Jimmy Bigelow is an ordinary man living in the extraordinary world of the prisoner of war camp on the Thai-Burma Railway. Richard Flanagan uses the character to explore many of his themes, particularly memory and trauma. This resource is part of a unit of work on The Narrow Road to the Deep North.

Explanation of the concept of intertextuality and an explanation of the explicit references to Ian Fleming’s James Bond 007, the Apsara from Hindu religion and mythology, the implied references to Ian Serraillier’s The Silver Sword and the inferred connections to the range of recent texts dealing with the issue of a child refugees journey to safety and a new life, including the picture book Oskar and the Eight Blessings, feature film First They Killed My Father and novel When Michael Met Mina. Students research the nature of these related texts and look for the common themes.

Worksheet for the Special Broadcasting Service Australia/Journeyman TV documentary, A place in the sand: Life inside the world’s largest refugee camp. The video is available on Youtube and examines life in a refugee camp on the Kenya-Somalia border, including why people have moved there, services (or lack of them) in the camp and factors that keep the refugees in the camp.

Ramona Koval interview with Richard Flanagan, author of The Narrow Road to the Deep North. Flanagan discusses the influence of his POW father, Keith Flanagan, the central character of Dorrigo Evans who is based on his father, research he carried out in Thailand and in Japan with former prison guards, the theme of fraternal and erotic love and the difficulties he had in writing the novel. This resource includes the YouTube video and worksheet to accompany the video. It is designed to be part of the unit of work on Stage 6 English, Close study of a novel, The Narrow Road to the Deep North.

This set of activities examine closely the passage in Chapter 13 where Anna Funder interviews Karl-Eduard von Schnitzler. Student activities relate to the subtle use of words and phrases to mean very different things by the interviewee and the interviewer, the way in which Funder interprets body language and tone of voice, the language used to indicate the interviewee genuinely believed in the values of the East German state and Funder’s views as explicitly expressed and suggested in the language used.

Assessment task on Raimond Gaita’s biography, Romulus My Father. The topic is: ‘Romulus’s life is marked by tragedy and chaos. Nevertheless, he never loses his passion for living.’ Discuss. The resource includes guidance for students including structure and language features of a discussion and a marking guide (rubric) to the question. The resource is designed for Australian Stage 6 students studying the VCE/HSC

Torture and its impact on people is a recurrent theme in Stasiland. This resource provides background information on what constitutes torture, reasons for torture, the legal status of torture, its impact on individuals and on whole societies. The resource provides photographs from the Hohenschönhausen Prison Museum and extracts from the text as a means to examine the impact of physical and psychological torture on characters in the text.

Analysis of ezine article by Peta Yoshinaga, John Marsden, bestselling Australian author and educator, on schools, successes and latest novel South of Darkness, published on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation News site. The article examines Marsden’s life and inspirations and emphasises resilience in overcoming adversity. The resource is part of a unit of work on Tomorrow When the War Began, NSW Stage 5 English K-10 Syllabus for the Australian Curriculum.

Worksheet for the video, Former Stasi Agents Defend Their Deeds. Includes answers.

The Stasi used imprisonment and the threat of imprisonment to silence the people of East Germany. This set of activities includes information on imprisonment in East Germany, extracts from the text and an activity requiring students to make a mind map from the information provided.

Worksheet to accompany a 9-minute 2009 news item from Deutsche Welle television on efforts by the German Ministry of Information to piece together destroyed East German Stasi files and to allow citizens to access their files. Excellent resource for the teaching of the text, Stasiland.

Like Alice, Anna falls through the rabbit hole into the strange world of Berlin in 1990 and into the world of people’s memories of East Germany, 1945-1989. As a stranger in a strange land, she must question everything she thought was real to make sense of a society where suspicion, surveillance, double-speak and danger govern everyones life. This resource provides background on Anna Funder as author and as a character in her own text. It provides passages from the text and activities relating to the background and character of Anna.

Activity using the principles of visual literacy to analyse 6 different covers to the English language editions to Anna Funder’s Stasiland: colour, people, content, critical response and medium.

This activity analyses the passage from Stasiland when Miriam Weber attempts to escape from East Berlin to West Berlin over the Berlin Wall. It focuses on language, building suspense, humour, effects of light and dark, style, juxtaposing the younger and older Miriams as storytellers, and the impact of the narrrator asking questions in her narrative.

Wired ezine article, Piecing together the dark legacy of East Germany’s secret police. Excellent resource for understanding the computerisation of destroyed Stasi records and the uses of these records. Supports the teaching of Anna Funder’s text, Stasiland. The last activity involves students evaluating whether the enormous cost involved in this reconstruction process is worth the result.

Charlie Weber appears as a character in Stasiland through the memory of his wife, Miriam and through physical remains of his existence: photographs and a poem. He is a victim of Stasi discrimination, surveillance, harassment, imprisonment and (we believe) brutality that led to his death. If Miriam is the principal interviewee, Charlie is her evidence. The ghost of Charlie haunts Miriam, although there is evidence is the last chapter that Miriam is at last coming to terms with his death. This set of activities includes extracts from the text and a profile proforma. The activity is designed for Year 12 students of the VCE and HSC.

The Stasi established a surveillance network in East Germany that monitored and reported upon all aspects of life. This resource provides background details in this surveillance network, passages from the text and student activities focused around the nature and extent of the network and the impact of surveillance on the lives of the characters in the text.

Background notes, key passages and student activity relating to Matilda Laimo, the protagonist in Lloyd Jones’ novel, Mister Pip.

Background information on the history of Bougainville since 1889, stifled attempts at independence and the civil war from 1988-1996 when the Autonomous Region of Bougainville was declared. This background explains the context in which Mister Pip is based. The student activity involves completing a timeline of key events in the civil war.

Romulus is a common man, but a man of extraordinary character, craftsmanship and endurance. His resilience to the beatings at the hands of the Gestapo, migration to a new country, wife who becomes incurably insane, his own battle with mental illness and deprivations of living in poverty in rural Victoria is a testament to the human spirit’s ability to overcome at all odds. This set of resources includes background notes on Romulus, passages from the and student activities.