story as it shows the determination unity of an Asian family as they try their hardest to get through a heatstroke in North Brisbane with the thousands of chickens they share their life with. The author tells us of the jobs that she had when she was eight years old living on the farm. Apart from looking after the chickens and acting as a paramedic for the poultry during a heatwave she was also the families spider exterminator as her mother thought that they were absolutely disgusting creatures despite the fact the got rid of the bugs that did more damage to both the barn and the chickens.
Her mother would use a gas-jet burner to burn the webs and as the spiders made their way down to the floor of the barn for safety it was Annette's job to squish them before they escaped and were given another chance to make their silky home again.
The Author tells us of how her family is not extremely religious. The family never goes to church and stopped celebrating Chinese new year when she was young. But at Christmas the family would 'change'. At the end of the book she states 'No one would get in trouble. It was Christmas'. This is when the family seems to really engage with each other and seem like a family not work colleagues.
This is one of my favorite stories in the book and I encourage you too read it. This story represents determination, unity, struggle and hope for an growing asian family in the relentless Australian bush land.

My First Kiss by Lian Low

1. How does the author describe Malaysia in regards to showing affection?

She describes that showing 'affection' was frowned upon in Malaysia and this was a lot harsher against the 'queers' in the society. She says that in Malaysia when she was younger she, "Never saw people share mouth-to-mouth kisses". She says that there were no laws against non- Muslim Malaysians kissing or hugging in public but there was a law against 'indecent behavior'. She then states that homosexuality is a crime in Malaysia and this gives me the feeling that this story is about being gay.

2. What happens to the author when she hits puberty?

Apparently she grew breasts when she got to high school. But she states that she "Envied her fathers flat chest". This shows that she did not want Breasts but instead wanted to have a flat chest. This is because she used to be a tomboy and get along well with the male students in her year but she must find that having breasts makes it a lot harder to act and play like a boy. She also becomes a lot more quiet and resides to her attic both metaphorically and literally. She also joins the chess club and becomes a bit of a nerd.

3. What is the author’s experience at school when she first arrives to Melbourne?

She is put in an ESL class (English as a second language) despite the fact that she had spoken and written English as her main language for all her life. She went to a private school in Malaysia where the language was English. She does make friends in her ESL class and she likes it because it is a small class which again shows that the author kept to herself. She also apparently shared the year 12 literacy award which was a bonus for her.

4. What is it that made the author feel that she wasn’t Australian even though she spoke English fluently?

She felt that every time she opened her mouth it showed everyone that she wasn't Australian as they always asked her questions like 'Where are you from?' or 'How long have you been here?'. Her accent gave her away and she describes it as 'Manglish' a mixture of both English and Malaysian. She says that her accent betrayed her origins.

5. What else was it about the author that further alienated her from her peers?

The author knows that she like girls instead of men. But her peers do not know, although I do think that her peers have a vague idea as one girl asks, 'Your not the L word are you?' This shows that the other students do know that there is something not right about the way she is acting and her brothers geeky friend starts teasing her saying, 'Sweet sixteen and never been kissed'. I think this also alienated her from her peers as many of the girls in her year would have been kissed already.

6. What does the use of description like ‘crash hot’ do to the audience’s perception of the author?

This shows that the author is very tomboyish as this is more something that a guy would say about a girl. It is also a lot different to what you would expect a girl with Asian heritage to say, this also gives the reader the feeling that the author is just saying this to try and fit in with the more modern society around her and fit in with the sayings that she thinks that they might say. 

7. What opportunity does university give the author? What is it about university which would allow her to express herself more freely?

In university she is given a short- film project where there is a kiss scene involved. This is her ideal moment to get her first kiss as she says, "My star was a tall, skinny, gorgeous woman; I used to spy on her." University is not all about fitting in and be with the clique as much as high school is and there will be more people like the author that have tried to find the time to express themselves. 

8. What role does creativity play for the author? Why do you think that creativity would be so important to her?
I think that the creativity plays a big role within the movie for the author as she is experimenting with other girls. The more vulgar and engaging the film is for other viewers then maybe the author will get the feedback that she was wanting. Also I think that the movie was a way of coming out to her parents in a slow and non awkward manner. It is obvious throughout the book that the author is just trying to be noticed and get people to remember her. I think by making this movie as creative as possible she might have been able to get people to remember her movie.

