Anh Do - Winner of Australian Literary Prize 2011

      Who did Anh’s father rescue from the concentration camp?

a)      His eldest son who would later become Young Australian of the Year

b)      His wife’s two brothers who had worked for the Australian military

c)       Two of the armed guards at the camp who were really employees of the Australian military and were in disguise.

2.       What was the length of the fishing boat in which they escaped and how many people were on it?

a)      40 metres long with 9 people

b)      9 metres long with 40 people

c)       20 metres long with 20 people

3.       What honour was Anh’s brother given in 2005?

a)      Australian Refugee of the Year

b)      Australian of the Year

c)       Young Australian of the Year

4.       What was the main lesson which Anh’s parents insisted that he learn after coming to Australia?

That he should give back to Australia for what Australia has given him and this includes taking all the opportunities offered to him. 

5.       Why was Anh able to attend a prestigious school like St Aloyisius?

a)      He worked in a sweatshop to earn enough money to pay his fees

b)      He won a half scholarship

c)       St Aloyisius always takes in a certain number of refugees as part of their charity work

6.       Explain how Anh tried to overcome the problem of having no text books for his lessons.

He borrowed his friends text books when they weren't using that particular book for the class they were in.

7.       Describe what he wore instead of the official sports uniform.

8.       True or false:

a)      His mother earned less than $7 an hour as a cleaner in a hotel.  T   or  F

b)      At school, Anh was the class clown and this was when he knew he had a future as a comedian.    T   or   F

c)       He was often punished at school with a strap.    T   or   F

d)      No-one at school knew at the time that Anh and his family were poor.  T   or   F

e)      Anh’s father left the family when Anh was growing up.   T   or  F

9.       What did Anh study at University?

a)      Fine Arts, majoring in Drama

b)      Law

c)       Pure Mathematics

10.   What did Anh do for his mother when he was only 23 years old?

a)      Gave her money for a holiday back in Vietnam

b)      Arranged for her to come and see his first public performance as a comedian

c)       Bought her a house

11.   How old was Anh at the time of this interview?

a)      30

b)      33

c)       40

12.   What was the motto which Anh’s father taught his children to live by?

Give back to Australia for the opportunities the country had given him.

13.   Was Anh the victim of racism as he grew up?

n    No

14.   Write ONE extra question which you would like Adam to have asked Anh, and what do you think the answer would have been?

"Is your dad proud of you now and does he regret leaving the family?'' Yes and probably yes.

Why Does It Matter - The Relative Advantages of Learning My Language

Read any story that we haven't read yet and write a review of the story and explain why it matters. Why should anyone care about the story/read it?


This story is all about a Chinese girl who learns to speak Chinese at a young age. She lives in Australia where she attends a school where everyone speaks English, she watches T.V. which is in English and all of her friends speak English to her. She sees no point in speaking Chinese anymore so stops thus she can no longer communicate with her Chinese grandfather. He unfortunately dies and then later on in her life she decides to start learning Chinese again and she states ''The next time a old person wants to speak Chinese to me I am not only willing but able."


This is a very good story and reflects the multiculturalism of Australia but the problem is this girl thought there was no point speaking Chinese in this country. She thought it wouldn't help her and there was no point of being able to speak a language that is not spoken in the country she is living in.  


The story also reflects the regret she had no being able to spend much time with her grandfather as she gave up on speaking Chinese. By re learning the language and being able to speak it to her mother is very good as she realises that being able to speak two languages is a good thing a privilege to be able to do. Also then she won't regret not being able to communicate with her mother in Chinese. It can also help her in later life getting a job or if she moves to China she at least knows how to speak the language fluently. 


What is also very important in this story is the change of her attitude when learning the language. At first she saw no point and didn't want to continue to learn it but then later in life she realises the importance of family thus re learning the language so she can share it and speak to her parents no that her grandfather had passed on. In life today teenagers ain't very appreciative in having their grandparents but as they get older they realise the importance and privilege they have in having grandparents and importunately by then it is too late for most people. This links back to her attitude towards her grandfather when she was young as she didn't appreciate having him around and then after when he passed on and she got a bit older she regrets this and now wants to share what she has with her mother. She now talks to her mother in public in Chinese which I think is a big change in attitude and this is a positive thing. 

Why Does It Matter - Take Me Away Lily Chan

Read any story that we haven't read yet and write a review of the story and explain why it matters. Why should anyone care about the story/read it?


Take Me Away - Lily Chan


In this story the author explains to us the life of a little Chinese child who is at school but after school goes to his parents restaurant to work there and help them out. Every day after school he would go there and do his homework while his parents would work til late at night. He would take calls and tell his parents the orders and when he got a break he would watch television or play outside.


