past the shallows human experience essay

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Analysis of Human Experiences in 'The Raven' and 'Past The Shallows'

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HSC Texts and Human Experience Sample Essay & Essay Analysis: Past the Shallows

Subject: English

Age range: 16+

Resource type: Other

Last updated

21 September 2021

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past the shallows human experience essay

This is a three-part resource for students undertaking the NSW HSC Common Module Texts and Human Experience.

A generic essay plan shows students how to compose an essay suitable for Stage 6, progressing them from the simpler PEEL/TEAL models of Stage 4 and 5.

A sample essay for the prescribed text, Favel Parrett’s novel Past the Shallows, answers the 2019 HSC question: To what extent does the exploration of human experience in Past the Shallows invite you to reconsider your understanding of loss?

There is also a second copy of the essay, marked up to show how it follows the plan, and with five short questions which require students to engage critically with the essay and its form.

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Essay Prompts

Past the Shallows

Relationships.

Past the Shallows presents relationships as paramount to the human condition but tempers this with the common human experience that often others will not be there, physically or metaphorically, when they are needed.

As the primary relationship of parent and child has dissipated in this text, the relationship between siblings and strangers prevails as the only remaining positive link between the characters. An affair and an accident severs the boys from the love of their mother and uncle and they are left with a now unloving father, feeling all alone. The father’s anger results in abusive behaviour and leaves the three boys, Joe, Harry and Miles, to rely on each other for support.

The brothers strive to support each other but are limited in their capacity to fulfil each other’s needs. Joe is limited in his capacity to help the younger siblings, reminding them he is only nineteen and a victim of his father’s abuse himself which resulted in a broken arm. Since his father’s drunken rage turned physical, Joe has distanced himself from the family. Joe offers to his brothers what he can but typical to Parett’s commentary on relationships, the characters are often left wanting more than others can provide. Miles likewise seeks more from Joe than he can offer, hoping he will take Miles on his boat and leave, and has abandoned hope that his father will provide physical or emotional support. Harry aims to help Miles when he can and seeks a father figure in George. Even George’s absence at times represents the missing values in the boys’ lives.

The text shows that the breakdown of relationships common to the human condition are predominately harmful and the effects are far-reaching. It highlights that peripheral relationships are vital by disclosing that those around the struggling family, who were in a position to intervene, failed.

Relationship Quotes

Harry leaned his head back against the chair and thought that if Miles got lost, if Miles never came home, Harry’s insides would go wrong and they might never come right again. If Miles got lost. Chapter 31

And he knew that Joe was going to take him with him, now. Wherever he went. He leaned his head down against his brother’s shoulder. And he let himself cry. Chapter 41

Changes in tide and weather experienced by the characters of Past the Shallows preempt the changes that unfold for the characters themselves . Caught in changing times within a shifting town, the characters’ abilities to adapt to changes shape who they become. A once thriving industry, those dependent on fishing are struggling and this forces them to take extra risks and to go outside the law to make ends meet. Some, like Mr Roberts, have adapted and made money, grown their fleet and updated their organisation; those who have not, like the Curren boat, struggle and are forced into difficult situations and choices. The strain of the work has taken its toll on the men of the town with those who have not adapted fast enough having lost their boats and working at the modern cannery.

Circumstantial changes are thrust upon the characters. The death of the mother in the Curren family changes everything. The father is now left to move on alone and support the family, however, he seems incapable of doing so or of coming to terms with the past. He is stuck at the night of the accident. He is enraged by the betrayal of his wife and expels that fury on his children. Concealing a secret that he was at the scene of the accident, he starts a downward spiral of destruction taking him and his children with him.

Joe changes positively with the support of Grandad and becomes a carpenter, completing an apprenticeship and building a boat. The boat will one day take him and Miles away from their past. The message revealed, that support and education is key to healthy change, is regrettably only evident for Joe.

The end of a childhood is a change that is inevitable but one that comes prematurely for some of the characters. Miles is conscripted to work on the family boat instead of enjoying the school holidays. An accident that sees a worker injured secures Miles an unwanted ongoing position on the boat. It is not until after the devastation caused by his father has passed that he is able to surf with a childhood friend and enjoy the simple teen life for a brief moment.

The novel is presented in a way that places it in a state of change which Harry notices intuitively. The story surrounding the Curren family, much like the abandoned houses he sees with George, is a part of a larger changing world. Generations and ages will come and go and the events of this story are but a fleeting section of time.

Change Quotes

And if you didn’t know better, you’d think that no one lived here anymore. That all these places were abandoned. But people were in there somewhere, hidden and burrowed in. They were there. Chapter 7

Out past the shallows, past the sandy-bottomed bays, comes the dark water—black and cold and roaring. Rolling out an invisible path, a new line for them to follow. To somewhere warm. To somewhere new. Chapter 43

Responsibility

Perhaps the most prominent display of anomalies, paradoxes or inconsistencies comes from the lack of adults able to take responsibility in the text. There is a parade of adults who seem to abdicate their responsibility to the next generation. Primary is the boys’ father who, given the responsibility of raising them after their mother has passed, is fixated on his own hurt and interests. He is unresponsive to the needs and moods of his children. Instead he simply employs Miles to help on the boat disregarding his need for school or leisure. He ignores Harry’s needs and even in the face of Jeff’s violence fails to step in as a protector. When the final scenes unfold and Miles attempts to rescue Harry, Mr Curren restrains Miles to vent his hurt rather than act out of concern for Harry. It is not only the father who fails to take responsibility for the younger children. Mr Roberts, Stuart’s mother and Aunty Jean are each complicit in neglecting the trio of boys who needed support.

Responsibility Quotes

First day of school holidays. First day he must man the boat alone while the men go down. Old enough now, he must take his place. Just like his brother before him, he must fill the gap Uncle Nick left. (Miles) Chapter 2

Then they heard Dad yelling from inside. Yelling at them, at everyone. Yelling at no one. And Miles could hear the words. They came through the brown walls, through the air, and cracked open the night: ‘I never wanted you.’ Chapter 24

The role of nature in Past the Shallows gives a dramatic backdrop to the story as well as holds a mirror to the characters’ thoughts, feelings and behaviours. The ocean acts in some ways as a storyteller, reflecting lives and cultures in the Tasmanian community. Nature is a double-edged sword, providing beauty, substance and a livelihood for community as well as presenting an imposing threat to the residents.

It is Harry who finds the beauty in nature above all. Although he is aware of the perils of nature, spooked by water after the stories of his uncle’s disappearance, he still takes time to enjoy natural beauty. Harry is struck by the appearance of a cormorant. Out of time and place, the bird in some ways will represent him. He seeks treasures on the beach and stores them at home. He watches the southern lights and finds comfort in them during troubled times. He is enamoured with a puppy and lets it lead him to George, a source of nurturing and safety. Joe and Miles find their own source of beauty in nature. When they ride the waves and integrate with them they find escape and cleansing.

Nature in return is unpredictable. On one hand it can provide the abalone and salmon that will help the struggling family and yet, with a single motion, it can throw a rogue wave and a shark into the boat causing loss and injury. Nature will not relent its treasures easily for the divers as they risk their lives to battle seas and currents in the precarious profession. Parrett suggests that man’s place in nature is best when surrendered to its power, like a surfer on a wave or a boy sitting in an orchard. Resisting nature is presented as futile. Furthermore, nature is presented as a blueprint by which humans will act. A tempestuous sea is a dangerous temper. A baby shark slaughtered unnecessarily when it could have survived reflecting the struggle of childhood.

Nature Quotes

Water that was always there. Always everywhere. The sound and the smell and the cold waves making Harry different. And it wasn’t just because he was the youngest. He knew the way he felt about the ocean would never leave him now. It would be there always, right inside him. Chapter 1

Harry picked up an abalone shell, the edges loose and dusty in his hands. And every cell in his body stopped. Felt it. This place. Felt the people who had been here before, breathing and standing live where he stood. People who were dead now. Long gone. And Harry understood it, right down in his guts, that time ran on forever and that one day he would die. Chapter 1

It was fully formed, more than half a yard long, maybe only days away from being born. It would have survived if Jeff had just let it go, let it slide off the back of the boat. It had made it this far, battling its siblings, killing and feeding off them. Waiting. It would have been born strong, ready to hunt, ready to fight. (The shark’s babies) Chapter 9

He lived for this, for these moments when everything stops except your heart beating and time bends and ripples—moves past your eyes frame by frame and you feel beyond time and before time and no one can touch you. (Miles, in the surf) Chapter 22

But ultimately it wasn’t up to you. This ocean could hold you down for as long as it liked, and Miles knew it. Chapter 37

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Past the Shallows

Add notes to the past the shallows bookmark, introduction.

