View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who is Yellagonga?

2. Who was supposed to establish this first colony?

3. Why are the Aboriginal people forced to accept the white men's system of justice and punishment?

4. What do the Aboriginals have to do to survive?

5. What does Captain Fremantle want?

Short Essay Questions

1. Should Golda have been punished for killing the white men's steer? Was the way he was punished right?

2. How are the girls feeling throughout their journey south to Moore River?

3. What could the wildflowers, plants and animals that the girls see symbolize?

4. How do the Aboriginal people react to Captain Fremantle and the arrival of Stirling and his colonists?

5. The girls meet other mixed race girls at the girls' home in Perth. How have these girls been misled?

6. How do Maude's family react to her pregnancy?

7. Who is to blame for the incident between the white workers who dug the sacred land, and the Mardu?

8. How do the white people at the depot react to the birth of the mixed race child?

9. Why has the arrival of white colonists been bad for the Aboriginal people?

10. Why is Jigalong appealing to the Mardu people?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the symbolism of the wildflowers, plants and animals in this story. Why are there so many descriptions of nature?

Essay Topic 2

The film version of this book is described as a story that follows the 'triumph of the human spirit.' How well does this apply to the book and the characters in it? Explain your answer using examples from the book, not the film.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss identity. Why is identity important and who is it important to? How do the white people attempt to crush Aborigine identity?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,200 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample