Jasper Jones - the end of the novel

 Two parts to the end of the novel:

1. The scene at Jack Lionel's.

2. The fire at the Wishart house.

Which do you think is more important for our impression of Charlie?

What do we learn about Eliza from the fire?

What happens at the end which is exactly what Jasper predicted?

The destruction of Mr Lu's garden

The destruction of Mr Lu's garden

Charlie spends a lot of time thinking and reading about the world, and trying to make sense of it.  But it is the practical action of the destruction of Mr Lu's garden which forces the people in Corrigan to make a decision about whether they want thugs to rule their town.

1. Describe the destruction of Mr Lu's garden and the attempted attack on Mr Lu himself in your own words.  You could do a brief summary, or write it as a newspaper report where you have collected statements from eye witness accounts, including Charlie, Mr Bucktin, the young thugs and the other neighbours.
2. What is Craig Silvey wanting us to understand about the young men who attacked Mr Lu?
3. Mr Lu's flower garden is a symbol of the man himself - quiet, very carefully tended, respectful of others, containing exotic beauty from another place that isn't Corrigan.  The garden is something that all passers by can enjoy, and gardening is something that many other Corrigan residents also enjoy.  When the garden is destroyed, something beautiful is destroyed that was bringing only pleasure to the world. This outrageous incident, and the physical violence towards Mr Lu, prompts people to bring plants around over the next few days to show sympathy.  See page 220:                                                                              If Mr Lu's garden is a symbol of beauty and hope in Corrigan, then by contrast, what is symbolised by Mrs Bucktin making Charlie dig a hole in the backyard and then fill it in for no good purpose?  
4. On page 213 (copy with the forest on the front), Mr Bucktin describes Mick Thompson, the young man who attacked An Lu, as a coward and a fool.  "he's a man who's trapped in his own gutter." - can you explain this phrase in your own words?  Who else is "trapped in their own gutter" in the novel?  What strength is needed to get out of our own gutter, and how does Silvey show that this is possible in the novel?

Cricket & short-lived inclusion

This morning we discussed why Craig Silvey wrote such a long chapter describing the big Saturday cricket match between Corrigan and Blackburn.  Indeed, cricket is a staple ingredient of Australian culture, and indeed cricket is a very long game to watch.

Sport is a space where both Jeffrey and Jasper get fleeting acceptance in Corrigan.  Jasper is an excellent rugby player, but leaves the grounds as soon as the game is finished, and none of his team mates talk to him outside of the game.  Jeffrey lives for cricket, but is only given the opportunity to play when the team are completely out of alternatives.  He turns the game around for Corrigan, and is the star of the game, a legend in the making.

We finish the chapter on the cricket match on a high.  Eliza and Charlie's romance is blossoming, Jeffrey is a cricket star, and everyone has had a break from their fears about Laura Wishart for an afternoon.

But just as Silvey lifts us up, so he also brings us down with a crash.  In the chapter on An Lu's garden, we see just how low Corrigan can go in racist, ignorant nastiness.  After you have read the chapters on the cricket match and on An Lu's garden, then please write a paragraph for each of the words below, relating each one to a character, event or object in these two scenes.  

Beauty

Skill

Acceptance

Ignorance

Fear

Jealousy

Rage

Speech assessment & Learning for Friday 7 August 2020

Here is the speech assessment.  Read, think and send me your questions.

Jasper Jones 

- ka mau te wehi to those of you who made the brainstorm on the novel earlier in the week., and for sharing it with everyone!

- keep reading, keep thinking

- next note taking focus is on the Minders Hall scene:

The miners' hall scene: language features, distress & ignorance

"From inside the hall, I heard a single scream, a crockery crash, the gasp of a crowd, then a sustained barrage of sobbing and screeching.  It was loud and unintelligible.  Heads turned."

Who, what, where, when, why?

What does Charlie learn about Corrigan from this event?