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'Remember the days of the old school yard? I do. More precisely, I remember much of what took place in my senior English classroom. More than a quarter of a century later, I can still recall the excitement I felt in reading particular books and authors for the first time. What I do not recall, however, is an instance of the nationality of an author influencing my engagement with their writing. For example, thinking back on why I enjoyed reading My Brother Jack, I recollect I found George Johnston's central character David Meredith appealing, but not as a representation of what it is to be an Australian. The Australia of My Brother Jack is certainly not the Australia I knew in the early 1980s, and David Meredith's experiences seemed as foreign to me then as the poets-of-origin of the clipper ships which so fascinated him. I was drawn to Meredith because of his determination to be free and - if I am honest - I hoped that I might one day end up partnered with my Cressida Morley. Is there anything exclusively Australian about David Meredith's yearning for freedom? I don't think so, not least because my reading of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Tennyson's 'Ulysses' in that same school year suggested parallels in the motivations of all three characters.' (From author's preface, 108)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Last amended 28 Mar 2012 10:39:32
108-128
A Text for This Time : Theory, Ethics and Pedagogy in Teaching the Macquarie PEN Anthology of Australian Literature
Subjects:
- My Brother Jack : A Novel 1964 single work novel
- Macquarie PEN Anthology of Australian Literature 2009 anthology correspondence diary drama essay extract poetry prose short story
- Obscuring the Heritage: Regrettable Omissions in the New National Anthology 2009 single work review
- Australian Literature and the National Curriculum 2008 single work criticism
- Disjunctions: Australian Literature and the Secondary English Curriculum 1997 single work criticism
- Aboriginal Literature 2009 single work criticism
- Australian Literature and the Missing Body 2009 single work criticism
- Macquarie PEN Anthology of Australian Literature : General Introduction 2009 single work essay
- Telling Stories : Australian Literature in a National English Curriculum 2008 single work criticism
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