Teenage Dreamers by Phillip Tang

1. What are the first two sentences of the story and how do they create a tension in the story?

"My father had a sixth sense. He knew when people would die." This creates tension as you want to read more and see how this is relevant to the story. This is not an everyday thing for someone to know when people die and you want to read about the story this girl has experienced with her dad having a sixth sense. This also lets the reader know that the story will also be revolved a lot around death.

2. What has happened to the author’s father as a result of his wife’s death?

He has become 'obsessed' with a actor come singer 'Leslie Cheung'. After becoming infatuated with the singer the author has also noticed that his father has become very emotional being compared to as a 'school girl'.

3. How does the description of the father removing his hands from his face as ‘unmasked’ related to the seriousness of his following statement?

It shows that he needed to talk to his daughter with seriousness. He has taken his hands away from his face with all seriousness and then starts talking to the author about a man that he is obsessed with. This is why it shows how serious he is.

4. Consider how the father lives his life and conducts himself and the other people in the theatre for the film the author and his father are watching. How does this relate to the title of the story?

After his wife leaves him Phillip's father becomes extremely emotional and cries quite a lot whenever he hears Leslie's movies or songs. This relates to the title of the story 'Teenage dreamers' because he is crying in much the same way a teenage girl would cry over seeing a pop star that the loved. This is why the title of the story is 'Teenage dreamers' it is because her father is a lot like a teenage lover.

Conversations with my Parents by Oanh Thi Tran

1. What is ironic about the way the author and the father become close? What has to happen to the father?

I find it ironic how the way that the two become close is when the daughter asks her father about his war stories and his life in Vietnam. They cannot have a conversation but she must ask question about his childhood life and memories. Also at the start the father never really talked to the author because she did something she was not supposed to. 'Move out of the house before marriage'. But when the father became sick she would spend long hours at the hospital just with him. I think this is when the father started talking to her.

2. How would you characterise the conversation that the author has with her parents?

Quick, passive and not really a conversation at all. The only relevant thing they talk about is how each other are. Talking about the weather and how cold it is, is not a conversation that a daughter she be talking with her dying father. I think the daughter realizes this after the conversation though as she 'stares at the receiver in her hand in shock.' I also feel that it was lacking in emotion.

3. What is it that worries the author most about these conversations?
The thing that worries the author is that she is so far away from her family and she doesn't quite know how to say I love you or I miss you. She doesn't even know what words to use. She doesn't think that she has ever told them that she loves them and this worries her. favorite 4. There is a gap between the author’s need to express feelings common in western countries and her family’s lack of desire to express their feelings verbally. How does the family still express their feelings for their child, just not verbally?

To me it is obvious that the family find it very hard to show their emotions through direct communication. But throughout the story there are slight hints that the mother is trying to show how much she does care for Oanh. When Oanh's mother talks about cooking the dish banh xeo and describes how this used to be her favourite dish. Also when mother says "We had crab the other day, we all missed you." This also shows that her mother really does care for her because this is probably another of Oanh's favourites. 

Lessons from my School Years by Ray Wing-Lun

1. There is a stark contrast created in the opening of this story between what the narrator had been doing before entering school and what will be expected at school? What is this contrast and what does it immediately create in the story? 

At the opening of this story the contrast of life before going to school being very relaxed and for the narrator quite boring is compared to the extremely disciplined life at school. This immediately creates excitement and it makes the reader anxious about what is going to happen.

2. The author continues this theme of contrast at the start of the story. How does he do this in his description of his experience of Sydney’s North Shore? 

The author continues to strongly contrast the life living in the North Shore and that of her home back in China. She describes her life as 'living on a highway, with a lot of back streets that mechanics would drive up and down'. Compared to the leafy trees and brick houses of China.

3. What was the father’s background in business before he opened the fruit shop? What has helped him become successful? 

His father had absolutely no previous business experience. He came to Australia at the age of Seventeen with no business experience and no knowledge of the English language. He has become successful because he was able to draw his customers in with conversation and irrelevant banter.

4. The narrator’s description of his father is complex. What makes the father a complex character?

The author describes his father as being a complex character because of his fathers extreme attention to detail he describes that his father would go into the late hours of night recording all the sales 'down to the last penny'. He would also spent many hours practicing his calligraphy in both English and in Chinese.

5. (91) How does the author describe his role in doing ‘things that counted’?

The author describes that now that he is going to school he will be able to do something that mattered so he could contribute to the family rather than just sitting around and listening and watching. He won't have to just 'listen' anymore, he can do the great things that mattered.

