SUBJECTS: English
YEARS: 9–10
Writers construct representations of people and events to suit their purposes.
Once we understand this, we can evaluate the validity of those representations and decide whether we agree with them or not. In her Heywire audio story, Chelsey Landford speaks of the hardships facing dairy farmers. Explore her representations of farmers and executives.
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.We often understand stories by recognising a pattern that we've seen in other stories. The 'origin' stories of these patterns are called archetypal stories. If you don't already know what it is, find out the pattern in the archetypal story of David and Goliath. Can you think of a modern-day David and Goliath story? Investigate the etymology (history, derivation) of the word 'archetype'.
- 2.What made Chelsey gain 'a real awareness of the hardships' faced by farmers? What are these hardships? How does Chelsey characterise the market executives? How does this contrast with her representation of farmers and their communities? Note down the words and phrases she uses to describe each group.
- 3.Chelsey's story can be considered a version of the David and Goliath story. How do her representations of market executives and farmers reinforce the David and Goliath archetype? Are they stereotypical? What is Chelsey's purpose in her use of this archetypal story and its stereotypical characters?
- 4.Research how large supermarket chains negotiate milk prices with farmers. Searching on 'milk wars' may help. Now pretend you are a reporter. Write a feature article that presents your opinion on the issue of milk pricing and its effect on farmers. Use the appropriate conventions of a feature article, including quotes from people such as Chelsey.
Date of broadcast: 2011
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).