The Secret River

MISS BEATHE

Genre
historical
draws

fiction/ novel

upon historical settings and events to re-

imagine history
tells

the story of a figurative figure

presents

individuals stories within the larger context

of their social, cultural and political surroundings

Revision: What tense am I
using?

How does The Secret River allow

us to access early colonial
Australia?
What is the
setting?

What is the
historical
narrative?

setting

historical
narrative

Who are the

characters?

characters

An important feature of the historical novel

is not the retelling of historical events, but
the poetic awakening of people who
figured in those events (Lukas 1962, p.4)
Convicts
Colonists
Emancipist
s
Settlers

How does The Secret River allow

us to access early colonial
Australia?
OUR JOB:
Examine
Interpret
Analyse
Evaluate

setting

historical
narrative

characters

Style

has a traditional realist style

portrays colonial life

incorporates the frontier conflict:

a) imagines

why people acted the way they did

b) imagines

what particular events,

circumstances and feelings motivated the

settlers violence towards the Aboriginals

Structure
traditional
traces

realist style -strict chronological order

Thornhills life from his earliest years in London to his

old age in New South Wales

each

section is titled with reference to geographical location

Why? What does this tell us?

structurally,

the novel is reminding us of one of its themes:

the importance of a sense of belonging

Structure
divided
used

by decorative tidles

is diaries and journal

Thornhills
paces
allows

Why? What does this tell

us?
What effect does this have?

personal journey

the novel

the reader to reflect as they transition through

each stage of the narrative

Language Choice
historical

setting dictates Grenvilles language choice

Grenville

demonstrates this through italicising the

dialogue.
accessible

to modern audience yet indicative of the

setting
scattering

of phrases and words featured in primary

historical
documents
and
records
How does this reinforce the conventions of the
genre?

Why
would
Grenville
scatter
phrases
and words from the
mostly
written
using
her
imagination
historical period?

Dialogue (I do)
gives

the audience significant insights into the

character and setting

Example:

Dialogue and Characterisation

conveys

the characters moods, behaviour and motivations

articulates
tone
contrast
change
style
omission

the characters nature e.g. hero or villain

(I do)
We know about you, cosying up to them
bastards
(p.234) Tone
Language
and Style
Emotion
Device
colonial
anger
aggressi
foreshadowi
illiterate
ve
ng
grammatically
incorrect
Smashers dialogue conveys his anger, aggression and
roughness, and also foreshadows the violence he will later
encourage
in the at
massacre.
Smasher shouts
Thornhill, We know about you, cosying up to
them bastards You and that Tom bloody Blackwood. I seen the
two of youse Dont come crying to me, Will Thornhill When
you
get a spear
your
guts his
(p.234).
Smashers
wordsinare
coarse,
sentences short and sharp
and full of derogatory and offensive language.

(We do)

(You do)

Aboriginal Dialogue

Grenville chooses not to use any Aboriginal languages in The Secret

River

Why do you think Grenville has done

this?
How?

audience experiences Aboriginal dialogue indirectly