Past the Shallows is a memorable and moving Australian novel written by Favel Parrett. Parett has authentically evoked the teenage voices of three brothers: in particular, the engaging and vulnerable younger brother, Harry. The prose is often spare and understated as it captures the overwhelming sadness of the family’s situation in coming to terms with the loss of the mother in the tough environment in which they live and work. The novel explores many human experiences: loss, friendship, despair, tragedy, families and the challenges to communicate with the important people in one’s life. This novel reveals people whose lives have been impacted by secrets and irreparably damaged. There are also the ideas of living in small communities where there are few choices and life is difficult. Parrett knows the ocean in all its moods which is captured with precision and power in this novel echoing Tim Winton’s coastal landscapes . It is a joy to read and is compelling in its characters and insights.

For reluctant readers there is an audio version evocatively read by David Wenham who captures the brothers’ voices with touching realism. For students who prefer to read from a device, there is an electronic version of the novel . This also assists in highlighting key passages for future incorporation in students’ own work.

Introductory activities

Before students have read the novel, create interest and engagement through the following activities.

1. Exploring the cover

Show students the four different Past the Shallows book covers linked below.

Cover 1 Cover 2 Cover 3 Cover 4

In analysing these different covers students could include responses to these questions:

What do the visual image(s) suggest about the content of the text and the intended audience?
What is the most eye-catching or appealing aspect of each cover?
How is colour, perspective and positioning of subjects used to compose the image?
Is there an explicit relationship between the images and the printed text?
Which cover appeals most to you as a cover to encourage you to buy or borrow the book? Explain your choice.

2. Discussing cover comments

Everyone loves Harry. Everyone except his father.

This comment is located on this book cover version.

How does this comment engage us in the story?
What impact does this have on you before you have even started the book?
What kind of story and characters do you anticipate?

Look at some of the other promotional comments:

If you only read one book this year make sure it’s this one.
Genuinely moving and full of heart.
Her prose is as powerful as a rip.

Which one resonates with you the most/inspires you to read the novel?

3. Exploring the novel’s title

Discuss with students that sometimes the title of a novel gives the reader an immediate insight to the subject matter and at other times it is more subtle or evocative.

Students are to read these extracts from the interview transcript at the back of the book (p. 270) which elucidate some interesting aspects of the choice of Past the Shallows as the title.

What was the inspiration for Past the Shallows ?

The south coast of Tasmania had a huge influence on me when I was young. It is isolated and wild – a place I will never forget. The story grew out of my memories and feeling for that place. It is a sad and beautiful place. An ancient place.

How did you come up with the title?

The title came from the first line of the book: ‘Out past the shallows, past the sandy-bottomed bays, comes the dark water – black and cold and roaring.’ It was actually my publishers’ brilliant idea. For a long time, I knew the book as Crack Wattle. I knew this title wasn’t quite right, but it did mean something to me. There is still a section in the book about crack wattle. Then, when they suggested changing it to Past the Shallows, I knew it was perfect straight away. I think it is a great title.

Now ask students:

What do you expect the novel to be about with such a title?
Surfing? Fishing? Swimming? Resilience? Comedy? Tragedy? Daring? Survival? Courage? Heroism? Conflict? Relationships? Going beyond boundaries? Other?
Students may classify these suggestions as literal or metaphorical and then explain their choice of the type of story the title suggests and consider which suggestion/s may not be likely.

4. Reading the epigraph

Students need to know that an epigraph is a quotation that is placed at the beginning of a text. It usually has a link to the text or sets the mood. At the beginning of her story Parrett includes an epigraph from the French navigator Admiral Bruni D’Entrecasteaux:

It would be vain of me to attempt to describe my feelings when I beheld this lonely harbour lying at the world’s end, separated as it were from the rest of the universe – ’twas nature and nature in her wildest mood…

Admiral D’Entrecasteaux, 1792

This epigraph is about Tasmania where the novel is set.

What mood and ideas is the novel promoting by foregrounding this quotation?

5. Reading the opening page

Out past the shallows, past the sandy-bottomed bays, comes the dark water – black and cold and roaring. Rolling out the invisible paths. The ancient paths to Bruny, or down south along the silent cliffs, the paths out deep to the bird islands that stand tall between nothing but water and sky.

Wherever rock comes out of deep water, wherever reef rises up, there is abalone. Black-lipped soft bodies protected by shell.

In groups, students discuss three features of this story which have been established in this opening page and share the discussion with the class. They can also consider:

What questions do you have about the setting?
What questions do you have about the subject of the novel?

6. Background to the novel and the author

Who is favel parrett, where is the story set.

What are we looking for as we read the novel the first time?

Knowing something about the author is a valuable way of engaging students in a text especially when the author is still alive, young and this is her first novel.

F avel Parrett was born on 18 May, 1974.
S he grew up in Tasmania and now lives in Victoria.
She is Australian and a keen surfer.
Past the Shallows is her first novel.
Her novel was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award. This award is one of the most prestigious awards in Australia bequeathed by the Australian novelist, Miles Franklin. It has been won by authors like Tim Winton and Peter Carey. The winner receives $60,000.
Being nominated for and winning awards is a testament that Past the Shallows has impressed the publishing industry e.g. it was the 2012 winner of the Newcomer of the Year, Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) and winner of the 2012 Dobbie Literary Award for new women writers.

Encourage students to read more about Favel Parrett. There is an interesting and accessible interview with her in the back of the book. They can also read the Sydney Morning Herald article .

After reading this article write a 250-word reflection opening with: Reading this article has given me new insights into/about …

The setting for any story is a significant part of the text’s meaning. While it is not definite when this novel is set there are hints and the mood of the 1980s but the geographical setting is very clear and indeed, a significant element of the novel’s distinctiveness and appeal. Parrett knows this area of Australia and Tasmania which gives the novel much of its authenticity and realism.

Most importantly, the role of water – both the ocean and the rivers – is a compelling element of the setting and engenders much of the text’s dark power.

The epigraph at the beginning of the story comes from the explorer D’Entrecasteaux whose name has been given to the channel of water between the south-east of the Tasmanian mainland and Bruny Island. Bruny Island – and its Southern end in particular – is a wild and untamed area which attracts tourists for these features. Its pristine waters are well known for growing mussels, scallops and abalone. So, geographically this novel is set in the isolated and rugged south coast of Tasmania. The weather is often changeable, unrelenting in its cold and bleakness and is home to small towns and settlements where the people depend on the fishing industry for their livelihood. Swimming and surfing are challenging because of the weather and the temperature of the water.

The novel actually opens at Cloudy Bay which is a beach break exposed to the Southern Ocean on Bruny Island and one of Australia’s most southern surfing beaches. Surfing sites warn about the water temperature, rips and sharks but applaud the lack of crowds and the excellent surfing conditions during a northerly wind. Students who are interested in surfing will enjoy this article .

Students can search online for maps of the South Eastern corner of Tasmania, including areas such as South Bruny Island, Cloudy Bay, Lune River, Dover, Southport, D’Entrecasteaux Channel and Hobart. This will assist them in locating some of the key locations mentioned in the novel.

Socially and culturally the novel focuses on the small, coastal settlements where the main work is associated with the fishing industry and specifically, abalone harvesting. While the final abalone meat is a delicacy and is very expensive, it is difficult work and the financial rewards can be limited. This is a culture represented by white, essentially Anglo-Saxon and conservative values where life is difficult and making a living is often precarious. This is the life of the Curren family.

It is valuable for students to have some insights into abalone diving. You might have some students who have dived for abalone and could share their experiences. They could view Abalone Diving Tasmania on YouTube.

What are we looking for as we read the novel the first time?

Students can be encouraged to insert sticky notes or if reading an electronic version of the text, to highlight as they read. Some students may prefer to keep a reading journal to respond to these questions. After a few days’ reading, these questions could become part of the class discussion and groups could be allocated one question each to discuss. This could become their area of expertise as the novel unfolds.

Alert students to be aware of these features in the novel:

How Parrett evokes the bleak and unforgiving coastal landscape.
The role of water both as the ocean and river.
Insights into the three brothers: Joe, Miles, Harry.
The role of their aunt, Jean.
The impact of the death of their grandfather.
Other areas of Tasmania the boys visit: you may notice that there are few so the novel’s power can be attributed to this unity of setting.
The characterisation of the father and his fishing mate, Jeff.
The character of George Fuller and his friendship with Harry.
How the secret is revealed.
Values and culture as represented by Steve Curren and his friend Jeff.

(ACELR001) (ACELR002) (ACELR004)

Synthesising tasks

Student journal writing task.

Students will compose a reading reflection when they reach each of the three points of the novel, indicated below, using the reflection questions beneath as a starting point.

Page 21 – Harry decided not to tell Aunty Jean about the donuts and lemonade.
Page 138 – The departure of Joe.
Page 251 – The ending:

Out past the shallows, past the sandy-bottomed bays, comes the dark water – black and cold and roaring. Rolling out the invisible path, a new line for them to follow.

To somewhere warm.

To somewhere new.

Journal reflection questions:

Are you enjoying the novel?
What questions do you have at this stage of your reading?
Which character speaks to you most intimately?
Is Parrett succeeding in inviting you into this world? In what ways is this happening or not?
How do you feel about and respond to the novel at the end?

