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Australian Folk Stories Analysis

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Questions for the Discussion Board

Is the selection of readings here Australian enough to represent the country adequately for our textbook and our readers? In this 21st century global society, new books are more international, more Americanized in their feel and viewpoint than specific to a culture. Did you feel that this lesson seems Australian? What evidence do you give from the readings to support your answer? Remember, there are two formative cultures: Aboriginal and White European.

In reading this weeks selections, I felt all of the stories felt very Australian and that they are varied enough to represent Australian children’s literature. Both the original and aboriginal stories felt Australian because the original stories are folklore …show more content…

I give the book an A+ for artistic and literary unity.

The aboriginal folk stories are difficult to locate, since the culture is not committed to written communication and is very secretive about its legends. What do you see in these stories that is different from the other folktales we’ve read? Do they need editing for our purposes? For the purpose of US children reading them?

Australian folk stories seem to be derived from real life people and situations more so than many of the fairy tales that we have read up until now. I don’t feel like the folk stories need to be edited per se, however, I think that an added glossary and pronunciation guide might add to the enjoyment that American’s feel when reading Australian folk stories. In the first story that I read, Seven Little Australians, I jotted down twenty to twenty-five Australian words and slang phrases that I was unfamiliar with. Luckily, my New Oxford American Dictionary app recognized most of the words and quickly provided a definition. I found that I often got the gist of sentence just by reading it but sometimes it was helpful to read the definition of the Australian word to make sure that my understanding of the sentence was clear and accurate. It’s really interesting that Australian English is so different than American English. I wouldn’t edit the stories - I would add information that would contribute to the ease of understanding …show more content…

http://www.booksillustrated.com.au/

The website is interesting for a literary nerd, however, I don’t think that it specifically supports anything that we are including in our textbook. Should you wish to contact this website, you can visit their gallery or call, fax or e-mail Ann Haddon, one of the founders of Book Illustrated. The date that the website was established or last updated is not available. I would not include this website in our textbook. http://qld.cbca.org.au/bilby.htm The Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) has been in existence since 1945. The CBCA presents annual awards to books of literary merit, for outstanding contribution to Australian children’s literature. The website discloses it’s benefactors and donors and provides many avenues to contact them. I think this website is a great resource to find quality Australian children’s literature. For this reason, I feel that it would be a good contribution to our textbook.

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