6. What experience does the author have at school while keeping to himself? What does he learn from this experience?

While sitting by himself counting the cars zooming past on the highway the largest boy in the class comes up to him and starts calling him names. He then starts punching him and eventually he lashes out and punches the bully in the stomach. The boy runs off crying and Ray (author) is told on. This then teaches him to socialize with the other kids and the fight gains him some friends.

7. How would you characterise the narrator’s tone in regards to the events that are occurring around him?

Throughout the narration I notice that the sentences that are being said through times that are new to the child are short, sharp and precise. This is trying to show the effect that this is having on the author. 

8. How does the narrator characterise the ways that one could ‘get the strap’ and ways that one could avoid it?

He says that there were many ways to get the strap but when I read on It didn't seem like there was a lot to avoid it. 

9. What event evokes a racist speech to the class by the teacher?

When Ray is very scared and nervous about the upcoming school swimming carnival he sends in a note telling the teacher about his problems with swimming. The teacher then decides to read the letter out to the class and tells everyone how Asian people do not contribute to anything and how worthless they are. He then tells Ray that he should just leave the school. This to me was a very racist act.

10. What effect did the author’s experience with ‘Strap Happy Jack’ have on him?

After everything that 'Strap Happy Jack' did to Ray eventually it just made the young boy really quiet and this did not help at all, because he was one of four or five Asian children in his whole school which made him feel very lonely, like he could talk to no one about how he felt. He even refers to himself as a 'ghost' walking the playground of one thousand boys.

11. What was the one advantage school provided the author?

After Ray starts looking at his heritage through the new popular TV show Shintaro the Samurai he then suddenly has value and interest from the students and teachers around him. He then feels like he is not quite so lonely and his schooling years start to turn around for the better from this point on.

12. What did the author do at his school? What was his motivation for doing it? What did he feel was lacking at school?

The author went into the popular and social group of the school, his motivation for doing this is that the school was very easy on the students that made the school look good. This encouraged a lack of motivation for Ray at the time. Ray felt like he was lacking a sense of direction as he wanted to do something important that meant something in his life. He was very confused in his final year at school because he did not have any idea what he wanted to do when he got out of school.

13. What did the parents want their son to do at school? What did the author fear would happen by obeying his parents?

He was thinking about becoming a doctor because his family had not yet had a doctor in the family and they really wanted one. He wanted to be the child that 'shone through' for them. But he thought that his test marks were not high enough and he was not smart enough to do this. He was quite confused because he didn't know if he should listen to someone else for his career.

14. At school, what did the author learn about his own type of thinking and how to use it?
Throughout his schooling years he learnt that having a different culture is not always that bad. He learnt that he had different ideas and he just had to wait for the opportunities to show his different way of thinking.

GUAIAustralia Assessment Notes

The book makes you feel;

• Another cultures perspective
• Immigrant struggles
• Greater Insight
• Historical perspective
• Evokes Sympathy

What are common themes that could be in any book with different races?

• Belonging/ outsider
• Racism
• Struggle
• Family 
• Traditions
• Motivations

The Relative Advantages of Learning my Language by Amy Choi

1. The author opens the story with an anecdote. What is the anecdote and what effect does it have on the reader? The anecdote was that her Grandfather was sitting down and the effect it has is that people understand more than you think. The boy is being very harsh to his grandfather who has changed cultures and doesn't understand the language too well.

2. What is the author’s view of the Chinese language in the 2^nd paragraph? She's really in the Australian culture which is quite racist and obviously really does not like the language. She really does not like the language at all and I think this is because she does not understand the heritage.

3. What is symbolic about the house that the Grandfather mistakes for his own? What does it say about the assimilation of his family into Australian culture? What does it say about his understanding of Australian culture? What is ironic about the inhabitants of this house? The yellow rose bush made her grandfather mistake his house for someone else's. This shows that he can't really tell the difference between a non Asian and Asian home.

4. What does the death of her grandfather inspire the author to do? The death of her grandfather gave her confidence and encouraged her to learn the Chinese language that she once knew. She felt like she owed this to her Grandfather because they did not communicate well when he was alive.

5. Why is she motivated to know Chinese? What is it she wants to ensure she is able to, regretting that she couldn’t do it with her grandfather? She is extremely motivated to learn Chinese because she feels that she did not communicate at all that well when he was alive which is quite sad. She feels like she owes this to him.

