Miss Macdonald's Blog



-561975-609600Setting“Back in those days, a time I think of as “the good old days”, the three of us were all living in a sprawling house in the richest part of Auckland. It was the sort of suburb where all the walls are two metres high and you’ve got to talk to a speaker in the gate post before you can even set foot on the property.”“I quite liked school, it kept me from thinking too much, you know, brooding on stuff. It was this brooding that used to ruin my weekends.”“Dad would take me to the supermarket once a week and I would make sure we were well-stocked with after-school snacks. It might seem a minor point to you but for me it was a matter of survival. I would have starved to death otherwise.” “I’ve always had this thing about the country. Not a bad place but full of thickos. Big friendly types but in the barn yard animal sort of way. Your brain, which usually operates at 100 ks in the town does a steady 20-30 ks in the country.” “After about ten minutes we got off the sealed road and headed for the wild farms tucked into the ranges below Mount Taranaki. I could see the mountain, looming up before me, shrouded in white and gleaming in the early evening light. It was simple and impressive, like those mountains you draw when you’re a young fulla.”“By the time we reached the farm gates it was getting dark. The sky was now brighter than the road which threaded darkly through endless hedge-rimmed paddocks.”“The boys showed me the evening routines. It was a bit like being in the army. Washing. Cleaning teeth. Putting out clothes for the morning.”“I was woken up in the dark by the boys getting up to help with the milking. I never knew that this happened in the middle of the night, I thought it happened in the late afternoon. Turns out it happens both times.”“Although it seemed like it sometimes, life on the farm wasn’t only chores. There was down time and we always seemed to have plenty to do. I guess with no TV, radio, or even a newspaper we weren’t too concerned with what was going on in the outside world. Looking back now I see how this had a positive side. We were more creative about how we had fun. We had to be.”“The others stripped off their clothes and jumped in. They’d been there before and knew what to expect. They must have forgotten what it felt like to see something like this for the first time. How you’re sort of winded by the beauty.”00Setting“Back in those days, a time I think of as “the good old days”, the three of us were all living in a sprawling house in the richest part of Auckland. It was the sort of suburb where all the walls are two metres high and you’ve got to talk to a speaker in the gate post before you can even set foot on the property.”“I quite liked school, it kept me from thinking too much, you know, brooding on stuff. It was this brooding that used to ruin my weekends.”“Dad would take me to the supermarket once a week and I would make sure we were well-stocked with after-school snacks. It might seem a minor point to you but for me it was a matter of survival. I would have starved to death otherwise.” “I’ve always had this thing about the country. Not a bad place but full of thickos. Big friendly types but in the barn yard animal sort of way. Your brain, which usually operates at 100 ks in the town does a steady 20-30 ks in the country.” “After about ten minutes we got off the sealed road and headed for the wild farms tucked into the ranges below Mount Taranaki. I could see the mountain, looming up before me, shrouded in white and gleaming in the early evening light. It was simple and impressive, like those mountains you draw when you’re a young fulla.”“By the time we reached the farm gates it was getting dark. The sky was now brighter than the road which threaded darkly through endless hedge-rimmed paddocks.”“The boys showed me the evening routines. It was a bit like being in the army. Washing. Cleaning teeth. Putting out clothes for the morning.”“I was woken up in the dark by the boys getting up to help with the milking. I never knew that this happened in the middle of the night, I thought it happened in the late afternoon. Turns out it happens both times.”“Although it seemed like it sometimes, life on the farm wasn’t only chores. There was down time and we always seemed to have plenty to do. I guess with no TV, radio, or even a newspaper we weren’t too concerned with what was going on in the outside world. Looking back now I see how this had a positive side. We were more creative about how we had fun. We had to be.”“The others stripped off their clothes and jumped in. They’d been there before and knew what to expect. They must have forgotten what it felt like to see something like this for the first time. How you’re sort of winded by the beauty.”6067425-19050TechniquesDialogueConversations between two or more characters that shows us about how the characters see the world and react and interact with others.SymbolismPimpernel – symbolic of Sandy’s mother and his ability to move on after her death. Pimpernel is a friend and a counsellor to Sandy and it is through his death he learns about how to cope with change and death. Pimpernel also represents Sandy taking responsibility for his own life and feelings.HumourUsed throughout the novel to lighten some of the more difficult things the character goes through. We get to know Sandy as a person through the use of humour and we feel comfortable with him.