(ACELR001) (ACELR002) (ACELR003) (ACELR004)

The key elements of the text

In exploration the novel it is important to consider the language features which Favel Parrett has deliberately chosen to position the reader to consider her ideas and insights about humanity and life.

What is established in the opening paragraph?

The novel’s opening pages set up the mood that will follow. The language choices (literary elements) made by Parrett may be about the sea but they invite the reader into the world of the brothers, their family and their place.

Students may annotate the opening identifying features of language. If using an electronic version, students can copy and paste this paragraph into a Word document and use the I nsert comment tool to annotate. Students are to consider the use of strong yet simple word choices and the power of the adjectives.

The words in bold below contribute to the creation of meaning in this evocative opening:

Out past the shallows , past the sandy-bottomed bays, comes the dark water – black and cold and roaring . Rolling out the invisible paths . The ancient paths to Bruny, or down south along the silent cliffs, the paths out deep to the bird islands that stand tall between nothing but water and sky.

Wherever rock comes out of deep water, wherever reef rises up, there is abalone . Black-lipped soft bodies protected by shell .

Ask students to:

Choose two examples from the bolded words and discuss their effectiveness.
Which words have been repeated? Why do you think these words are important enough to repeat?
Discuss these examples of contrast:
shallows and dark
roaring and silent
rock and water
soft bodies protected by shell.

Why do you think Parrett so early in the novel establishes these contrasts? What insights do they give us to the paradoxes and anomalies of life?

If we consider this passage metaphorically as reflecting an aspect of human experience, what experiences might this be about and what might the passage be suggesting about the experience?

Parrett uses elements of the opening to conclude her novel; consider in what ways it is different:

Out past the shallows, past the sandy-bottomed bays, comes the dark water – black and cold and roaring. Rolling out the invisible path, a new line for them to follow.

To somewhere warm.

Parrett says she did not have a clear structure for her book but wrote in episodes. However, the opening and beginning echo each other and create a bookend effect, sometimes also known as framing or a circular plot as the story returns to where it started, but the slight differences in the ending imply that all has not stayed the same. Students can look up the following words and terms relevant to novel structure and decide which apply to the novel:

Even linear narratives do not go in a straight line but rise and fall as the story develops. After reading the novel, students can work in groups to create a mind-map which plots the key points in the novel’s chronology. They should mark the chapter and find images of Cloudy Bay, the sea or interiors that reflect the atmosphere of the events they identify, and add these to their map. They can also apply these words as they become relevant:

orientation
complication
rising action
falling action

You may need to discuss with students what actually happened in the incident. Is this operating as flashback or backstory?

When the plot map is complete, students will have created a frieze through which they can make judgements about:

the relationship between events and the regaining of Miles’ memory
the relationships between events, mood and atmosphere in the novel.

This can also be the basis of later explorations of character and setting.

Groups can then discuss which experiences link to high points of intensity and emotion and indicate on their map. One member of each group is to present the group’s decision as to the three most intense events/episodes in the novel, justifying why they have chosen these examples.

Exploring the characters

Defining character.

Consider this definition of character from English Textual Concepts

Character is traditionally viewed as a description of a fictional person. As a construct, it is made up of verbal or visual statements about what that fictional person does, says and thinks and what other fictional characters and the author of the text say about him or her. The reader, listener or viewer fleshes out these statements to imagine a person-like character, sufficiently individualised and coherent to establish the sense of an identity. In this way, representation of a ‘real’ person invites personal identification and judgements about the character’s morality and value to their society. This kind of analysis can contribute to shaping one’s own sense of a moral and ethical self and so becoming a way of enculturation.

Characters may also be created and/or read as representations of ideas, of groups of people or of types that serve a function in a narrative genre. Questions of characterisation then focus on the ways a character is constructed both by the responder and the composer and its function in the text.

By the time they begin to study English and Literature at senior levels, students should be able to go beyond the discussion of characters as real people and start to understand characters as representations. The definition moves from the idea of character to characterisation as in this diagram (PDF, 137KB).

In what way are the characters in the novel ‘person-like’ and believable?
What are the moral values of each character?
What ideas about society does each character represent?

The character as a narrative function is perhaps the most difficult idea about characters. However, the way we understand the narrative is usually driven by and through the characters:

At the simplest level we can ask: who is central to the novel as a protagonist or antagonist?
Who is the character who controls what we see and how we feel? In other words, from whose point of view do we see the action? Does this point of view change?
Does the narrative depend on this character or are they a support or contrast (foil)?

Students should apply these questions to Past the Shallows .

Point of view is interesting as it can move between characters. This book is written in the third person; it is an omniscien t (all-knowing) third person narration . Omniscient third person narrations are useful because even though they are not from one character’s perspective, they can direct readers from one character to another by changing point of view and letting us see into the minds of each character. These different characters become focalisers who make us focus on different perspectives through their individual points of view. We can sense how different characters are thinking, and can imagine the way they see the world. We can hear them talking in their minds as they encounter different things and react.

Look at the following passages and explain who is the focaliser and how the words create this point of view.

Harry led them straight to the rides.

He wanted to take his time, look at them all because he knew he would only be allowed to go on one. Some of the rides looked scary and some looked boring, like the merry-go-round. The Gee-Whizzer looked the best, but he needed Miles here to go on it with him. If he went by himself he would slide along the seat every time the ride spun in a new direction. There was no way he could get Aunty Jean on the Gee-Whizzer. Maybe she’d go on the ferris wheel. (p. 13)

He [Miles] stood next to Harry and looked over the side – searched the moving water for bubbles of air. Cold trickles of sweat ran down his back and he thought maybe he should just run. Get the hell off the boat and swim for the island, because if Dad and Jeff made it alive, then he was dead. But he knew he wouldn’t make it, not with Harry. The current was too strong. If the boat wasn’t anchored it would be pulled along like it was just a stick on the river. (p. 206)

Find an example of another passage and explain how the author develops the point of view.

Characters through objects

In Past the Shallows Parrett creates engaging, compelling and often troubled characters who are at the same time very real. They are valuable vehicles for Parrett’s perspectives on the complexities of the human experience. The adolescent voices are authentic and the a dult voices reveal flawed and complex humans who evoke a range of emotions in the reader.

In various interviews Parrett talks about how attached she became to the three brothers and in fact, she collected items which she thought ‘belonged’ to each boy and arranged them on her writing desk.

Students will:

View the interview with Favel at the Sydney Writers’ Festival .
Decide what items they would choose to belong to each character.
Explain why they chose these objects.

The characters

Students can draw a family tree as they encounter the family members in the text.

In the transcript of an interview in the back of the book (p. 264) the interviewer asks a very clever question:

Which character spoke the loudest to you? Did any of them clamour to be heard over the others?

to which Parrett responded:

I love Harry very much. Sometimes it still makes me cry when I think about him. He is a very special character to me – some kind of gift really. Although Harry is not totally based on my brother, the way I feel about my brother is there in the writing. One of the worst things that could have happened to me when I was a child would have been losing my brother. We are very close.

How does Parrett position the reader to engage with Harry?

Explore these incidents with the class and discuss what each incident tells us about Harry:

Hobart Regatta
Having his hair cut
Playing with George’s dog.

What other incidents are important for our understanding of Harry?

How do we respond to Harry’s death?

Miles and Harry have a strong bond: is this enough to justify Miles remaining at home (unlike Joe) to suffer the humiliation and violence from his father?

How does Miles interact with the ocean compared to his brothers?

Students explore these comments from Miles’s point of view:

Miles knew the water. He could feel it. Sand he knew not to trust it.
Miles had only been down once, but that was enough. He’d been scared of the darkness and of the kelp wrapping around his legs. He’d been scared of the heavy feeling in his chest. And it made his head buzz like crazy, the pressure. The weight of all that water.
In a few years he would have to dive down there for real.

Joe had moved out when he was thirteen, leaving Miles and Harry to survive with their father and ultimately Joe leaves them. Only Joe seems to grasp at something beyond the small town where they live.

Is Joe being irresponsible and reneging on his sibling responsibility or should he do this for his own survival?
Why is Joe’s point of view absent in the narrative?

Aunty Jean

Jean embodies that human paradox of being in pain but not able to articulate this feeling. On the surface Jean appears as hard and difficult, but she does want to help the brothers. Parrett effectively evokes these features of Jean:

She is the only female role model the boys have left.
She grieves for her sister and sees so much of her in Harry.
She loves and protects Harry but cannot be gentle or tender with him.

When the boys have lunch with Jean (pp. 83–88), the reader gains a powerful insight into the character of Jean:

She is strict, difficult, demands certain standards, has high expectations of the boys.
There are secrets about the family tension and Miles finds baby things in the cupboard so there is another secret: He just kept thinking about the little blankets and the baby clothes and how all that stuff was perfect and clean and never used.

If using an ebook, do a word search for the sections where Jean features:

What is her role in the family, the story, the key ideas of the novel ?
Why is there a general lack of women in this novel, even though the boys’ mother has a palpable presence?

J eff is characterised by cruel, vindictive and bullying behaviour. There are a number of incidents that reveal this behaviour:

staring menacingly
shooting the shark
forcing Harry to drink alcohol
his overall enjoyment at seeing the boys uncomfortable.

