Year 10 English
The Story of Tom Brennan
Complete all tasks in well constructed sentences.
During reading the book:
Prologue
What is a prologue? Why do some writers use a prologue?
A separate introductory section of a literary or musical work.
Chapter 1 - 5:
How do Tom and Kylie feel about having to relocate their lives to their grandmother’s home and the new town of Coghill?
Tom and Kylie don’t have a positive response to moving in with there grandmother due to the fact that they were part of a good small town community originally.
List the immediate members of Tom Brennan’s family.
His sister Kylie and his uncle Brendan.
What is Australia Day and why do we celebrate Australia Day?
When Captain Arthur Phillip landed at sydney harbour,
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Chapter 14:
Tom begins to open up to Brendan when there out running and also opens up to Chrissy. He also has a strong relationship with the rugby team. At the footy camp, Tom can’t face up to his old team mates at Mumbilli, but after his dad talks to him he faces his old team. His dad also makes him realise that he has more skill at rugby than Daniel had, and how much he should thank Daniel for helping to develop that skill.
Chapter 15:
Daniel is improving emotionally as well as Brendan has remained helping all the family members and still wants Tom to go to Nepal so Tom might have something to look forward too. Tom’s mother seems to be trying to get back to normal. Tom realises that he is falling in love with Chrissy.
Chapter 16:
Kylie and Tom talk about how they feel guilty for the accident occurring. Not only have Kylie and Tom become closer, but Brendan now feels that can discuss his involvement with Jonny to Tom. However, but when Tom visits Brendan unexpectedly, it is obvious that emotionally he is putting on a very brave face about Daniel.
Chapter 17:
In chapter 17 Brendan tells Tom that Chrissy really likes. Also Tom has an idea to build a chicken pen for Gran for her birthday and after that rugby match between Coghill and Mullbilli Tom gets an e-mail from an old friend from Mumbillii saying that they are still friends. But at that game a lot of people had not forgot what the
As Tom grew older he began to take notice of his surroundings, the people around him and learnt how to see the light at the end of a very dark mental tunnel. Initially Tom didn’t want to come out of ‘the cave’, he wanted to be isolated from the rest of the world. Although as he got back into enjoying playing rugby at his school, Bennies, as well as running with his uncle Brendan, he began to become ‘Tom Brennan again’. When Tom started talking to the girl he liked, Chrissy, he became much more confident and starting to come out of the ‘dark tunnel’ he was seemingly trapped in. Not long after they started to go out with each other, with this completing Tom’s ‘comeback’ to being the person that he wanted to be. ‘…that was the morning Tom Brennan came back, forever.’ The only reason Tom Brennan went away was because of Daniel, his brother, who is not that much older than Tom, decided that driving while heavily intoxicated was a logical thing to
This powerful characteristic that transitional phases possess have the potential to be a rewarding experience, as they provide an individual with the opportunity for growth and knowledge development through newfound relationships. In ‘The Story of Tom Brennan’, Tom exhibits this through his bond with Chrissy following the dark trauma he endures caused by his brother Daniel. Initially, Tom feels detached from his own identity as he refers to himself in third person “I missed…simple Tom Brennan”, emphasising his deteriorated mental state. However, the relationship he forms with Chrissy is instrumental in his recovery as he begins to find himself again. His passionate tone in “Today I kissed Chrissy Tulake, I felt like Tom Brennan” epitomizes how this bond empowers him to assert a stronger sense of personal identity. Burke, therefore, is able to reveal how transitional
Burke illustrates Tom’s inner conflict with first-person narration. The guilt he feels over the inactivity he had on the night of the incident, his frustration with Kylie and the added guilt he exhibits because he feels sorry for himself all adds up to his conflicted thoughts. Tom doesn’t know or feel like himself anymore. But Burke brings this to the attention of the reader in a good light when Tom thinks, “But now I knew what I missed most. I missed me, Tom Brennan, and that’s why now I could smile, ‘cause I could see he was coming back.” Thus, when J.C. Burke aptly finishes the book with the line “that was the morning Tom Brennan came back, forever,” the true development in Tom’s character and conflict is shown through the employment of first-person narration. Therefore, J.C. Burke thoroughly addressed the conflict in Tom’s mind as it was overcome in the
Somehow it felt full of promises” shows Tom’s change in mentally and also physically as he takes a swim, whereas all the training he did towards the end was worth every part by forging and rebuilding himself allowed him to heal progressively along with his new relationship with Chrissy and Brendan who introduced him to the waterhole. Sport has taken a link towards Tom’s transition: “Get Tom to take the backs, ‘Tom, these fellas will learn a lot playing with you.” Encourages Tom to create new relationships with the people in his team and has shown that his experiences apart from the adversity suffered previously, has allowed through the progression of time to withdraw from social alienation towards gaining trust in his new
The experience of moving into the world can challenge individuals attitudes and beliefs. Into the world explores the aspects of growth, transition and change. The novel ' The Story of Tom Brennan' by J.C Burke explores the different ways individuals grow when they are taken out of their comfort zones and venture into new experiences. This concept is also conveyed within the song 'Fast Car' By Tracy Chapman and the film 'Charlie st Cloud' Directed by Burr Steers. 'The Story of Tom Brennan' follows the lives of the Brennan family after the events of a fatal car accident, it shows how Tom the protagonist struggles to cope with his past, similarly the song 'Fast Car' is a representation of an escape, a women seeking to flee a life she finds
| Tom wants his old life back prior to the accident and he sees the accident as the end of his life as he knew it. He loses his sense of identity and sense of family in particular.Feels guilty and ashamed about the irrevocable consequences his brother’s irresponsibility had for other people and their familiesRetreats into a depressed state which feels empty and black.
