PLANNING OUR PANEL DISCUSSION

1. Brainstorm the representations, themes and issues explored

in The Messenger.

2. Select one that you’d like to research and explore in more depth when
we get organised into groups.

3. How is your selected topic represented in The Messenger? What kinds

of ideas are communicated about it/them?

4. Construct focus questions that will help guide your research.

[Think about this as: What kinds of questions should a person who is
relatively expert in your topic be able to answer?]

The trick is then to condense these into an engaging

10 minute presentation.

5. Start investigating using all the resources available to you!

 STRUCTURING YOUR PANEL DISCUSSION
Introduction: Who are you?
1-4 slides. What’s your purpose?
What are you talking about and why did you choose it?
What are your focus questions?
Any key definitions you need to make us aware of?
The Beefy Middle Your slides should have minimal written text. [key words, bullet points, quotations,
Bit: images, clips, annotations are all acceptable]
5-10 slides. KEY IDEAS THE TEXT COMMUNICATED ABOUT YOUR SUBJECT.
Evidence from your research.
Quotes from the text.
Relevant conventions.
Relevant contextual information.
Conclusion: Reiterate your purpose.
Ask if there are any questions or if anyone needs clarification.
Say thanks!
References/ Cite the sources you used to create the presentation.
Bibliography
RESPONDING TO MARKUS ZUSAK’S
THE MESSENGER: Essay task.

1. Discuss how narrative conventions such as structure and

symbolism have been used to present ideas in The
Messenger.
 
2. Discuss how characters in The Messenger are constructed to
reveal one or more themes or ideas.
 
3. To what extent can The Messenger be classified as a
“bildungsroman” text, and how might readers in different
contexts respond differently to it?
 
4. It can be argued that characters’ transformations in texts can
be more than just physical. Evaluate this statement with
reference to The Messenger.
RITES O’ PASSAGE [in the Australian context]
[Milestones that need to be passed/achieved/conquered in order to be considered an adult. Important rituals and ceremonies to pass into
womanhood and manhood.]

Independence [from your parents.] In terms of finances, self-care. Being able to sustain yourself. Emotional support?
Observant and conscious of your surroundings. Consideration.
Knowing your culture. Knowing people. Social cues.
Being able to keep yourself safe.
Understanding that you have a responsibility to people around you. You have a role to play and a place in the world.
Not be selfish.
Be mature. [Regulate your emotions to keep yourself and others safe, actively care for other people, respecting the
law.]
Managing your own health. Making responsible decisions.
Not being deliberately vulgar and rude. Avoiding ’childish’ comedy stylings.
Respecting established conventions.
Avoid being loud and obnoxious and attention seeking.
Having a constructive, healthy and loving relationship built on reciprocity and mutual benefit.
Have a job/career.
Be willing to be vulnerable, acknowledge their mistakes and flaws, and attempt to improve themselves.
Being childish is fun.
You are legally an adult at 18.
RITES O’ PASSAGE [in the Australian context]
[Do we have any rituals or ceremonies?]

Graduation ceremonies.
18th birthday party.
Schoolies week / leavers.
Weddings.
Entering the pub.
Gambling at the casino. [Doing all those 18 year old things.]
The ball.
First jobs.
Home buying.

How sacred are these things to Australians really? Do we really

make that much of a fuss about rites of passage? Is anything
uniquely Australian?
A FEW
RESOURCES TO HELP YOU
UNDERSTAND A FEW OF THE
JUICIER BITS OF YOUR ESSAY TASK
GENRE: ‘COMING OF AGE’
(THE BILDUNGSROMAN)
The Bildungsroman is a genre that originated
in Germany and relates the growing up or
coming of age of a sensitive young person
[traditionally a boy] who undergoes a
significant transformation from a state of
innocence to one of awareness, or ‘knowing.’

