English Homework

1. The Camp aka Sydney is a significance part of William Thornhills journey

to becoming his own free man. The name of Sydney The Camp is
important as it signifies how little is known of this new land. People have
made camp but the surrounding terrain is yet to be explored and deemed
liveable land. The name also signifies a milestone in the Thornhills life. To
the newcomer, Sydney is a turning point. Thornhill makes camp here
while he decides what he needs to do next. What his fate in this new land
is to be.
2. The journey from London to Sydney was long and tedious. Separated for
nine months, it is hard to imagine there may be distance between the
Thornhills. Once they have arrived in Sydney and are off the boats, it is
clear that something has changed. But it was as if she was only a picture
of his wife (p76). In this sense the voyage from London to Sydney has
greatly affected the Thornhills - mainly Williams ability to communicate
with each other.
3. Sal came to Australia as she was invited to join her husband that you will
permit Sarah Thornhill the wife of William Thornhill convict who is to be
embarked on the Alexander transport, commander Captain Suckling, to
have passage with her husband (p71). As a part of this deal, William was
assigned to Sal as soon as they arrived to serve her in any way possible.
William was set free because he was assigned to Sal. Instead of being
bought and treated like dirt as he would go on to do, he was given to his
wife, someone who loved and cared for him. William was granted a luxury
that others would have killed for.
4. Williams first meeting with a Darug man foreshadows the conflict that will
occur later in the novel. In this first meeting William is trying to protect his
family and keep his ground. He feels threatened and repulsed by the man
in front of him and repeatedly tells the man to Be off! Be off! (p 5-6).
This initial hostility towards the indigenous people leads to mistrust of the
Durag people and cements Williams resolve to keep people off his own
land.
5. William Thornhill first makes his living from Mr. King, however he isnt
always truthful to him. To get ahead and better his family Thornhill takes
to stealing from Mr. King. Only a little so he isnt caught, but stealing
nonetheless.
6. In London the only use for rum was a drinking agent or a steriliser, but in
Sydney rum is much more valuable. Rum is key in everyday life and not
just for drinking. People in Sydney use rum as money; to trade, buy, and
sell.
7. During the novel, Thornhill utters the words two kinds of natives. This
sentence refers to the two types of indigenous people that the Thornhills

Jonelle Christensen

Week 2

English Homework

meet during the novel. They encounter a man called Bill who is an
indigenous person who lives with the settlers trying to scab food and rum
from people to live off. The settlers arent scared of this kind of indigenous
person as they know he cant hurt them. They are however afraid of the
other indigenous folk who dont creep around the settlements looking for
food but hide in the safe confines of the trees. They arent sure if these
people mean well towards them and wont hurt them and this makes their
attitude towards them racist and biased.
8. Williams and Sals attitudes and experiences towards NSW greatly differ.
To Sal the whole journey was only necessary to free her husband. Once
they have enough money and William is free, Sal believes they can go
back home to where they truly belong. On the other hand William sees
NSW as a new beginning. Somewhere he can make a name for himself and
do what he wants. He realises that they can never go back to London
because his past will always haunt him there. For William, NSW is home
now.
9. Blackwood is a hardworking man who understands that people need to
share the land with the traditional owners. The Durag people. He
understands that to take a little, first you need to give a little. William ends
up working for Blackwood as his old boss Mr. King was beginning to get
suspicious of William and his missing rum. To get him off his tail, Thornhill
quits his job and goes to work for Blackwood on the river. Both Thornhill
and Blackwood love the sea/rivers. They are both boatmen and
understand what the other has gone through.
10.Williams experiences on the Hawkesbury teach him many things from
patience to acceptance of new things. He sees natives walking around
which makes him uncomfortable and doubt the safeness of this new area,
and his decision to move the family to Thornhills Point. He also learns that
he needs to be patient with the growth of his land and the finishings of
their home.
11.Smasher Sullivan is a man that cares for himself and who will give him the
most attention. Smasher sees the Aboriginals as savages and whenever
they come close to his hut he yells at them and threatens them with his
gun. The true settlers values are represented by Smasher as he believes in
working hard for what you need and not letting anybody get in your way
or tell you otherwise, which explains his extreme racists attitudes towards
the indigenous people. Smashers beliefs have been exaggerated, but only
slightly to show the reader how most people people like Smasher
thought and felt.
12.The Thornhills experiences in NSW so far have been a series of trials that
have tested the strength of both William and Sal. It has tried their
dedication to each other and it has tried their willingness to adapt to new
things.

Jonelle Christensen

Week 2

English Homework

Canny Shrewd enough not to be easily deceived.

Capering a playful leap or dancing step; a dangerous or illegal activity,
especially one involving robbery.
Rutted - a narrow channel or groove in something, especially one made by the
wheels of vehicles.
Wan - unhealthily pale, especially from illness or grief.
Hovels - a small, dirty, or poorly built house (a shack).
Wry - combining or expressing a mixture of mild amusement and irony.
Diffidently - lacking self-confidence and rather shy; reserved or restrained
behaviour.
Fastidious - concerned that even the smallest details should be just right.
Privily - sharing knowledge of something secret or private.
Victuals - food or other provisions.
The air is thick with the smell of rum and the sweat of the other men in the room,
relaxing after a rough days work. My head is like a pool of rum softly swishing
round and round and I know Ive had too much to drink. There is a soft breeze
trickling through the night, just keeping the air bearable. The subtle silence
made you feel contempt; there was nothing that could go wrong for this one
moment of freedom. Breaking the silence, one man started to speak about how
he ended up here and soon everyone was exchanging their disastrous tales. You
know I wasnt the thieving person for most of me upbringing I remember me pa
always used to scold us kids whenever we tried to sneak a cookie after the
dinner was done.

Jonelle, you have provided great insights into the characters and their experience
of settlement. I can see that you are grasping the themes and underlying issues
presented in the novel. You need to refer back to the model answers provided to
you week two, lesson one. This will help you structure your answers. Structuring
your answers enables you to clearly articulate your content knowledge. At
present, I can see that you have sound knowledge of the text and you are
communicating at a satisfactory standard.
To improve your responses you need to:
a) Review your sentence and paragraph structure.
b) Select and incorporate quotes to support your explanation (you have done
this in some of your responses).

Jonelle Christensen

Week 2

English Homework

c) Edit your work via reading it aloud and to someone else to review the
clarity of your expression.
d) Edit your work for punctuation errors.
We will be reviewing sentence structure, paragraph structure, punctuation and
quoting evidence in class.
Your diligence and hard work will pay off so keep up the great work

Jonelle Christensen

Week 2

English Homework