The Coral Island – Study Questions
What makes a classic children’s book? What are the criteria?
Is The Coral Island still a classic? Why (not)?
What are the three boys (Ralph, Jack and Peterkin) like? What sort of masculinity do they
personify?
What is their attitude to the island and its nature?
What is the image of the natives?
What is the image of Christianity in the story?
What is the moral message of the book?
Could this book be used in the classroom today?
Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence – Study Questions
What images of the Aborigines do you get and what images of the white settlers do you get in
the story?
This book could be described as a documentary novel? How would you characterize such a
genre and what would you expect from it?
In what ways is this a postcolonial novel?
Can this novel be seen as a reversed version of The Coral Island?
In what ways do you think novels like these can be used to teach a cultural awareness about
places like Britain and Australia? Would you use these texts yourself? Why (not)?