Gladwell's manifesto for the underdog is flawed, argues David Runciman. know what happened when David took on Goliath: the little guy won. bad for kids, because the child-teacher dynamic becomes stale and It is a remarkable and stirring tale – it just doesn't belong in a book . 2 Oct
Table of contents
Not only is Ubby Aboriginal, but she is also a girl — and a leader of a tough gang. Sai Fong Chinese — also a minority and discriminated against group is another very powerful female figure, as is the Warrior Woman who appears in the Prologue and passes on the Druga to the Phoenix Dragon though her role is small.
- Undersea Colonies.
- Ubby’s Underdogs.
- A Tale of Two Cities;
- Vigilante: A Shane Scully Novel (Shane Scully Novels)?
Initiate small group or classroom discussion on the way that these three females use their power. Paul Donappleton is obviously corrupt. Ask for a volunteer to explain his form of corruption to the class. There is also blackmail involved. Who is in a position to blackmail whom and how? Students are to look up the concept and then be prepared to explain how this situation impacted the town of Broome — and in fact all of Australia — in the mid-twentieth century.
The legend of the Phoenix Dragon , Brenton E.
McKenna joyously overturns accepted norms and stereotypes of colonial Australia as it was in the mid-twentieth century. This definition is problematic when applied to Australia because British settlers did not see themselves as colonisers per se. Students have already done research on: Additional research areas could include:. Nevertheless, in colonial Australia, themes such as racism, colonisation, oppression and dispossession certainly did still do? The text vividly represents the British dominion of township life in Broome in the late s. Paul Donappleton holds a seemingly unassailable position of racial superiority over every other person of differing ethnicity in the whole town.
Students are to make a list of all the different races represented in Broome. In Australia, the date chosen as the day the nation celebrates its colonial beginnings is problematic. People of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent have always resisted the fact that in order to celebrate our national day, white Australia has chosen the day on which the First Fleet under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip, berthed at Sydney Cove, Port Jackson. Sai Fong is particularly interesting in that she unlike Ubby does have adult supervision. And at first, she is depicted as a stereotypical Chinese girl of that era, as being meek and compliant.
After discussions in small groups, ask for a volunteer to describe the reason and the way in which Sai Fong is abducted. Students are to research manga comics in general. If possible it would be a good idea to bring a few manga comics into the classroom and pass them around. Then students are directed to How to Read Manga , or the teacher can project the site for the entire class to look at. Other Aboriginal writers such as Dick Roughsey have highlighted Aboriginal themes in picture books, if not in graphic novels. If possible, it would be well worth while exposing students to this provocative graphic novel.
An Indigenous War Hero. Australia prides itself on being one of the most multicultural countries on earth. Students could work in small groups to explore these issues. Each group could be representative of a different ethnicity researched previously on the Bureau of Statistics site. If there are different nationalities represented within the class, they may wish to explore their own history. Examples of different ethnic groups who have faced problems adapting to Australian life include: Some research would be necessary. Students could prepare a short fact sheet outlining difficulties faced by their chosen ethnic group and the steps undertaken to overcome these difficulties, or a poster or an informal oral presentation to the rest of the class.
If creating graphic novels out of serious and important adult texts has made them accessible to a wide range of learners, that can only be beneficial. This has already been looked at in some detail during the Close Reading section, however, as the Rich Assessment Task section below relies on students understanding the terminology used to describe the crafting of graphic novels, a revision of terms and their meanings may well be in order. All the usually taught ways of approaching literature: These include literary devices such as: They may wish to revise terms: Students may work together to brainstorm how written and visual cues work together to make meaning.
What is happening here? What does it demonstrate about her? What meaning do you get from this frame? Frame 6 — why has Fin taken his red scarf down to speak to Sai Fong? What does his reaction imply? What sort of emotion is he showing? Frame 8 — in the lowest panel on the page, there is no gutter separating Sel and Gabe. What does this picture tell you about both these characters? Where is the lizard? The following Task 1 is adapted from the Scholastic Site: Provide students with a collection of images and portraits of various heroes, heroines and villains from an array of graphic comics, novels, films and the internet.