The Early Settlers by Ken Chau

1. How does this title refer to two groups of ‘settlers’? Who are they? The title refers to the British settlement in Australia. About the Asians and the British.

2. How is the first line of the poem successful at being ‘forceful’ regarding the Great-Grandfather’s presence in Australia? The first line is very forceful because it says he arrived in a short, precise manner.

3. What action are the ‘early settlers’ doing that gives them equally a strong presence?  They are making trenches and we have a group that is really 'dug in'. 

4. How is the intention of the Great-Grandfather juxtaposed to the beliefs of the ‘early settlers’? He just wants to live and go on his farm and live normally but people think he is a terrorist and a devil.

5. What action does the Great-Grandfather do that ties him both to the ‘early settlers’ and to his own culture? He calls them 'bastards' in his own language which is hypocritical but this is ironic because he came as a settler on the boats. The book can show either the British person or the Asian Grandad as they are both not used to each others culture. The are being defensive using the 'fight or flight' technique, they are trying to classify this strange person that might be a 'terrorist'.
6. How does this short poem highlight the irony of the hatred that immigrants experience when they come to a 'settled' land like Australia? Its ironic because we are all immigrants, none of us have originally been here except for the Aborigines. So even though we were her before the Asians we do not own the land. 

Introduction, Alice Pung

1. What were Asian-Australians referred to as when the author was growing up?
They were referred to as 'Power Points' as the other children thought that it looked like an Asian persons face with the two top slits for eyes and the lower slit for a mouth.
2. How does she interpret this title?
She thought it was because they were so smart and dweeby in a dynamic Microsoft-magnate sort of way. All that untapped potential. All that electrifying bran power! She thought it was a compliment.
3. What did this title actually refer to? Did the author find this demeaning? Why/why not?
She did not find it demeaning because she couldn't understand why they would find that so hilarious, because the power-point was white. 
4. ‘All that untapped potential! All that electrifying brain power!’ What techniques are being employed by the author? How does they highlight he misunderstanding?
She is trying to look at it in a positive way and see the good things about what the kids are saying when in actual fact they are being racist to her. Repetition of the mass of the electrifying brain power and the mass of untapped potential is being used in this.
5. What did the teen author take away from teen fiction? What did she feel that she needed to do? Why? What does this say is essential to fitting in to a culture?
She felt like she needed extensive plastic surgery. She decided that she needed to read John Marsden and Robert Cornier instead, because they spoke more honestly. This says that they were suggesting that people should look and have a certain level of intelligence and personallity to fit in to the culture.
6. Who are the authors that she turns to? Why?
She turns to John Marsden and Robert Cornier because they speak of honesty and they are also not Asian type books they are more Australian/ European.
7. In the third paragraph how does the author use repetition. How does it highlight the focus of this book?
She uses repetition of "The first....." for example; The first love, The first heartbreak, The first Epiphany. She is trying to tell us what the story is about but in an Asian perspective.
8. What metaphor does the author use to highlight the writers and the writing style in the third paragraph?
"Plucking the most garish fruit from the lowest hanging branches of an exotic cultural tree" She is trying to point across that the people think that all the Asian people are the same and don't see the other qualities about them. She is trying to say that all Asians are different through this metaphor.
9. Why does the author use a quote in the 4th paragraph? What does it say about her reaction to the stories in the book? She uses the quote to tell us how the book would relate at all if the title of the book had changed.
10. On page 2 the author talks about the themes that she loosely choose for the collection. What are they and why is it ironic that they show up in this book? She talks about the two books that were about mediating betwen two cultures;  'water buffalo' and ' the courage of soldiers. This is ironic because the authors of those books would of been facing the same problems and written a book as well.
11. At the bottom of pg 3 on to page 4 the author says that sociologists have described Asians as the ‘model minority’. What is meant by this? What difficulties arise out of this label for young Asian-Australians? She is trying to imply that Asian Australian's work hard, study hard and conform to the expectations and ideals of the dominant culture. This is a problem because it can be a burden to Asian Australians because it suggests that money, education, career and fame define their value of contribution to society.
12. What are the editor’s hopes for the collection of stories? She hopes that they can speak the truth and their true identities can be revealed

Writing Letters

Shmuel to his family back in Poland (if they were still alive) about his life in the camp and his best friend Bruno.


