Ezine article from The Monthly entitled ‘From Frogmore, Victoria’ and written by Helen Garner. She describes a visit to the sites in the text, Romulus, My Father with the author and the reactions of Raimond Gaita and herself to each of the sites in the light of the events that took place there. Student activities included.

Crossword and answers for the topic, Spanish Conquest of the Americas.

Photographs of Raimond, Romulus and Christine to support student understanding of the characters in Romulus, My Father.

Analysis of a photograph of Raimond Gaita’s childhood home of Frogmore. Students examine the details and make assumptions about the impact of poverty on the ideas and writings of Raimond Gaita.

Romulus, My Father Crossword

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.

As a moral philosopher, Raimond Gaita introduces the reader to many philosophical ideas and beliefs, relating these to the people and events of his childhood. This activity identifies 9 of these and asks students to research what they are and how they relate to the text: humanism, stoicism, moral absolutism, fatalism, multiculturalism, communism, relativism, spiritualism and puritanism.

Book review and student activities based upon the review. Students analyse teh features of an effective review.

Information Report on the text, Romulus, My Father. Students select one of the following themes: mental illness, moral philosophy, relationships between humans and animals, inter-personal relationships, experiences of migrants and write an information report. The task includes elements, language and structure of an information report and a marking guide (rubric).

Word search on the text, Romulus, My Father.

Quotes activity for the memoir, Romulus, My Father.

Both narrator and child/teen character, Raimond Gaita’s relationships with family and friends form the basis of this tragic memoir, along with the almost unreal objectivity in which the text is narrated. This set of activities includes background notes on Raimond, passages from the text and student activities

Another tragic character whose choices in life become his ultimate undoing. This set of resources and activities on Mitru includes background notes, passages from the text and student activities relating to his personality, his respect for Romulus and love for Raimond, his troubled relationship with Christine and his death. The last activity asks students to describe his relationship with the four main characters in the text.

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.

This activity provides students with a map of Central America and asks them to identify modern countries, names of conquistadors who explored particular areas, when areas were explored, metric distances between cities and drawing lines to indicate where particular conquistadors explored.

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.