From the German language:

‘Bildungs’ [education]
‘Roman’ [novel]
 ‘COMING OF AGE’ GENRE: CLASSIC STRUCTURE

2. EXPOSURE AND 3. FURTHER

1. INNOCENCE
RESISTANCE EXPOSURE

5. ACCEPTANCE 4. TRANSFORMATION
 ‘COMING-OF-AGE’ GENRE: CLASSIC STRUCTURE
1. A protagonist is represented in a state of ‘innocence’. They have very simple ideas
about the ‘real’, ‘adult’ world and the complexities it entails. Their worldview is very
basic due to their limited life experiences. [INNOCENCE]
2. Protagonist initially resists exposure to, or tries to ignore, the adult world, despite
being in awkward situations where they may have to deal with uncomfortable
questions and conflicts. Spends time on the ‘boundary’ or ‘space between’ childhood
and adulthood, observing people, struggling with new ideas, solving problems and
making mistakes. [EXPOSURE AND RESISTANCE]
3. Protagonist is gradually, or shockingly, exposed to more and more to aspects of the
adult world and ‘adult’ behaviours, values and attitudes that are hard to process and
understand. Their experience grows, but they suffer disillusionment, or negative
feelings, toward this world and what goes on there. Good things can happen, too,
like growing out of their own personal prejudices. [FURTHER EXPOSURE]
4. The protagonist undergoes a transformation into an ‘adult.’ Their worldview has
changed irreversibly as they’ve seen some gnarly stuff and learned some twisty
lessons since the narrative started. They have had many of their childish ideas
destroyed by harsh reality, or they’ve overcome and developed some of their
childish ideas. [TRANSFORMATION]
5. The protagonist finally accepts the adult world and its logic to a certain extent,
though not without an awareness of its flaws. [ACCEPTANCE]
Thinking about The Messenger as a coming of age text
Think about Ed’s transformation and development throughout the narrative. What were come childish,
simple, innocent beliefs about the world [and the people in it, and himself] he held during the
exposition. How did these develop into more sophisticated, complex understandings through conflict?
Ed’s innocent, simple, ‘childish’ beliefs or views. The more sophisticated ‘adult’ understandings, beliefs or
views that Ed reached.
Believes that material and ‘middle class’ status symbols are Became more community minded and reached out to
the key to happiness. [Girlfriend + friends + job.] others. Found his own value is helping other people.
His life is of ‘poor taste’, or his things are not the quality Happiness is achieved through consideration and positive
needed to be happy. He is generally dissatisfied with the relationships. Not ‘stuff’ and symbols of success.
‘working class’ life. Success is subjective, and you can determine your own
Believes that it’s all about ‘prestige’ and being treated in a criteria. You don’t have to satisfy cultural and social
particular way. expectations.
Has a very fatalistic attitude toward the possibility of Has a more contented attitude toward his place in the
getting any better or improving his position in the way he world. It isn’t a ‘substandard’ one. He is an agent of
thinks is desirable. He thinks, and has been told again and positive change.
again, that he’s terrible. Just because you’re a particular ‘type’ of person, it doesn’t
Believes that he needs validation from people outside of mean you’re fated to be a particular way.
himself to be happy and raise his self-esteem. ‘The best way to predict the future is to create it.’
Believes that he cannot have a positive impact on the lives
of others.
Believes his life can improve in isolation from others in his
community.
SYNTHESISING SOME THINGS //
So, drawing on this big discussion we had about Ed’s
transformation and journey to adulthood in The
Messenger…

Sum up in a sentence or two what Markus Zusack

thinks being an adult means / is. [What ideas does he
want his young adult audience to take away?]
Do you agree?
[Justify your response.
Did he miss out key ingredients?
Did he prioritise the wrong ‘adult qualities’?
Is his message positive and constructive?
Is his message necessarily helpful?]
WHO’S AFRAID OF THE MIDDLE CLASS?
‘The middle class’ is defined in Australia as a single person with after-tax income of
between $33,300 and $88,700, and $66,600 and $177,400 for a couple with two children.
Though, being ‘middle class’ can be argued to be an attitudinal thing, or a choice to
live and behave a certain way, rather than a purely economic thing.

