Prime Time 5, Coursebook mit Audio-CD

1 8 spooked: feeling surprised and a bit afraid 1 9 oppressive: so heavy to make a person not feel well 10 reluctant: He’s reluctant to help me. = He doesn’t want to help me. 11 to coincide: to happen at the same time 12 to numb: to take the feeling away from sth. (e.g. a body part) 13 bark: the “skin” of a tree 14 canvas: the same material a ship’s sails are made of 15 source: where sth. comes from She waved and I couldn’t help but smile as she disappeared from view. Days later on my return journey I stopped again to look at the rock. An old blackfella appeared as I stood lost in thought. “G’day, mate,” he said with a strong voice as he offered his hand. A little spooked 8 , I shook hands. “Bin waiting for you to come back, mate,” he said, nodding in the direction of a small camp under the bridge. A campfire sent wisps of smoke barely noticeable into the air which for me had suddenly become oppressive 9 with heat, and what little breeze there was seemed reluctant 10 to stir. “Knew you’d have to stop, mate. Her spirit wanted you to know.” I was a little uneasy and wondered again what it was that made me stop here today. “How is she?” I asked. The old man looked around and a smile came to his cheeky eyes. “She’s home now. She rests with her real people.” A cooling breeze along the creek coincided 11 with the numbing 12 of every hair on my body. “You’re her brother, aren’t you?” I said. The man grinned and nodded. “They took her away because she was part whitefella. She said she would come back in a motor car. I said I would wait for her at the fallen rock. She died fifty years ago where you found her. She ran away from that place, got hit by a car … so close to home after walking thousan’ miles. Thank you for bringing my sister home, mate.” (“JB”) 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 3 Questions a) Describe the places and the time sequence of the story in your own words. b) What does the title “Going home” mean here? c) Characterisation: How is the girl described in the story? Make a list of expressions. 4 The Aboriginal spiritual world The story “Going home” is an example of the beliefs about life after death shared by Aboriginal people. a) Look at the picture “The Dreaming”, a painting by modern artist Naiura, and read the text an Aboriginal wrote about it. b) Are there any elements in the text or the picture that help you understand the meaning of the “Going home”? The Dreaming is the place of our ancestors, our past, and the place that we go to when our short time in this life has come to an end. We tell of the Dreaming in the stories in our art, on a rock, on tree bark 13 , or most recently, on canvas 14 . The painting here shows many daily activities – a territory argument, hunting, fishing, cooking and different food sources 15 . It is how Naiura imagines our ancestors in the Dreaming. c) Do research to find out more about the Dreaming (also called Dreamtime). 77 6 Strange realities Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eige tum des Verlags öbv