Book title
Trash

 

Author
Andy Mulligan

 

Bibliographic information

Publisher: Algoritam

Translated: Vedrana Zupanić

05/2013.

172 pg., hardcopy

ISBN 9789533164106

 

Links (adaptations, reviews, full texts etc.)

https://www.mvinfo.hr/knjiga/9133/smece

movie  TRASH , 2014., Great Britain, Brasil, 104 min.

https://mojtv.hr/film/38955/smece.aspx

 

Theme
Honest and warm story about kids who live on a landfill

 

Short summary

In an unnamed third world country, not so far from the future, three boys live on a landfill and survive by digging up the mountains of trash in search for anything they could sell. One day, Raphael finds something very unique and mysterious – a leather bag with unusual content inside. He decides to keep it even though the police have offered a reward for whoever finds it.

However, the consequences of their decision can be scary and the three boys need to run for their lives and find out the true story behind the bag. Raphael, Gardo and Rat – boys with no education, parents, a home or money – will solve the mystery and amend justice.

 

Why is the story appropriate for the targeted groups of RSP readers?

• It refers to children of the lower social class (identifying one with the Roman national minority)
• Promotes voluntary work
• Promotes thoughts about abandoned and abused children.

 

What are the distinguished readers interests reflected by this book/story?
 

• Elements of a detective book
• Challenge the reality of facing real adult life
• Brave quest for the truth and justice

 

Why is this story motivational for the pupils?
It brings up different controversy’s and levels of the book – problem of corruption, change of narrator, problem of violence among children, identifying oneself with peers, question of identity – Who am I and who are my friends? What is our status in the society?

 

Is there a historical, political, multi/inter cultural, migrant or similar context recognized in this book/story? 

Our society is still not on the edge to poverty. It recognizes the questions of social justice, faith in institutions, problems of corruption, the question of neoliberalism ideology – Who is stronger, oppresses?

 

Is there a principle of inclusion reflected in this book/story and does it promotes understanding of cultural diversities and heritage? 
 

Inclusion is presented indirectly - the children are isolated, not included in the activities of the real world. Why doesn’t the government do something for them to integrate them to the system, why aren’t they included?

Comparison with inclusion in the Republic of Croatia is visible – are the poor ones isolated here, how and where do they live, what do people know about these problems?

One feather[1]

 (from the story collection 20 +1 best stories of summer 2014.)

 

Author
Ksenija Kušec

​

 

Bibliographic information

 

The short story 'One Feather' was published in a short story collection 20 +1 best stories of summer 2014. Until now on the internet portals, it was published under three titles: One feather, Grandma in my pocket and Revolution. Most often is it seen under the last name of the story collection Revolution

 

Author: Ksenija Kušec

Country: Croatia

Language: Croatian

Genres: Short story

Publisher: Brod knjižara, Zagreb

Year of publication: 2014.

Type of release:  soft copy

ISSN 1849-0026

 

 

Links (adaptations, reviews, full texts etc.)

• https://www.vecernji.hr/kultura/revolucija-972367
• http://radio.hrt.hr/ep/boje-haljine-teta-vanda-ksenija-kusec/251042/
• http://fama.com.hr/ksenija-kusec-nije-dobro-naci-se-u-mojim-knjigama/
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARzRHBiumYI
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3EnYzQIdNE

 

 

Theme
The story is told in the first person by an unnamed girl who arrives at her grandmothers apartment too late, which is now an empty apartment. The owner of the apartment is now the bank. Even though the exact reason why the apartment didn’t stay in the family’s possession is unknown, we can guess it is about covering up debt by the repossession of   movable possessions and real estate. 

 

Short summary

She enters into her grandmother’s empty apartment, she’s too late, the bank has already emptied it, she wasn’t able to say goodbye to neither her things nor the space she was attached to as a child. She’s furious, but in the apartment, in the empty rooms, she is able to find memories of happiness she felt while being with her grandmother. She looks at the place where the stove was, where the flower pots were, and paintings, she also recalls the way the furniture looked like. She moves on to the kitchen and balcony… There is nothing there, only memories, scenes and conversations with her grandmother. She learnt a lot from her. It’s like she’s talking to herself, mentioning Eingemachtes, ashtray, soup pot… items that remind and bring her back to the past. From all her grandmothers’ stuff, she only found a feather on the floor. Furious and hurt with injustice, she decides to fight for her grandmothers’ possessions and apartment.

