This is Lit: Recent Episodes
This is Lit Podcast
Three Australian English teachers discuss the texts they are teaching for students and literature lovers alike.
The one where we chat about some of the themes and symbols in Rear Window, as well as how we would tackle an essay question.
The one where we have our very first guest star, Jake, who talks all about McCarthyism and how we see this reflected in Hitchcock's Rear Window.
The one where we introduce Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window and briefly discuss the context of 1950s America, McCarthyism and Hitchcock himself.
The one where we do a holiday special even though it's not actually the holidays anymore and we chat about Alfred Hitchcock's cinematic masterpiece 'Rear Window'.
Discussion Questions:
-
How is the social context of McCarthyism reflected in Rear Window?
-
How did Hitchcock make you reflect on your own voyeuristic tendencies?
-
Camera Shots and Angles are arguably the most important filmic techniques that Hitchcock uses, how are they used to convey Hitchcock’s overall message in ‘Rear Window’?
-
How has Hitchcock used music to ‘set the scene’ for Lisa and Jeff’s relationship?
-
How has lighting been used by Hitchcock to build suspense in the film?
-
Jeff gives many of his neighbours monikers that can be seen as sexist and condescending (eg. 'Miss Torso, Miss Lonelyhearts etc’). What does this convey about Jeff as a character and also the context in the 1950s?
-
What do you think Hitchcock was trying to convey about marriage and gender roles during the 1950s?
End Segment: Symbols Game
Explain what is symbolic about the following symbols...
- Jeff's camera lens - Jeff's cast/broken leg - Lisa's costuming - The wedding ring - The temperature
The one where we break down essay prompts for ‘The Longest Memory’ and ‘The 7 Stages Grieving’.
Essay Questions:
-
How is resistance portrayed in The Longest Memory and The 7 Stages of Grieving and how is it received?
-
Compare the ways in which the two texts explore the possibility of social change.
-
“The future is just more of the past waiting to happen.”- The Longest Memory
“In those suitcases lies the photos of those who are dead, those nameless ones...”- The 7 Stages of Grieving
Compare the role of memory in the two texts and how grief is portrayed.
The one where almost everything goes wrong and we compare the themes from 'The Longest Memory' and 'The 7 Stages of Grieving'.
Focus Questions:
-
What are some of the similarities and differences in these histories of racism, or in their lingering, persistent legacies?
-
What ideas do both texts convey about the idea of memory? How are these depictions similar or different?
-
What do both texts display about the process of grief? How is this similar/different in each text?
The one where we compare characters from The Longest Memory and The 7 Stages of Grieving.
Focus Questions:
-
Which character from each text do you think derives the most empathy from the audience?
-
Which characters are similar in terms of their power/powerlessness?
-
How do each of the texts characters’ ‘stories’ become constitutive of themselves? What is it about the Woman’s stories that she connects so deeply with her history and tradition that we also see in The Longest Memory?
The one where we talk about themes from The 7 Stages of Grieving.
Focus Questions:
-
Do you think remembering her past trauma and the trauma of her people is always painful for the woman?
-
Is the Australian problem the fact that we have not been allowing ourselves much emotion for the Aboriginal story? Does it all just kind of get swept under the rug?
-
Are there any characters within the play that do have power? If so, what kind of power do they have?
-
Where would you place this text: fiction or non-fiction?
The one where we discuss the characters from The 7 Stages of Grieving.
Focus Questions
-
Do you think Enoch and Mailman intended the audience to develop an emotional connection to The Woman?
-
What problematic cycles do the characters get stuck in during the play? Why do you think Enoch and Mailman decided to have the other characters demonstrate the other issues that affect Aboriginals?
-
Do you think the fact that we don’t actually hear from any character other than the woman affects our ability to empathise with those that she is talking about?
-
Do you think the gender of the main character, being ‘The Woman’ was a deliberate choice? Would it change things if her character was a man?
The one where we talk about Wesley Enoch and Deborah Mailman's Australian play 'The Seven Stages of Grieving'.
Focus Questions
-
What is the power behind having one woman tell so many Aboriginal experiences and stories?
-
Is it effective to study a script of a play without seeing the performance of it? Are we losing meaning or emotional connection to the characters and their stories?
-
Despite the events of the play being set in the past, what comparisons can you make between the issues in the play and what has been happening around the world recently?
-
In your opinion what was the most important story told in the performance?
The one where we talk about themes from Fred A'guair's novella 'The Longest Memory' and realise that our knowledge of the book is terrible.
Focus Questions:
-
What's the greatest injustice in the novel?
-
What do you think is the main take away of the novel?
3.Why do you think the author has included the plight and suffering of women in his novel?
- What is the significance of the book’s title- ‘The Longest Memory.’ Which themes does this relate to?
The one where we talk about the characters from Fred D'Aguiar's novella 'The Longest Memory'.
Focus Questions:
-
What's significant about the characters' names?
-
Who was most responsible for Chapel's death?
-
Apart from the obvious characters, who misused their power?
-
How might the events of the novel have played out differently if Chapel were a woman and Lydia were a man?