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Teachers’ Notes (Secondary) by Robyn Sheahan-Bright TOO FLASH TooFlashTN.pdf (97KB) Melissa Lucashenko ISBN 1 86465 048 6 Suitable for ages 14+ These notes can be downloaded at http://www.iad.edu.au/press/ and may be reproduced free of charge for use and study within schools. They may not be reproduced (either in whole or part) for commercial use or sale.
3 South Terrace PLOT‘Expect the prejudice, cope with the ignorance and smile your way to the top. Don’t ever let it hit home, cos then you’ve let them win.’ (p 23) Fifteen-year-old Zo Stray is horrified when her bureaucrat mum Anna announces that they’re leaving a town north of Brisbane to move to the capital. Zo doesn’t want to leave her friend Sione Fefita (with whom she shares an ambition to become a music star), and fears that being an overweight Murri teenager in a new place will require major adjustment. She also fears that the move will take her further away from her dream of finding her father’s mob, the Andersons. When she enrols at Mooronga High School she befriends Missy and Trey White, who are from a poor Koori family, and realises that in contrast to them, she and her mother live very well. When Zo’s class is sent on a Kulcha Kamp with two wise Indigenous women, they begin to sort out their differences. Zo’s friend Sione comes to Brisbane to audition for a dance school, Zo continues to succeed academically, and Missy makes new plans. The future looks bright for all of them, although in very different ways. THEMES‘They were different, and they always would be, but they were the same, too, and both of them were smiling.’ (p 207) Zo Stray is trying to sort out who she is and what’s important in her life. Too Flash is therefore a ‘rite of passage’ fiction and might be studied in that context, with reference to personal individuality, Aboriginal identity (which is necessarily part of Zo’s efforts to discover herself), and to class, which is central to her self-exploration as well. At its core, this novel is about the diversity of the Black community, a theme imbued here with hope and pride in Indigenous culture, and anger about racial stereotypes born of prejudice and ignorance. Drawing on personal accounts of Aboriginal achievements in Horton (1994) for secondary level, and Barlow and Hill (2000) for primary level, the following issues can be explored: Being ‘Too Flash’ The problem with achieving recognition and success in a predominantly white society is that it means making a compromise that Aboriginal people often find offensive. White society is premised on notions of capitalism and individual self-actualisation which sit uneasily with Aboriginal beliefs in community endeavour and the importance of sharing. Zo and Anna are used to white prejudice, but when Zo compares her relative affluence with the Whites’ poverty, she becomes conscious of another divide – between the Indigenous ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’. Is she ‘Too Flash’ for these new friends? Is she a ‘coconut’ as Missy accuses her of being (p 99) ? Is it possible that she, too, is prejudiced? Has she become ‘A shadowy Flash Black whose dark exterior held a selfish, material heart. A heart that didn’t have room for anyone except her needs, her world. A Flash Black content to let others suffer where she had everything’ (p 101)? Class is therefore a key theme in this novel where it plays a source of significant division in Zo’s and Missy’s lives. Ignorance Breeds Prejudice Australian education has not generally placed great importance on Indigenous culture; many Non-Indigenous Australians are ignorant about it and labour under several misconceptions. One is to presume that ‘Aboriginal’ signifies one people: ‘No such thing as “Aboriginal”. Gotta say the right name. Yugambeh, Bundjalung, Waka Waka, Gitabel, Wiradjuri, Wautharong, Aranda … they all different. Lotsa mobs, lotsa lingos’ (p 151). There is immense diversity among members of the Aboriginal community in terms of class, geographical location, educational background and other environmental factors. Another misconception is that if a person has European as well as Aboriginal heritage they’re ‘not really Aboriginal’ (pp 178-9). Another is to presume that since Aboriginal culture does not rely on the creation of repositories of knowledge ‘owned’ by a person or institution, it is somehow inferior. Zo realises that one of the major differences between Murris and white people is that the latter aim to ‘know’ everything whereas Murris are content to observe the world and to respect its mysteries: ‘That’s half the trouble with the migaloo world … Needing to understand everything was a type of arrogance. Demanding answers all the time was like demanding attention. Tell me, tell me, tell me.’ (p 151) Media Coverage of Indigenous Issues is either non-existent or biased. ‘Apart from crime, brown people only got on TV if they shot their own footage. Outside of famines, black people didn’t even exist.’ (p 6)