Individuals respond in various ways to transitioning into a new phase of life and society, these transitions can be challenging and confronting. They can also be transformative and thus some individuals accept and others reject because it’ll often initiate a series of consequences that may accelerate one’s personal growth and involuntarily change one’s perspective and/or attitude. These ideas are manifested in J.C Burke’s, ‘The story of Tom Brennan,' a move about the transitions that characters face after an indelible accident. In correspondence to the short story, ‘Neighbours’ by Tim Winton and is about a young couple moving from the city to the village and finding it difficult to reside with the European migrants.
Flashbacks to Tom’s previous rugby games with his brother re-affirm the loss he feels towards his old life. Tom feels the need to have everything the way it once was, and Coghill can’t replicate the joy he found in the endless afternoon training sessions with Daniel and his father, nor the adulation of the local community.
Daniel Brennan is the main character of the story,' Tom Brennan'. He plays an 18 year old son, who makes a decision that completely ruins his life and his reputation. Before the accident, Daniel had the dream life any teenage boy could ever want. He was five-eight and his brother Tom was half-back, they worked as a team. All that is over now.
The concept of Exploring Transitions is presented through the text, ‘The Story of Tom Brennan’ by J.C Burke. ‘The Story of Tom Brennan,’ is about the transition of immaturity to maturity and the adversities that come with moving from one town to another. The transition that are present throughout this story are mental and physical transitions. Similarly, the aspects of mental transition is also in ‘Song of the Sea,’ of Ben who feels little obligation to his sister, Saoirse due to his mother’s disappearance. Saoirse also goes through a mental and physical transition throughout their journey.
The pain and grief of traumatic road accidents can complicate and severely damage many relationships, especially those in small, close knit communities. The line becomes blurred between perpetrators and victims, as beliefs become doubted, and sympathy arises for those who sadly lost their lives, and those who “move on from a moment that threatens to define them forever” (‘Shattered’, 2011). Viewers respond to compassion and remorse shown in the stories, typical views of perpetrators and victims become challenged, demonstrating the enormous influence of a person’s attitude on other’s perspective and opinion of them. The Story of Tom Brennan is an award winning Australian novel written by Jane Burke, published by Random House during 2005.
feel as though they have to stay strong for Tom and remain positive and protective, but all he really needs is to know how they truly feel about his terminal illness, and to be able to support each other like a family
With a weary grunt, Booker shifted the bag of groceries in his arms and kicked his apartment door closed with his foot. He had planned to be home early so he take Tom out to dinner as a birthday surprise, but as usual, work had ruined his plans. When he had rung Tom and explained that he would be home late, he had expected him to react moodily, but instead, he had received a sympathetic response. It was a sign that their relationship was now on stable footing. Tom was more open about his feelings, and they argued less about the trivialities of everyday life; they were moving forward.
As they start to catch up on lost time, Tommy begins bringing up the past to his father about how he was a drunk and forgot all about him and his mother. He does everything in his power to make his father feel guilty. Tommy notices the picture of Brendan and his family on a dresser and Paddy begins to tell him about his life.. Tommy remains silent revealing that he’s not interested in anything having to do with Brendan. It soon becomes obvious that Tommy didn’t return home to make peace with his former alcoholic dad. Paddy tries apologizing, “I’m sorry, Tommy.” But Tommy’s reply is nothing but sarcasm. “Well…It’s good to know that you’re sorry, Pop. Goes a long way. I think I liked you better when you were a drunk (Warrior).” Tommy’s first confrontation with his father after years is just reassurance that there are still extremely harsh feelings towards his father, Brendan and their family past. Paddy only wants who’s left to come together as a family finally and leave the past behind.
regularly about going into town with Tom, she is happier with Tom. If it was not for the