Swan Song by Colin Thiele

Format: Novel

Extent: 192 pp

Overview

This beautifully written story tells about the life of a boy, Mitch, who lives in the CoorongNational Park in South Australia. His father is a ranger there and Mitch leads a happy and adventurous life exploring and fishing and making the most of the lovely place where he lives. He has to complete his last two years of primary school by correspondence and he must adjust to the routine of working from home.

While out inspecting PelicanIsland, Mitch and his father find many pelican nests have been deserted, and they come across one that has two newly hatched but recently abandoned chicks. Mitch begs his father to take them home to try to save them, and against the ranger’s better judgement, he allows him to. A short time afterwards, Mitch comes across a warm swan egg that has also been left. He and his mother successfully hatch out the egg, and Mitch has three ‘responsibilities’ to look after.

The story is a warm and moving account of a young boy growing up and the adventures and concerns he has as he matures.

Swan Song by Colin Thiele is masterfully written, and young people will enjoy the story while learning a great deal about the art of writing and storytelling.

Author Profile

Australia's most distinguished writer for children, Colin Thiele, AC, has been writing books for over forty years. Last year he celebrated his eightieth birthday. His books, including the multi-award-winning Storm Boy, The Sun on the Stubble and Blue Fin, have won numerous Australian and international awards and have been made into classic films, TV series, plays and picture books. Born and raised in the BarossaValley, Colin now lives near Dayboro, Queensland.

Find out more about Colin Thiele at his homepage

Assessment checklist

After reading and completing the activities for Swan Song,students will gain the skills to:

  • recognise author’s techniques to convey particular messages
  • talk about ideas
  • recognise values and attitudes
  • identify texts that describe, explain, instruct, argue and narrate
  • recognise figurative language such as similes and metaphors
  • use research skills – both electronic and library-based
  • use a wider vocabulary
  • identify techniques used for establishing mood

Activities

Small-group activities

  1. How is Swan Song told?
  2. What is the significance of ‘Shake on it’(70)?
  3. What happened in the trial against Hardy Blight and Jimmy Small? What was the case about (76-77)?
  4. ‘The world, he decided, could sometimes be a crazy place.’ (89)
    What had led Mitch to come to this conclusion?
  5. ‘By the time he arrived home, he felt guilty and ashamed.’ (111)
    What incident had happened to make Mitch feel like this?
  6. ‘It shows how dangerous it is to jump to conclusions, Mitch.’ (131)
    Why does Mitch’s father say this?
  7. ‘A great silence hung over the place,’ conveys a certain mood. What is this? Find more words and phrases in the novel that describe and establish mood.
  8. From the book, outline what doing schoolwork by Distance Education involves. Do you think you would like to do your schoolwork this way? Give reasons to support your answer.

Whole-class activities

  1. As a class, discuss:
  • the saving of the pelicans and how Mitch became responsible for them
  • nature, ethics, time passing, tourism, change, revenge
  • the problems people cause when they visit National Parks
  1. Colin Thiele has many messages in his wonderful story. Make a list of what these are. How does he let the reader know what he thinks is important?

Individual activities

Characters

  1. Do a pen portrait of Mitch (a picture using words) saying what he is like as a person, his situation, his concerns and interests, where he lives and how he spends his time. Refer to his mother and father, what they are like and his relationship with each.

Vocabulary and language

  1. Yahoos (14), hoons (17), nincompoops (18), hoboes (19), oafs, louts, stupiddolts (81), are all words used to describe much the same thing. What is this? Find out the origin of these words where you can. Add to this list with more words of similar meaning.
  2. ‘Eureka.’ (52)
    What does this expression mean? What is the origin of the word?
  3. Use the following words in sentences that show you understand their meaning: middens (13), sceptical (42), predator (46), carousing (56), despoiling (78), vendetta (79), fervently (154), distraught (177), extricated (177).
  4. Explain what is meant by, ‘He was in a quandary’. (46)
  5. Explain the difference between: blonde (24)/blond; affect (40)/effect; it’s (60)/ its; bought (77)/brought (78); practise (183)/practice.
  6. ‘… the water in the Coorong was so calm that it lay before himlike a huge mirror.At other times, when the breeze blewlike a gentle breathand rucked up tinywavelets,the mirror turned into ripple glass…’ (10)
    This piece contains both a simile and metaphor as Colin Thiele uses word pictures to create a vivid image of what he is describing. There are many more instances of such graphic language throughout the story. Find some more examples from the text. Write some sentences of your own that include similes and metaphors.

Writing

  1. What predicament did Mitch find himself in (141)? What did he do to get out of the bad situation he was in? Give an account of what happened. What helped him (146)?
  2. Describe what it took to bring up the pelicans and the swan.
  3. Write about how the Coorong changes over the seasons.
  4. Describe the relationship between Mitch and Bugle.
  5. Write about one of Mitch’s adventures in your own words.
  6. Write about the difficulties of facing up to responsibilities (112).
  7. How did you feel when reading the last chapters of Swan Song?
  8. Examine the ending of the novel and give your opinion about how the story finishes.

Research

  1. Look up where the Coorong is on a map of South Australia.
  2. Find out more about the CoorongNational Park.
  3. From the story, list some facts about black swans (96–7, 126–7).
  4. What is the name of the male, female, and offspring of the black swan? Find out more about black swans.