I think this is a very good story as it shows us how life for a Chinese family is in Australia and what lengths they have to go to, to earn money and provide for their family. This story also shows the difficulties this family have had to experience such as making their children work for them and do their homework inside a shop. This isn't a good environment for a child at a young age and especially not good if they have to go there every day after school. Compared to an Australian family who may own a restaurant they would either leave their kids at home and give them that responsibility, get someone to mind them in afternoons or drop them over to a relatives house where they can do their homework and relax. Instead they are in a business environment that they should not have to experience until later in their life. Even though there may benefits such as responsibility and the experience of counting money and getting into the feel of running a business, these are things that can be learnt very easily later in their life when they need these skills to actually start and maintain a business. There is obviously a major contrast between Australian families and immigrant families in the way they live every day life and the choices they make with their children and between themselves. 


This family has a competing restaurant down the street who owned a Hong Kong restaurant. Even though they were competitors they were family friends and celebrated many Chinese events together. This would not happen though because they are competing restaurants. If there were other Chinese family's in the community they wouldn't be friends but because  there isn't these two families are friends. This starts to give us a perspective of the story and its "moral." 

My First Kiss By Lian Low

1. How does the author describe Malaysia in regards to showing affection?

The first few sentences state ''I never saw people share mouth to mouth kisses' this represents people showing effecting to each other but obviously in Malaysia it isn't done in this way. 

2. What happens to the author when she hits puberty?

She didn't grow big breasts but instead ''Envied her father's flat chest.'' This caused her not to be as popular and white girls wouldn't approach her or talk to her. 

3. What is the author’s experience at school when she first arrives to Melbourne?

She is very quiet and wasn't one to contribute to ''Oh he's soo hot!'' conversations about the new kids. She fantasied about flying like Superman and played chess at lunch time. She was also put into the ESL class for English. 

4. What is it that made the author feel that she wasn’t Australian even though she spoke English fluently?

That only overseas Asian kids would approach her no other white people. 

5. What else was it about the author that further alienated her from her peers?

That she was placed in the ESL English class and didn't make many friends until Year 11 when she enrolled in literature and received one of the highest marks in Year 12 literature. 

6. What does the use of description like ‘crash hot’ do to the audience’s perception of the author?

7. What opportunity does university give the author? What is it about university which would allow her to express herself more freely?

She got her real first kiss because she was making a film that she wanted to have a have a kissing scene in. This allowed her to open up more freely. 

8. What role does creativity play for the author? Why do you think that creativity would be so important to her?

Teenage Dreamers By Phillip Tang

1. What are the first two sentences of the story and how do they create a tension in the story?

My father had a sixth sense. He knew when people would die. This creates tension as we can tell something bad has happened or may happen later on in the story. 

2. What has happened to the author’s father as a result of his wife’s death?

He became obsessed with Leslie Cheung who was a popular singer.

3. How does the description of the father removing his hands from his face as ‘unmasked’ related to the seriousness of his following statement?

As this was very serious matter and was not funny at all thus he removes his hands from his face and says ''He's going to die next month.'' What makes this a serious statement is the fact the he mentions death and it is coming soon. This is why he removes his hands from his face as he didn't want to hind behind this. 

4. Consider how the father lives his life and conducts himself and the other people in the theatre for the film the author and his father are watching. How does this relate to the title of the story?

He is living as a teenager would like to as he follows popular singers and goes to all their concerts. Old men wouldn't do this but he does. He is living the life of a teenager. 

Conversations With My Parents By Oanh Thi Tran

1.What is ironic about the way the author and the father become close? What has to happen to the father?

It is ironic because they were healthy and young but weren't close to each other than became sick and Oanh then became close with him again.

2. How would you characterise the conversation that the author has with her parents?

A short and cliche conversation.

3. What is it that worries the author most about these conversations?

That she never tells them that she loves them.

4. There is a gap between the author’s need to express feelings common in western countries and her family’s lack of desire to express their feelings verbally. How does the family still express their feelings for their child, just not verbally?
They pressure her to live like they did by buying Vietnamese groceries and talking about meals such as Banh Xeo

Lessons From My School Years By Ray Wing-Lun

1.There is a stark contrast created in the opening of this story between what the narrator had been doing before entering school and what will be expected at school? What is this contrast and what does it immediately create in the story?

Before the narrator came to school he had been doing nothing exciting but now he is at school he cant wait to play on the playground and have fun. There is a contrast between his old boring life to his new exciting adventurous life. 

2. The author continues this theme of contrast at the start of the story. How does he do this in his description of his experience of Sydney’s North Shore?

