Reading & Responding - Unit 1
By Jane Harrison
Running Sheet PAGES
TITLE
CONTENT
1
Arriving
The actors arrive on the stage each holding a suitcase. They slip into their characters as children. They talk about home and family.
1 and 2
Adult Flashes
In this episode the characters are adults. Ruby’s home is a mental institution. Anne is living on her own. Jimmy is in prison. Sandy carries his home with him. Shirley is knitting for her grandchildren.
3 and 4
Hiding Sandy
A flashback to Sandy’s childhood shows the desperation of his mother to protect her ‘half-caste’ son from being taken by the Welfare people
4 and 5
It Rained The Day.
A flashback to Shirley and Jimmy’s childhood. Sandy is being taken by the Welfare people.
5 and 6
Line-Up 1
The children are forced to line-up from lightest to darkest and ‘sell’ themselves so they will be taken ‘home’ for the weekend.
6 and 7
The Chosen
Anne is adopted.
7 and 8
Jimmy Being Naughty
Jimmy steals apples.
8 and 9
Unspoken Abuse
Ruby has been sexually abused.
9
It Rained the Day
Shirley’s son is taken away.
9 and 10
Ruby Comforting Her Baby.
Ruby mimics her sexual abuse with a doll.
10 and 11
Sandy’s Story of the Mange
A fictional dreamtime story that shows the boogieman as white.
11-13
Your Mum’s Dead
The Matron lies when she tells Jimmy that his mother is dead.
13
Line-Up 2
Ruby reluctantly lines up because she feels her shame exposed. Jimmy is still desperate to be selected.
13 and 14
Anne’sTold She’s Aboriginal
Anne’s adopted parents decide to tell her that she’s an Aborigine and that her biological mother wants to see her because she is dying.
VCE ENGLISH UNIT 1&2
1
Reading & Responding - Unit 1
PAGES
TITLE
CONTENT
15
Unspoken Abuse
Ruby is sexually abused again.
15 and 16
Your Mum’s Dead
Jimmy’s mother writes a letter telling him that his father is ill. Jimmy never receives the letter because it is filed away.
16
To Tan or Not to Tan
Anne feels torn about whether she should see her real mother.
17
Shirley’s Memories
Shirley is stolen
17
Line-Up Age Twelve
Jimmy is selected.
17-19
Cleaning Routine 2
The children learn that they will never have any position of economic power.
19
Shirley Knits for Her Family
Shirley is knitting for her two children even though she does not know where they are, because they too were stolen.
19-20
A Can of Peas
The Welfare people take Sandy because his mother has a can of peas ‘past their use-by-date’ in the back of her cupboard.
20
Jimmy’s Being Naughty Again
Jimmy is stealing again
20-21
Line-Up 3
Jimmy is selected and taken for the weekend.
21-22
Shirley Never Gives Up Searching
Shirley is searching for her son Lionel twenty-seven years later.
22-23
Desert Sands
Aboriginal women stick sand into their vaginas to stop white men raping them.
23
Unspoken Abuse 3
Jimmy is sexually abused.
24-25
Ruby’s Descent into Madness
Ruby suffers a nervous breakdown.
25-26
Sandy’s Life on the Road
Sandy spends his life travelling, after leaving the nursing home.
26-28
Jimmy’s Story
Jimmy leaves his prison cell and takes off aimlessly. He learns that his mother is alive.
VCE ENGLISH UNIT 1&2
2
Reading & Responding - Unit 1
PAGES
TITLE
CONTENT
28-29
Am I Black or White?
Anne meets her real mother
29-30
What Do You Do?
Jimmy and his mother express their fears and insecurities about meeting after being separated for twenty-six years.
30-31
Ruby’s Family Come to Visit
Ruby’s real parents come to meet her in the institution for the mentally ill.
31-32
Sandy Revisits the Children’s Home
Sandy finds the children’s home being renovated into a new apartment block.
32-33
Racist Insult
Jimmy’s mother dies before he gets to meet her. He hangs himself in his prison cell.
34
Anne’s Scene
After meeting her Aboriginal family she is not sure where she belongs.
35
Shirley’s Come Full Circle
Shirley meets daughter and her grandchild. She vows she is never going to let them go!
35-36
Sandy at the End of the Road
Home for Sandy is the desert – the place where the story began many centuries ago.
VCE ENGLISH UNIT 1&2
3