Dear Mother and Father,


I miss you two very much and I cannot wait to see you, Papa has been looking after me but I do not see him an awful lot. I try to work my hardest but when I become too tired I sit behind a pile of rubble and stare out across the other side of the fence. I miss the outside of that fence, and I want to see you again.
I do this almost everyday and I met a boy called 'Bruno'. I know strange name isn't it? He lives on the other side of the fence in a house called 'Out with'. He tells me about his old house back in Berlin and the coffe' shops and the fruit stalls and how you should never walk in Berlin on a Saturday otherwise you risk getting pushed from pillar to post.
I hope you are both okay. Although it is hard work I look forward to seeing my Friend Bruno everyday.
I'm very hungry as well and we don't get fed much, Bruno gave me some chicken the other day but a Lieutenant yelled at me and told me off saying that I 'stole it'. I don't like that Lieutenant much but I only ever see him around Bruno's house on the other side of the fence.
Love you very much,
Shmuel

Holocaust Art: "It Takes But One" by Elizabeth Denholm and Alyssa Dziurlaj

What visual techniques are employed in this painting? It shows to me that because the Jewish people are on the red side and there is a huge side it shows that the Jews are trying to make us remember what happened back then as it is so obvious in the picture. Also the darkness is seeping into the Jews and that they might be losing hope. Also it may show that the help and sympathy from one German can give hope and change the life of a Jew and the people in the background and this shows that they are all black and white and all part of the same group, they don't stop to help, stop to feel sympathy.
How do these visual techniques highlight major thematic elements of holocaust art and literature?

Child innocence, humanity, brutality of the Nazi's, fragility of human life, illusion, irony, juxtaposition.

Holocaust Poetry 3: 'Daniel' by Laura Crist

How is juxtaposition used in this poem to highlight an important theme of Holocaust literature?
It uses juxtaposition as it is such a nice lovely poem describing the love that the mother has for the boy and how great her life is with him and all of a sudden it ends with him being 'sheared and stripped for the gas chamber'. These are two exact opposites as one is nice and great and loving and one is brutal. Also it shows the time that she spent with this boy and how she grew to love him and look after him and know him and all of a sudden he is just suddenly gone and these are two exact opposites as well. 
How is descriptive language used to enhance the reader's reaction to the poem?
It makes the viewer feel an enormous amount of sympathy for the mother as it describes how innocent and cute this little boy is and all of a sudden his childhood is taken away from him by being gassed. It also shocks the reader and makes them think about how fragile life is and how something so happy can turn into something so dark in an instant. The child innocence is taken away in an instant and they cannot grow up as normal children now. It is Not only the loss of innocence is taken away but also the loss of humanity towards not only the Jews but also the Nazi's who were forced to fight and kill people.

Daniel
	Laura Crist

And the child held her hand
A child tiny for almost eight,
Deep blue eyes that dominated his face,
When he explained new events to her,
     that funny doggy,
     that pretty rock,
And the freckles on his cheek,
No one saw a sunrise more perfect,
     to her,
She so vividly smells the fragrance of
     his hair,
     his ears,
     his breath in the morning
She vividly hears that little heartbeat,
     that was hers
     always hers,
     and the laughter,
     that raspy little laugh,
     when he caught her in a conundrum.
All this,
But this is merely the surface,
As she watches her little God sheared,
     and stripped,
For the gas chamber.

Evaluating your Partner's Performance

Today in class we are going to listen to a discussion for 5-10 min on each chapter (11 + 12).

During the conversation you are to take notes on:
- participation
Very good participation, he asked questions and he also answered most of the question.


- what questions/answers they ask
 how is Bruno's innocence raised in the chapter? he shows interest in them but it is the wrong interest, he compares the two symbols of the different races. He wishes he could wear his fathers Swastika and this shows his ignorance and innocence.
Andrews Question :If superiority wasn't in chapter 12 what would it be like? 
Do you think Bruno feels sorry for Shmuel in the prison and if not why? The only reason Bruno comes back to Shmuel to see him is that Shmuel might have an interest to see him everyday and that he is his only friend.
The last thing Bruno wanted to do was upset Shmuel. How is this ironic? When Shmuel asks him for food Bruno talks about his own life which Shmuel doesn't have anymore and tells Shmuel why his life is so bad, like his house sucks and there's no friends whereas Shmuel doesn't have these things either.
Was Hitler a bad person taking into account the Americans and the nuclear attack on Nagasaki and Hiroshima? Started the question but did not finish as bell rang.


do they know what they are talking about
Andrew has definitely read in depth of what the two chapters were about as he asked a very hard hitting and in depth question and answered the questions with confidence.



overall what is your impression of their understanding of what is happening in the chapter
it is obvious to me that Andrew has read the two chapters and has a good depth of understanding of both.
Give your partner an HONEST score out of 10 (10 being the best).