Graphic novels are an important tool for encouraging reading and firing imagination. And because, to many students, they seem less threatening than densely written texts, they provide an excellent vehicle for teaching both structural and abstract aspects of literature. Revisit the Scholastic description of a graphic novel. The Legend of the Phoenix Dragon, students are to create four pages in graphic novel format based entirely on this text.
In their work, they need to demonstrate their knowledge of graphic novel writing by incorporating elements such as: Students are to create four pages of their own graphic novel , again demonstrating mastery of the various skills needed to create a graphic novel and not just a picture book or a comic strip. In order to do this they could create a new story line entirely, with new characters. They could take on some social issue and explore it in this format, such as producing a story about bullying, racism or sexism, or, in negotiation with their teacher, they could produce four pages of a graphic novel on a topic of their own choice.
Students who do not wish to draw could achieve the same ends by writing the script and then creating a storyboard where they use stick figures and provide extensive instructions to the artist, frame by frame.
Students who have easy access to computers and computer know-how, could use photographs instead of drawings to create their graphic novels. Presumably, many students will choose to develop the ideas generated in the Rich Assessment Task from the previous section. In your school there are many types of learners: A traditional way to arrange school debates is to set up teams of six students: Each student needs to write out their speech according to the format being followed, for example, speaker one defines the topic, provides the case line and outlines the main points to be raised.
Rebuttal points are considered prior to the debate, students practise together, etc. During this unit, students have watched a video where Brenton E. The Legend of the Phoenix Dragon , give your own opinion as to how the study of this book has helped you. Talk to your school or local librarian for more information.
AustLit — Brenton E. Missship WordPress — Aboriginal perspectives in the English classroom: Scholastic — A guide to using graphic novels with children and teens. Edutopia — Using graphic novels and comics in the classroom. YouTube — Various clips, lectures and examples on using graphic novels to teach. How to Create a Storyboard. When Kids Get life: The Language of Film and Video. Teaching Strategies for Graphic Novels. Debating in the world school style.
Reading Australia — Brenton E. Art Talks- Article and interview. A Festival of Words. A Transformative Vision of Australian Community. An Unhealthy Government Experiment. Era 3 — Assimilation. Australia Day Muslim Themed billboard removed after threats. Australian Sikh student denied school enrollment for wearing turban. Australian colonialism in Papua New Guinea. Dick Roughsey — Wikipedia.
A Tale of Two Cities
Female superheroes — 15 most powerful superheroes of all time. Graphic Novel Adaptations of Classic Books. Good Manga for Kids. How to read manga comics. Comprehension and Discussion Activities for the Movie: How to write a graphic novel. Creating a graphic novel. Find a summary table for Australian Curriculum: English content descriptions and NSW syllabus outcomes for this unit. Date of Publication However, literature is her passion: She completed a Master of Letters UNE focusing on modern and postmodern writing and theory after graduating as a teacher. Meg has a number of publications to her credit including short stories, journal articles and book reviews.
Menu Log In Join Us. Print Email Register to Bookmark. Students could create a website, imagining it is to promote the town of Broome as it appears at the time of this novel in other words, in the late s or as it is now. The home page could be set out with general information about Broome taken from sites and pictures which already exist, and links could involve headings such as: Students could take any of the ideas above, and instead of turning them into a website, they could research the individual topic and present it as an illustrated poster.
Other topics they could use include: Chinese legends, Chinese dragons, Aboriginal legends and mythology, Broome today, street gangs — to name some of the many issues with which this book deals. Students could choose to research the author, Brenton E. McKenna — his life and his work and the significance of both. Sun Pictures still exists as a movie house in Broome. Ask students to find out what is showing there now — at the time of this activity. How many years has it been going? Prologue Read the Prologue in pairs, looking at the text in the boxes, the frames and their borders, the pictures in the frames, and the use of colour.
Ask students to answer the following questions and discuss the points raised. What was the Great Empire of China? Who were the Barbarians? Who is the narrator? What colours are used in the first nine pages? Look at the black frames and notice on the third page, there is just one big frame with the picture of the Phoenix Dragon, plus an inset frame in the top left hand corner.
What does the inset frame tell the reader? Where is the Island of Komodo? Where which country was even further south than the Island of Komodo? How did the Sandpaper Dragon make the fire? What did he do with it once he had made it? Why, suddenly on the 10th page of the Prologue, is there a panel with colour? What effect does this sudden colour have on the reader? On the 11th page of the Prologue, there are two small frames at the bottom left with no speech bubbles or words of any sort — what is happening in these two pictures?
