CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT “BIG WORLD”

REVISION How does the narrator describe the place at the beginning of the story? The middle (their roadtrip)? As homework (WRITE THIS DOWN IN YOUR RECORD BOOKS), you should look at how place is represented at the end. Please bring in a quote that describes the place. What does the narrator say about his future at the beginning of the story? More homework : find a quote that describes how the narrator views or thinks of his future at the end of the book.

LAST WEEK’S HOMEWORK You were asked to find three quotes that describe Biggie & three quotes that describe the narrator. What did you find? Please direct the rest of the class with a page number and paragraph number.

BEGINNING : BIGGIE VS. NARRATOR Biggie Unattractive Abusive parents Country boy Narrator Presumably not hideous as he made out with his dream girl Pushy/supportive mother City boy

END: BIGGIE VS. NARRATOR Beginning End In the end, the narrator has an epiphany in how he views his relationship with Biggie. Let’s see if we can outline any descriptions of their relationship—changes from beginning to end. Take a few minutes and closely read the end of the novel (QUIETLY)

WEDNESDAY FINAL REVISION: QUOTES

REVISION: THE JOURNEY’S SIGNIFICANCE There are three “movements from one place to another” in “Big World.” 1.Superficial: they drive from Angelus to outside of Perth. 2.Relationship: The physical journey enlightens the narrator regarding the makeup of his relationship with Biggie. 3.Future: the journey helps the narrator realise the possibilities.

PHYSICAL: THE DRIVE At the beginning, the narrator complains about Angelus “Week after week an endless misting drizzle wafts in from the sea. It beads in our hair and hangs from the tips of our noses while we trudge around town in the vain hope of scaring up some action. The southern sky presses down and the beaches and bays turn the colour of dirty tin.” (1) “Some days I can see me and Biggie out there as old codgers, anchored to the friggin place, stuck forever.” (2) These quotes use the following language features:

THE DRIVE: MIDDLE Then, they finally take off on a drive together, “We’d be like all the other poor stranded failures who stayed in Angelus. But now we’re on the road…” (4) “The longer we drive the more the sky and the bush open up” (4) “When Perth comes into view, its dun plain shimmering with heat and distant towers ablaze with midday sun, we get all nervous and giggly, like a pair of tipsy netballers” (4) “The sunlight is creamy up here…We’ll move with the seasons. We’ll be free” (6-7)

THE DRIVE: END Finally, at the end, when their drive is complete, he describes their setting as, “waiting for the VW to explode. But it just smoulders and hisses a while as the sun sinks behind us” (14) “The sun flattens itself against the saltpan and disappears. The sky goes all acid blue and there’s just this huge silence. It’s like the world’s stopped…The horizon fades” (14) “In the hot northern dursk, the world suddenly gets big around us, so big we just give in and watch” (15)

PHYSICAL: RELATIONSHIP In the beginning, we learn that the narrator and Biggie are best friends. “I dream of escaping, of pissing off north to find some blue sky…Until now, out of loyalty, I’ve kept it to myself” (2) “Mum thinks Biggie’s an oaf, that he’s holding me back. She doesn’t know that without Biggie there’d be nothing left of me to hold back…If you believe him on the subject he acted more out of animal irritation than charity” (7-8) “Friendship, I suppose, comes at a price” (9) “For five years I worked my arse off. I really did all our work. Our of loyalty, yeah, but also from sheer vanity. And the fact is, I blew it” (11) In the middle, the narrator has an epiphany about their friendship. “the thing that eats at me, is the way he’s enjoying being brighter than her, being a step ahead, feeling somehow senior and secure in himself. It’s me all over. It’s how I am with him and it’s not pretty” (13) At the end, These quotes use the following language features:

OPPORTUNITIES/FUTURE In the beginning, the narrator tells us about his failing the exams, “heading to work every morning in a frigid wind in the January of our new lives, still in jeans and boots and flannel shirts, with beanies on our heads and the horizon around our ears” (2) Page 5, top paragraph. “Two made southern boys still wearing beanies in March” (5) At the end, after the journey, we learn that, These quotes use the following language devices:

WHY SO MANY QUOTES? Writing quotes out by hand serves a number of purposes: 1.When it comes time to write an essay, you have a list of the most important pieces. 2.So that you pay very close attention to and analyse small bits.

QUOTE LIST You should have/make a list of quotes that details the changes (beginning, middle, end) in the physical setting of their road trip, their relationship, and how the narrator views his future. Remember, when you use quotes in your essays you must cite them. Insert quote and follow with (author name, published date, page #) For “Big World” it should generally look like, (Winton, 2005, #)

JOURNEY PROVERBS Please open your journey booklets to Page 7 Rewrite the saying, and state it in your own words. Then, say how the “journey” is used in the saying. Does it describe a trip? Life? Education? A process? An end? A beginning? A goal?

HOMEWORK WRITE THIS IN YOUR RECORD BOOKS! Complete the writing exercises, collect one from my desk as you leave the classroom. All pages and all questions must be completed by tomorrow.