A dingo (canis lupus dingo) on Fraser Island just off the coast of Queensland, Australia. At the time when Lockyer went on his expedition, Queensland was part of New South Wales. The following year, 1826, Lockyer led another expedition, this time to claim Western Australia for the British Empire. A base was established at King George Sound on the southwestern tip of Australia on Christmas Day, and the Union Jack was formally raised on January 21st, 1827. The city of Albany subsequently grew up around the sound.
Introduction
In September 1825, Edmund Lockyer (1784-1860) led an expedition through the upper reaches of the Brisbane River in what is now Queensland, reporting back to Sir Thomas Brisbane, Governor of New South Wales, on the possibilities for agriculture and mining. His contacts with the Aborigines were cordial, as this extract from his Journal confirms.
THE attachment of these people to their dogs is worthy of notice; I was very anxious to get one of the wild native breed of a black colour, a very handsome puppy, which one of the men had in his arms.
I offered a small axe for it; his companion urged him to take it, and he was about to do so, when he looked at his dog, and the animal licked his face, which settled the business; he shook his head, determined to keep it.
I tried him afterwards with handkerchiefs of glaring colours, and other things, but it would not do — he would not part with his dog. I gave him, however, the axe and the handkerchief.
From ‘Queensland, Australia’ by John Dunmore Lang (1799-1878).
Questions for Critics
1. What is the author aiming to achieve in writing this?
2. Note any words, devices or turns of phrase that strike you. How do they help the author communicate his ideas more effectively?
3. What impression does this passage make on you? How might you put that impression into words?
Based on The English Critic (1939) by NL Clay, drawing on The New Criticism: A Lecture Delivered at Columbia University, March 9, 1910, by J. E. Spingarn, Professor of Comparative Literature in Columbia University, USA.
Archive
Word Games
Spinners Find in Think and Speak
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Determine. Have. Head.
2 Do. Shake. Very.
3 Breed. Native. Urge.
Variations: 1. include direct and indirect speech 2. include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who 3. use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
Subject and Object Find in Think and Speak
Use each word below in two sentences, first as the subject of a verb, and then as the object of a verb. It doesn’t have to be the same verb: some verbs can’t be paired with an object (e.g. arrive, happen), so watch out for these.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1. Animal. 2. Notice. 3. Face. 4. Try. 5. Thing. 6. Keep. 7. Person. 8. Look. 9. Native.
Variations: 1.use your noun in the plural (e.g. cat → cats), if possible. 2.give one of your sentences a future aspect (e.g. will, going to). 3.write sentences using negatives such as not, neither, nobody and never.
Statements, Questions and Commands Find in Think and Speak
Use each word below in a sentence. Try to include at least one statement, one question and one command among your sentences. Note that some verbs make awkward or meaningless words of command, e.g. need, happen.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Arm. 2 Dog. 3 Keep. 4 Face. 5 Try. 6 Part. 7 Determine. 8 Look. 9 Shake.
Variations: 1. use a minimum of seven words for each sentence 2. include negatives, e.g. isn’t, don’t, never 3. use the words ‘must’ to make commands 4. compose a short dialogue containing all three kinds of sentence: one statement, one question and one command
Add Vowels Find in Think and Speak
Make words by adding vowels to each group of consonants below. You may add as many vowels as you like before, between or after the consonants, but you may not add any consonants or change the order of those you have been given. See if you can beat our target of common words.
hrn (6)
herein. hernia. heroin. heroine. heron. horn.
If you like what I’m doing here on Clay Lane, from time to time you could buy me a coffee.
Buy Me a Coffee is a crowdfunding website, used by over a million people. It is designed to help content creators like me make a living from their work. ‘Buy Me a Coffee’ prides itself on its security, and there is no need to register.
Related Posts
In 1890, Sir Henry Parkes reminded Australians that they had a natural kinship and declared them ready to manage their own affairs.
Picture: By Tom Roberts (1856-1931), via the Royal Collection and Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.. Source.
Posted May 4 2019
Having brought hundreds of convicts to New South Wales, Arthur Phillip then had to conjure order out of their chaos.
Picture: By Francis Wheatley (?-1801), via the National Portrait Gallery and Wikimedia Commons.. Source.
Posted February 20 2019
Picture: © Fir0002/Flagstaffotos, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: GFDL v1.2.. Source.
Posted June 16 2017
Within little more than half a century a British penal colony turned into a prosperous, free-trade democracy.
Picture: © Andy Mitchell. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.. Source.
Posted September 21 2016