The author describes the Sydney's North Shore was not for him as he didn't like leafy green streets or solid brick houses. His world revolved around the stretch of shops along the highway , a back lane where mechanics drove cars backwards and forwards, the railway line behind the back lane and the library and park at the end of the lane. This is how he describes the where he lives in Sydney's North Shore.

3. What was the father’s background in business before he opened the fruit shop? What has helped him become successful?

Before he came to Australia he could not speak English and had no business experience. The attributes he has as a person that helped him become successful are he drew customers in with his wide smile, he was keen to ask what people wanted and was very friendly and chatted to all his customers. 

4. The narrator’s description of his father is complex. What makes the father a complex character?

That he is such a nice person who runs a very successful business. He never used to speak English and had no business experience before owning his fruit shop. This shows the great character he has because obviously did not have a lot but now has come to a different country, started a family and runs a successful business. 

5. (91) How does the author describe his role in doing ‘things that counted’?

He has to listen to what his family has to tell him about school to learn what is right and wrong. This is the only way for him to learn as he doesn't like asking questions. 

6. What experience does the author have at school while keeping to himself? What does he learn from this experience?

His bad experience is him at school as he is the only asian in an Australian school. He doesn't talk to anyone and keeps to himself and he learns to be nice and friendly to people. 

7. How would you characterise the narrator’s tone in regards to the events that are occurring around him?

The narrator uses a mono tone and sees the world in a horrible way. His expectations are very different to real life which makes a very one sided view. 

8. How does the narrator characterise the ways that one could ‘get the strap’ and ways that one could avoid it?

He characterizes it as very easy and hard to avoid. A couple ways to avoid the strap would be to mispel words, get and answer wrong or walk very fast or very slow.

9. What event evokes a racist speech to the class by the teacher?

The boy could not swim and his sister wrote him a note so he didn't have to swim in the carnival. The teacher reads it to the class and adds ''We all know these Chinese people never contribute to anything.''

10. What effect did the author’s experience with ‘Strap Happy Jack’ have on him?

It made him think about the the few Chinese people in the area and think about racist comments which don't mean much but have little affect on the population. 

11. What was the one advantage school provided the author?

That when he went through high school some teachers noticed his talents and one teacher told him his test scores reflect he has a very bright future. 

12. What did the author do at his school? What was his motivation for doing it? What did he feel was lacking at school?

He started a workshop program the motivation was that he did something that he enjoyed and he had to the interest to set boundaries for the program. He thought the school lacked the ability to give him the choice to choose his own future. 

13. What did the parents want their son to do at school? What did the author fear would happen by obeying his parents?

They wanted their song to pick a specific profession. His mum wanted him to be a doctor something that he didn't want to do. He felt like he would have to choose a path based on the teachers decision.

14. At school, what did the author learn about his own type of thinking and how to use it?
He learned his thinking was very different to everyone else and he has to follow this thinking to benefit the most from it.

The Relative Advantages of Learning My Language By Amy Choi

1) The author makes us consider what it really means about understanding someone's language? What basic human skill/ability is the author highlighting that cuts across all cultures?
The basic skill/ability is to respect your elders. You should listen to them because they have had many past experiences and know what they are talking about. Communication is also a big point because by communication you can understand other people and their point of view.

2) Describe a time when you were at fault for not communicating with someone because of your own selfishness or lack of compassion.
One time when I did something wrong, someone else got in trouble instead of me and then I didn't put my hand up and say it was my fault, instead I was selfish and they got in trouble instead of me. 

The Early Settlers By Ken Chau

1. How does this title refer to two groups of ‘settlers’? Who are they?

White settlers and the Asian settlers. 

2. How is the first line of the poem successful at being ‘forceful’ regarding the Great-Grandfather’s presence in Australia?

As this line ''Great Grandfather arrived'' is put forward in a forceful way and the wording that is used suggests this. It is almost making us think that he can do what he wants. 

3. What action are the ‘early settlers’ doing that gives them equally a strong presence?

The are establishing strength and act is if they own the area and show the other settlers they are there as well and wont be pushed around. 

4. How is the intention of the Great-Grandfather juxtaposed to the beliefs of the ‘early settlers’?

He just wants to grow corn cabbage tobacco whereas the other settlers believe that they are terrorists. The juxtaposition is that they just want to farm but are seen as devils.    

5. What action does the Great-Grandfather do that ties him both to the ‘early settlers’ and to his own culture?

He gets caught talking his own language. 

6. How does this short poem highlight the irony of the hatred that immigrants experience when they come to a 'settled' land like Australia?

The irony is straight away without even knowing the person her great grandfather called him a ''Fucking Bastard.''