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Activity: Bushranger balladeers

Your Task:  To write a poem on some incident in the life of your chosen bushranger.

Thinking first:

• What do you think it would have been like to live as an ex convict in colonial Australia during the 19th century?
• What would it be like to always be on the run, surviving in the Australian bush?

Things to do:

• Look through the biographical profiles and select one bushranger and an incident in his/her life to write a ballad about.
• Look through the poems and songs about bushrangers. Notice the use of rhyme and rhythm, and the way the scenery is described.
• Choose some words from the Lexicon to use in your poem.
• Write a poem or short story about your chosen incident in the life of a bushranger. Include the major events and use some of the terms used in collonial ballads.

Curriculum Content:

Social Studies. Australian History

Creative writing. Poetry, short stories

Age Level:

Ages 9+

Preparation:

Students should have read some Australian bush poetry, selected from the works of A.B Paterson, Henry Lawsonand
be familiar with the concepts of rhyme and rhythm. It would be useful for them to have some previous practice at writing poetry.

It may be useful to have some hard copy texts (such as Reinits and Boxall) available for students to use to learn about the convicts.

Skills:

Gathering background data (from the Bushranger site).

Writing. Using historical period settings to frame drama.

Attitudes, Feelings and Sensitivities: Identifying and empathising with the situation of others.

Thinking Process: Imagining, creating roles and characters.