Explain how the language in the extracts below positions the reader to consider Jeff.

The shark hadn’t hurt him – not even a scratch.
She lay on her side, her blue skin already turning grey, and Miles felt sick as he watched Jeff slice through her white underbelly with ease. Her stomach and insides slid through blood onto the deck.
She was pregnant.
Jeff hacked into the full womb and three pups spilled out; two dead and half eaten, the other trying to swim in its mother’s blood against the hard surface of the deck, tiny gills stretched open, black eyes searching. Jeff bent over and stabbed it through the head, grinning as its body came up on the long knife, still fighting. He chucked it at Miles and laughed as he wiped blood off his face.
Miles caught the baby in his arms. It was dead now, black eyes fixed.
It was fully formed, more than half a metre long, maybe only days away from being born. It would have survived if Jeff had just let it go, let it slide off the back of the boat. It had made it this far, battling its siblings, killing and feeding off them. Waiting. It would have been born strong, ready to hunt, ready to fight.

The Curren family is dominated by the father and his behaviour. Steven Curren epitomises the human paradoxes that are often found in families. As the only parent of Joe, Miles and Harry he is the carer and the provider but his cruelty, personal demons and behaviour create tension and conflict within the family and impact on the daily lives of his sons. Interestingly, we only read his name once when officials from the Fisheries Department visit their home. The lack of such personal reference reinforces the coldness of this man. At the centre of his behaviour is the grief, bitterness and pain involved in the death of his wife and the family secrets of what happened on that fateful night.

What motivates Steven Curren in his behaviour?
How does his grief, loss, guilt and the inability to communicate shape the way he responds to his sons and the world around him?

George Fuller is reminiscent of the marginalised characters who have appeared in novels like Jasper Jones and To Kill a Mockingbird . Despite this early characterisation as someone to be feared, he is both caring and kind to Harry and the only person that Harry and Miles can actually turn to for help.

What is George’s role in the story and his contribution to the themes and ideas of the novel?

Group work on the characters

Divide the class into small groups and each group selects a character: Harry, Joe, Miles, Dad, Aunty Jean, George, or Jeff.

Using a Word document which can later be shared on Google Drive or a similar system, groups should document their responses for their character. Groups should present their findings both in written form and as a presentation to the class. The presentation could take the form of a PowerPoint or Prezi or a panel discussion.

How is your character described?
What do other characters say about your character?
What is revealed about your character from what the character him/herself says?
Describe your character’s behaviour.
What motivates your character?
What does he/she care about?
Track your character through the story: outline in dot points their experiences, challenges, difficulties. Does your character have a character arc (become transformed through an inner journal by the end)?
Analyse the relationship each character has with: sea, landscape, each brother, father, other people, self.
What does each character represent in the collective human experiences of the novel?
If you were to make a film of Past the Shallows, who would you cast as your character? Find a photograph of the person to include in your presentation.

(ACELR005) (ACELR007) (ACELR008) (ACELR009)

Task: Character analysis

After the group presentations and using shared class notes, students choose one of these questions to explore two characters in a sustained critical response of about 800 words.

How does Parrett’s portrayal of the relationship between her characters and their world move us to a deeper understanding of the human experience? In your response, make detailed reference to two characters in Past the Shallows.
Past the Shallows is shaped by the decisions of significant characters . Select TWO significant characters and explore the impact of their choices and actio ns.
Analyse the ways two characters in Past the Shallows interact with each other and the landscape around them. In your response, make detailed reference to two characters in Past the Shallows.

(ACELR006) (ACELR007) (ACELR008) (ACELR011)

The sea as a metaphor and a character

The sea can almost be seen as another character and indeed is a strident metaphor for the complexity of the boys’ lives.

In the transcript of the interview (p. 265) the interviewer, Tanya Caunce poses this question to Parrett:

The ocean and its guises feature heavily in the book, like a character of its own. What is your connection with the ocean?

To which Parrett responds:

You are right. The ocean is a character of its own. I am in love with the Southern Ocean. I know that surfing changed my life. I’m thirty-six and I still love it. It connected me to the natural world, made me aware of tides and winds and the subtle changes that happen every minute of every day. I couldn’t have written this book if I did not surf. And I know I am grumpy and hopeless if I go for more than a week without getting in the water. My favourite time to surf is at dawn, watching the sun come up over Torquay and illuminate the cliffs and sand with the new day.

Discuss with students what elements of Parrett’s response resonate with their own interaction with the ocean or rivers.

In discussion with the class about the role and purpose of the ocean in Past the Shallows, these points could be explored:

The ocean both provides the family their livelihood but takes the life of their beloved Harry.
Miles and Joe love surfing – for them, it’s an escape from their real lives.
Joe is even planning on sailing to the South Pacific.
Parrett shows us just how fickle the ocean can be, and reminds us that we have absolutely no control over it.
Harry fears the water and Miles both loves and hates it.
Miles seems particularly aware of this danger.
Each time Miles goes out on the boat, something seems to go wrong.
Harry is not allowed on the boat, because he gets seasick before they even leave the jetty.
The climactic scene, on the boat in the storm, is both page-turning and harrowing.
The ocean has been a symbol of the inner turmoil of this family and now, with a huge storm from the south approaching, this turmoil spills over into the real world.
As their father attacks the two sons in his anger, Harry takes more and more of the brunt, forcing Miles to protect his younger brother. Unsurprisingly, the two end up in the water waiting to die.
Miles is unable to save his younger brother.
Miles finds out that Harry is dead; it is an intense moment for the reader

It would be interesting to take the idea further and to discuss with students how the ocean serves different functions which echoes a long tradition in the Australian narrative with the ambiguities of the wider Australian fascination with water and indeed, the ocean. Parrett is now part of this broader Australian literary heritage often represented in the writings of Tim Winton and Robert Drewe.

While the ocean in all its mood is the dominant water image in the novel there is also a powerful reference to Lune River in south-eastern Tasmania which enters the sea and connects to Bruny Island.

Direct students to locate this description by Harry of Lune River on page 37:

He walked onto the bridge and leant against the railings on one side. The dark water of Lune River was moving with a silent speed that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He picked up a rock and dropped it over the edge. It disappeared instantly into the rushing water and didn’t even leave a mark on the surface. You would need a million rocks to make a dent.

How does Parrett position the reader to think about this other example of water?

Students work in groups to f ind three passages in the novel which demonstrate the fierce contrasts within the ocean. Share this example from pages 44–45 which captures Miles surfing:

The cold water bit at his hands and feet as he began the paddle. Winter brought massive swells, awesome to watch and not much fun to be in, but today the bluff was still like liquid mercury. Near perfect three-foot lines. The paddle was easy. The waves were easy. The ocean was at peace .

In their analysis of each extract, groups should indicate the context of the extract, annotate the language features and include a short explanation of what that extract reveals about the role of the ocean in Past the Shallows . For each extract students could find an image which captures the mood of the ocean as evoked by Parrett. Publish the group research to enable all students to have a full set of extracts.

Ideas in Past the Shallows

By this stage of the novel’s exploration many of the key ideas of the novel have been revealed. Direct students to re-form their groups and issue them with sheet of A3 paper. Give groups three minutes to list as many ideas as possible that have been explored in Past the Shallows . Post the papers around the room for all groups to read. Direct a student to highlight the ideas which are repeated from different groups.

Consider these ideas if they have not already been suggested by students:

the long-term effects of grief and loss
the impact of past events on human’s ability to move forward or not
the failure of communication and its effects
interacting with nature and the landscape can be challenging
human truths: love, compassion, understanding, fear, loss, anger
the devastating impact of secrecy.

(ACELR007) (ACELR009)

Writing activities

A. writing about setting .

Task 1: An article

Adopt the persona of Miles Curren. You have been asked by a publishing consortium to write an article of 800 words on the challenges and delights of surfing in South East Tasmania. The article will be offered to a range of publications: surfing magazines, weekend travel newspaper lift-outs, online travel posts.

Students can use the article Southern Breaks as a model, or go online and research surfing in Southern Tasmania at spots such as Cloudy Bay, Southport and South Cape Bay.

The article should incorporate specific references from the novel where Miles is surfing and his responses to the ocean in its many moods. Include three to five images of the area around Bruny Island (make sure to use Creative commons’ licensed images so to not infringe copyright restrictions by) with captions which could accompany the article. Format the article with an engaging title, a by-line as the journalist, and consider including a map of the area. (ACELR006) (ACELR017)

Task 2: A description

In the transcript of an interview with Parrett (p. 264) she is asked about the inspiration for this book. She answers:

The south coast of Tasmania had a huge influence on me when I was young. It is isolated and wild – a place I will never forget. The story grew out of my memories and feeling for that pace. It is a sad and beautiful place. An ancient place.

Students are to think of a place which is special to them and has influenced the way they see themselves or others or the broader world. They can use Parrett’s words as a starter for their own paragraph; they then add their own words to replace the blanks in the following sentence. They should use the spare prose-style of Parrett to capture the intensity of the place for them. The writing should be about 600 words.