Activity The relationship between race, poverty, education and power is evinced by the fact that government assistance to Indigenous communities is often disparaged by those unaware of the need to make reparation for disempowerment and institutionalised abuse. Anna remarks on this disparity when she asks Zo: ‘Have you noticed how many Murri doctors and lawyers there are in Dunstan?’ (pp 19-20) Zo wonders: ‘It wasn’t like coppers really could waltz in and take Aboriginal kids away still, was it?’ To which Missy responds: ‘If they can kill Koories in jail and get away with it, I guess they can do whatever they fucken want. We’re poor, Zo, black and poor – can you get that through ya thick head. And when you’re black and poor you’re fucked.’ (pp 114-115) These issues have wide ramifications in Australia where a recent debate about the so-called ‘black armband’ view of history has challenged the reportage of early massacres, Frontier Conflicts and stolen children (Reynolds, 2003, 2001; Windschuttle, 2003; Manne, 2001, 2003) and threatened the few advances made in public recognition of Aboriginal rights. The Howard Government’s closure of ATSIC is a relevant topic in this context as well. Prejudice becomes even more evident to Zo when she moves to Sunnybank, a Brisbane suburb populated largely by Chinese people, and realises that other minorities are marginalised, just as Aboriginal people are: ‘Pauline Hanson’d have a blue fit at this joint, Zo thought with an evil grin. That counted in Sunnybank’s favour.’ (p 27) When the real estate agent spots Zo with her new friends, he tells Anna that all three listed units have been ‘sold’ before they get a chance to look at them (pp 39-42). (Ironically, prejudiced owners and neighbours who deny Aboriginal people rental, also criticise them for forming ‘enclaves’ in suburbs instead of ‘assimilating’.) Even police are sometimes racist: ‘Well, anyway, keep it down, willya? You’re not living in a humpie now, you’ve got neighbours to consider.’ (p 110)
Activity Land / ‘Country’ Land or ‘country’ is central to Indigenous cultural beliefs which Missy’s (p 44) and Zo’s (p 182) dreams make clear, for each have buried connections to the land and to the power of the dreaming associated with it, which explains why Aunty Gill is fighting for Native Title claims. Enforced urbanisation (or separation and removal from traditional lands) has deprived many Aboriginal people of their languages and culture, and successive government policies (aided by religious institutions) have deliberately sought to separate them from their relatives via strategies such as segregation, separation, removal and assimilation. See: ‘Or maybe it’s easier… bad ones.’ (p 156)
Activity TOPICAL ISSUES Weight and Body Image are significant topics in our society. Diets and eating disorders of film and rock stars are front page news, as is the increasing incidence of anorexia and bulimia.
Activity Single Parent Families confront the issues shared by the Strays and the Whites.
Activity Crime, the Legal System and Police Power are points of contention when Missy assaults Elle, and when she and Trey use drugs, for both are legal offences. Activity Sexual Abuse and Assault occur when Zo is accosted – by a stalker who exposes himself, and by a man who physically attacks her. She reports neither incident to the police.
Activity Conflicts in other countries impact on Australia. Zo becomes interested in the troubles in Irian Jaya (p 66), fights with Elle about it (p 123), and does an assignment on it.
Activity CHARACTERS Authors create characters by giving each of them a distinctive ‘voice’, and dialogue can be a key aspect of characterisation, conveying a lot without using excessive description. The conversation in the shop between Missy and Zo (pp 55–8). conveys the attitudes of Lucashenko’s characters, which is particularly important here since the ‘differences’ between Missy and Zo are central to the novel’s theme of diversity among Aboriginal people. Activity Write a conversation between two people, using dialogue that conveys something of who they are. What literary devices are used to establish character in the novel? Look at the names and physical descriptions of characters, what they say and how they say it, their emotional and physical actions, and whether you understand their motives. Who is the most interesting character and why? Anna says at one point ‘People are legends’ (p 195). What does this mean? Choose three characters and describe their function in the novel. For example, one of the novel’s central themes is expressed through Aunty Gill reminding the girls of the importance of country (the land) in Indigenous culture. SETTING The naming of specific places and landmarks, and description of atmosphere locates the novel largely in the contemporary Brisbane area. Activity Read passages: ‘Zo stood outside Mooronga High … driver some more.’ (pp 27-8) ‘Almost before she could gather her thoughts,… scared of no one.’ (pp 50-2) Discuss the impressions of Brisbane that these passages give you. Write a list of adjectives or adverbs which have a calculated effect on the evocation of place. How are we made aware of the approximate time period in which the novel is set? (E.g.reference to contemporary music, clothing brands and politicians.) How does the author convey how much time has passed during the course of the action in the novel? Domestic settings (i.e. the homes of the characters) are significant in terms of the themes of the novel.
