Activities
1. Patricia Grace - Writer
Your own writing
One of Patricia Grace's main messages is about writing from your own experiences.
Go to INFLUENCES and read what she says about Māori writers.
Go to TRAINING, select Workshops and Show Movie. Note Patricia's point that no-one lives and works in a vacuum. Apply this to yourself.
List about five experiences that have shaped your life. Choose one to write about.
Think about how aspects of the community you live in, shaped or influenced that experience. Write about it in your notebook.
A story from the community
From WORKS go to POTIKI. Show Movie.
This story is one of a close knit Māori community. Your community will have its own stories to tell. For example the protests over the erection of telecommunications towers in urban areas, or a local character who makes the news frequently about community issues.
Make a list of story starters that relate to your own community.
Writing about belonging and self identity
Go to BACKGROUND and select Whakapapa.
Show Movie.
Can you make a family tree "with branches all connected to the trunk"?
Research and locate information that will help you establish your own identity and where you belong.
Write a mihi (introductory speech) which traces your ancestors and where you came from.
Find out about other New Zealand writers
Information about the following writers is available on Pop Ups (blue). Can you find out about some of these writers in relation to the communities they worked?
Katherine Mansfield
Margaret Mahy
Joy Cowley
Tessa Duder
Hone Tuwhare
Witi Ihimaera
Frank Sargeson
Amelia Batistich
Celebrate your differences
Go to Patricia Grace's Activities.
Select Spider 4 "Change the end of Patricia's story."
Read the story of "The Kuia and the spider" and reflect on the theme of celebrating difference among families.
Think about and compare your own family with a friend's family. Identify something in which the two families differ markedly.
Select Spider 3 "Start your story from scratch" OR
Select Spider 2 "Choose same text as a story starter."
Write about the two families. You may like to model the story framework from "The kuia and the spider."
