Chloe Hooper's The Arsonist

Settings

100

The towns of Koornalla and Callignee were referred to by locals as

The Heartbreak Hills

200

'The Arson squad was aware that there were more deliberately lit fires near the rural-urban fringe - places where high youth unemployment, child abuse and neglect, intergenerational welfare dependency and poor public transport met the margins of the bush, the eucalypts. And that pretty much described most of the towns in the 

Latrobe Valley

300

In the text, the cigar monument symbolises

The 'madness' and potential for destruction embedded in the Churchill environment. 

'The flame and the tinder just waiting for each other, built into the town's very design.'

Also - lasting imperial values?

400

Stereotypes of 'the Valley' and its residents include

Banjo country, backward hillbillies living off the government, welfare class

500

Describe three representations of the Australian landscape. 

'a fairytale's engraving'

'Here too... menace lingers.'

'a puzzle'

'a Nordic dreamscape'

'a hell, "hell would be better actually"'

etc

Subject/Characters

100

Through anthropomorphic descriptions including 'flank', 'rear', 'tail' and tongue fire is often established as a 

beast or monster

200

Sokaluk's lawyer, Selena McCrickard, enjoys the pastime of 

surfing 

300

This detective was called from paternity leave to investigate the fire

Adam Henry

400

This subject is characterised in conflicting ways; as a vulnerable victim of society yet also as a calculating deviant. 

Brendan Sokaluk

500

The detective responsible for taking victim statements was

Paul Bertoncello

Ideas

100

Tragedies, including environmental disasters, seem to impact this demographic the most. 

Poor and working class.

200

'In an age of fire, all of us are...'

gatekeepers

300

Hooper challenges simplistic notions of ______________________________ and encourages readers to consider the complex factors that contribute to an individual's actions.

good and evil

400

Australia's legal system may not serve everyone

adequately 

500

Like, Thornhill, Sokaluk and his actions could be considered products of his

environment 

Stylistic features

100

'Pinus Ratiata' and 'Eucalyptus Globulus' are examples of 

scientific jargon

200

'Can hear the blaze, constant like an ocean.'

Simile

300

'Detective Sergeant Adam Henry sits taking in a puzzle.'

Simple present tense 

and / or 

metaphor

400

'The long, thin fire will turn like a snake.' is an example of a 

simile

500

'The press stood around eyeing this prize monster.'

Metaphor

Random

100

The fastest fish in the ocean is the

Indo-pacific Sailfish

200

The number of hearts in an octopus

three

300

The creature with the strongest punch in the animal kingdom.

Mantis Shrimp

400

Collective noun for jellyfish

a smack

500

The most abundant creature on Earth

Krill

More ideas

100

Pg: 9 “ There were three bicycles, or the twisted remains of their frames . . . old tyres . . . car junk . . . the domestic excess of people unwilling or unable to pay fees at a tip.”

Socio-cultural landscape

200

Pg:10 “Twelve years of drought had turned the logs in the plantation’s undergrowth, the leaf litter, even the organic matter in the soil, into fuel.”

Climate change

300

Pg: 55 “Europeans saw the advantage of ignition but lacked the indigenous advantage of it.

Use of fire to manage land

400

Pg: 78 “Perhaps he shared the local mistrust of outsiders.”

Marginalisation of people who are different/outcasts

500

Pg: 116 “McCrickard started calling the police demanding . . . she felt it was too late.  The lynching party was electronic . . . “

Role of justice system and the media, court of pubic opinion