“…it all goes to show that whoever invented the phrase “You can never have too much of a good thing” had never been pumped up to the earholes with slices of pizza over a fortnight period. Maybe he could have shared my nightmare.”“”Look guys,” I said, “I would love to join you but it’s just too cold. It can’t be done. Sorry.” I rolled over and went back to sleep within twenty-five seconds. Sometime later I heard the chug chug of the John Deere coming up to the house… Next thing I knew there was a sort of harness thing being attached to my ankle.”Colloquial languageInformal language used in order to encourage the reader to relate more strongly to the characters. “Sometimes she came from “mouldy old dough” She didn’t like that.”“”What’s your greatest dream Sandy?” asked Dougal. “I dunno, what’s yours Iain?”“From the big smoke boy?”“For the last few days school was a different place. It had changed from being a place where I was always on my guard, always ready to defend myself, to a sort of happy place. Sounds cheesy eh?”First person narrative perspectiveBrings us closer to the character by making the story a personal account. In this case the narrator is Sandy. Throughout the story “I” is used in reference to Sandy. The story is told in the past tense (Sandy recalling the events after they happened).SettingThe situations that the characters are put in influences the actions they taken, how they feel about the world and their experiences. Also shows us about their reactions and interactions.Characterisation/character developmentHow the author develops our understanding of character through their actions, the way they talk, the way they think and the way they look. Character development is how a character changes over the course of the story as a result of the experiences they have had throughout the journey.00TechniquesDialogueConversations between two or more characters that shows us about how the characters see the world and react and interact with others.SymbolismPimpernel – symbolic of Sandy’s mother and his ability to move on after her death. Pimpernel is a friend and a counsellor to Sandy and it is through his death he learns about how to cope with change and death. Pimpernel also represents Sandy taking responsibility for his own life and feelings.HumourUsed throughout the novel to lighten some of the more difficult things the character goes through. We get to know Sandy as a person through the use of humour and we feel comfortable with him.“…it all goes to show that whoever invented the phrase “You can never have too much of a good thing” had never been pumped up to the earholes with slices of pizza over a fortnight period. Maybe he could have shared my nightmare.”“”Look guys,” I said, “I would love to join you but it’s just too cold. It can’t be done. Sorry.” I rolled over and went back to sleep within twenty-five seconds. Sometime later I heard the chug chug of the John Deere coming up to the house… Next thing I knew there was a sort of harness thing being attached to my ankle.”Colloquial languageInformal language used in order to encourage the reader to relate more strongly to the characters. “Sometimes she came from “mouldy old dough” She didn’t like that.”“”What’s your greatest dream Sandy?” asked Dougal. “I dunno, what’s yours Iain?”“From the big smoke boy?”“For the last few days school was a different place. It had changed from being a place where I was always on my guard, always ready to defend myself, to a sort of happy place. Sounds cheesy eh?”First person narrative perspectiveBrings us closer to the character by making the story a personal account. In this case the narrator is Sandy. Throughout the story “I” is used in reference to Sandy. The story is told in the past tense (Sandy recalling the events after they happened).SettingThe situations that the characters are put in influences the actions they taken, how they feel about the world and their experiences. Also shows us about their reactions and interactions.Characterisation/character developmentHow the author develops our understanding of character through their actions, the way they talk, the way they think and the way they look. Character development is how a character changes over the course of the story as a result of the experiences they have had throughout the journey.6067425-609600Quotable quotes: And Did Those Feet… By Ted Dawe00Quotable quotes: And Did Those Feet… By Ted Dawe-5619752543175Character“Asthma is a funny thing. It comes on fast, there’s no warning. One moment a person’s talking, laughing, having a good time; next thing their lips are blue, there’s no sound coming out of their mouth and they’re scrambling for the trusty puffer. That’s what it was always like with Mum. It had always been this way.”“Dad researched her first. He’s not like me, the impulsive type. He’s a plotter and a planner.”“Anyway, the point of all this is to show you what a determined customer Dad is, well organised too, which made it even stranger the way he went to pieces after Mum died. I guess he had no tunnel dug for that one.”