The beginning:

The _______ of _______ had a huge influence on me when I was young. It is _____ and _______ – a place I will never forget. The story grew out of my memories and feeling for that place. It is a _____and ______place. An _______ place. (Students continue on from here.) (ACELR015)

Task 3: Journal writing using images

Students choose one or two of the images (PDF, 287KB) which capture south-eastern Tasmania. They take on the persona of Joe, Miles or their father and choose an experience from the novel. They write 3–5 journal entries of between 150 and 180 words, each focusing on the landscape and the experience of your character in that landscape. The journal entries should span events before, during and after the novel. (ACELR001) (ACELR006)

Task 4: Create a PowerPoint with recording

Students choose five to eight passages from the novel which evoke the ocean landscape. For each extract they find images (again observing correct copyright procedure) which best suit the extract and copy these into a PowerPoint of one slide per extract and image.

They record themselves reading the extract and include a minute of analysis for each extract of how this extract is used by Parrett to position the reader to the complexities of the human experience in such a challenging landscape. Students may consider including some music to suit some or all of the extracts and images. (ACELR010)

B. Writing a review

In the book on page 258 students may read the ‘Review Raves’. They should think about what is focused on in each review. They can list all the adjectives and what they relate to. Are the comments about character, theme, plot, setting, style or other?

They can then write their own 800-word review using their list of adjectives and adding their own. The review of the novel is to be published for Australian senior high school students. They may choose to affirm or challenge the perspectives in the ‘Review Raves’ and will need to include detailed textual evidence to substantiate any perspective. (ACELR011) (ACELR012)

Synthesising task: Reflection

Students will work in groups to share ideas and then complete a reflection on their group-sharing by responding to these questions and statement:

How valuable was this discussion, panel and listening activity in synthesising your insights and ideas about Past the Shallows?
Reflect on what made some panel discussions more effective than others. Did you find this task a valuable learning experience?

They can use M entimeter or similar interactive software where students use their mobile phones to text responses which are then visible on a screen to display student responses on whiteboard. ( Mentimeter users create presentations, share their opinions and acquire feedback from their audience in real-time using mobile devices.) Where this is not feasible, a class blog, using Google Docs can be helpful.

Begin with an open discussion:

What stands out in your reading of Past the Shallows ?
What are the distinctive features of this novel?

Students move into groups and each group explores one of the ideas listed below. Over two to three lessons, groups discuss their topics/ideas with close reference to specific textual evidence and prepare a panel discussion involving three members of their group to present to the rest of the class. Allocate two panel discussions per lesson.

At the end of each panel discussion all students are to capture three key points of the panel discussion as their own notes. Encourage the students to listen and observe the panel discussion rather than make notes during it and then to reflect on what ideas were stimulating for them. Students then pass their notes to the person on their right to add another point, then their person on their left to add a fifth point. At the end of the final panel discussion students are required to write their own reflection.

Areas for group exploration and panel discussion:

In what ways does Past the Shallows explore:

The wide range of individual and collective human experiences – loss, families, secrets, a bitter and difficult father, friendship, tragedy, lack of communication, small towns.
The anomalies of family behaviour – paternal role and control, the relationship of the father and his sons, Aunt Jean and the boys, family tension, hate, resentment, bitterness, pain, fear, love, duality of the sea.
A way to see the world differently – a family under pressure and the resilience of the young boys.
The effectiveness of storytelling and the demonstration of how authentic and gripping stories engage us to consider what life is like for others and in different places
The use of language to reflect and shape the characters and their interaction with each other, including the physicality of the ever-present ocean. Consider Parrett’s prose: powerful, sparse, understated, deceptively simple, sometimes violent and yet life-affirming.

(ACELR0011) (ACELR0014)

Ways of reading the text

Intertextuality.

Texts are not created in vacuum. Authors are conscious of a world of textuality from their own reading and the texts they read build on others. We can therefore see Past the Shallows as being part of a much bigger picture – part of a wider world of texts that draw on the sea for their imagery and for their meaning. Drawing students’ attention to the ways the sea has been represented through different texts makes them aware of the interconnectedness of texts for imparting meaning, with every new text building on the texts that have come before.

The sea is a powerful motif and often represents the experience of human struggle. The struggle is often physical with humans – usually males – fighting the elements of the sea and either conquering or losing the struggle. What follows is usually an emotional awakening, as the characters involved come to understand something within themselves or about their relationship with the world. Many myths and legends especially from island states centre on the sea because it is also such an important source of food. Canonical texts where the sea is a central character include:

the American novels: Moby Dick (Herman Melville, 1851) , The Old Man and The Sea (Ernest Hemingway, 1952).
the English poem: The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (Samuel Taylor Coleridge,1834).
the Australian novel: For the Term of his Natural Life (Marcus Clarke, 1872 – also a Reading Australia text and teaching resource ).
the Norwegian non-fiction text: The Kon Tiki Expedition (Heyerdal, 1948).

The sea is not just a setting or backdrop: it creates a space for discovery, connecting different places but also connecting with the mind. The sea also has a spiritual connection through the Bible with Jesus’ disciples as fishermen who depended on the sea for their sustenance. More recent Australian writers, especially Tim Winton, have also used the sea as an essential part of their texts. Indeed Favel Parrett’s second novel, When the Night Comes (Hachette, 2014) again uses the sea and the Southern Ocean as a powerful creative force in her work.

Ask students:

How much does Favel Parrett’s book draw from past traditions of the sea in literature? You may read extracts from other books (PDF, 152KB) to answer this question.
How does Parrett demonstrate the difficulty of survival through the motif of the sea?

Applying a feminist reading

Feminist literary scholarship makes us aware of aspects of the text we may not have noticed such as the gendered nature of some imagery. In this novel the mother is absent, the aunt is distant and the world is masculine. The sea is a male dominion, providing food with men as the ‘hunters’.

Students can find where women are mentioned in the book and then consider:

From whose point of view are the comments/feelings about women expressed? What does this show about how each male relates to women?
What is the book saying about male/female relationships?
In many ways the text is affirming traditional gendered roles. Do you agree?
Is it possible to challenge the novel and have women as central?
Do you expect this from a young female writer? Explain your response.

(ACELR001) (ACELR005) (ACELR006) (ACELR008)

Comparison with other texts

Landscape: book and film comparison.

The landscape from the sea to the desert is powerfully evoked in many Australian texts. The landscape is a human experience that affects us all and yet it is also individual. Students can explore other visual and print texts to locate sections on the landscape. They can look at the trailer of the 2017 film Breath .

What story does the trailer suggest?
What differences and similarities do you perceive with the novel Past the Shallows ?
Would Past the Shallows still work if it were set in a desert?

Family: Book and poem comparison

Another important experience that unites us all is the sense of family, and yet family can also be a source of disunity. The poem ‘Diptych’ by Robert Gray provides a good point of comparison on family. Students may consider:

How different or similar are the depictions of family in the poem and the novel?
Which do you find most moving: the poetic or novel form?

(ACELR002) (ACELR006)

Rich assessment task

Imaginative writing and reflection.

In this multifaceted task you will reimagine the story in different ways and then reflect on what you realised about imaginative writing from changing the text. You will need to identify and justify your choices of stylistic techniques.

Part A: Imaginative writing – ‘ What if…?’

a. What if the story were set somewhere else?

Collect images of different Australian landscapes: the mountains, a country town, the snowfields, the desert, the opal fields, the tropics, etcetera. Write the story of the Curren family in a different setting:

What work would they have?
How different would the mood have been?

b. What if Mum hadn’t died?

This time you need to reimagine the story but just for one scene. Write a scene as if the mother was still alive.

c. What if the story had been a poem?

Write a poem based on a section or the whole novel; in the poem, mood and tone will be more important than events and character.

d. What if the story had been a play?

Write a scene for a play based on the same section as you used for the poem. This time dialogue will drive the ideas.

Part B: Reflection

Reflect upon yourself as writer.

How difficult were these tasks?
Which task was the most difficult and why?
Which task was the sexiest and why?
What decision did you have to make about the story as you adapted the novel for each task?

Respond in 800 words in a sustained piece of writing that draws examples from the adaptations you have written for Part A. (ACELR009) (ACELR014) (ACELR016) (ACELR017) (ACELR018)

Revisiting initial responses

Students should return to the initial reactions in their journal and discuss how they changed their views as they read the book. They can look again at the list of book covers and answer: ‘Now that you have read the novel what would you include in a design for a book cover?’

‘How I read a book’

Reading is not a ‘natural’ act. We learn ways of reading. Often the way we read for school is different to the way we read for ‘pleasure’, but reading for school can be a pleasurable act. Whatever the attitude, it is important to be able to verbalise this. In this section students will be asked to reflect on their own reading style and how they can read more effectively.

