Clancy of the Overflow

The following questions come from the Splash ABC website and accompany the recording of
Clancy of the Overflow read by Jack Thompson.
Your teacher will play you this video clip:
http://splash.abc.net.au/home#!/media/1503828/overflowing-with-envy-ofclancy-s-splendid-life

1. Listen to the pattern of rhyming words as Jack Thompson reads the poem. Does he
read in a sing-song rhythm or does his reading focus more on natural speech
patterns?

2.

Mark on your copy of the poem where Thompson changes the pace (speed) or tone
(mood or feel) of his reading.
3. How does Thompson's voice, its pace, tone and volume, add meaning to the text?

4. How does the writer Banjo Paterson's choice of language and punctuation suggest
how the ballad might be read? (Consider here when Patterson slows the pace down
by using long vowels sounds and then when he speeds it up again with short and
choppy sounds.)

5. Phrases like 'he sees the vision splendid' are not used in conversational speech.
Why does this phrase work in verse? Write down another example where the usual
way we speak has been switched around.

6. List the words Paterson uses to describe bush settings, then list the words he uses to
describe city settings.
Words and phrases describing the
country

Words and phrases describing the city

7. Compare your lists. What might this suggest to you about Paterson's views of the
bush and the city?

8. Consider the sounds in the line, And the foetid air and gritty of the dusty, dirty city.
Mark the alliteration in this line. Is the sound that is being alliterated a soft sound or a hard
sound? Why is this appropriate and in keeping with Pattersons view of the city?

Mark circle the i vowel sounds in this line. Is this a short or a long sound? How does this
help Patterson bring out his view of the city?

9. Copy out another line where you can see Patterson using short and sharp sounds to
capture the city.
10. In the murmur of the breezes and the river on its bars,
And he sees the vision splendid of the sunlit plains extended,
And at night the wonderous glory of the everlasting stars
On these lines mark the alliteration and, using a different colour or code, mark the
long vowel sound used. Why is it appropriate for him to use softer and slower sounds
to represent the country? What is he trying to convey to us?

Writing task
Pretend that you are Banjo Patterson in an interview. Write your responses to the following
questions in a full paragraph. Use your own words, not quotes from the poem but try to
answer in the way that Patterson would and imagine what he would say. You are trying to
respond not only to the content of his poem but also to capture his voice. Your answer to
Question 1 and 2 should be 150-200 words. Question 3 should be shorter.
Use the space below to plan your answers. I expect to see bullet point plans here. Then
write your answer in your exercise book or type it on your computer.

1. In response to your letter to Clancy you got a note from his shearing mate. How
did that note make you feel and what did you start thinking about?

2. Now this was very different to your work in the city, wasnt it? How would you
describe the effect the city has on you and on other people?

3. Now many of us here have never been out to the country and lived under the stars.
What advice would you have for us?

Then and Now

The following poem is by Oodgeroo Noonuccal. You will notice similarities as well
as differences to Clancy of the Overflow. Read the poem through a couple of
times and then answer the questions in your exercise book.

In my dreams I hear my tribe

Laughing as they hunt and swim,
But dreams are shattered by rushing car,
By grinding tram and hissing train,
And I see no more my tribe of old
As I walk alone in the teeming town.
I have seen corroboree
Where that factory belches smoke;
Here where they have memorial park
One time lubras dug for yams;
One time our dark children played
There where the railway yards are now,
And where I remember the didgeridoo
Calling us to dance and play,
Offices now, neon lights now,
Bank and shop and advertisement now,
Traffic and trade of the busy town.

No more woomera, no more boomerang,

No more playabout, no more the old ways.
Children of nature we were then,
No clocks hurrying crowds to toil.
Now I am civilized and work in the white way,
Now I have dress, now I have shoes:
"Isn't she lucky to have a good job!"

Better when I had only a dillybag

Better when I had nothing but happiness.

Oodgeroo of the tribe Noonuccal

1. Google Oodgeroo Noonuccal. Read about her on Wikipedia or elsewhere then write
a brief paragraph putting this poem in a social/historical/political context. Explain how
her life links with the poem.
2. How many voices are there in this poem? Copy out a line that you think captures
each voice and explain how they are distinct.
3. Read through the material on page 34 of the Banjo Patterson green booklet
comparing this poem to Clancy.
4. This poem is similar to Banjo Patterson in that it suggests that one lifestyle is
preferable to another. Write a PETAL paragraph that provides and discusses
evidence for to support this. Clarify the lifestyles the poems discuss.

If there is time in the lesson work on the techniques table on page 24-27 filling in for Clancy
of the Overflow.

3.