SUBJECTS: English
YEARS: 7–8, 9–10
Feel the effect of David Martyr's skilful use of tone in this Heywire audio story of life in a mining camp.
How does he create it, and what is its effect on how we respond to his subject matter?
Could you write or record a similar story about yourself and/or your community?
The ABC's Heywire competition calls for stories from 16-22 year olds in regional Australia. Enter to get your story featured on the ABC and score an all-expenses-paid trip to the Heywire Regional Youth Summit in Canberra. More: https://www.abc.net.au/heywire/
Things to think about
- 1.Imagine you've been sent on a school camp to a distant bush location. Write an email to send back home as if you are miserable, describing the campsite and why you don't like it. Next, rewrite your email as if you are having the best time ever. How does your description of the campsite change between the two emails?
- 2.Throughout, listen to the way David uses sounds to reinforce the words in his story. What does the man's posture suggest about how he feels? What does he say to his wife? What might he be missing out on at home? Why does David tell us he's looked at this scene 'a hundred times before'? Why might the image of the 'snaking' footpath create a negative feeling? What other details does David focus on in this story?
- 3.David notes that the man thinks being separated from his family is 'worth the cost'. Do you think David agrees? What makes you think so? How would you describe David's tone, or attitude, towards life in the mining camp? Would you like to live there? What sounds does David use to create tone, and how?
- 4.David's story is quite visual in the imagery it contains. This is not surprising, as David is a photographer in his spare time! Create a one-page comic to illustrate David's story. Use different 'shots' within your comic, such as a long shot when David describes the setting and a close up when he notices the man's tears.
Date of broadcast: 31 May 2013
Copyright
Metadata © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia Ltd 2012 (except where otherwise indicated). Digital content © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). Video © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). All images copyright their respective owners. Text © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).