Writing Diaries
A diary is a day to day record of what the writer experiences. Every My
Australian Story novel is written in the form of a diary.
Think, pair, share
Q. Why might it be a good idea to use a diary form for a historical story?
Teacher’s Guide: A diary lets us experience history and the impact of history on a personal level; gives us an eyewitness account; helps us to compare our lives with those who lived in the past; and gives us a richer understanding.
Viewpoint
The story is seen from the diary writer’s eyes. This is an eyewitness account. The diary writer narrates the story from their point of view, using a first person viewpoint: I, we, me, my. A diary style also lets the reader into the narrator’s mind. We can see what they are seeing and feel what they are feeling.
Chrissie’s narrators are:
- Joe Daley,
a fictional character
- Mary Beckwith,
a real-life person
- Jules Fulbert,
a fictional character
Before you Read
Chrissie’s novels are set in a time when few people were able to read or write.
Think, pair, share
Q. How did you learn to read and write?
Q. How might a child in the past have learnt how to read and write?
Let’s read
Chrissie’s narrators had to be able to read and write, although it was common then for people to be illiterate. Let’s read how her characters were able to learn and how they obtained pen and paper to keep a diary.
Teacher’s Guide: Literate means able to read and write. Illiterate means unable to read and write.
Read [Castle Hill Rebellion pp 32- 36 ‘Kitt chose this minute to arrive…For Father Dixon to convey so.’]
Joe Daley’s diary begins in 1804.
Q. How did Joe learn to read and write, and how did he manage to keep a diary?
Teacher’s Guide: Joe was being schooled by the RC priest Father James Dixon, who gave him his old sermon pages. Joe wrote on the blank side to practice his handwriting.
Read [Convict Girl p1 ‘Tomorrow we shall be landing at Port Jackson…these suffering months we have been at sea.’ Also p20 ‘I ventured to ask a favour…We best settle to our work.’ ]
Mary Beckwith’s diary begins in 1801.
Q. How did Mary learn to read and write, and how did she manage to keep a diary?
Teacher’s Guide: Mary had been taking some writing lessons before her father went through troubling times. She managed to hide her writing pouch and bring it on board the transport ship, where another literate convict Meg helped her to carry on learning.