Here is a task for you to do about it.
First the link.
As a document:
Your
Name………………………………….
Letters from the
Inside
November
25
Dear
Trace,
Well, I
did tell my parents. Tonight actually, without waiting for a letter from you.
I just thought it was the right thing to do. It was a difficult scene. I'm
not very good at those 'let's sit down and have a family discussion'
situations. Just getting Mum and Dad together without Steve and Katrina
wasn't easy. But after tea on Saturday Steve was doing a bit of work (too
little, too late) and Katrina was doing a lot of work and Mum and Dad were
watching TV. I had to wait for the commercials, then it went something like
this. (Well, you said you wanted to hear about a real family!)
'Um, hey,
you know Tracey, who's been writing to me?'
Mum:
'Yes.'
Dad:
'Nuh, who's Tracey.'
Me: 'Oh
Dad, you know. She put that ad in G.D.Y.(1)'
Dad:
'Nuh.'
Me: 'And
I answered her ad, and we've been, like, pen pals all year.'
Dad: 'Oh
yeah?'
Me:
'Well, I thought I'd better tell you a few things ... it hasn't quite worked
out the way I thought it would.'
At this
point Mum realizes that something fairly heavy could be going down, so she
starts paying more attention to me than the TV.
Mum:
'What do you mean?'
Me:
'Well, I thought she was a normal kid, OK, looking for someone to swap letters
with ... '
Mum:
'Yes?'
Me: 'But
it turns out she's in Garrett.'
Dad,
sitting up: 'You mean, Garrett, where they put the girls ... the ones who've
been in court?'
Me:
'Yeah.'
Mum: 'But
you mean she's been there all along? And you didn't know?'
Me: 'Yeah.
I didn't know at first. But she told me a while ago.'
Dad: 'How
could you not know?'
Me:
'Well, I was writing to a post-office box. And she was writing like she was
in a normal family.'
Pause.
They're trying to figure out what line to take.
Dad:
'Well, what's she in for?'
Me: 'I
dunno. She won't tell me.'
Now they
start to bubble, and the steam's not far away. I gotta act fast.
Me: 'But
it's OK. She doesn't have to tell me. I like writing to her, and they're the
only letters she gets.'
Mum: 'But
what happens when she gets out?'
Me:
'Well, she won't, not for a long time.'
Dad: 'How
long?'
Me: 'Four
years.'
Dad:
'Four years! I don't like the sound of that. She's not there for jaywalking.'
Me: 'I
don't care. It doesn't matter to me.'
No-one
knows what to say.
Dad: 'I
don't know what to say.'
Me:
'Well, I thought you should know.'
Dad:
'Maybe we should contact the place, Garrett, and ask them about it. Get their
advice.'
Me: 'No!
No way! Don't you dare do that. She's my friend, and I'm going to keep
writing to her no matter what, and I don't want her to think I'm spying on
her.'
Mum:
'Well what do you want us to do then?'
Me: 'I
just thought you should know.'
Mum:
'Well I'm glad you did. I'm glad you told us. And it says a lot for you that
you've been loyal to this girl.' (Sorry Trace.) 'But naturally we're worried
about how it's come about. It doesn't sound like she's been too honest with
you.'
Me: 'No
she wasn't at first. I think she is now.'
Dad's
been sitting there for a while, not saying anything. Now he suddenly stirs
into action, like he's made a big decision. 'Mandy, none of the kids know
this, but maybe I ought to tell you.'
Me
(scared): 'Tell me what?'
Dad:
'When I was a kid I got put in one of those places for six weeks. I was only
15, but I'd been truanting a lot, and I'd been warned a few times. Then I got
caught knocking off bikes and selling them. So in I went.'
At this
point Mandy falls to the ground in a dead faint. No she doesn't, but it's
only her amazing self-control that saves her. My dad in a kind of Garrett? Or
Ruxton, I should say? This is about the most amazing thing that's ever
happened in our family.
Anyway,
as time goes on the full story comes out. He went to a training farm in the
country for his six weeks. It was probably mild compared to your A Block but
he said it was horrible and he hated every minute of it. He said he only got
one letter a week, from his mum, and letters mean so much in those places
that if I'm the only one writing to you, I'd better keep writing. But he also
said that some of the people in there are hopeless cases and he doesn't want
to make me a suspicious type of person, but I should be careful.
So, there
it is. I've always tried to be honest with you and so I swear that this is a
true and honest account of our conversation, for better or for worse.
Mandy
From: John Marsden, Letters from the Inside,
New York, 1996
Annotation
1 G.D.Y.
youth magazine
|
Working on the
text
Answer the questions and tasks, using your own words as
far as possible.
- What set of circumstances (omstandigheter)
does Mandy think is essential to discuss her problem?
- "I just think you should know."
What has Mandy just told her parents and what feelings and thoughts does
she convey?
- Describe in detail the development of the
parents' behaviour during the talk.
- Identify the values guiding Mandy in the
relationship with her parents and Tracey.
- What does Mandy's father reveal in his
confession? How does she react to it?
- What is so special about the way Mandy
writes her letter? And what is her intention in doing so?
Composition
. Write about 100 words.
- Write
Tracey's reply bearing in mind Mandy's letter. How would you have reacted?
and you can even get it on paper if you like!
So that is all for today... You will have plenty of time to get the work done.
This Friday I will inform you about how we will work with the Report about your final project...
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