8.5

Boy in the Striped PJ's Chapter 10

(105) What does the progression of 'dot' to 'boy' tell us about the role of exploring and meeting the people in the camp? What does this represent about how other Germans view the Jews? It shows that the closer one gets to a Jewish person the more they realize that they are actually people. Nazi's only see the Jews mentally from a far and do not talk to them and get to know them this is why they see them as dots or blobs but if they got to know them and became closer to them they would soon realize that they are just like everyone else. 
(109) What effect does the boys both having the same birthday have? That they are extremely similar and have a lot in common. They are both on the other side of the war yet they are still best friends and they almost have a brotherly characterization towards them. The Nazi's and Jews are fighting a tragic war but two boys from both sides are able to befriend each other and throughout this chapter they point out the similarities within each other. The Nazi's don't think the Jews are human yet here is a Nazi child becoming best friends with a Jew.
(113-4) What do Bruno and Shmuel 'argue' about? What does Bruno decide to stop the argument? Bruno and Shmuel briefly argue about whether Shmuel's side of Poland is better or or Bruno's Berlin is better. They both rudely say that there town is much better for it's people or it's drinks or it's cafe's. After Shmuel says that Poland is obviously a lot better Bruno decides not to linger on the argument and carry on the criticism as he does not want to upset his new best friend. For if he did then the atmosphere for the two would be a lot different and they might not be friends anymore. 
(115) What does Bruno's last question reveal to Shmuel? What do you think Shmuel thinks of Bruno because of asking this question? I think that when Bruno asked this question it was quite obvious to Shmuel that Bruno knew nothing of the atrocities and what is happening to the Jews. This might show Shmuel that not all the Germans are the same and that some people are not aware of what is happening. Also he must think that Bruno does not know much of the war either as he does not know what a Jew is, it is just another word to him. Shmuel might now think that Bruno is quite shut off from the facts of the real world and there must be others just like Bruno that do not know of the Concentration Camps.

Boy in the Striped PJ's Chapter 9

(pg95-96) How is Lt Kotler portrayed? Why is he portrayed this way? (remember that 'how' is asking about literary techniques) Bruno says, "Lieutentat Kotler still strode around in his black boots as if there was no one in the whole world of any more importance than him". This portrays to me a stereotypical Nazi, they were supposedly only fighting for the greater good of their country but I believe that they were political mercenaries, the Nazi's followed a great leader because he was an amazing talker. He made them believe that the Jews were not people, that they caused the financial crisis, that they were the cause of all their bad luck. He must have been extremely good at talking if he was able to do this to a single  nation. The point I am trying to put across is that they did not care for anyone but themselves. They were not fighting and killing for 'the good of the country' they were fighting for the good of themselves.
What is Herr Liszt going to 'change' for Bruno? (98) He is going to be taking Bruno's childhood away tell him that he can not read story books and have his head up in the clouds. He will teach him of his family's heritage and of the fatherland. Comically Bruno starts to think about what his fatherland actually was, 'He wasn't entirely sure that his father had any land'. This shows Bruno's lack of knowledge of the war and the innocence of being a child. Although I do believe history and geography is important I do believe that reading story books and living as a child is also important as well. When Herr says that he will 'change' Bruno I also believe that he will be trying to change him from a 'little man' or little boy that Bruno hates being called into a 'young man'.
(100) What connection does Bruno make between the people in the camp and the people that come and visit his house all the time? Bruno makes the connection about the uniforms that both the Jews and the Nazi's wear. The Jews wear the striped pajamas's and the Nazi's wear their smart uniforms. He then starts to ask himself are the actually entirely different? He also thinks to himself, 'and who who decided wore the striped pajama's and which people wore the uniforms?' This is actually a very good question as it now makes me think that it was the same person, 'Adolf Hitler'. After reading this paragraph this shows a very strong connection between the two and it makes you wonder if the two are very different at all?
What are some of the things that Bruno begins to take notice of regarding the relationship between the soldiers and the people in 'pyjamas'? As mentioned above the connections are very clear, the uniforms that all of them wear are although very different the uniform aspect is actually one in the same. Also he looks at a very good point about who actually decides which uniform the two people actually dress in. Which is actually the same person 'Adolf Hitler'.