 

 

Why is the story appropriate for the targeted groups of RSP readers?

In the story, an everyday situation is brought up, actually it’s the reality of this world. Students know how to recognize injustice and similar or the same motives in literary texts. This story is suitable for a specific RSP group of readers as it encourages the understanding of problems of society this girl went through herself, through analyzing and interpretation this specific problem (she was left without the right of her family’s possessions). The situation she was put into leaves the students to feel empathy and have a certain amount of criticism towards the ineffective administration and bad system. This story is also suitable for working with students because of the  linguistic features and style: contains Germanism typically used in conversational idiom of older people in Zagreb and northern parts of Croatia. This is why this text is good for a lingvo methodic template for class’s lexicology in the last year.

 

 

What are the distinguished readers interests reflected by this book/story?
Taken into consideration that social problems are everlasting and are present everywhere, this story can rise interest of the reader in various ways:

 

• The main character (and narrator) is a young person who decides to fight for her rights and oppose the bad system.
• Memories and returning back to her childhood and remembering a loved one – are general experiences which help readers to feel empathy towards the main character and find similarities with themselves.
• The text offers linguistic content that connects us to the past, brings up emotions towards memories and encourages us to think about real life problems.

 

Why is this story motivational for the pupils?
Students are faced with real life problems that are present in their surrounding whether its close or far, they find similarities in all personal experiences

 

Is there a historical, political, multi/inter cultural, migrant or similar context recognized in this book/story? 
In this story, present and real social context is recognized:  the amounts of social responsibility banks and state law have towards an individual, which most times end up feeling cheated on and unprotected.   

Title of Activity
Empty Apartment

 

Description of educational activity
Duration: 4 x 45 minutes (two two hour class – 2 x 45 min)

Student age: 17 - 18 (senior)

 

1^st class

Introductory part of class: the whole class (all students)

Student homework: students listen to the introduction of the story, the professor reads: I climb up the stairs and everything is clear: I am late. The bankers cleaned out my grandmother’s apartment to the dust. On the front door, instead of a lock, there is a hole, and the door is ajar. It is probably the time when bankers don’t care if someone will come in the apartment and steal something. They have already become the owners, it’s all crystal clear.

• After the introduction the students think and discuss the possible reasons why the bankers cleared out the apartment.
• They assume the age of the narrator/main character
• Comment about their ideas of the stories ending

 

Middle part of class: whole class, later on working in pairs

Student homework:

• After the introductory discussion they receive text stories in their entirety and read the story to the end
• I pairs the comment the main pilot, express their thoughts, comment the narrator and event
• After working in pairs, a conversation follows about their impressions the book created ( reports on how their pair perceived the story)
• Followed by the question, do you know the meanings of all the words in the story One Feather?
• Students in pairs find the meaning of unknown words (ajngemahtes…) on the internet
• They conclude why these words are used in this contemporary story
• They suggest a student (girl) who will play the main characters part/narrator
• Three students voluntarily create a group of ‘helpers’ that will help in answering the questions other student will ask

 

Last part of class: everyone (girl, group of volunteers and the rest of the class)

Student Homework:

• Girl plays/acts the narrator
• The ‘helpers’ help answer and shape the questions which the girl will not be able to answer independently
• The class examines/asks the girl based on the plot of the story

 

 

2^nd class

Introductory part of class: everyone (girl, group of volunteers and the rest of the class)

Student Homework:

• Girl plays/acts the narrator
• The ‘helpers’ help answer and shape the questions which the girl will not be able to answer independently

The class examines/asks the girl based on the plot of the story

 

 

Middle part of class: whole class

Student Homework:

• students independently note information about the story (students are given the information before hand?[1])
• student on the internet explore about the contemporary author Kseniji Kušec
• after gathering information for 10 minutes they write them down on the board, students note the most important information (the most important information is described in advance to them[2])

 

Last part of class: everyone (girl, group of volunteers and the rest of the class)

Student Homework

• Chose the most acceptable student idea from last class – what actually happened to the narrator that she came to an empty apartment?
• Discussion: is the narrator the author of the book?

