| Teaching
Ideas and Units - Teaching Units
Looking
for Alibrandi - a collection of activities and resources
Many
of the activities presented here were devised by Cherie Scott. Thanks
to her and to the other
teachers who contributed ideas, including Colette Chinn and Elizabeth
Robinson.
Ideas
to start students thinking about the issues
- Think
about the topic
- Write
about it in your journal
- Share
with a small group through discussion
- Decide,
as a group, what to share with the whole class
- What are
three things you will never say to your kids when and if you are a parent?
Give reasons.
- What are
the best and worst things about being male? What are the best and worst
things about being female? Both sexes are to answer each question.
- There
is a very thin line between love and hate. Write about a time when you
crossed that line.
- How did
you discover ‘ the facts of life’? Were they accurate? How
did you react? Write about your grandparents. Describe your relationship
with them, what you like/dislike about them, and so on. Do you have
an image of your grandparents as children, adolescents, newlyweds, young
parents? If not, try to imagine, based on photos, conversations, family
reunions and get togethers.
Look at the
lyrics of the Janis Ian song, ‘At
Seventeen’. Compare the experience of the writer with the experiences
of young people that you know.
Brainstorm
the main issues confronting young people using PMI
to consider the positive, negative and interesting things about being
an adolescent in the twenty first century.
Journal
responses
Josephine
Alibrandi at seventeen is at a turning point in her life, a year where
she discovers much about her family, her friends and herself.
In your journal
record:
Your impressions
of Josie. How does she see herself? What ‘hang-ups’ does she
have? How do others see her? Note the events and people that shape her
development. Record chapter and page numbers for later reference.
Your reactions
to and empathy for the situations she faces, such as family expectations,
school expectations, peer group pressure, compromising values, snobbery.
Themes
and issues: a stimulus for discussion groups.
Using these
quotes to help you get started, discuss the way the novel deals with the
theme you’ve chosen and your own ideas about it.
RITUALS,
RULES, CULTURAL TRADITION
"
illegitimacy isn’t a big deal any more!" (p35)
Jacob:
" But what’s the big deal? Everyone has babies without being
married these days. Everyone lives together and gets remarried."
Josie:
"We live in the same country but we’re different. What’s
taboo for Italians isn’t taboo for Australians." (p152)
"
A daughter’s behaviour always reflects on how good a mother is."
(p37)
"…you
wanna go out?"
"…You’d
have to meet my mother." (p106)
Tomato
day — National Wog Day (p171)
"
A tradition that we’ll never let go. A tradition that I probably
will never let go of either, simply because there are some things that
could offend people I love. You live with such freedom Jacob… You
live without religion and culture. All you have to do is abide by the
law."
PRESSURE
Jacob:
"Welcome to the nineties, Josephine. Women don’t have to be
virgins any more."
Josie:
"…Women don’t have to be pushed into things anymore…it’s
(virginity) not a prize and I’m not a prize. But it’s mine.
It belongs to me and I can only give it away once and I want to be sure
when it happens Jacob…or one day someone else is doing it. I don’t
want to do it, Jacob, because everyone else is doing it." (p213)
Michael:
"…living is the challenge, Josie. Not dying. Dying is so easy.
Sometimes it only takes ten seconds to die. But living? That can take
you eighty years and you do something in that time, whether it is giving
birth to a baby or being a housewife or a barrister or a soldier. You’ve
accomplished something. To throw that away at such a young age, to have
no hope, is the biggest tragedy." (p236)
"Father
Stephen said that peace is a state of mind. We will never have world
peace, John, so we have to be peaceful within ourselves and that will
make us happy." (p134)
John Barton:
"I’ve always had to be the best because it’s been expected
of me." (p46)
"But
I don’t know what I want to be…how can I tell my father I
don’t want to study law, if I don’t know what else I want
to be." (p133-134)
DESTINY
Josie: "…we’re
masters of our own destiny."
Lee: "That’s
rubbish. If your father’s a dustman, you’re going to be a dustman
and if our father’s filthy rich, you’re going to be filthy rich
because he’ll introduce you to his rich friend’s son. People
breed with their own kind…the rich marry the rich, Josie, and the
poor marry the poor. The dags will marry the dags and wogs marry wogs…"
(p144)
LEADERSHIP
Sister Louise:
"I know what came over you. You decided to become a sheep for the
day, Josephine. You weren’t a leader. You were a follower. You’ll
never amount to anything if you can be so easily influenced." (p181)
"You
and your friends are trendsetters. The girls look up to you. They copy
what you do. They’ll probably slap you on the back to congratulate
you when you get back to class. I couldn’t afford to have my school
captain set such a bad example…you have to remember that you aren’t
a leader because you’re given a title. You’re a leader because
of what is inside of you. Because of how you feel about yourself."
