Mister Pip Revision
Hitting the Marks
AO1: support ideas and insights with direct
quotation and other textual references;
express responses in a clear, wellstructured and detailed way
AO2: show awareness of how the text is
written; show how the writer presents ideas
and achieves a range of effects.
AO4: relate the text to its social, cultural
and historical context; explain how it has
been influential and significant (think literal
and metaphorical significance).
“This time the whole village
listened in wonder, sitting by a
small fire on an island all but
forgotten, where the most
unspeakable things happened
without once raising the ire of
the outside world.”
(p142)
Bougainville
• Part of the Solomon Islands
• Has a tropical climate
• Rich in copper which was
mined and is a valuable
resource – hence the wars
• A war torn country
• Suffered two major civil wars
in 1975 and 1990
• Setting for Mister Pip
Redskins
• Papua New Guinea (PNG)
military force
• Funded by Australia
• They were armed with military
weapons; wore uniforms
• Had helicopters
• Believed that Bougainville
belonged to Papua New
Guinea and should not be
independent
• Functioned by intimidation,
much more powerful and wellresourced than native fighters
Rambos/Rebels
• Bougainville Revolutionary
Army (BRA or Rebels)
• They had no guns and
used basic weaponry; no
official uniform
• They believed that
Bougainville should be
independent from Papua
New Guinea
• Committed many atrocities
on their own people
• It became difficult to tell the
difference between the
Redskins and the Rebels.
What is context?!
The circumstances surrounding something,
in terms of which it can be fully understood.
Historical time
Social situation
Political status
Cultural factors
How can understanding context help us to
make sense of a text?
Importance of context
If you know NOTHING of the real-life context behind
Mister Pip, how can you understand:
Why Mr Watts is the only white man
Why Matilda’s father left
Why they have freezers but no electricity
Why the school house was abandoned
Why their young men are disappearing into the jungle
Why the redskins attack the village
Who the redskins are
What is happening in the outside world?
Why Matilda surprised that December is cold and draughty?
If you don’t understand these things, you don’t understand
the context.
Essential details of the story make no sense without
context, so WITH it, they make MORE sense.
Setting and Context
Does the setting have a symbolic function?
Do the characters fit into the setting or are
they in conflict with it?
How does the war impact on the characters’
lives?
Look at the contrast given between the island
and Victorian England. What is the purpose
of this?
Setting and Context
Bougainville Island -> Papua New Guinea -> part of the
Solomon Islands -> in South Pacific
1970s mining of copper began -> Bougainville Copper Limited
(BCL)
Conflict: islanders don’t see benefits of exploitation of
resources, desire independence -> 1990s led by Francis Ona ->
former BCL surveyor
Papua New Guinea -> receive military aid from Australia and
private military companies -> these are the “redskins”
Blockade put in place to restrict island resources and weaken
native resistance -> the “rebels”
Contrast: redskins have helicopters, uniforms, cigarettes ->
symbols of organised civilisation while rebels have recycled
weapons and are like wild animals ‘drunk on jungle juice’
1997 -> peace talks led by New Zealand result in independence
Lloyd Jones investigated these events while working as a
journalist and used fact and rumour to inform his book
AO4 – Context
1.4 Supported response to contexts
6.4 Insightful exploratory response to
contexts
1.5 Details used to support response to
contexts
6.5 Insightful exploration of a range of telling
detail to support response to contexts
What do we notice about Band 1?
How do you get to Band 6?
AO4 - Context
Not a history lesson:
‘The mines on the island closed in the 1990s and all
of the white people left except for Mr Watts.’
Instead, embedded as part of explanation:
‘Mr Watts is depicted as “a source of mystery”
because “he was the last white man” left on the
island after the mines closed, suggesting that while
he is different to the natives, he is also unlike the
other white people: his investment in the island is
personal (Grace), not financial, though the “mystery”
may imply that Matilda does not see Grace as being
sufficient reason for him to stay. He seems to
occupy a liminal space between the white world and
that of the Bougainvilleans, belonging in neither.’
Sample Exam Questions
Working in groups of 4-5 people, you will
be given a set of Section B questions.
Break the questions themselves down to
find out what they are asking, then
roughly plan responses to them.
Part (a): highlight/select key textual detail
Part (b): rough essay plan
Remember to consider how you will
integrate contextual information into your
responses!!
Swap Exam Questions
Now you will have 2 minutes to look
at each of the other groups’
questions and plans.
You may add to/amend plans as you
go, but be sure to put your group’s
number beside any changes.
Start Exam Responses
Working in pairs, you will write:
1) The introduction to your question
Don’t forget your thesis statement
2) Each point in one clear statement.
3) Identify the evidence you will use to
support your point.
Remember to think about how you will
integrate contextual details!