Activity John Marsden (1993) claims that setting should be described in a way that appeals to all the senses. Activity WRITING STYLE This novel is written in the third person subjective, which gives the reader a personal view of each character’s feelings without being limited to one perspective. Read pp 1–2 and pp 21–2 to see how this technique introduces Zo and Missy.
Activity Humour is a feature. For example, Zo’s timidity on her first day visiting a new school is parodied: ‘She catastrophised headlines in her own imagination: Girl Abandoned By Single Mother. Lived on own Fat for Three Months Before Perishing’ (p 27).
Activity Aboriginal English is spoken by some of the characters, e.g.‘Richest black girl can’t let poorfella me have my internet fun. You so mean to me, bitch!’ (p 5) and Aboriginal language words are used in context, e.g. ‘the goonah would really hit the fan’ (p 5).
Activity Music is used as a metaphorical frame of reference to suggest Aboriginal self-determination. The novel opens with a quote about the poor and dispossessed from Woody Guthrie, a famous US protest folk singer. Zo refers obliquely to Black American role models such as Motown, rap musicians and Tracy Chapman.
Activity Opening sentences in chapters are important in setting the scene and structuring the action.
Activity CURRICULUM TOPICS Literacy and Language Critical Literacy Examine the novel’s meaning by considering the writer’s intention, the social context in which it was published and the different views that might be held by those reading it. The writer aims to change views and to invite questions about race and culture among her readers. Activity Consider how popular culture is used as a frame of reference, eg when Zo compares herself to Cartman (p 1) (South Park), or when she becomes angry with the kids’ indecision: ‘Would you like to call a friend?’ (p 80) (Who Wants to be a Millionaire?)
Activity Reflect on the packaging of the novel by examining the cover image, back cover blurb and internal text design, and analyse their effect on the reader. SOSE/HSIE Discuss the novel in terms of Change and Continuity, Cultures and Environments, Social Systems and Structures, Social Justice, Intercultural Understanding, Ecological Sustainability, Democratic Processes, Beliefs and Moral Codes and the importance of Life Long Learning: e.g. ‘Even when you didn’t want to move, it was still a buzz to start fresh in a brand new place.’ (p 23)
Activity Creative Arts Indigenous cultural artforms provide sustenance to Aboriginal communities and also inform Non-Indigenous Australians about Aboriginal culture. Indigenous musicians such as the Warumpi Band, Christine Anu, Vika and Linda, Kev Carmody and Archie Roach are mentioned frequently.
