Search results

Listed under:  Language  >  Language modes  >  Creating texts  >  Intertextuality
Video

Dorothea Mackellar's 'My country' as a song

Do you know a poem with the line 'I love a sunburnt country'? The poem is 'My country' by Dorothea Mackellar. Find out what inspired Mackellar to write this famous poem and how she felt about teenager Christine Roberts basing a song on it. This is a black-and-white clip from a 1967 current affairs program This Day Tonight.

Video

Thinking about story themes

Noa and Francis are two young writers who've had their stories published. Listen as they talk about the main ideas they chose to explore in their stories. Find and watch the clips of Noa and Francis reading their pieces at the Melbourne Writers Festival (also found on Splash). How did they build their stories around the ...

Video

Books shaping identity

Do you identify with a book's protagonists when you read? Shamini Flint says she started writing her Sasha series of books about a girl growing up in Asia because she couldn't find books like these for her daughter. She thought it was important for her to be exposed to characters who were like her - someone who looked like ...

Video

Radio National: Tragic love triangle in 'The Great Gatsby'

Who will Daisy Buchanan choose when she finds herself torn between the love of two men in F Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 classic novel, 'The Great Gatsby'? Draw on the discussion in this audio clip to improve your skills in developing character in creative writing. The clip from 'Books and arts daily' on Radio National is one ...

Video

Wuthering Heights: Who is Heathcliff?

Heathcliff is one of the main characters in Emily Bronte's classic novel, Wuthering Heights. As Professor John Bowen from the University of York notes, we know very little about this mysterious character and his apparent contradictions. Ms Bronte offers suggestions about Heathcliff's background but provides few details ...

Video

Writing London: Discovery and rebirth

How do writers respond to, and write about, the great city of London. Listen as some of London's greatest writers, including Andrea Levy, Jeremy Reed, Ian McEwan and Bernard Kops, reflect on the experience of writing in and about London. Consider what Bernard Kops means when he asks, 'Where was I born after I was born?'

Video

Digging into the Stanza Stones

Imagine having your poetry carved in stone. What would you write? British artist Pip Hall carved six poems by Simon Armitage in rocks found in 'quiet, poetic corners of the landscape' between the towns of Marsden and Ilkley in northern England. Listen as Mr Armitage describes this unique project, known as Stanza Stones.

Video

Great Expectations: Victorian and Gothic

How does Charles Dickens weave Gothic elements into his classic Victorian novel, Great Expectations? Listen as Literary Professor John Bowen explains some of the ways in which Dickens draws on the Gothic tradition to challenge the conventions of Victorian literature. Consider the importance of time, repetition, violence, ...

Video

Writing wild places

How do you write about a place that is disobedient?' Four of Britain's prominent writers consider the emotions that wild places evoke. In this clip, Robert Macfarlane, Simon Armitage, Sara Maitland and Owen Sheers consider the qualities of wildness: silence; escape; beauty; threat; and a sense of being both lost and found.

Video

First Tuesday Book Club: Navigating 'Cloud Atlas'

Some authors like to take readers on a journey, none more so than David Mitchell, the author of 'Cloud Atlas'. His novel is a complex tale that attempts to weave together six different narratives over a period of hundreds of years. Join in this discussion and find out if he succeeds. This clip is the second in a series of two.

Video

First Tuesday Book Club: Confabulating on 'Cold Comfort Farm'

Join in the debate about whether the 1932 novel 'Cold Comfort Farm' by Stella Gibbons should be considered a classic. The novel follows Flora Poste, a young woman who moves in with her country relatives in a village called Howling. It parodies other novels that represented rural life as woeful, and is filled with delightfully ...

Video

What is spec fic? Rebecca Lim explains

Have you heard of the term 'spec fic'? What is speculative fiction? If you're interested in reading some, why not find out more about the books that Rebecca Lim refers to.

Video

Lifting the lid on Gothic literature

What comes to mind when you think of 'Gothic fiction'? What are some of the characteristics of the genre? In this clip from the British Library, Professor John Bowen from the University of York suggests the Gothic tradition emerged in literature with the publication of Horace Walpole's The Castle of Qtranto in 1764 and ...

Video

First Tuesday Book Club: Navigating 'The Secret River'

Kate Grenville's multiple-award-winning novel 'The Secret River' explores an earlier period of Australian history. What is it that makes this novel so compelling and troubling for its many Australian readers? As you watch this clip, consider how this book encourages readers to re-evaluate their beliefs and values.

Video

Radio National: The Great Gatsby meets Willy Loman

Different writers can use quite distinct ways to make similar comments about their culture. In this audio clip, explore the connection between F Scott Fitzgerald's novel, 'The great Gatsby' and Arthur Miller's play, 'Death of a salesman'. At first the two texts might seem very different, but are they more similar than we ...

Video

First Tuesday Book Club: The haunting of Manderley

'Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.' So begins 'Rebecca' by Daphne du Maurier, the 1938 gothic novel set in the mysterious mansion of Manderley, with all its creepy inhabitants. Learn more about this thrilling novel and the gothic genre in this clip, which is the first in a series of two.

Video

Sally Rippin on authors and illustrators

Watch this clip to find out about the relationship between authors and illustrators. What role does the publisher play in this relationship? What does Sally Rippin say about the role of illustrations in books for young children?

Video

Jane Eyre: Fairytale and realism

Do you detect a hint of the supernatural in Jane Eyre? Professor John Bowen, Professor of Nineteeth-century Literature at the University of York, says, 'It is a novel with a lot of haunting in it.' Listen as Professor Bowen discusses the fairytale and gothic elements in Charlotte Bronte's classic novel. This clip from The ...

Video

First Tuesday Book Club: The voice of Albert Facey

Albert Facey's 'A Fortunate Life' is one of Australia's best-loved autobiographies. Could it be Facey's 'voice' in his writing that touches the hearts of so many readers? Explore this clip to learn more about how the written word can capture the personality of a writer.

Video

First Tuesday Book Club: Savouring 'The Magic Pudding'

It's been nearly 100 years since Norman Lindsay's madcap tale of a bad-tempered pudding was published, yet it continues to remain popular with children and adults alike. Over the years it's been a puppet show, cartoon, play, film and even an opera. What are the reasons for its enduring popularity? Explore the real magic ...