2. Interpreting Literal and Inferred Meanings in Texts

•  John Marsden and Shaun Tan, 1988, The Rabbits, Lothian Children’s Books.

Alternative allegorical texts:

• David Miller, 2005, Refugees, Hatchett Australia
• Armin Greder, 2007, The Island, Allen and Unwin
• Dr Suess, 2012 (reprint), The Lorax, Harper Collins
• Graphic organiser, for example, Flow Map
• The Rabbits - Text connection prompts: docx PDF
• First Fleet, Cook's place in history (optional)
• My Place episodes 23 and 24 (optional) (available on ClickView, log in using your department credentials)

It is strongly recommended that teachers review all suggested stimulus texts prior to their use to ensure their appropriateness and to enable rich, respectful discussion. For guidance on text selection refer to the Teaching and Learning Resources — Selecting Appropriate Materials policy.

In addition, it is suggested that teachers refer to the guidelines around establishing a safe & culturally respectful classroom in the ‘Before you use this sequence’ section of the resource.

This online gallery and interview transcript with Shaun Tan provides insight into The Rabbits, including how the illustrations were conceived and the themes the book addresses, including some of the controversial aspects of the book such as the use of metaphor to represent the experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people being told by non-Aboriginal story tellers.

Introduce or revisit the term ‘allegory’. Explain to students that an allegory is a story, a poem or a picture that can have a hidden meaning, typically a moral one or a political one. Explain that it is a powerful way to convey a point of view or concept.

Ask students to suggest how fables are like allegories. For example, the Aesop’s fables comment on human behaviour and social interactions. The Lion and the Mouse has the underlying message to value even your smallest or least powerful friend.

Introduce the book, The Rabbits. This could be done with a Story Tell. Misty Adoniou demonstrates this technique in this video using the story of Fox, by Margaret Wild and Ron Brooks (beginning at 1:09:00).

Following the book introduction, read the text to the students.

Guide a class discussion on the key ideas and the underlying narrative of The Rabbits.

Possible questions to prompt discussion:

• What is the story that is explicitly told in the text?
• What was the tension and/or conflict in the narrative?

Revisit the definition of an allegorical story.

Possible questions to prompt discussion:

• What other story or stories might John Marsden be telling?
• How has allegory been used by John Marsden to suggest a different interpretation of the story?
• What positions or viewpoints might Marsden and Tan want the reader to consider? What is your evidence for this?

During discussion, gauge the depth of student knowledge about British colonisation and the impact on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander societies. If students have a limited understanding of this period in Australia’s history, they could view informative videos on the First Fleet, or episodes 23 and 24 from the My Place series. Teaching notes are also available for these episodes. Build students' understanding about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and connection to Country. 

Model how to elaborate on the text from one page of The Rabbits. Demonstrate how to think deeply about the sentences and tell the allegorical or metaphorical story behind the words in detail. Include how the Aboriginal people and European people may have felt and thought. For example, the text, “and stole our children” refers to the Stolen Generation, the Aboriginal children that were forcibly removed from their families.

Organise the students into groups of three or four. Explain the Place Mat activity and ask each group to use one page from the text to elaborate on the story.

Refer back to the learning intention and success criteria, reminding students that they are using the Place Mat to tell the allegorical tale, and/or the historical story that matches the text.

Extend students by providing them with a number of sentences and asking them to explain the connections made in the text to historical events. A text connection prompt table (docx PDF) can be used to organise student thinking.

Invite one group to share their work. 

Model how to provide clear, constructive feedback. Invite suggestions from students about how to add detail to the summary of the allegorical tale. Invite students to explain their responses and to provide examples in the text to justify their thinking. Model how to write feedback on sticky notes to add to the shared work sample.

Students then participate in a gallery walk, using sticky notes to add ideas and comments to the work of their peers.

Collect place mats for formative assessment.

ABC Education, 2021. Dust Echoes. [Online] 
Available at: https://www.abc.net.au/education/dust-echoes-ep-1-whirlpool/13496682
[Accessed 15 March 2022].

ABC, 2014. Behind the News, First Fleet. [Online] 
Available at: www.abc.net.au/btn/classroom/first-fleet/10529128
[Accessed 15 March 2022].

Australian Children's Television Foundation, n.d. My Place for teachers. [Online] 
Available at: myplaceforteachers.edu.au/default.asp
[Accessed 15 March 2022].

Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership, 2017. Peer Feedback. [Online] 
Available at: https://www.aitsl.edu.au/docs/default-source/feedback/aitsl-peer-feedback-stratedy.pdf?sfvrsn=372dec3c_2
[Accessed 15 March 2022].

Click View, 2019. Aboriginal Dreaming stories. [Online] 
Available at: online.clickview.com.au/libraries/categories/10068245/aboriginal-dreaming?sort=productionyear 
[Accessed 15 March 2022].

Clickview, 2019. My Place series. [Online] 
Available at: online.clickview.com.au/exchange/series/20382/my-place?sort=productionyear
[Accessed 15 March 2022].

Library of Congress, n.d. A selection of stories from The Aesop for Children. [Online] 
Available at: read.gov/aesop/index.html
[Accessed 15 March 2022].

Marsden, J. and Tan, S., 1998. The Rabbits, Lothian Books, Port Melbourne. 

Regional Leadership Conferences and Forums Team, 2018. Associate Professor Misty Adoniou – Workshop. [Online] 
Available at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=72vCotSIHzA&feature=emb_title
[Accessed 15 March 2022].

Second Level Support Service, 2008. Using Graphic Organisers in Teaching and Learning. [Online] 
Available at: pdst.ie/sites/default/files/GraphicOrganiserFinal.pdf
[Accessed 15 March 2022].

The Fun Kids, 2015. The Top Five Most Popular Moral Stories. [Online] 
Available at: https://thefunkids.wordpress.com/2015/07/15/the-top-5-most-popular-moral-stories/ 
[Accessed 15 March 2022].

Thinking Maps, n.d. Flow Map. [Online] 
Available at: edcr3332015thinkingmaps.weebly.com/the-flow-map.html
[Accessed 15 March 2022].

World of Tales, 2022. Stories for Children from around the world. [Online] 
Available at: www.worldoftales.com/
[Accessed 15 March 2022].