Journeys: The Turning“Big World”

It is on journeys that we discover who we really

are…

Background/Key InfoAuthor: Tim Winton

Published first book and won first literary award at 19Has since won three other major literary awardsBorn in Perth, 1960

Date: 2004Setting: Angelus, WACharacters: Biggie & “I-narrator”Plot: two adolescent boys “escape” their town on a road trip to the North.

Grammar/Short StoriesWhole works (novel) = underlined.Text that is part of a larger unit (story) = quotation marksShort stories

Hard to define, but they contain all of the elements of a narrative: orientation (description of setting and characters), conflict and resolution.Importantly, to have a complete story a character generally has an epiphany (an aha moment). This is that “so what” we have discussed—what makes a journey memorable.

“Big World”: SettingPg. 2: “Some days I can see me and

Biggie out there as old codgers, anchored to the firggin place, stuck

forever”Connotation: “anchored” “friggin” “stuck” all imply negative feelings (connotations)Emotive language (words or phrases that purposely arouse a particular emotion in the reader): the negatively connoted words suggest that the narrator perceives Angelus as a town that can offer him nothing.

A word on “Place”Tim Winton once said, “[t]he place comes first.

If the place isn’t interesting to me then I can’t feel it. I can’t feel what the people are

on about or likely to get up to.”•This resonates with the cultural importance that Australians place on land. •It also reiterates the importance of setting (orientation) in order to develop a moving story.•Also, when studying journeys (a movement from one place to another) it is important to have an understanding of the beginning and ending place’s significance.

More Place…“The southern sky presses down and the beaches and bays turn the colour of dirty tin…And suddenly there we are, Biggie and me…with beanies on our heads and the horizon around our ears” (1-2).

Ellipses(…): communicate that there are sections of text omitted in the quote. Tone: the feeling that the author demonstrates toward his/her subject matter.Mood: the feeling that is aroused in the responder by the description of a particular thing, place, person or event.

So, what is the tone and mood communicated? What are some key words that communicate it?

More Place…“The southern sky presses down and the beaches and bays turn the colour of dirty tin…And suddenly there we are, Biggie and me…with beanies on our heads and the horizon around our ears” (1-2).

Metaphor: A comparison between two things when one thing is described as another thing. The narrator is talking about their loss

of opportunities, what is the metaphor that the author is painting?

Even more place…“The longer we drive the more the sky and

the bush open up” (4)

This sentence has two purposes1) It most likely describes the open

plains…2) It is a metaphor that contrasts

(juxtaposes) the sky from pages 1 & 2. How so?

Yet even more place…“When Perth comes into view, its dun plain shimmering with heat and distance towers

ablaze with midday sun, we get all nervous and giggly, like a pair of tipsy netballers” (4).

Simile: comparing two things using ‘like’ or ‘as’What is the purpose of this simile?

Tone/mood: What is the tone and mood of this sentence? What are the key words

that suggest this?What is this juxtaposed against?

“Big World”: Characters-Biggie

Look at page 4, paragraph 3.What does Biggie look like? Instead of just saying ‘Biggie looks like….”what does Winton do? What other characterisations of Biggie can you find?

“Big World”: Characters-Narrator

Find 3 quotes that illustrate the narrator’s character?

Character Comparison-Homework…

Find three different instances in which the narrator

compares himself with his friend, Biggie.

Outline the differences, and how they’re communicated.