Tim Parks , a reviewer for the New York Review of Book s says that reading is an ‘active skill’ that comes from experience and not ‘passive absorption’. He describes his reading in this way, using the example of Murakami’s book, Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage :

As I dive into the opening pages, the first question I’m asking is, what are the qualities or values that matter most to this author, or at least in this novel? I start Murakami’s Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage and at once it is about a man who has been excluded from a group of friends without knowing why; the mishap has plunged him into a depression that seems disproportionate to the damage suffered. So I begin to look for everything relating to community and belonging, to the individual’s relationship to the community, to loneliness and companionship. I underline any words that fall into this lexical field. Is the community positive or negative or both? Are there advantages to being excluded, even when it is painful? Do loneliness and depression produce strength, creativity? Is the book aligning itself with the position of the person excluded?

Parks also asks ‘what is the emotional atmosphere behind this book?’

What reviewer Tim Parks is doing is constantly looking for the themes that underpin the text. His questions move from identifying the character and the initial character relationships to classifying these as big ideas about community and identity. Even from the opening, he is looking for the deeper meaning in the text and how the author creates this meaning through words ( lexical field ). He does this by engaging with the text through questions. Returning students to the opening with this in mind is a good way of reviewing, not just the book, but their own reading habits.

Using the Parks’ paragraph as model, students are to reassess their own reading experience. They reread the novel’s opening and complete this cloze activity (PDF, 99KB) based on the Parks’ comment:

They can then consider the other question Parks asks: ‘What is the emotional atmosphere behind this book?’ and can look for how the author creates this mood through language.

Ask student to discuss: How is this approach different to or the same as the way I usually read books? Has this made me see the novel differently? (ACELR001) (ACELR003) (ACELR004)

What is it that makes Past the Shallows award-winning and worthy of study

While this novel has had significant positive response, there are varied perspectives about its success. It is valuable for students to consider how one text can have different meaning for different readers not only ideologically but aesthetically.

In the television program – The First Tuesday Bookclub – one of the panellists, Jason Steiger says:

‘We all read books and have different responses to them.’

The host, Jennifer Byrne also comments:

‘What an author wants most is to find a reader. Now, whether that reader loves it or even thinks it’s not as good as that person’s book, whatever, but you want people to know that you’ve written this book, and that’s the hardest thing.’

Access this episode of The First Tuesday Bookclub .

Students watch the episode as a class or in groups. They:

note the different perspectives the panellists have on the book,
print a copy of the transcript,
highlight the comments from the reviewers which most resonate with them and their group,
share these and discuss with the class.

Reflecting on the novel:

Students click on the link to reviews on the The First Tuesday Bookclub page.
They read the reviews and these review comments from print media:
‘An intensely moving story, written in finely crafted and gripping prose. Utterly brilliant.’ ( Image Magazine )
‘A work by a new master…Parrett’s debut is an uncompromising and memorable tale’ ( The Sunday Tasmanian )
‘An understated and beautifully penned story set on the Tasmanian coast…gives voice to two brothers as their lives are influenced by unpredictable forces…Parrett’s writing is exquisite in its simplicity and eloquence, and her narrative is heart-rending. This poignant story resonates.’ ( Kirkus Reviews , USA)
‘It is a bleakly beautiful, elemental work that demands slow, mindful, and patient reading. It is a story of secrets and survival. For those willing to put in the effort, it is well worth it.’ ( Goodreads )
‘It is an emotional story and sad. At one point I noticed I was holding my breath while I was reading. I felt myself getting attached to the characters and wanted to be there for them. I ended up crying at the end. This book will stay with me for a while. Beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time.’ ( Goodreads )

They then respond:

Which review comes closest to your group’s understanding of Past the Shallows ? Explain your choice.
In groups students write their own 250-word review for a school Facebook page to enthuse the next cohort about this text. They should include a clever title which would interest their age group.

(ACELR001) (ACELR003) (ACELR004)

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Subscriber resources:

AustLit – Past the Shallows
AustLit – Favel Parrett

Please note that AustLit is a rich resource for any study of Australian literature or Australian writers. To access this online resource, you need to do so via your school library or through your own personal membership of your state or Territory library service. Talk to your school or local librarian for more information.

About the book and author:

Copyright Agency: Reading Australia – Past the Shallows
Copyright Agency: Reading Australia – Favel Parrett
Author website – Favel Parrett
The Tasmanian Writers’ Centre – Favel Parrett
Wikipedia – Past the Shallows
Wikipedia – Favel Parrett
Hachette Australia – Past the Shallows
Booked Out (speaker agency) – Favel Parrett
Instagram – Favel Parrett
National Library of Australia: Trove – Past the Shallows
ABC TV: The Book Club
The Sydney Morning Herald
ABC: The Book Show
Australian Book Review
The Guardian
Kirkus Review
The Newtown Review of Books
Now to Love
Book Browse

Discussions, interviews and related links:

Australian Writers’ Centre – Author Favel Parrett on publicity and productivity, 19 Jun 2015
The Australian – Tales of city and the sea take out top awards, 26 Jul 2012
The Australian Books – Starters without handicaps, 20 Jun 2012
The Conversation – An iceberg in treacherous waters: Favel Parrett’s Past the Shallows , 19 Jun 2012
Crikey – Liticism’s Miles Franklin Countdown: Favel Parrett’s Past the Shallows , 20 Jun 2012
ABC: Radio National – Favel Parrett in her writing studio, 22 May 2012
ABC: Radio National – Miles Franklin shortlist announced, 4 May 2012
ABC: News – First-time novelists make Miles Franklin shortlist, 3 May 2012
ABC: Radio National – Summer reading, 27 Jan 2012
Australian Government – Australian Antarctic Division – Favel Parrett 2012
The Sydney Morning Herald – Interview: Favel Parrett, 28 May 2011
Booktopia – Favel Parrett, author of Past the Shallows , answers Ten Terrifying Questions, 12 Apr 2011
The WheelerCentre – Tasmania’s Tipping Point, posted 27 Jan 2015
Boffins Books – Boffins Bookshop Interview with Author Favel Parrett, posted 30 Sep 2014
Hachette Australia Books – Favel Parrett: Author Q&A, posted 21 Aug 2014
Hachette Australia Books – Writing advice from author Favel Parrett, posted 21 Aug 2014
Booktopia TV – Favel Parrett, author of Past the Shallows and When the Night Comes, chats to John Purcell, posted 7 Jul 2014
ShearersBooks – Favel Parrett chats with Shearer’s Bookshop, posted 23 Aug 2011
Australian Writers’ Centre – Sydney Writers’ Centre interviews Australian author Favel Parrett, posted 20 May 2011
Dymocks Books – Favel Parrett introducing her new novel Past the Shallows for Dymocks Booklovers, posted 17 May 2011
Hachette Australia Books – Past the Shallows trailer, posted 8 Dec 2010

Teaching approach and resources:

Simon & Schuster – Past the Shallows By Favel Parrett: Reading Group Guide
Quizlet – Past the Shallows Quotes
Jemima Parsons on Prezi – Past the Shallows key themes student presentation

Related listings and synopses:

Book Depository
Boomerang Books
Abbey’s Bookshop
Great Escape Books

Literary blog reviews:

A Novel Approach
Reactions to Reading
ANZ LitLovers LitBlog
Lost Boys Book Club
Knowledge Lost
Musings of a Literary Dilettante’s Blog
Mary Whipple Reviews

Unit Suitable For AC: Senior Secondary Literature (Unit 1)

Duration Six weeks

Curriculum Summary

Find a summary table for Australian Curriculum: English content descriptions for this unit.

General Capabilities

Cross-curriculum Priorities

Further Details

Publisher Hachette Australia

Date of Publication 2014

ISBN 9781476754871

Category Novels

SCIS number

Unit writer

JANE SHERLOCK has taught English for over 40 years including being Head Teacher English at Kiama High and is presently the NSW English Teachers’ Association project officer for HSC student days. Jane is also an author of a number of English textbooks including the national award-winning Oxford HSC English and digital resources for Oxford University Press on the Cross-Curriculum Priorities. In 2009 Jane received the Australian College of Educators Award for her contribution to education.

MEL DIXON is the Education and Publications Officer for the English Teachers Association NSW and has taught English for over twenty five years with ten years as Head of English. She has published English texts with Cambridge University Press and for the ETA NSW, and is editor of Metaphor the Association’s journal. She also co-edited Words’Worth for the English Teachers Association of Queensland while she was Vice President of that body.

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Past the Shallows

By favel parrett, past the shallows quotes and analysis.

Out past the shallows, past the sandy-bottomed bays, comes the dark water—black and cold and roaring. Rolling out the invisible paths. The ancient paths to Bruny, or down south along the silent cliffs, the paths out deep to the bird islands that stand tall between nothing but water and sky. Wherever rock comes out of deep water, wherever reef rises up, there is abalone. Black-lipped soft bodies protected by shell. Treasure. Narrator, p. 13

In the novel's short preface, Parrett uses poetic language and visual imagery to describe the novel's setting of Bruny, a fishing town on an island off the coast of Tasmania. Parrett's description establishes the ocean as almost a character itself within the story. Additionally, the ominous feeling evoked, contrasted with the promise of hidden treasures, sets the tone for a novel in which the ocean both gives and takes from Miles.