(p184)
RESPECT
Nonna Katia:
"I am an old woman now and I deserve respect." (p36)
"But
there is no respect left with the youth of today." (p37)
"Mam
says that satisfaction isn’t what I should search for. Respect is.
Respect? I detest the word. Probably because in this world you have to
respect the wrong people for the wrong reasons." (p138)
YOUTH
Josie: "It’s
not the youth of today…It’s you and people like you. Always
worrying about what other people think. Always talking about other people."
(p37)
"When
I hear Nona Katia tell me about how life was forty odd years ago, I find
it hard to believe that she was just seventeen…when she married,
and was taken half way across the world. But then again Mama was just
seventeen when she gave birth to me…it makes me realise how young
we youth of today really are." (p79)
SNOBBERY
John: "I
will not associate with pretentious people with nothing constructive to
discuss except what kind of car they’re getting for their 18th
birthday." (p 47-48)
"The
beautiful people are the ones who have the most modern hairstyles. If
long hair is in, they’ve got it. If one gets her hair cropped, so
do the others." (p80)
"…no
matter how smart I am or how much I achieve, I am always going to be a
little ethnic from Glebe, as far as these people are concerned."
(p167)
FASHION
"Why
do you have to wear those low medical shoes?’
"Maaa,
they’re Doc Martens." (p51)
SCHOOL SOCIAL
LIFE
"The
time before class starts in the morning is the most exciting. Because
we haven’t seen each other for 16 hours, it’s gossip galore…"
(p8)
Character
studies
At the end
of the novel, Josephine declares "the important thing is that I know
where my place in life is" (Chapter 32, p.258).Write a detailed profile
of your impressions of Josephine Alibrandi and the experiences that led
to her self discovery and emancipation.
Below is
a list of characters that have an impact on Josephine’s development.
Describe one of these characters, making specific references to the text,
and discuss what effect he/she has on Josephine’s life.
Christina
Alibrandi
Michael Andretti
Jacob Coote
Sister Louise
Nonna Katia
John Barton
Ivy Lloyd
Lee Taylor
Seraphina
Anna Sellcic
Create a
collage depicting the life of a significant character at a particular
stage of the novel. Use magazine pictures, paint and any other materials
to reflect the complexity of the character’s life, the issues they
face and the way they deal with them. Present your collage to a small
group, explaining its key features.
Literary
sociogram
Create a
literary sociogram for the characters in the
novel. Include information about character development and relationships
between characters. Use colour to indicate character groupings and influence.
Extended
written responses
- Compare
the novel with another text you have read, such as Brian Caswell’s
Lisdalia.
- What are
the possible ‘readings’ of the novel? Is there a possible
dominant reading of the novel? If so, to whom would it most appeal?
Which audience did the author have in mind? How can you tell? In your
opinion, who would gain from reading this text, and why?
- Choose
one theme or issue and explore it in depth, drawing on other sources,
texts, experiences to inform your response.
- Craft
a script based on one section/chapter of the novel. If the episode also
appears in the film, view it and compare. If not, consider how your
episode would have changed the film.
- Re-write
a section from an alternative point of view. How does adopting this
point of view change the way the situation is seen?
Student
Forum
Join an on-line
discussion of the book and film. Look at the responses in the eCentre
forum on
Looking
for Alibrandi . What makes a good contribution? Either make your
own response on one of the existing topics, or contribute a different
topic.
Connections
with other texts
Working with
a small group, put together a collection of other texts that you think
have a connection with an idea or theme expressed in Looking for Alibrandi.
They could include song lyrics, poems, novels and films. Create an oral
presentation in which you share at least two of the related texts and
discuss the connections and contrasts you found.
Reviews
of the film
Read a range
of reviews of the film. Sarah Barnett, calls the
production ‘fairly slick’, while Andrew Howe talks about its
‘earthiness’. Some reviewers focus on the main character, others
treat the whole range as important. Some rave about the film, others write
in a more detached way. In a couple of sentences, sum up how each critic
views the film. Is there a consensus about the film’s strengths and
weaknesses? Which review did you find the most interesting and comprehensive?
Who published it? Who was its audience?
Resources
The
Emancipation: Looking for Alibrandi
This is a highly successful unofficial Looking For Alibrandi book and
film site. After winning a competition to create an official site, the
17 year old Adelaide student, Lauren Bower, just kept going. She has gathered
together a fine set of resources and information.
Penguin
Books Author Profile: Melina Marchetta
Marchetta
on Alibrandi
An interview with the author for The Scan.
Reviews
of the film
Christina
Brooks
Triple
J Reviews
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