The Lost Thing

THELOSTTHING ShaunTan TeachersNotes ByNancyMortimer Contents Introduction LanguageandLiteracy VisualLiteracy DesignandLayout railleryPoints The befogged issueShaunTan Teachers strike2009 rapscallion1of8 www. hachettechildrens. com. au INTRODUCTION TheLostThingisthe prototypicpicturebookthatShaunTanhasbothwrittenandillustrated,andthe resultisawonderful,warm,humorousstorythatwillbereadandenjoyedbyawiderangeof ages. Thereissomuchtopore all overandponderinthisbookthatitwillbea pleasingadditionto theresourcesthatteachershavetodrawon.Thestoryisanage? oldand well-known(prenominal)lostdogstorytoldbytheboyandaddressedtothe ratifier. Itisamatter? of? factanecdote,fullofinterestandcompassion,buttheaccompanying illustrations watchTheLostThingextremelychallenging. Thejuxtapositionoftextanddrawings makeabookthatisboththought? provokingandfilledwithfoodforthought. TheLostThingcanbeusedinthe degreeroomfrom marrowprimaryrightthroughtoupper secondaryanda prominentdealcanbegainedbythosewhorea dit. TheLostThingShaunTan TeachersGuide2009Page2of8 www. achettechildrens. com. au LANGUAGEANDLITERACY Thelanguagethestoryiswritteninis unanalyzableandostensiblystraightforward,however ShaunTanisconstantlychallengingthereaderwithhisunexpecteduseof battle crysand c erstptslookatthemeaningofthewordweirdforinstanceandthesummaryofthe thingItwasquitefriendlythough,onceIstartedtalkingtoitwhendepictedonthepage isahuge,indefinable, pastoralcreature. ThenarratortellsthestoryinafamiliarWhatIdidintheholidaysmode. scrupleWhatistheeffectofthissimplelanguageandminimaltext?QuestionWhatwasarealdilemmaforthenarrator? (Page16) Satire Satireinliteratureholdsthemirrorupforustolookatoursociety,ourfoiblesand ourselves. witnessatthe locationofsatireinTheLostThing. Metaphor bearingatTheLostThingasbeinga illustrationandthushavingdifferentmeaningsfromwhat appearsonthesurface. Discussthiswiththeclass. Understatement directattheplaceunderstatementplaysinTheLostThing. Opening Lookparticularlyatthe openingo fthestoryandcomment. TheLostThingShaunTan TeachersGuide2009Page3of8 www. achettechildrens. com. au Ending Whatistheimpactattheendofthestory? Whatdoyouthinkhashappenedtothenarrator? Characters Doacharacterstudyofthenarrator,outliningwhatheislikeandwhatheenjoysdoing. Whatothercharacters arinthestory? Whatpartdotheyplay? ActivityLookatthelostthingitself,andmakealistofwords,which delineateit. Humour Whatmakesthestoryhumorous? Wheredoesthehumourcomefrom? Discusswiththe classdifferentsortsofhumourandlookattheingredientsthatcomprisehum