A shark's tooth, cold and sharp—a perfect blade. Everything that a shark was rotted and disappeared, everything but its jaw and its teeth. That was all a shark could ever leave behind. Narrator, p. 91

After finding the necklace among the parts of his mother's old crashed car, Miles goes to the beach and contemplates the tooth he pulls from his pocket. Miles senses the significance of the tooth but cannot yet recall to whom it belonged. In this passage, Parrett hints at the tooth's greater significance by showing how Miles thinks of the tooth as the only remnant of the once large and living shark. By the end of the book, Miles's memory of the night Uncle Nick gave him the tooth will return, and thus the tooth will come to represent a small piece of a much greater structure.

Out past the shallows, past the sandy-bottomed bays, comes the dark water—black and cold and roaring. Rolling out an invisible path, a new line for them to follow. To somewhere warm. To somewhere new. Narrator, p. 213

This passage, taken from the last page of the novel, is an echo of the novel's opening lines. However, instead of probing the depths to describe abalone, Parrett rewrites the lines to focus above the surface, where invisible paths lead to somewhere warm and new for Miles and Joe. In addition to giving the novel a sense of an ending by having it come full circle, Parrett's reconfiguration of the opening lines shows the contrast between Miles's concerns at the beginning and end of the story. No longer dependent on the abalone "treasure" in the cold and dangerous coastal water, he is free to sail to a better life with his brother Joe.

"This is for you," he said, and he put the tooth in his hands. "For luck." Miles looked up at George, his eyes full of tears. "You found him," he said. "Harry." George and Miles, p. 212

At the end of the novel, before they part ways, George puts the white shark-tooth necklace in Miles's hand. With this gesture, Miles realizes George must have been the one who found Harry's body; he then removed the necklace from Harry to return to Miles. In this passage, Parrett presents an instance of situational irony in which the person who happened to find Harry was the same man whom Harry had taken refuge with. The irony injects further emotional significance into the shark-tooth necklace, which now symbolizes to Miles a connection not only to Uncle Nick but to Harry as well.

And the man turned in his seat. He reached over and stroked Harry’s cheek. He looked at Miles. It was Uncle Nick. Narrator, p. 196

As Miles recalls more and more of his memory of the night his mother died, he remembers that there had been a man in the car with them. In this passage, Parrett reveals that the man was Uncle Nick. With this ironic twist, the reader understands that Uncle Nick and Mum were having an affair and eloping together on the night they died.

"You remember," Dad said, and he held Miles tight. "You remember, don’t you?" ... "They were dead when I found the car." And the insides of Miles went very still. ... "She was leaving me." Dad pulled Miles in close, so close that his face was all Miles could see. And it made him sick the way Dad’s face was. The way he looked like he was crying. Like someone had done something terrible to him. "I had to take him away, Miles. I had to leave you there. He was already dead and everyone would have found out. Everyone would have known." Dad, p. 183

After pushing Harry into the water, Dad holds Miles down, preventing him from rescuing Harry, and tries to appeal to Miles. In this passage, Dad reminds Miles that he was at the scene of Mum's car crash. The line of dialogue stills Miles's insides as he tries to decipher whether his father is telling the truth. The pained expression Dad feigns sickens Miles, suggesting that he doesn't believe Dad's sorrow is authentic. Ultimately, Parrett lets the reader decide whether it is more likely that Dad murdered Nick or that he disposed of his body so that people wouldn't know Mum was leaving him for Nick.

And he cupped it in his palm—the white pointer’s tooth. "It’s his," he said, and his face went pale. "His." He let the tooth go. He stared down at Harry. "She was leaving, because of him. Because of you." Dad, p. 181

In this passage, Dad is threatening to drown Harry and pulling his hair when he discovers the necklace Uncle Nick gave to Miles and that Miles gave to Harry. Dad immediately recognizes the necklace as having belonged to Nick. He angrily admits that Mum died on the night she was leaving him to be with Nick. Crucially, Dad adds the line "Because of you," implying that Harry was Uncle Nick's biological son.

Harry squeezed his eyes shut like he was waiting to be hit, but Dad didn’t move. He just kept staring into Harry’s face. Everything went quiet then. Dad went quiet and the whole place went quiet like there was nothing. No wind, no rustling trees, no sound from the river. Just Dad holding Harry up off the ground. And his face was dead and his eyes were dead and Miles felt sick. But then he let Harry go. He just put Harry down and he walked away. Narrator, p. 163

After nearly running Harry down on the road next to George's property, Dad pulls over and grabs Harry, demanding to know what he was doing at George's. In this passage, Miles watches helplessly as he anticipates Dad's violence. However, in an instance of situational irony, Dad drops Harry without a word. However, the sudden deescalation makes sense once the reader learns of Dad's plan to take Harry out on the boat as punishment. Showing his true cruelty, Dad lulls Harry and Miles into a sense of security before delivering a more psychologically damaging and dangerous punishment.

Then the man said, "We’re from Fisheries. Your dad’s license is not valid. Unpaid fines and a long list of infringements. We need to speak with him." Fisheries Official, p. 112

Dad's illegal abalone poaching catches up with him when fisheries officials come by the house. However, the person who answers the door is Harry. The fisheries official treats Harry with suspicion and hostility, and Harry knows to lie to authority figures, saying he is only home alone because his aunt is coming to pick him up. In this passage, the fisheries official takes advantage of Harry's innocence by inappropriately talking about the trouble Dad is in with the law. Harry hears the official describe the home as a "shithole" before he drives off, a line that suggests the official has contempt for Harry's family's poverty and thus feels entitled to provoke Harry's anxiety about the license infraction despite Harry having no control over what his father does.

Miles looked out to the water. Perfect three-foot glass, empty and waiting and no wind yet. Not yet. And he couldn’t believe he was going to give up clean waves for this, for Harry. But he was going to. He’d already put his board down on the sand. Narrator, p. 210

At the end of the novel, Miles goes back in his mind to the first scene in the book, when he asks Harry to try to find a shark egg on the beach to keep him busy while Miles and Joe surf. As soon as he says it, he realizes it will take Harry ages to find one because he never looks in the right places. In this passage, Miles decides not to surf but instead to find a shark egg that he can plant for Harry to find. With this passage, Parrett demonstrates how Miles so often puts Harry's needs over his own, from small gestures such as this, to his greater efforts over the novel to protect his vulnerable little brother.

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Past the Shallows Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Past the Shallows is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

Study Guide for Past the Shallows

Past the Shallows study guide contains a biography of Favel Parrett, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

About Past the Shallows
Past the Shallows Summary
Character List

Essays for Past the Shallows

Past the Shallows essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Past the Shallows by Favel Parrett.

Minor Characters, Secrecy, and Toxic Masculinity: Conveying Significant Themes in 'Past the Shallows'
Past the Shallows: The Power of Nature and Loss
Conflict as Fundamental to the Human Experience in 'Past the Shallows'

Lesson Plan for Past the Shallows

About the Author
Study Objectives
Common Core Standards
Introduction to Past the Shallows
Relationship to Other Books
Bringing in Technology
Notes to the Teacher
Related Links
Past the Shallows Bibliography

Wikipedia Entries for Past the Shallows

Introduction
Plot summary
Awards and nominations

Notes On Texts & Human Experiences – Past the Shallows

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Resource Description

Quotes for each main theme explored in Past the Shallows by Favel Parrett. Some small paragraphs with integrated quotes.

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Past the Shallows

Favel parrett, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

There were things that no one would teach you—things about the water. You just knew them or you didn’t and no one could tell you how to read it. How to feel it. Miles knew the water. He could feel it. And he knew not to trust it.

He used to feel sorry for the abs when he was young. The way they pulsed and moved in the tubs, sensing the bright light and heat. But he couldn’t think about them like that now. He was only careful not to cut or bruise them, because once abs started to bleed, they kept on bleeding until all the liquid inside was gone. They just dried up and died.

And if you didn’t know better, you’d think that no one lived here anymore. That all these places were abandoned. But people were in there somewhere, hidden and burrowed in. They were there.

“Don’t you get stuck here with your dad,” he said. “Don’t you let him…You’re too young to be out there working, Miles. It’s not right.”

Miles felt the words sink down right inside him.

“You’ve had it rough enough,” he said.

“What am I meant to do? What am I meant to do?”

And he heard her voice rise up, familiar tears.

“I grew up in that house, Miles. Don’t I deserve something?”

But Harry stayed where he was. He stayed among the piles of Granddad’s things left on the lawn—all the things that were no longer needed, no longer useful—and he wished that Joe would stay.

Maybe that’s why Joe and Miles liked it so much. And he knew that Granddad would have taken him. It was just that he was too little, too small to go, when Granddad had been alive. And if Granddad hadn’t died then he definitely would have taken Harry fishing, too. And it would have been good, like this was.

And it nearly made Harry cry now, the way Miles’s eyelid was all purple and cut—the bruise on the side of his face coming up bad. Harry put his hand in his pocket and felt for the sock that held his leftover money. He pulled it out.

