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Tomorrow When The War Began Questions
The following are some resources I used with New Zealand high school English students some years ago during a novel study of Tomorrow When The War Began by John Marsden. Posted here in case anyone still finds this useful. How many wars has New Zealand been involved in during the last 50 years? The Cold…
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Interesting Science About Human Skin
If you’re buying a gift for a young artist, a favourite of mine is a box of skin tone pencils or pens. My Crayola box of the 80s included a ‘skin’ colour — in reality no one’s skin — symbolically and problematically the crayon was ‘white skin’. An entire box of skin tones is a…
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The Tale of Samuel Whiskers by Beatrix Potter Analysis
The Tale of Samuel Whiskers by Beatrix Potter was originally called The Roly-Poly Pudding and written as a Christmas present to a child. Potter’s image of the cat rolled up in dough is one of those resonant illustrations which, once seen, can never be unseen. Perhaps this image scarred you, too, as a child.
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The Oral Origin Of Fairytales
The era in which oral folktales became written fairytales was also the era in which children’s literature as a whole began to develop. How did oral tales change once they became written-down stories? First, the main audience shifted, notably, from the peasant class to the monied classes. Main characters were previously adults; now they were…
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The Tale of Johnny Town-mouse by Beatrix Potter Analysis
Leading up to 1918, Beatrix Potter’s publishers were asking her for a new story. This was wartime. Austerity all around. Frederick Warne and Co. were affected alongside everyone else and required something new from their bestselling children’s author. But Beatrix had moved to the country and the country was keeping her very busy. Rather than…
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Features of a Psychological Suspense Story
What makes a horror or thriller story ‘psychological’? Aren’t the entire suspense genre psychological, to some degree? I set out to investigate.
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Graduation Afternoon by Stephen King Short Story Analysis
“Just After Sunset” is a 2007 short story by Stephen King. This 9/11 story was first published in Postscripts Magazine.
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Just A Dream By Chris Van Allsburg Analysis
Just a Dream by Chris Van Allsburg (1990) is a picture book with an environmental message typical of its era. As part of the corpus of children’s literature with environmental messages, the 1990s offered many excellent children’s book examples of the now-outdated ‘personal responsibility’ message. Around this time children received the ‘good people recycle’ message.…
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A Continuum of Imaginative Powers
I enjoy stories about characters with wild imaginations, and that may partly explain why I love children’s books. From Where The Wild Things Are to highly symbolic fairytales to post-modern off-kilter realities, children’s literature is full of dreamscapes and fantastic journeys. But stories of imaginative power don’t end with childhood — there are many examples…
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The Tale Of Pigling Bland by Beatrix Potter Analysis
As you read “The Tale of Pigling Bland” (1913) imagine Beatrix Potter sitting in a pig shed with her art gear and muck boots on, because that’s how she spent one summer, diligently rendering pigs (and then decking them out in clothes). Apparently she struggled to knock this one out. She’d had a big year.
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Blackberries by Thomas Kenneally Short Story Analysis
“Blackberries” is a short story by Thomas Keneally, included in an anthology I got free when buying another book at Dymocks back in 2009. Allen and Unwin have since released a number of short stories from big name Australian authors as eBooks, including “Blackberries”, available for a couple of bucks each.
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Swamps, Marshes, Quicksand And Sinking In Storytelling
Here’s one little-known aspect of existing as a Gen X — the fear of sinking to death in sand. Perhaps you escaped this particular horror if your television exposure was moderated, but I’ve asked around, and I’m not the only child of the 80s to approach wet, sandy areas with extreme caution. Films and cartoons…
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A View Of Mount Warning by Robert Drewe Analysis
“A View Of Mount Warning” is an Australian short story by Robert Drewe, and can be found in his collection The True Colour Of The Sea (2018).
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Creative Writing Prompts from Photos
TIPS FOR USING IMAGES AS WRITING PROMPTS from @DoWise Go beyond the picture; use it as a stimuls; don’t be constrained by it. Start with a wide focus and then zoom in on specific details Flashback and then jump forward if it fits your narrative to do so Craft the way you start some of…
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Emotion in Storytelling: Unexpected responses
Storytellers can manage audience emotions by writing characters who do — and feel — the unexpected. In doing so, writers can subvert common emotional tropes to great effect. Why is this technique necessary and so effective? A major element of good storytelling is surprise. The writer’s characters must stand before us with a wonderful clarity,…