All for Love
Title | All for Love |
Author | Pamela Freeman |
Published by | Allen & Unwin |
Date of Publication | 1995 |
Teaching Resources
This book can be used as a collection to examine the different faces of love, or each story can be used separately. Appropriate subject areas include PDHPE, Society and Culture, Politics and Legal Studies, English, History, Art, Science, Design and Technology.
Love on the Internet
- Can you get to know someone properly without meeting them in person? This question can form either a class discussion or a debate. Teachers should know that, since the publication of the book, the couple Hallie and Jeff have split up, with Jeff reuniting with an old girlfriend in the USA. Hallie had no way of getting a visa to stay in Australia without being Jeff's partner and had to return to America, where she had no job and no place to live. She moved back in with her parents for a while until she re-established herself. Issues to be raised include personal safety, identity fraud, pedophilia, grooming of underage targets, the ability to craft written statements so they present a particular image, the amount of personal information kept on the Internet (MySpace, Flicka, YouTube, etc.) and the methods which can be used to protect oneself while still participating online. The Australian government's NetAlert website has advice pages suitable for all age groups at www.netalert.com.au.
The Lovers and the Fire Goddess
- This story raises several issues: female power and how it is represented across cultures; jealousy as a destructive emotion; the anthropomorphising of natural events such a volcanic eruptions and storms. Students could identify the gods or goddesses which represent natural phenomena in different cultures (for example, Thor/Zeus/Tew as gods of the lightning storm, Demeter/Freya/Hestia as goddesses of fertility, Ra/Apollo/Pheobus as sun god, etc.). What do we as a culture anthropomorphise or link with natural phenomena? (Movies such as Happy Feet or Madagascar can illustrate anthropomorphising of animals; the depiction of sporting teams in ads is often equated with natural phenomena.)
From Hell to Heaven
- This story can be used in any study of refugees and their treatment in Australia. It is worth noting that, at the time of writing, Thida and all her family (except her mother and her school age brother) had jobs and were contributing to Australian society generally and to their own community in particular.
The Ultimate Friendship
- There are two equally important themes in this story: friendship and despotism. Either may be explored. A similar theme (giving oneself up to death for love of another) is embodied in Charles Dickens A Tale of Two Cities, which might be appropriate for extension studies. The movie is also available. Almost any Hollywood buddy movie also treads the same ground, for example, the Lethal Weapon series. Issues to raise include: why is male friendship the stuff of legend but not female friendship? (For example, in the best known female buddy movie, Thelma and Louise, the women die at the end. This doesn't happen to the men in such films. Why not?)
Marrying a Masai
- This story presents an opportunity to examine the Masai tribal culture and to compare it to our own. There is also the opportunity to discuss cross-cultural relationships and the difficulties and benefits they bring.
Love's very sweetness
- The story of Dante and Beatrice is the perfect introduction to the sonnet, as Dante wrote many love sonnets in the Italian form. Some of Dante's own sonnets can form examples. The rhyme scheme for the Italian sonnet is ABBA ABBA CDECDE or CDCDCD. The Shakespearean sonnet rhyme scheme is ABAB CDCD EFEF GG. This is easier to do as English is rhyme-poor compared to Italian and you may wish to start students with this version.
The Laughing One and the King of the World
- A good chance to look at the different facets of historical characters. While the story is true as far as it goes, after Roxelana and Suleyman's marriage she showed her intelligence and manipulative ability in scheming to get the heir to the throne, Mustafa, who was older than her sons, executed on charges of treason. This was primarily because it was common practice to have all potential claimants to the throne killed when the new Sultan ascended the throne. In doing this, Roxelana changed the course of history as her son, Selim (known as 'the Sot' because of his drinking) was a weak ruler and did not consolidate his father's territorial gains against the West. Students could research the process by which Roxelana (also known as Hurrem Sultan) negotiated the complex maze of court politics; or write a speculative 'history' narrative of what might have happened if Mustafa had inherited the throne.
The Red Bolt from the Blue
- The story of Tommy Woodcock and Phar Lap allows consideration of the relation between human and animal: pets, companion animals, animal rights, the domestication of animals, the ways in which humans use animal instincts, such as racing in a herd, for their own benefit. For students who particularly like this story, Dick Francis' autobiography, The Sport of Queens is a good follow-up read.
Willow Pattern
The story behind the creation of the first willow pattern plate is both a simple love story and the beginning of a world-wide trade. The willow pattern is a wonderful example of how a design which is symbolic of one country can become symbolic of others: for example, while the willow pattern is undoubtedly Chinese in origin, it was first turned into a porcelain plate by Josiah Spode of the English porcelain factory Spode in 1790. It is still in production today, and there are collectors around the world, including in Australia. This story can be the jumping off point for a number of activities. Students can:
- develop their own version of a willow pattern - what might an Australian equivalent look like?
- trace the fortunes of one of the English potteries which made the willow pattern: Wedgewood & Sons, JG Meakin & Sons, Johnson Brothers and so on.
- look at the way European trade with Asia influenced fashion and industry, through the Chinoiserie and Japanoiserie movements.
- Increase visual literacy by examining the elements of the design and how they have influenced other art and design - the bluebird element, for example, has become a common motif in its own right.
- Identify other stories with a similar theme (young lovers thwarted by parents, ending happily or unhappily). Romeo and Juliet is obvious, but there are many others, including soap operas.
- rewrite the end of the story as outlined in the afterword so that the lovers are drowned and reunited as bluebirds.
Toward no earthly pole
- Sir John Franklin was the governor of Tasmania in the mid-19th century. This story can begin an examination of government in Australia at that time; relationships between indigenous people and settlers; the influence of British sovereignty over the Australian colonies; or the position of women in 19th century Australia.
- The story may also be used when students are interested in Arctic or Antarctic exploration. Franklin's last expedition was the first to use tinned food and this is thought to have contributed directly to its failure, as the lead solder on the tins seeped into the food and gave the crew, and its captain, severe lead poisoning, impairing their ability to make decisions. Students may consider how changes in technology have allowed different forms of exploration to succeed or fail. A comparison of Scott and Amundsen's race for the South Pole is a good companion to this story, as Amundsen's use of tried and true technology (dog sleds) allowed him to make it to the Pole first and to return home safely.
- Alfred, Lord Tennyson, was Franklin's nephew and wrote the epitaph for his memorial in 1859 after the date of his death was finally determined. The title of the story is taken from the epitaph. Tennyson's poem Ulysses also presents an aging seaman who longs to take ship again to his death. It was written in response to his friend Arthur Hallam's death in 1833, by which time his uncle had lead several expeditions to the Arctic and was lobbying the Admiralty for funding for more expeditions. Tennyson was therefore familiar with the type of person who prefers to be at sea than at home. How might this have influenced his portrayal of Ulysses? Sections of The Odyssey can be read as a comparison.