eWriting > Critical Literacy > 2.5
Note: Authors, titles and page numbers for the passages below are given in the answers and explanations section. Full details are in the bibliography.
1. I have to give Fraser his due, he got us all on this ship, bonded himself and Mum as servants to Dr Whatley and his wife, Anne, and got me and Tommy included as family. No, I wouldn’t be here waiting for the Swan River Colony to rise up out of the sea if it weren’t for Fraser. (a) Fantasy (b) Historical (c) Realism
Answer: (b) Historical
Carolyn Logan: River Child, p.10. The phrase “bonded himself and Mum as servants” shows that this is an historical novel. The fact that Perth is referred to as the “Swan River Colony” also indicates that the story takes place at an early period in the city’s history. Even this short passage gives the impression that there will be a realistic portrayal of life there in the early part of the 19 th century.
2. Though Lucy’s school wasn’t very far away, Dad wouldn’t let her walk there by herself because the Shopping Street didn’t have traffic lights. As well as having all the shoppers’ cars, the road had recently become a link between the city and the outer suburbs, and huge trucks and thousands of commuter cars raced through and often didn’t stop at the pedestrian crossing. (a) Fantasy (b) Historical (c) Realism
Answer: (c) Realism
Nadia Wheatley: Lucy in the Leap Year, p.18. This is a factual but vivid description of a busy modern city or town. It is written in an informal, colloquial style which is typical of many realistic novels for young people. There is a hint that contemporary issues will feature, because it is Lucy’s father (Dad), rather than her mother who worries about her walking to school.
3. He had precious little time, he knew, before the spiders were disgusted and came back to their trees where the dwarves were hung. In the meantime he had to rescue them. The worst part of the job was getting up to the long branch where the bundles were dangling. I don’t suppose he would have managed it, if a spider had not luckily left a rope hanging down … . (a) Fantasy (b) Historical (c) Realism
Answer: (a) Fantasy
J.R. R. Tolkien: The Hobbit, p. 149. Dwarves hanging in trees, and spiders who are disgusted and leave ropes dangling down make it clear that this is the realm of fantasy.
4. The evil Shadow Lord has been banished, but famine still stalks Deltora, and only monsters survive… Four vile creations of sorcery called the Four Sisters are hidden in the land. (a) Fantasy (b) Historical (c) Realism
Emily Rodda. Dragon’s Nest. Deltora Quest 3. (Publisher’s blurb). Without knowing the titles, the reader can discern, through the references to the evil Shadow Lord, monsters and creations of sorcery, that this novel belongs in the fantasy genre.
5. The bombs were falling, the smoke was rising from the concentration camps, but all Hitler’s daughter knew was the world of lessons with Fraulein Gelber, and the hedgehogs she rescued from the cold. (a) Fantasy (b) Historical (c) Realism
Jackie French: Hitler’s Daughter. (Publisher’s blurb). Hitler, falling bombs and smoke from the concentration camps all situate this historical novel in the period of World War II. As these were real people and events of that time, the reader can expect an accurate background to the story of the fictional character, Hitler’s daughter.
6. Danny is a boy on the edge. A boy teetering on the brink of no return, living in fear. Cathy is his mother. She’s been broken by fear. Chris Kane is fear – and they belong to him. But one day they escape. They’re looking for freedom … Instead they find prejudice, and danger of another kind. (a) Fantasy (b) Historical (c) Realism
Alan Gibbons. The Edge. (Publisher’s blurb).The vocabulary, “a boy on the edge” and the short, choppy sentences are the clearest indication in this passage that this is a realistic novel, dealing with issues that many young people face.
7. As the plane reached its cruising altitude and leveled off, Tanner leaned his head against the window and looked down. Below him the prairie spread out like a giant quilt, but he could see the peaks of the Rocky Mountains in the distance. (a) Fantasy (b) Historical (c) Realism
Shelley Hrdlitschka. Tangled Web, p.7. The setting is a geographically correct description of the western part of Canada as would be seen from a plane, leading the reader to expect a realistic novel.
8. It was in the month of November in this year that King Charles accompanied by Sir John Berkely [sic], Asburnham and Legge, made his escape from Hampton Court, and rode as fast as the horses could carry them toward the part of Hampshire which led to the New Forest. The King expected that his friends had provided a vessel in which he might escape to France; but in this he was disappointed. (a) Fantasy (b) Historical (c) Realism
Captain Marryat. The Children of the New Forest, p.19. The backdrop to this story is the English Civil War when Charles I was in conflict with Parliament. In 1647 the king really did stay at Hampton Court with John Berkeley, John Asburnham and William Legge, but fearing his enemies would secretly kill him, he fled to Hampshire and the New Forest there, and then later to the Isle of Wight. Without knowing these historical facts, the reader can discern that this is an historical novel through the reference to King Charles and his escape on horseback.
9. Rachel blinked. Something had happened to the light. It had spread and brightened. Everything looked pale green. … This wasn’t right! Her room had disappeared. Her bed had disappeared. She was in the middle of a broad green field, in her pyjamas, sitting astride –
The unicorn turned its head and looked at her gravely. It snorted softly. Its golden horn glittered in the sunlight, its white mane stirred gently in the breeze.
(a) Fantasy (b) Historical (c) Realism
Emily Rodda. Pigs might fly, p.12. Rachel’s magical transportation from her bedroom to an open field where she finds herself riding on a mythical beast, a unicorn, indicates that this story is in the realm of fantasy.
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