“It was soon after this I started to do bad things to Yoke-Lin. I think I was hoping to drive her mad. Couldn’t help it. At first it was small stuff really, like hiding things that I knew she would need.”“You know those bombs on the cartoons? The sort of ball-thing with a wick. That was me, but the wick was about one millimetre long.”“I’m not going to repeat it now, it probably wouldn’t sound like much anyway, but it was enough. I turned instantly into a “raging engine of death and destruction” . (I wrote that in a report for the counsellor, pretty good description I reckon, even though I say so myself.”“All I can remember was this puzzled look on his face while I was punching it, again and again. A look that seemed to say, “What did I say? What did I do?”“Dad thought “I needed to be amongst my own blood.” There you have it. What all these statements have in common was that no one wanted me around anymore. I may not be too bright, but I knew that much.”“People…people don’t know me. People think I’m the same as before but that I don’t have a mother but I’m not. I’m…” “I’m dangerous. I just seem like an ordinary boy, but I’m like a bomb, I can explode at any minute and nothing can stop me when I go off.”“One of my regular chores was that I got to feed this cute little black pig called Pimpernel. Uncle Frank made it clear that he was my responsibility and if I didn’t look after him, he would starve. I’d never had a pet before so I didn’t know what to do here either. It’s like I was dumb; everyone else seemed to know everything.”“I told Pimpernel all the things I couldn’t rell anyone. About Mum. About certain bits of Dad’s behaviour, how I felt about them. About living with these people. I know they were my relatives and that they were really nice but they were also strange.”“…I was presented with my own pair of shiny new gumboots. My size. It was like I had become part of the family.”““You okay Noel?” I called, surprising myself as well as him. He nodded and managed a weak grin. I thought of Aunty Lorna’s words and knew that for once I had done the right thing.”“Everything changes, Sandy. We must cherish everything while it is here and keep loving it after it has gone.”“He was right, you know, I was a different person now.”00Character“Asthma is a funny thing. It comes on fast, there’s no warning. One moment a person’s talking, laughing, having a good time; next thing their lips are blue, there’s no sound coming out of their mouth and they’re scrambling for the trusty puffer. That’s what it was always like with Mum. It had always been this way.”“Dad researched her first. He’s not like me, the impulsive type. He’s a plotter and a planner.”“Anyway, the point of all this is to show you what a determined customer Dad is, well organised too, which made it even stranger the way he went to pieces after Mum died. I guess he had no tunnel dug for that one.”“It was soon after this I started to do bad things to Yoke-Lin. I think I was hoping to drive her mad. Couldn’t help it. At first it was small stuff really, like hiding things that I knew she would need.”“You know those bombs on the cartoons? The sort of ball-thing with a wick. That was me, but the wick was about one millimetre long.”“I’m not going to repeat it now, it probably wouldn’t sound like much anyway, but it was enough. I turned instantly into a “raging engine of death and destruction” . (I wrote that in a report for the counsellor, pretty good description I reckon, even though I say so myself.”“All I can remember was this puzzled look on his face while I was punching it, again and again. A look that seemed to say, “What did I say? What did I do?”“Dad thought “I needed to be amongst my own blood.” There you have it. What all these statements have in common was that no one wanted me around anymore. I may not be too bright, but I knew that much.”“People…people don’t know me. People think I’m the same as before but that I don’t have a mother but I’m not. I’m…” “I’m dangerous. I just seem like an ordinary boy, but I’m like a bomb, I can explode at any minute and nothing can stop me when I go off.”“One of my regular chores was that I got to feed this cute little black pig called Pimpernel. Uncle Frank made it clear that he was my responsibility and if I didn’t look after him, he would starve. I’d never had a pet before so I didn’t know what to do here either. It’s like I was dumb; everyone else seemed to know everything.”“I told Pimpernel all the things I couldn’t rell anyone. About Mum. About certain bits of Dad’s behaviour, how I felt about them. About living with these people. I know they were my relatives and that they were really nice but they were also strange.”“…I was presented with my own pair of shiny new gumboots. My size. It was like I had become part of the family.”““You okay Noel?” I called, surprising myself as well as him. He nodded and managed a weak grin. I thought of Aunty Lorna’s words and knew that for once I had done the right thing.”“Everything changes, Sandy. We must cherish everything while it is here and keep loving it after it has gone.”“He was right, you know, I was a different person now.” ................
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