Belinda Murrell: Bringing Australian History To Life | Page 41
CLASS ACTIVITIES
Australia’s
engagement
with Asia
In The Forgotten Pearl, Poppy is
great friends with a Japanese family
that has been living in Darwin for
generations. Discuss how feelings
towards Japanese migrants in Darwin
changed due to the war. Was it fair that
all Japanese were arrested, irrespective
of their backgrounds? What difficulties
would Japanese migrants have faced
after the war?
How well do we get to know the
Japanese family at the start of the
novel? Why did the author do this? What
examples can you give of getting to
know them?
arisen if people knew the truth? What
other news materials did people have
access to at the time?
Ask students to write about the
bombing of Darwin from the Japanese
perspective for a piece to run in a
Japanese newspaper. How would they
have reported the incident?
A message from the
Prime Minister
Listen to Prime Minister John Curtin’s
national broadcast announcing that
Australia is at war with Japan. It starts with
the current Australian national anthem,
not God Save the King, which was the
official anthem at the time. Why would
Belinda used many of these class activities when she homeschooled her own children during their travels around Australia.
All three now go to regular schools but they have fond memories of Mum being their teacher.
this have been? How does Curtin drum up
support for the war?
http://aso.gov.au/titles/radio/curtinjapan-second-world-war/
Letters
Unlike Belinda’s other timeslip tales,
The Forgotten Pearl doesn’t contain a
‘magical moment’ in which the modern
character steps back or sees into the
past. Instead it relies on memories and
letters to transport the reader back in
time.
Make a list of the different characters
whose letters appear. How does the
language in their letters differ? How does
the purpose of the letters vary? Analyse
Edward’s letter from the prisoner of war
camp. Why was it censored? Discuss what
other means people had of keeping in
touch at this time.
Write a letter from a prisoner of war
camp and ask other students to delete
infor