YR 12 English

Possible books to try if you need to read another text involving "letters" or 2 stories intertwined. Examples are the French Lieutenant's Woman by John Fowles and
Night letters : a journey through Switzerland and Italy by Robert Dessaix
LETTERS BOOKS:
Daddy-L ong- Legs by Jean Webster
Joel and Cat set the story straight by Nick Earls and Rebecca Sparrow (ya fiction)
Sam's letters to Jennifer by James Patterson (fiction)
Rilke and Nadreas-Salome translated by Edward Snow and Michael Winkler (true and translated from the German)
The Vintner's letters by Maurice O'Shea (fiction)
Something borrowed by Paul Magrs (fiction)
84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff - also a 2003 DVD version starring Starring Anne Bancroft and Anthony Hopkins.
Ariel's gift : Ted Hughes, Sylvia Plath and the story of Birthday letters by Wagner, Erica.
TWO STORIES INTERTWINED BOOKS:
Tom's Midnight Garden by Phillipa Pearce - also a 2006 DVD version starring Greta Scacchi
The virgin blue by Tracey Chevalier
The LakeHouse DVD starring Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves
Lady Rose and Mrs Memmary by Ruby Ferguson
Doomsday book by Willis, Connie. (time travel fiction)
Louise, Youth Librarian, Manly Library

Studying "Romulus, my father" - Infocus resources

3 new articles relevant to the book Romulus my Father, and the new English theme of Belonging have arrived at Manly Library. These articles have been purchased from the Infocus service at the State Library of NSW:

My father's landscape
In this reflection of his memoir Gaita discusses events and relationships explored, painting a painful yet compassionate picture of his childhood and life with his father. Gaita's relationship to the Australian landscape is also emphasised as having a profound impact upon the author's sensibilities.
Romulus my father: scenes from a childhood
This article discusses the film adaptation. Themes of belonging and becoming, and sense of place are explored and the way in which these themes shape the drama of the young Raimond's relationships, in particular with his father is examined. The portrayal of the intense emotion in the film is also discussed.
Multiculturalism and Universalism in Romulus My Father
This paper examines the themes of identity and belonging in Romulus My Father. The author discusses the attitudes that many Australians had to migrants in the 1950's and the interaction between universal and cultural values. Complex questions of morality within Gaita's parent's relationship are also discussed as well as the difficult nature of judging a relationship written in memoir. Included is a reply by Gaita in response to the paper.

These articles are available for use on level 1 of the library, they are not available for loan
Louise McMorland, Youth Librarian, Manly Library

How did Women live in the time of Jane Austen?

This question has come in from a Senior Student who is studying some of the novels of Jane Austen. She has been asked to take a look historically at how women lived, and to try and find other written examples. Some suggestions that I have found are:

• The Jane Austen handbook : a sensible yet elegant guide to her world - by Margaret Cox Sullivan
• Ladies of the manor : wives and daughters in country-house society, 1830-1918 - By Pamela Horn
• Good wives? : Mary, Fanny, Jennie & me, 1845-2001 - By Margaret Forster
• The friendly Jane Austen : a well-mannered introduction to a lady of sense and sensibility - by Natalie Tyler
• Governess: the lives and times of the real Jane Eyres - by Ruth Brandon
• The Politics of Breastfeeding - by Gabrielle Palmer
• Who cooked the Last Supper? : the women's history of the world - By Rosalind Miles

Louise, Youth Librarian, Manly Library

Henry Lawson and comparitive Australian Landscape writing

I recently had a request from a senior student, she was reading Henry Lawson for English and wanted to read some comparitive short stories that talked about the Australian landscape. The following list is worth exploring at your local public library, I haven't looked at all these volumes yet (as we don't have them all at Manly Library) but if you do use them please comment back to me on this blog as to whether they were useful. Some are anthologies of short stories by multiple authors, others are multiple short stories by the one author
Malouf, David - Antipodes
Malouf, David - Dream Stuff
Astley, Thea - Collected Stories
Astley, Thea - Hunting the Wild Pineapple
Astley, Thea -It’s Raining in Mango
Hospital, Janette Turner - Collected Stories 1970-1995
Hospital, Janette Turner - Dislocations
Hospital, Janette Turner - Isobars
Jolley,Elizabeth - various titles with the subtitle 'Short stories'
White, Patrick - The Cockatoos
Winton, Tim - The Turning
Classic Australian Short Stories. Collected by Maggie Pickney
Australian classics by Jane Gleeson-White
The Faber Book of Contemporary Australian Short Stories
Australian Literature: An Anthology of Writing from the Land Down Under
The Macmillan Anthology of Australian Literature
Baynton, Barbara “The chosen vessel” was written in the 1800’s but is available on-line at the Australian classics website -
http://www.australianclassics.com.au/files/Baynton-TheChosenVessel.pdf
Louise, Youth Librarian, Manly Library

Crime Fiction

Are you trying to read widely in the crime/mystery fiction genre ? Try finding some short stories, these come in 2 ways.
1. as compilations with multiple authors in the one volume
2. multiple short stories by the one author
Reading a short story by a crime author gives you a sense of how they write, without reading a full fiction novel
ALSO available at some libraries are adult readers, these are designed for adults who are learning english as a second language who have to improve their literacy skills. These readers are often short versions of classic authors in this field eg Raymond Chandler, Lynda La Plante, Arthur Conan Doyle
Louise, Youth Librarian, Manly Library

BELONGINGS ideas list now available

Are you doing Belongings for the 2009 HSC? - our 3 libraries have got together and created a fabulous list of possible texts to use. Don't forget to ALWAYS check with your teacher before choosing a text. Follow the link back to the www.insidebreak.org.au website to see the list.
Louise McMorland, Youth Librarian, Manly Library

Journeys Ideas Lists

are available now on insidebreak.org.au
Louise, Youth Librarian , Manly