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In this lesson’s snippet, Ort briefly describes the people in his family, including himself.
First person in That Eye, the Sky 2: Summarising the characters
Summarising the characters
1. Introduction
2. My name is Morton Flack
3. Mum and Dad
4. Tegwyn and Grammar
5. Putting it together
6. Checkpoint
7. See you next time
Summarising the characters
1. Introduction
My name is Morton Flack, though people call me Ort for short. Ort is also a name for bum in our family. It means zero too (you know, like nought), but in my case it just means Morton without saying all of it. My Dad's name is Sam Flack. Mum is called Alice. Her last name was different when she was a maid. Tegwyn in the next room with her magazines is my sister. She finishes school next month. Grammar lives in the room behind with her piano she never plays. She never does much these days. That flamin' rooster going again.
You can see this passage is very simple: it's mostly "name the character and add a detail" x 4.
Why do a lesson on this passage at all? Because in a later lesson you'll need to make reference to the background characters, which is easier if we set them up here.
2. My name is Morton Flack
Let’s look at the first part of the snippet, where Ort introduces himself.
My name is Morton Flack, though people call me Ort for short. Ort is also a name for bum in our family. It means zero too (you know, like nought), but in my case it just means Morton without saying all of it.
My name is Joseph Mwaria, but a lot of people call me Jojo. Joseph is a Christian name. It means “He gives” (where He is god). Mwaria is Kikuyu and means talkative, but I am a quiet person.
My name is Blanchette, though everyone in the village calls me Little Red Cap after the cape I like to wear, red as a robin’s throat, when walking in winter. I’m not little, I’m actually quite tall for my age. I think if a boy wore the same cloak, they’d call him the Mighty Lord of the Forest or somesuch. But for me, Little Red Cap it is.
Your turn
3. Mum and Dad
In the next snippet, Ort names his parents.
My Dad's name is Sam Flack. Mum is called Alice. Her last name was different when she was a maid.
Imani is my sister. Emmanuel is our cousin from Nanyuki. He’s an entrepreneur and Imani and I work at his courier business.
My Grandma’s name is Yvette. My mother is Bernadette. I feel their silent expectation to carry on the tradition.
Your turn
4. Tegwyn and Grammar
The final snippet is a little more complex.
Tegwyn in the next room with her magazines is my sister. She finishes school next month. Grammar lives in the room behind with her piano she never plays. She never does much these days. That flamin' rooster going again.
Rashid lying there on the sofa fast asleep is a new courier. He’s lazy; Emmanuel’s going to drop him soon. Sitting on a broken chair by the fridge, Nassor is trying to get his music on the bluetooth speaker. He doesn’t work here. He just hangs out. The phone rings so hard it travels across the table.
The man whose bones are buried beneath the elm tree behind our cottage was my father, but I never knew him. Eaten by a bear in the mountains the day before I was born. The Woodsman is my father now, I suppose. He courted my mother slowly, eventually took my father’s place, now treats me with great care and respect. If he has any vice at all, it’s that bath.
Your turn
5. Putting it together
Let's put everything together. Here is the master snippet.
My name is Morton Flack, though people call me Ort for short. Ort is also a name for bum in our family. It means zero too (you know, like nought), but in my case it just means Morton without saying all of it. My Dad's name is Sam Flack. Mum is called Alice. Her last name was different when she was a maid. Tegwyn in the next room with her magazines is my sister. She finishes school next month. Grammar lives in the room behind with her piano she never plays. She never does much these days. That flamin' rooster going again.
And here our examples joined together.
My name is Joseph Mwaria, but a lot of people call me Jojo. Joseph is a Christian name. It means “He gives” (He is god). Mwaria is Kikuyu and means talkative, but in truth I am a quiet person. Imani is my sister. Emmanuel is our cousin from Nanyuki. He’s an entrepreneur and Imani and I work at his courier business. Rashid lying there on the sofa fast asleep is a new courier. He’s lazy; Emmanuel’s going to drop him soon. Sitting on a broken chair by the fridge, Nassor is trying to get his music on the bluetooth speaker. He doesn’t work here. He just hangs out. The phone rings so hard it travels across the table.
My name is Blanchette, though everyone in the village calls me Little Red Cap after the cape I like to wear, red as a robin’s throat, when walking in winter. I’m not little, I’m actually quite tall for my age. I think if a boy wore the same cloak, they’d call him the Mighty Lord of the Forest or somesuch. But for me, Little Red Cap it is. My Grandma’s name is Yvette. My mother is Bernadette. I feel their silent expectation to carry on the tradition. The man whose bones are buried beneath the elm tree behind our cottage was my father, but I never knew him. Eaten by a bear in the mountains the day before I was born. The Woodsman is my father now, I suppose. He courted my mother slowly, eventually took my father’s place, now treats me with great care and respect. If he has any vice at all, it’s that bath.
Your turn
6. Checkpoint
Let's put everything together in a checkpoint piece. Here's the original snippet:
My name is Morton Flack, though people call me Ort for short. Ort is also a name for bum in our family. It means zero too (you know, like nought), but in my case it just means Morton without saying all of it. My Dad's name is Sam Flack. Mum is called Alice. Her last name was different when she was a maid. Tegwyn in the next room with her magazines is my sister. She finishes school next month. Grammar lives in the room behind with her piano she never plays. She never does much these days. That flamin' rooster going again.
Here are the examples we've been building:
My name is Joseph Mwaria, but a lot of people call me Jojo. Joseph is a Christian name. It means “He gives” (He is god). Mwaria is Kikuyu and means talkative, but in truth I am a quiet person. Imani is my sister. Emmanuel is our cousin from Nanyuki. He’s an entrepreneur and Imani and I work at his courier business. Rashid lying there on the sofa fast asleep is a new courier. He’s lazy; Emmanuel’s going to drop him soon. Sitting on a broken chair by the fridge, Nassor is trying to get his music on the bluetooth speaker. He doesn’t work here. He just hangs out. The phone rings so hard it travels across the table.
My name is Blanchette, though everyone in the village calls me Little Red Cap after the cape I like to wear, red as a robin’s throat, when walking in winter. I’m not little, I’m actually quite tall for my age. I think if a boy wore the same cloak, they’d call him the Mighty Lord of the Forest or somesuch. But for me, Little Red Cap it is. My Grandma’s name is Yvette. My mother is Bernadette. I feel their silent expectation to carry on the tradition. The man whose bones are buried beneath the elm tree behind our cottage was my father, but I never knew him. Eaten by a bear in the mountains the day before I was born. The Woodsman is my father now, I suppose. He courted my mother slowly, eventually took my father’s place, now treats me with great care and respect. If he has any vice at all, it’s that bath.
And below is your version, joined together. You might need to delete some excess paragraph breaks.
Is there anything you want to edit? This is your last chance to make improvements before we conclude the lesson!
Your turn
7. See you next time
That’s the end of this lesson. Short and sweet!
What you’ve seen is a similar technique to the previous lesson: simple statements followed by expansions, some of which are subjective commentary and value judgments.
Why did we do this lesson when it was so simple?
- It gave you the chance to practice the same statement:expansion pattern again.
- The summary description in this lesson is a good contrast to the expanded descriptions in the next couple of lessons.
- And we need those background characters later!
About the book
That Eye, the Sky is a novel by Tim Winton, one of the greatest Australian writers. It's a story about a boy in a country town whose family struggle after the father of the family is paralysed in a car accident, and then they are targeted by a mysterious stranger claiming to be preacher who has come to help them.