The Imaginative Landscape: Semester One Journal Entries
You must complete at least three of the following tasks in preparation for your SAC in Week 9.
These will be assessed and the grade will be added to your report. Your teacher may set particular
entries for you to complete, or allow you to choose. Each entry must be placed in your personal
folder on K drive.
Entry One
So Much Water, So Close to Home
Jindabyne is based on a short story by American writer Raymond Carver. Read the story, ‘So Much
Water, So Close to Home’ (in the essential readings folder) and complete the following tasks:
1.
Construct the following table and complete in as much detail as possible.
Text
Jindabyne
Characterization
Plot
Form and style
Setting
Carver
2.
3.
4.
What is the significance of the story’s title, ‘So Much Water, So Close to Home’? Is this
idea also present in Jindabyne? If so, how is it conveyed differently in the film?
While the film tells a very similar tale, the landscape in the film adds a whole new
dimension. Why is the landscape so important in Jindabyne?
The screenwriter of Jindabyne conveys the personal crisis that is explored in Carver’s
short story, but it also tells a broader tale about Australia. What is the broader narrative
in the film? How do you know?
Link to Carver’s story: http://www.nyx.net/~kbanker/chautauqua/carver.htm
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Entry Two
Point of View
People do not view their surroundings objectively. Our gaze is affected by our memories, our
desires, our state of mind, and other things. This is also true for the characters in the film.
Your task is to: Choose two of the characters in Jindabyne and describe either the lake or the river
from each character’s perspective (approx. 150 words for each character). Then, write a brief
explanation of the reasons for their differences and how you have conveyed these differences for
the reader.
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Entry Three
Landscape and relationships
1.
Complete the following table with dot-points, describing how each of the landscapes are
captured on film. Make sure that you are using ‘film language’ to explain how each
landscape is shot.
The Lake
2.
3.
The River
The Plains
The Hills
In Jindabyne, how do landscapes provide a setting for and help define relationships?
(examine at least three relationships in the film)
How are ‘insiders’ (those who belong to the community) and ‘outsiders’ (those who are
rejected by the community) established through the filming of the landscape (give at
least two examples)
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Entry Four
The use of landscapes in literature
The setting of a literary text (novel, film, short story, poem) is not only used to give a text a
sense of realism. It can also be used by writers to convey the themes and ideas that they wish to
explore.
1. Explain how the following themes are explored through the landscapes in Jindabyne:
a. Civilisation
b. Secrets
c. Gender divide
d. The Past
2. Choose another text, preferably from your personal reading (or one that you have studied)
and describe the landscape conveyed by the writer. Then, explain the role(s) that the
landscape played in the text (eg. what did it tell you about the themes, characters,
relationships, or context of the text?)