 

 

3rd class

Subject area: LANGUAGE

Introductory part of class: five groups of four

Student Homework

• Students remember the unfamiliar words (ajngemahtes…)
• They repeat their conclusions why the author used exactly these words in the contemporary Croatian text
• What similar foreign words do you use or have heard of?(one student writes down the words on paper, thus the groups president writes them on the board, the professor keeps track of the words and if applicable (Germanism). With this a list an introductory is created in the subject area Language Lending - Germanisms in Croatian)

 

Middle part of class: five groups of four

Student Homework:

• Every group works on the word they suggested: they talk about their use in language practice (they imagine and demonstrate the situations in which the words can be applicable to)
• The groups president reports  about the results of the discussion in each groups

 

Last part of class: five groups of four

Student Homework: for everyone (not group work)

• students write an essay (method ‘hot pencil’), in which they imagine the narrator from the story ‘One Feather’ in a new situation: after which she came out from the apartment, went to the bank, asked for a meeting with the person who is responsible for her case. A lady in a business suit comes and asks her to join her in her office.
• Students need to use existing and new germanisms in the imagined conversation

 

4^th class

Introductory part of class: the whole class

Student Homework:

• Reading their essay

 

Middle part of class: the whole class

Student Homework:

• evaluation of students work (having in mine it was done using method ‘hot pencil’)
• announcing the best essay
• discussion about the imagines character and the real character from the story

Last part of class: whole class

Student Homework:

• evaluate the class unit (all four classes) with a survey: in the survey include the question of the possibility for students to read another story by Ksenija Kušec in the same educational period

 

 

Support materials:

• the printed story ‘one feather’
• or  https://www.vecernji.hr/kultura/revolucija-972367

 

Evaluation and assessment method:

The evaluation of the teaching process will be visible from the survey conducted on the 4^th class.  From the student’s reaction during all the four classes, the professor will evaluate the interest of the theme and author who deals with the social subject matter.

 

The effect of the activity on RSP reading or motivation for reading:

After reading the introduction paragraph and discussion of possible problems why the apartment was emptied, the students whose interest for the emotional aspect of the narrator. Shortly after they have a protective attitude towards her, they recognize and judge the social injustice and come up with possible solutions.

 

 

Connection to curriculum

Secondary education programs for Gymnasiums: senior year

Croatian Language:

Language – lexicology, the use of aliens, germanism

Literature - Contemporary Literature and Postmodernism

Politics and economy: right or need for order and security

 

Knowledge, Skills and Competences:

1. recognize serious problems in the society in which we belong and time in which we live in: estimate the possibilities and direction of action that can be taken to solve the problem; to act, not to passively watch
2. articulate the underlying problem, describe it, argument the situation, show emotion, as well as critically read the text
3. communication competence: ability to work in a team, inform and act upon.

 

Bibliographic reference to be used during the activity

Author:   Ksenija Kušec

Country:  Croatia

Language: Croatian

Type: Short story

Publisher: Brod knjižara, Zagreb

Year of publication: 2014.

Type of release: Soft cover

ISSN 1849-0026

Number of pg.: Story ‘One feather  – 5 pg.., whole collection 171 pg.

 

 

Short description of digital sources  (applications, games, webpages, FB pages etc.)