Activity Indigenous Studies History
Activity Health and Personal
Development
Activity EXTENSION ACTIVITIES FOR MULTI-AGE CLASSROOMS Creative and Personal Writing Activity Write a rap song by Sione or Zo about being separated. Write a poem about the police by Trey or Missy. Write Zo’s application to study overseas, describing herself, her academic achievements and her interests, using her laidback humour as the style. Write a blurb for this novel. Read the words of Woody Guthrie’s song ‘Do-re-mi’. Then write your own protest folk song about Australia using the title ‘Do-re-mi’. Start a story with the words ‘She was Too Flash to …?’ and continue it. Class Discussion and Further Exploration
Activity Organise a class debate after reading: ‘It’s like, she’s poor … no more’ (p 121) in which Zo suggests that riches can lie with family support networks as much as with money. Do you agree/disagree? Read Indigenous memoirs or life stories and then discuss anything you were not aware of before you read them. Research the Indigenous history of the local area in which you live. Research the life of a significant Indigenous Australian, e.g. David Unaipon, Oodgeroo, Neville Bonner, Faith Bandler, Charles Perkins, Jack Davis, Aden Ridgeway, Cathy Freeman, Vincent Lingiari or Lowitja O’Donoghue. Research Aboriginal literature by reading Shoemaker (1989), Mudrooroo (1997), Heiss (2003) and Bradford (2001) for secondary level, and Dunkle (1994) for primary level. Read and compare Lucashenko’s novels to those of Indigenous writers and to films [listed below under Additional Resources]. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Melissa Lucashenko (1967--) is an Australian writer of mixed European and Yugambeh/Bundjalung heritage. Born and educated in Brisbane, she has an honours degree in public policy from Griffith University, and is based at South Golden Beach, near Byron Bay. Her first novel Steam Pigs (UQP, 1997) won the Dobbie Prize for Australian women’s fiction, was shortlisted in the NSW Premier’s Awards and for the Regional Commonwealth Writer’s Prize. Her second novel Killing Darcy (UQP, 1998), which was written for teenagers, won the Aurora Prize of the Royal Blind Society. Her third novel Hard Yards (UQP, 2000) was shortlisted for the Courier Mail Book of the Year and the NSW Premier’s Award. For more information consult her website: http://www.melissalucashenko.com/ ADDITIONAL RESOURCES Books Abdulla, Ian, As I Grew Older, Norwood, Omnibus, 1993. Akiwenzie-Damm, Kateria and Douglas, Josie Skins: Contemporary Indigenous Writing, Alice Springs, IAD Press, 2000. Barlow, Alex and Marji Hill The Macmillan Encyclopaedia of Australia’s Aboriginal People, South Yarra, Macmillan, 2000. Bayet-Charlton, Fabienne Finding Ullagundahi Island, Sydney, Allen & Unwin, 2002. Behrendt, Larissa Achieving Social Justice, Annandale, Federation Press, 2003. Bird, Carmel (ed) The Stolen Children: Their Stories Sydney, Random House, 1998. Bradford, Clare Reading Race Aboriginality in Australian Children’s Literature, Melbourne, MUP, 2001. Brennan, Frank One Land, One Nation: Mabo Towards 2001, St Lucia, UQP, 1995. Bringing Them Home: Report of the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families, April 1997. Cleven, Vivienne Bitin’ Back, St Lucia, UQP, 2001. Davis, Jack (et al) Paperbark: a Collection of Black Australian Writings, St Lucia, UQP, 1990. Douglas, Josie (comp) Untreated: Poems by Black Writers, Alice Springs, IAD Press, 2001. Dunkle, Margaret Black in Focus: a guide to Aboriginality in literature for young people, DW Thorpe, 1994. Fogarty, Lionel New and Selected Poems Munaldjali, Mutuerjaraera, Melbourne, Hyland House, 1999. Healey, Kaye (ed) The Stolen Generation (Issues in Society Vol 91), Balmain, Spinney Press, 1998. Heiss, Anita Dhuuluu-yala: to talk straight: publishing indigenous literature, Canberra, Aboriginal Studies Press, 2003. Horton, David The Encyclopaedia of Aboriginal Australia (2 vols), Canberra, Aboriginal Studies Press, 1994. Huggins, Rita and Jackie Aunty Rita, Canberra, Aboriginal Studies Press, 2000. Kidd, Rosalind The Way We Civilise: Aboriginal Affairs - the