LETTERS FROM THE INSIDE

An epistolary – a story in the form of letters

Two girls • Tracey• A horse – two dogs and a cat• Father owns transport firm• Loves basketball• Has a brother and sister – older• Lots of pocket money• Boyfriend• Likes Art.• Goes to Prescott High

THE OTHER GIRL• Mandy• A brother, Steve, (17) and a sister, at University.• A nameless dog.• Has $101.60 in all.• Lives in Acacia Park• Has close friends• Confident

Mandy’s secret• Steve, her 17-year-old brother, is “creepy”.

“He watches all these violent movies,dresses in Army greens..has got all kinds of weapons…”

“He’s beaten me up sometimes…And it’s always when no-one’s around. He’s smart like that…

Tracey’s secret• “You heard of Garrett?...It’s a maximum

security place, where they put you if you’re bad…”

Climax of the novel• What will Mandy think once she

knows about Garrett?• Tracey: “I can’t be honest…if I don’t

pretend you’ll realise how off I am…”

tension builds upTracey

“…I’m back in the Med Unit, not for anything in particular. They just want to keep an eye on me or something…”

Mandy

“…This last week Steve’s been out of control…He slaps me, knees me, kicks me…he scares me…”

The moment of realisation• Tracey: “I know my father was what they

call violent….and he’d hit Mum…”• “And that’s when Nanna told me that my

Mum had died and my Dad had gone away…I started to go a bit funny, I think…”

The resolution• Tracey’s father was

violent and he murdered someone close to him.

There is an eerie link in the lives of the two girls…

• Mandy’s brother is violent, and the author lets us assume that he murders someone close to him.

theme• List the themes (ideas about life) that John

Marsden makes us think about in this novel. Why did he write this story?

Did you choose any of these?• Courage • Loyalty• Honesty• Prejudice • Communication• Family• Violence• Disappointment• Empathy

• Growing Up• Crime and Punishment• Friendship• Betrayal• Mystery• Grief• Life and Death

• Others?

“Hurt people hurt people.”Write your own short paragraph

explaining how this saying can be true.

Use an example from “Letters” to explain.

Aspects of a novel.

• Setting – Where and when the story takes place.

• Character – Who are in the story.• Structure – How the story is told, and

from whose point – of – view.• Theme – What ideas the writer wants the

readers to think about.

Setting

• Topic sentence: The events in the novel, “Letters From The Inside”, take place in modern-day Australia, in the characters’ homes, and in a prison…….(Explain more.)………………

(Effect of this?)............................

You will have written an essay-style paragraph once you have done this.

Character

• The main characters in “Letters from the Inside” are Tracey and Mandy.

• (Explain who they are and what they are like at the start…and give an example or detail about each to prove what you are saying.

• Another paragraph in essay style will emerge.

Structure

• The novel “Letters from the Inside” is structured as a series of letters. This style is called an “epistolary”. (Now explain how the letters are dated in chronological order and how they change in style as the story progresses – and suggest why that is.)

You have completed another literary paragraph….

Theme

• An important idea (theme) in Letters From The Inside” is ……………………..

• (Explain what this means.)• (Give an example of something in the

novel that demonstrates this theme.)

• You have now completed 4 essay – style paragraphs.