To better understand the life of the author as well as her opinions check the following:

• http://radio.hrt.hr/ep/boje-haljine-teta-vanda-ksenija-kusec/251042/
• http://fama.com.hr/ksenija-kusec-nije-dobro-naci-se-u-mojim-knjigama/
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARzRHBiumYI

 

Results

Students will be able to:

• Recognize, describe and comment the social injustice as a literature theme and real life problems
• Understand why contemporary literature texts talk about the different occurrences in social injustice
• React to similar events in everyday life

 

Recommendations

The story One Feather, Ksenija Kušec describes her grandmother’s apartment in which there is nothing left. The bank had emptied it fully. The narrator is a girl who recalls her childhood memories and conversations she had with her grandmother while looking at the empty apartment. From all her grandmothers’ things, she was only able to find a feather on the floor. Furious and hurt with the social injustice, she decides to fight for the repossession of the property and other assets. It is easy to see that action needs to be taken, and this is where the students quickly stand by the characters side, who finds herself in a pool full of social injustice. They put themselves in her shoes and propose different solutions.

(The story can be found under the title ‘Grandma in my pocket” or “Revolution”.)

Book title

Orphan Train

 

Author
Christina Baker Kline

 ​

 

Bibliographic information

Publisher: Mozaik knjiga

Translated to Croatian: Zrinka Budak

2016.

298 str., soft cover

ISBN 9789531418447

 

 

Links (adaptations, reviews, full texts etc.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDJx8m5DCL4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Z3djWoTGFU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Z3djWoTGFU

http://christinabakerkline.com/news/

https://eu.usatoday.com/story/life/books/2014/07/16/orphan-train-by-christina-baker-kline/12679631/

Theme
The book shows the hard life of an orphan in the United States through two stories: a story of an Irish immigrant called Niamh, who enters into an orphan train in the 30’s of the 20^th Century and the story of a 17 year old foster kid named Molly, who is from India, placed at the beginning of the 21^st Century.

 

Short summary

Molly has already changes a few foster families, and she is a bit eccentric when it comes to dressing up, she has a hard time fitting in and connecting to peers her own age as well as with older people. Due to a theft attempt of a book she’s faced with a conditional sentence where she might be put in a   Juvenile Detention Centre, but her boyfriend is able to arrange that she helps a 91 year old lady named Vivian (Niamh) in tidying up her attic. Vivian and Molly connect due to similar lives – Vivian was also an orphan, and reveals to Molly her hard life. Between the years of 1845 and 1929, frequent trains would pass the cities from the East to the country side up in the Midwest and pick up a hundred thousand orphans whose faith was placed in the hands of luck. That’s how Naimh changed a few families, went through tough situations, until finally she came into a family that gave her a normal life. Molly, with modern technology, helps Vivian find family member, while Vivial gives love and security to Molly.

 

Why is the story appropriate for the targeted groups of RSP readers?

• It is written in simple style (both stories are written in I-form, intertwining each other
• Show parts of the American history- orphan trains and the tough faith of kids in a time of crisis, poverty and migration, also bringing up the issue of adoption and child labor, as well as fighting for a better life and judgment towards new nations and cultures.
• Encourages empathy and makes you reflect on the values in your life

 

What are the distinguished readers interests reflected by this book/story?
The book is based on parts of the American history that is known so little about: trains that transported orphans from one part of America to another, and shows the faith of the kids that were mostly child labor. The book is touching and it shows the lives of two strong women who fight for themselves to have a better life.

 

Why is this story motivational for the pupils?
The theme and style of writing make this book stimulating for student. Following the life of Niamh and Molly, the students can think about the faith of other kids and face the problems of today’s society. The book also raises awareness to all the things we believe to be normal in today’s life.

Is there a historical, political, multi/inter cultural, migrant or similar context recognized in this book/story? 
Historical, multi/intercultural and migrant contexts are recognizable.

A part of America’s history is presented: immigrants’ coming from different countries in search for a better life, only to find out it’s not like that, with more misery and poverty.

Also, the relationship towards the kids in the 20th century is described, as well as the trains themselves.

Is there a principle of inclusion reflected in this book/story and does it promotes understanding of cultural diversities and heritage? 
Yes, inclusion of immigrants in America, as well as including abandoned kids and orphans in families and the society, as well as in schools in the 21st century.

It encourages the understanding of cultural differences and heritage (ex. Niamh always carries a Celtic cross around her neck which her grandmother gave to her, always looking at peoples reaction to it, as they react to her weird hairstyle. On the other hand, Molly is different due to her looks, and finds problems in her foster families, who do not accept the eating habits.).