A sixteen-year-old Western Australian boy mysteriously disappears after he discovers valuable relics in the remains of a seventeen-century shipwreck.
Unit Suitable For
AC: Year 9 (NSW Stage 5)
Themes
Aboriginality, Australia, Australian identity, History, identity, isolation, media, personality disorder, racism
General Capabilities
Critical and creative thinking, Ethical understanding, Information and communication technology, Intercultural understanding, Literacy, Personal and social
Cross-curriculum Priorities
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures
'Meet ten of Australia's literary greats. Tom Tilley speaks with writers such as David Malouf, Nadia Wheatley and Michael Gow about their works, their inspirations and their lives as writers.'
Source: Introduction.
'Jeronimus Cornelisz had spent two days alone on the Batavia as the waves and the coral joined forces to rip apart the hull. Like most sailors and passengers on seventeenth-century ships, he could not swim. Here, Titlestad discusses the Batavia wreck and Cornelisz's transformation.' (Publication abstract)
'The wreck of the Dutch ship Batavia on the coast of Western Australia in 1629 has been a source of inspiration for many Australian writers. Its story of mutiny, wreck, murder, rape, barbarism, and subsequent rescue and justice is both horrible and fascinating, combining as it does the worst of human nature with a challenge to the ‘received’ history of European exploration of Australia.' (Introduction)