Once in Broome
Broome
:
Magabala Books
,
2007
Z1424609
2007
single work
autobiography
(taught in 2 units)
The story is of chilhood memories of love and freedom in a culturally mixed pearling town unique in Australia. The memoirs convey an impression of great richness, sensuousness and diversity. Bin Demin's account is not completely idyllic, Broome is a town where people were classified into racial groups and given status accordingly and the more you had Aboriginal ancestry the less you were accepted. Full-blood Aboriginal people were not allowed within the town without proper permission. The Sun picture theatre was segregated and mixed race people were classified using terms such as octoroon.
Blue
Pat Grant
(illustrator),
Artarmon
Marietta
:
Giramondo Publishing
Top Shelf
,
2012
Z1803518
2012
single work
graphic novel
(taught in 2 units)
'Blue is the debut graphic novel by Australian cartoonist Pat Grant. Part autobiography and part science fiction, the book follows three spotty teenagers who skip school to go surfing and end up investigating rumors of a dead body on the train line. Provincial values and the emotions aroused by immigration clash as the teenagers encounter strange, blue-skinned foreigners that have arrived in their little beach town. Things become even more confronting when the trail leads them to make first contact with a new wave of immigrants to their coastal town, who might be the harbingers of sweeping change.
'Blue is a delicate and affectionate portrayal of an iconic setting and way of life, told with an unerring ear and eye for the vernacular. But it's also a story about difference, fear and change, and the political implications of this for contemporary Australia.
'Pat Grant's approach to cartooning is largely an old-fashioned one, with each page of images painstakingly drawn on large pieces of illustration board with a sable brush and India ink. The images in Blue have been taken directly from drawings collected over many mornings on the beaches of NSW and Victoria; they are inspired by real life but don't lose their cartoonish charm. Combined with Grant's sparse writing the result is a cinematic story telling experience that lends itself particularly to an Australian experience of place and landscape.' (From the publisher's website.)
This subject will introduce students to a diverse body of contemporary cultural texts, ranging from literary fiction and non-fiction to film. The subject will provide students with key critical and analytical skills acquired through close textual readings and discussions in class. Students will be taught to consider the implications of the use by an author of a particular genre and to explore ways of responding to it confidently and persuasively. This introductory subject will provide a foundation for further studies within the discipline of English and will give all students with strong written and verbal communication skills.
