1.Describe the physical appearance and mannerisms of Sandy and Tachibanna.Do they reinforce or challenge the stereotype of males and females of a particular nationality? (dressing,personality traits,style of communication,habits,likes and dislikes)
eg. Sandy : talkative /smokes a lot
Tachibanna : quire reserved,accented pronunciation/how to say no/sits at back of car/switches channel on car radio from rock songs to Japanese music.

2.Sandy's mother is quite morbid as she likes to cut out and collect obituaries.Sandy accuses her mother of being sick as she is interested in Death.Her mother retorts,'There is nothing sick about death.It's part of being alive".This statement is a premonition that prepares the viewer for the climax of the story.What is this climax?

3.Tachibanna is impressed by the vastness of the mine,the machinery and the open space of the desert as compared to the enclosed space in Japan.
-"In Australia there is a lot of space and no people and in Japan there is a lot of people and no space.There's nothing out there.It scares me."
Is the setting important in the plot of this movie?

4.How has the misadventure of being stuck in the bog affected their relationship?


5.Tachibanna isn't expressive/demonstrative.Look at his reply when Sandy asks him if he loves his wife?

"I don't need to say it,when I say it then it's not true."

How does Sandy express her interest in him?

6."Stop snapping photos and start experiencing life."Is this an analogy that has a deeper meaning or a casual remark about Tachibanna's habit?

7.Why does Sandy have an affair with Tachibanna knowing that he is a married man and why does he fall for her?

8. How does Sandy react to the sudden death of Tachibanna?

9.How does Tachibanna's wife handle the fact of her husband's death and infidelity?

10.When Sandy's mother wanted to send a condolence card to Tachibanna's wife,Sandy replied that she can't send a condolence card to a complete stranger from a different culture.What is the connotation of Sandy's mother's statement about the universal themes that transcends race and culture?

"Some things are the same the world over"


11.According to the scriptwriter,Alison,the story explores the theme of the fragility and transience of Life.How is that theme rel;ated to the cherry blossoms in Japan?

Questions to ponder upon throughout the reading of the text.

1. Discuss Alice’s treatment by the different characters she encounters in the books. Why do you think they act they way they do, and what does their behavior say about Alice?

2. What is the significance of Alice’s fluctuations in size and shape in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland?

3. Throughout the story, there are occasional oblique references to death. What purpose do these references serve in the stories, and why might Carroll include them?

4. What role does the garden play in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland?

5. Discuss the significance of the Queen of Hearts in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

Some things to ponder upon throughout your reading of the text.

1. Saint-Exupéry wrote The Little Prince in New York as World War II raged in Europe, and after his homeland had been captured by the Nazis. Are there any symbols that are particularly evocative of war and exile?


2. What differentiates adults from children in The Little Prince? Is the distinction simply one of age, or is it based on something else?


3. When the narrator and the prince search for a well, the narrator appears finally to understand the lessons that the prince has related to him. What does this say about the morals of the novel?

4. Why does the little prince want to return home? Why isn’t his friendship with the pilot enough to make him stay? Can the way he returns to the heavens be interpreted as a suicide?

5. Discuss the themes of time and death in The Little Prince. How does the prince learn to appreciate the time he has with his loved ones better, and how does it affect his relationships with them?

6. Why do some people see Drawing Number One as a simple hat, while others think it represents an elephant inside a boa constrictor? What is the meaning of these different perspectives?

7. Discuss the rose’s behavior. Why doesn’t the rose tell the little prince that she loves him? Why does he continue to love her?

8. Why is the fox so eager to be tamed by the little prince? If he already knows how to tame himself, why does he need someone else to do it for him?

9. Symbols and metaphors are present throughout The Little Prince. Why do you think Saint-Exupéry choose to tell this story in such figurative language?

Questions for Discussion

Gulliver's Travels

Yahoo! I've passed my tertiary entrance exam. Is it a flattering or derogatory term?

" Yahoo" is another term for human and was coined by Jonathan Swift in his novel.Is it a flattering or derogatory term?
What are the physical and mental attributes of Yahoos?

Have you ever been around a toddler who keeps asking the question"Why?"
Does your teacher call on you in class with questions from your homework?
Do your parents ask you questions about your day at the dinner table?

We are always surrounded by questions that need a specific response.
But is it possible to have a question with no right answer?

The following questions are about the novel "Gulliver's Travels".

They are designed to help you look at the people,places and events in the story from different angles.These questions do not have specific answers.Instead,they might make you think of the story in a completely new way.

1. Why do you think Gulliver has a constant need to travel? Have you ever felt a similar need? Where would you most like to travel to?

2. Gulliver keeps finding lands within our world that he didn't know existed.Do you think it is possible that such lands are really out there?If you were to create a new world,what would it look like?
( Maybe like the world of Pandora in the latest moviebuster "Avatar"!, BTW what is the meaning of the term Pandora which comes from Greek mythology ?" Don't open the Pandora's box for what is released from the box might not be a " blessing in disguise")

3. Of all the places Gulliver visits,the only one he wishes to stay in is the land of the Houynhnms.Why do you think this is?

4. Once on Luggnagg,Gulliver learns about the Struldbrugs,creatures that live forever.How does his opinion of them change over time?
Would you want to live forever? Why or why not?

5. How does Gulliver change from the beginning of the book to the end?What do you suppose he learned from all of his travels?Have you ever learned anything from a trip you took?

Please make sure that you have read the compulsory texts:

-Desert Flower
-Falling Leaves
-Boy: Tales of Childhood
+ specifically assigned short novel/children's fiction.

before you attend our classes.

Kind Regards,
Miss Chan & Mr. Derick