Romanian migrant, Hora is arguably the strongest character in Raimond Gaita’s memoir. he is certainly the most loyal family friend. This set of resources includes background notes on Hora, key passages from the text and student activities based on these. the last activity asks students to develop a mind map of incidents from the text in which Hora is a friend and mentor to Romulus and Raimond.

Word Search using metalanguage from the novel Mister Pip.

Unit of work on Lloyd Jones’ novel, Mister Pip. This bundle includes: Activities for Sections 1-5 Activities for Sections 6-10 Activities for Sections 11-14 Setting: Bougainville Character profile: Mr Watts Character profile: Matilda Laimo Character profile: Dolores Laimo Character profile: Grace Character profile: Joseph Laimo Film review: A Sting in the Tale Ezine article: Bougainville: Australia’s Secret War Word search Crossword Metalanguage Analysis of book covers True or false Sequence the events Topic summary Crack the Code Book review: All They Need to Know Who Said quotes activity Analysis of film scenes Information report assessment task Close study of a passage: Great Expectations Chapter 1 The Bougainville Civil War Which section is that? The Real Mr Pip - Harry Baxter on Bougainville Background to the Bougainville War

The authors mother, Christine is a complex character who suffers increasingly from a serious mental illness as the narration of the memoir proceeds. At times she is highly depressed and neglects her children. At other times she is promiscuous and manic. 1950s rural Australia is neither the time nor the place for others to understand her condition, nor provide support. This set of activities includes background notes and passages from the text that relate to Christine’s true personality, her relation with Romulus, her interraction with members of the Anglo-Celtic community, the effects of her illness on her life and relationship and the views of Christine from other character’s hindsight. Students are asked to list the positive and negative influences of Christine on the author, Raimond Gaita.

Vacek is a highly traumatised migrant and friend of Romulus and Raimond. He falls into homelessness, mental illness and the inability to care for himself. Whilst his story is tragic he is described as a person with a solid character and he possesses an empathy for animals. His influence on Raimond’s childhood ultimately leads to Raimond’s interest in moral philosophy. This resource includes background information on Vacek, select passages from the text and short answer questions.

This resource gives an overview of the time context to the memoir, Romulus, My Father including the political, economic and social status of Australia in the 1950s and how the decade is reflected in the text. There are passages from the text that reflect the times and how the characters interact with the music, laws, discrimination and values of the 1950s. Students analyse these passages to look at these links.

Key words and concepts in the topic, Romulus, My Father.

Raimond Gaita uses beautiful descriptive language to evoke his childhood home, Frogmore. He choice of words and phrases transport the reader to another place and time. Unusually, he declines to pass judgment on the poverty-stricken conditions of the farm in which he was raised, indicating that our memories of childhood are predominantly positive as we accept the harshest of conditions as being the norm.

Newspaper article from The Sydney Morning Herald, Profile: Raimond Gaita. Includes focus questions.

Activities for Chapters 7-13 of Romulus, My Father.

Sequencing activity for key events in the non-fiction text, Romulus, My Father.

This resource includes a map of central Victoria with the key places discussed in the text. A student activity asks students to write the events that take place in 9 of these locations. The next activity provides passages from the text that describe Baringhup and the influence of the setting on the author.

Romulus, My Father - Activities for Chapters 1-6

Activity applying the principles of visual literacy to book covers and images from the film, Romulus, My Father.

Possibly the most traumatised character in Stasiland, Frau Paul carries guilt and shame. The irony, as Anna Funder points out, is that others see her as a hero for standing by her principles despite Stasi retribution. This set of activities includes background information, quotes from the text and a task involving collating information on Frau Paul and her life.

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.

Research task on Erich Mielke, head of the East German Stasi. Questions focus on using the information gained through research to make an assessment of his contribution to East German society and impact as head of the Stasi.

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.

As a journalist, Anna Funder is very capable of creating a highly evocative visual description of people and places using as few words as possible. This activity provides examples of Funder’s use of descriptive language by analysing passages from the text. Students are then asked to look for the common features of her descriptive writing and to analyse a passage from the text for themselves.

Worksheet for the Deutsche Welle video clip, Talking Germany. Talk with Roland Jahn, Head of Stasi Archives. The interview looks at Roland Jahn’s role as a journalist and dissident in East Germany, his expulsion from the country, work to expose former-Stasi officers since the reunification of Germany and his work managing the Stasi archives. Excellent resource for teh teaching of Stasiland.