The middle class are stereotypically characterised as:

1. Having intense ambition and aspiration to ‘improve’ their status and

position.
2. Being ‘conspicuous consumers’ and highly materialistic, within a particular
‘taste’ that is distinct from the working classes. A ‘classy’ taste. It’s not
about the money spent, but what it’s spent on.
3. Pursuing jobs and occupations viewed as ‘prestigious’ that require
high educational attainment.
4. Always wanting to ‘keep up with the Jones’’ [their neighbours or peers], or
maintain an image that conveys the contemporary idea of ‘success’ and
prosperity.
5. Prioretising work and accumulation over other things, such as family and
friendships.
6. More selfish than community minded. Considers personal good over holistic
community good.
7. Hyper-competitive. Will step on you.
8. Being particularly ruthless and cutthroat when it comes to the pursuit of
STRUCTURAL Plot Structure //

ELEMENTS - Exposition, Complication, Rising Action, Climax, Resolution: Classic plot structure.
- Anachrony: The use of flashforwards and flashbacks within the narrative.
- Linear [chronological] structure: Events are reported as they happened.
- Non-linear [non-chronological] structure: Events are not always reported
sequentially, or as they happened.
[Anachrony is used.]

Other Relevant Structural Elements [syntactical and beyond] //

- Anaphora: The repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive
sentences, clauses or lines.
- Asyndeton: A sequence of words or phrases constructed without conjunctions, even
where necessary.
- Juxtaposition: The placing of any number of strongly contrasting things in close
proximity to each other to create meaning.
- Motif: Something that is consistently repeated or returned to throughout a text.
- Order and Sequence: Thinking about why people, places, events and descriptions
were placed where they were within the narrative.
- Polysyndeton: A sequence of words or phrases constructed with unnecessary
conjunctions in quick succession.
- Paragraphing: To indicate changes in time, place and subject, or create emphasis.
- Paragraph size and length: The sheer amount of writing devoted to a subject within a
paragraph can act to signal that topic is important, or
marginalise other subjects in the narrative.
- Repetition: The deliberate repetition of a feature throughout a text.
- Tricolon: ‘The rule of three’. Where there are a set of three features consecutively.
 LANGUAGE
NARRATIVE FEATURES //
CONVENTIONS // 1. Descriptive language choices.

1. Characters and characterisation. - Adjective choices.

- Adverb choices.
Descriptions [language features] - Verb choices.
Actions.
Reactions. 2. Figurative language.
Relationships.
Thoughts. - Metaphor.
Speech [dialogue] - Simile.
- Personification.
- Zoomorphism.
2. Settings. [Temporal + Spatial] - Hyperbole.
3. Structural elements.
4. Narrative Point of View. [1st, 3rd Lim., 3rd 3. Imagery.
Om.]
5. Symbolism. - Visual. [Sight]
- Auditory. [Sound]
- Olfactory. [Smell]
- Tactile. [Touch]
- Gustatory. [Taste]
- Kinaesthetic. [Movement]
SOCRATIC SEMINAR: [???]
A Socratic seminar is an activity that acknowledges that there are many benefits to civil and respectful
discussion between a group of individuals exploring an open ended question or statement. It
encourages you to listen, consider, think, and constructively contribute to a discussion and it’s a great
context for learning to happen and encourage you to consider people’s varied perspectives.

It is structured using two circles, an inner and an outer circle.

The inner circle are participating actively in the discussion. Your goal is to conduct the discussion
without my intervention, so you will have to establish the norms and rules of your discussion, and
then be considerate when sharing, responding to, and building on, the thoughts of others.

A goal you should always have in mind is to provide evidence for your claims, whether that be from a
text, or your general knowledge.

Remember, this is a discussion, not a debate, so instead of your purpose being to argue with others,
counter their points, or finding evidence to prove them wrong, you are instead proceeding with a
community spirit, helping each other to develop points, and enjoy inquiring about the question
alongside each other.

The outer circle are recording interesting thoughts and points that are shared within the discussion,
that you will be asked to build on and develop when the inner circle has finished. You will also be offer
feedback to the person you are sitting behind at the end of the debate as to how well they stayed
within the community spirit of the activity.
QUESTION ONE:
The lack of common, agreed upon rituals, ceremonies and rites of passage for our young people that mark
their transition from childhood to adulthood could be considered to be a problem in Australia.

Thoughts?

QUESTION TWO
The lack of a common, agreed upon understanding of gender roles [and responsibilities and duties], and what
is expected of men and women could be considered to be a problem in Australia.

Thoughts?