untold story, St Lucia, UQP, 1997. Langford Ginibi, Ruby Don’t Take Your Love To Town, Ringwood, Penguin, 1988. Lennon, Jessie And I Always Been Moving! JL/MM, Coober Pedy, 1995. Lester, Yami Yami, Alice Springs, IAD Press, 1993 Lucashenko, Melissa ‘Oodgeroo Island Poet’ Sheahan-Bright, Robyn and Glover, Stuart (eds), Hot Iron Corrugated Sky 100 Years of Queensland Writing, St Lucia, UQP, 2002, pp 122-128. Lucashenko, Melissa Hard Yards, St Lucia, UQP, 1999. Lucashenko, Melissa Killing Darcy, St Lucia, UQP, 1997. Lucashenko, Melissa Steam Pigs, St Lucia, UQP, 1997. MacDonald, Rowena Between Two Worlds: The Commonwealth Government and the Removal of Aboriginal Children of Part Descent in the Northern Territory, Alice Springs, IAD Press, 1995. McLaren, Philip Sweet Water Stolen Land, St Lucia, UQP, 1994. Manne, Robert ‘In Denial: The Stolen Generations and the Right’, Quarterly Essay issue 1, Melbourne, Black Inc., 2001. Manne, Robert Whitewash: On Keith Windschuttle’s Fabrication of Aboriginal History, Melbourne, Black Inc., 2003. Marsden, John Everything I Know About Writing, Sydney, Pan Macmillan, 1998. Moreton, Romaine Post Me to the Prime Minister, Alice Springs, IAD Press, 2004. Mudrooroo The Indigenous Literature of Australia: Milli Milli Wangka, Melbourne, Hyland House, 1997. Oodgeroo Noonuccal My People, 3rd edn, Brisbane, Jacaranda Press, 1990. Pilkington, Doris Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence, St Lucia, UQP, 2001, 1996. Pryor, Boori Maybe Tomorrow, Ringwood, Penguin, 1998. Purcell, Leah Black Chicks Talking, Sydney, Hodder Headline, 2002. Rankin, Scott and Purcell, Leah Box the Pony, Sydney, Hodder Headline, 1999. Read, Peter A Rape of the Soul So Profound, St Leonard’s, Allen & Unwin, 1999. Reed-Gilbert, Kerry (comp) Message Stick: Contemporary Aboriginal Writing, Alice Springs, IAD Press, 1997. Reynolds, Henry The Law of the Land, Camberwell, Penguin, 2003. Reynolds, Henry The Question of Genocide in Australia’s History: An Indelible Stain? Ringwood, Viking, 2001. Rintoul, Stuart The Wailing: A National Black Oral History, Melbourne, Heinemann, 1993. Roughsey, Dick Moon and Rainbow: the autobiography of an Aboriginal, Sydney, Reed, 1971. Roughsey, Elsie (Labumore) An Aboriginal Mother Tells of the Old and the New, Ringwood, McPhee Gribble/Penguin, 1984. Russell, Elaine A is for Aunty, Sydney, ABC Books, 2000. Scott, Kim Benang: From the Heart Fremantle, Fremantle Arts Centre Press, 1999. Shoemaker, Adam Black Words, White Page: Aboriginal Literature 1929-1988, St Lucia, UQP, 1989. Tucker, Alan Side by Side, Norwood, Omnibus, 1998. Utemorrah, Daisy & Torres, P., Do Not Go Around the Edges, Magabala Books, 1991. Wagan Watson, Sam Of Muse, Meandering and Midnight, St Lucia, UQP, 2000. Ward, Glenyse Wandering Girl, Broome, Magabala Books, 1988. Wharton, Herb Yumba Days, St Lucia, UQP, 1999. ‘Whose Dreaming, Whose Story?’ in Time Will Tell: Children’s Literature into the 21st century: Proceedings from the Fourth National Conference of the Children’s Book Council of Australia, Adelaide, 1998, edited by Sieta van der Hoeven. Canberra, CBCA, 1998, pp 86-92. Williams, Edna Tantjingu and Wingfield, Eileen Wani (illus. Kunyi June-Anne McInerney), Down the Hole, Alice Springs, IAD Press, 2000 Windschuttle, Keith The Fabrication of Aboriginal History, Sydney, Macleay Press, 2003. Wright, Alexis Plains of Promise, St Lucia, UQP, 2000. Films Beneath Clouds Director: Ivan Sen. Released 2002. Yolngu Boy Director: Stephen Johnson. Released 2000. Rabbit Proof Fence Director: Phil Noyce. Released 2001. Radiance Director: Rachel Perkins. Released 1998. Websites ABC Online Message Stick Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Online [http://www.abc.net.au/message/default.htm Accessed 7/7/04] Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Board, Australia Council [http:// www.ozco.gov.au Accessed 7/7/04] Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies [http://www.aiatsis.gov.au/ Accessed 7/704] HREOC website [http://hreoc.gov.au/social_justice/stolen_children/ [http://www.koorimail.com Accessed 7/704]
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