Look at the full colour picture on the opposite page. Students should discuss what is happening on this page and speculate where the boat is going. In which time period is this writing set? Any suggestions as to what the Secret Council of Magic might be? Look the word up in a dictionary.
Ubby's Underdogs - Reading Australia
Ubby is the leader of the Underdogs and the central protagonist in the novel. What is unusual in this? What is the significance of the four different ethnicities depicted by the children on this page? What do the colour bubbles on the left of the characters mean? Activities whilst reading Students to replicate the map drawn below the Setting the Scene section on a large poster or A3-sized paper. Several of these could be put up around the room, and as the action occurs, students could fill in with bubbles what is happening and where. Another way of keeping track would be for students to create a depiction of a dragon or snake and fill in events as they occur, in pictorial style.
This could even be turned into a dice game of Snakes and Ladders. Students could create a concept map with the central climax of the action so far being the Game of Gruff. That raises the suspicion that what made the difference was not, say, the dyslexia, but something else. This problem is most acute in the final chapter of the book. Gladwell recounts the history of the remote French village of Le Chambon, which stood up to the Nazis during the German occupation.
Led by their cussed priest and drawing on a heritage of persecution as Huguenots, the villagers offered refuge to Jews. They didn't hide what they were doing; they advertised it and the Nazis left them alone. Many Jews survived because of this act of brazen courage. It is a remarkable and stirring tale — it just doesn't belong in a book about David taking on Goliath. The Nazis were not Goliath. Le Chambon didn't expose some fatal weakness. The occupiers left the villagers alone because they realised taking them on would be more trouble than it was worth.
They chose to ignore it. An army of Davids beats an army of Goliaths. But if others in France had followed the example of Le Chambon, the village would have been wiped out. Ultimately the only way to defeat the Nazis was to match them for scale and power: Any little victories achieved within the shadow of that war, such as the one at Le Chambon, were morally, not practically significant.
Cussedness isn't what makes the difference. He did that brilliantly in Outliers.
- Fall of Giants (Enhanced Edition) (The Century Trilogy Book 1).
- The writer’s craft.
- The Angel Called My Name?
- Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story () - Quotes - IMDb.
- Idomeneo, rè di Creta, Act 1, No. 1 Padre, Germani, addio! - Full Score?
- Einhundert Gedichte (German Edition).
It is both more conventional and less convincing. He treats their unusual individual histories as morality tales. The perils of doing it that way were beautifully illustrated in a recent edition of the radio show This American Life , in a story by Michael Lewis that almost seems designed to serve as a warning about Gladwell's approach. Lewis told of a poor Bosnian refugee to the US who saw his life entirely transformed thanks to the chance intervention of an inspirational teacher at his sink school. She saw something in him that he didn't know was there.
Now he is an economics professor on course for a Nobel prize. That was his story. Then Lewis found the teacher and asked her. It turned out not to be true. It wasn't a sink school. The boy was obviously brilliant. All she did was give him a little shove.
Introductory activities
He would have made it anyway. Individual morality tales are frequently forms of self-mythologising. They don't survive dispassionate scrutiny. Gladwell's genius was always to know how to balance history and social psychology with self-help and life lessons. In this book he seems to have muddled them up. For more go to theguardian. The star writer discusses his new book, David and Goliath, which examines the role of history's underdogs and misfits, and replies to critics who say his ideas are too simplistic. Just think of WWII. We tend to think of it both as a historical event and as an ultimate expression of Good Guys vs.
It may be a little lost in the mists of time now, but the French Revolution had the same kind of supercharged resonance for Charles Dickens that WWII has for us today. Evil event, the French Revolution was terrifyingly nuanced—it involved oppressed people fighting the good fight, winning, and becoming pretty twisted themselves. Dickens wrote A Tale of Two Cities sixty years after the revolution ended—and take it from us: Crush humanity out of shape once more, under similar hammers, and it will twist itself into the same tortured forms.
Sow the same seed of rapacious license and oppression over again, and it will surely yield the same fruit according to its kind. A Tale of Two Cities , with all of the poverty and injustice it displays, is an exploration of conditions that will persist just as long as violence and inequity continue to flourish. What is "justice," really?