“You should take this,” he said. “You might need it.”

Miles shook his head. “You keep it,” he said and he tried to smile.

…Harry didn’t see him come back. There was just the backpack with some clothes left by the door of the trailer and inside, near the top, were some chocolates and the bright orange dart gun from his Bertie Beetle goodie bag.

Harry leaned his head back against the chair and thought that if Miles got lost, if Miles never came home, Harry’s insides would go wrong and they might never come right again. If Miles got lost.

…he looked so young and small, like no time had ever passed by since he was the baby in the room and Joe had told Miles to be nice to him and help Mum out. And Miles had thought he wouldn’t like it. But Harry had a way about him. A way that made you promise to take care of him.

He just kept starting at Harry. And his hand moved away from Harry’s hair, moved down to the string around his neck. And he cupped it in his palm—a white pointer’s tooth.

“It’s his,” he said, and his face went pale. “His.”

He let the tooth go. He stared down at Harry.

“She was leaving, because of him. Because of you.”

But ultimately it wasn’t up to you. This ocean could hold you down for as long as it liked, and Miles knew it.

There was a black emptiness inside him and it was all that he could see. He tried to imagine a fire in the darkness, and at first it was just one blue flame too small to feel. But he willed it on, felt the first flicker of warmth as it grew. Then it raged, turned into a ball of fire, orange and red and hungry. It devoured his stomach, moved up to his lungs, his back. Moved into his heart. He shared it with Harry through his skin.

He had been drifting for a lifetime and his mind had lost its way. It was dissolving and he had forgotten about Harry, forgotten about all the things that came before. There was only this vastness, the swing of a giant pendulum—water receding then flooding back. And he was part of it. Part of the deep water, part of the waves. Part of the rocks and reefs along the shore.

He listened to Joe talk about all the places they would go, the tropical islands and clear warm water, the big bright lights of new cities. The free open space of ocean. And he knew that Joe was going to take him with him, now. Wherever he went. He leaned his head down against his brother’s shoulder. And he let himself cry.

Miles let the rip that ran with the bluff carry him. He enjoyed the ride, felt his hands slipping through the cool water, body floating free. And there was this feeling in him like when it had all just been for fun, the water.

And Miles loved that light.

It made the dark water sparkle, turned the white spray golden—made the ocean a giant mirror reflecting the sky. Even the leaves on the crack wattle shone in the light.

It made everything come to life.

Out past the shallows, past the sandy-bottomed bays, comes the dark water—black and cold and roaring. Rolling out an invisible path, a new line for them to follow.

To somewhere warm.

To somewhere new.

IMAGES

Past the Shallows Human Experiences Essay
Past the Shallows Essay
HSC Common Module Past the Shallows Talking Points AND Sample Essay
Past the Shallows
2019 EA the collective human experience Past the shallows Essay Plan
Past the shallows practice essay

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COMMENTS

Band 6 "Past The Shallows" HSC Essay
Additionally, Parrett's symbolism " Out past the shallows" in the opening prologue encompasses the growth and wellbeing of an individual's experience. This metaphorical connotation encapsulates the notions of one's past , the ability of one's self to be challenged and motivated to move out beyond their comfort zone to 'deeper water.'.
The collective human experience (Past the shallows) Essay Plan
the collective human experience "Past the shallows" Essay Plan. English Essay Plan: Representations of relationships and their impact on the individual help us to understand, more broadly, the collective human experience. Simply: The relationship of people in the book and their impact on themselves it has helps us understand the universal ...
Past the Shallows Essay
Conflict is an unavoidable and fundamental aspect of human life. Favell Parrett explains how narrative is, and has always been, a powerful tool to express the impact of human experience on individuals in her gripping coming of age novel Past the Shallows, a novel about three brothers, Harry, Miles, and Joe Curren, growing up in a small fishing ...
Past the Shallows Summary
Summary of Key Ideas/Themes in Past the Shallows. Now, we'll walk you through some of the key ideas/themes from 'Past the Shallows' and help you identify their link to 'human experience'! The key ideas include: The multifaceted nature of the ocean; The importance of brotherhood; The tragedy of abuse and addiction; Dealing with grief
Analysis Of Human Experiences In 'The Raven' And 'Past The Shallows
It is shown that throughout the poem "The Raven" Edgar Allan Poe uses many techniques on how past human experiences and memories affect someone's present. Past Human encounters have a clear power to affect one's future. This is shown throughout both the novel "Past the Shallows" and the poem "The Raven.
Past the Shallows
Essay Prompts. How does the title Past the Shallows foreshadow the dark human experiences explored in the novel? 'This ocean could hold you down for as long as it liked, and Miles knew it.'. How has Pavel Farrett used memory as a prevailing emotional force in the lives of the characters and also as a narrative element to propel the ...
Trial Essay On Past the Shallows (Common Module)
This was my HSC and trial essay for Common Module Texts and Human Experiences (Past the Shallows). I got 17/20 for this essay - it's not a perfect essay but definitely should be a solid and helpful base guide for anyone starting to prepare! Common Module - Past the Shallows. Texts will often draw in readers to explore the fragility of ...
Past the Shallows: Band 6 Essay Analysis [HSC English Lit ...
In Episode #2 of our new HSC English Lit Program, Rowan and Brooklyn are going to conduct an awesome essay analysis for 'Past the Shallow' and show you how t...
HSC Texts and Human Experience Sample Essay & Essay Analysis: Past the
This is a three-part resource for students undertaking the NSW HSC Common Module Texts and Human Experience. A generic essay plan shows students how to compose an essay suitable for Stage 6, progressing them from the simpler PEEL/TEAL models of Stage 4 and 5. A sample essay for the prescribed text, Favel Parrett's novel Past the Shallows ...
Past the Shallows Human Experiences Essay
Studying from past student work is an amazing way to learn and research, however you must always act with academic integrity. This document is the prior work of another student. Thinkswap has partnered with Turnitin to ensure students cannot copy directly from our resources. Understand how to responsibly use this work by visiting 'Using ...
Brotherhood, Loyalty, and Hardship Theme in Past the Shallows
Below you will find the important quotes in Past the Shallows related to the theme of Brotherhood, Loyalty, and Hardship. Chapter 1 Quotes. Water that was always there. Always everywhere. The sound and the smell and the cold waves making Harry different. And it wasn't just because he was the youngest.
Past the Shallows Themes
These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Past the Shallows by Favel Parrett. Minor Characters, Secrecy, and Toxic Masculinity: Conveying Significant Themes in 'Past the Shallows' Past the Shallows: The Power of Nature and Loss; Conflict as Fundamental to the Human Experience in 'Past the Shallows'
Past the Shallows
Relationships. Past the Shallows presents relationships as paramount to the human condition but tempers this with the common human experience that often others will not be there, physically or metaphorically, when they are needed.. As the primary relationship of parent and child has dissipated in this text, the relationship between siblings and strangers prevails as the only remaining positive ...
Past the Shallows
Past the Shallows is a memorable and moving Australian novel written by Favel Parrett. Parett has authentically evoked the teenage voices of three brothers: in particular, the engaging and vulnerable younger brother, Harry. The prose is often spare and understated as it captures the overwhelming sadness of the family's situation in coming to ...
Past the Shallows essay
Within Favel Parrett's sombre, yet tranquil novel " Past the Shallows "(2010), the impact of relationships are represented through the protagonist characters, Miles and Harry and their experience of childhood. Accordingly, Parrett intentionally portrays the suspension of the characters idealised existence, in order to evoke sympathy ...
Past the Shallows Essays
Past the Shallows Essays Conflict as Fundamental to the Human Experience in 'Past the Shallows' Anonymous 12th Grade Past the Shallows. Conflict is an unavoidable and fundamental aspect of human life. Favell Parrett explains how narrative is, and has always been, a powerful tool to express the impact of human experience on individuals in her ...
Past the Shallows Themes
The Duality of Nature. Past the Shallows takes place amidst the awe-inspiring and often brutal seaside landscape of Bruny Island off the coast of Tasmania, Australia. The turbulent ocean waters and the rugged ecosystem of the island serve as both the means of the family's livelihood as abalone fishermen and as ever-present, unreliable dangers.
Essay On Past The Shallows
PAST THE SHALLOWS. Representations of individual human experiences of grief and loss through literature unveils the complexity of human responses to our collective ennui. Favel Parret's bildungsroman novel Past the Shallows (PTS) subverts dichotomous qualities of perseverance and hopelessness to encourage audiences to personally reflect on ...
HSC Texts and Human Experience Sample Essay & Essay Analysis: Past the
2. A sample essay for the prescribed text, Favel Parrett's novel Past the Shallows, answers the 2019 HSC question: To what extent does the exploration of human experience in Past the Shallows invite you to reconsider your understanding of loss? 3. There is also a second copy of the essay, marked up to show how it follows the plan, and with five ...
Past the Shallows Quotes and Analysis
These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Past the Shallows by Favel Parrett. Minor Characters, Secrecy, and Toxic Masculinity: Conveying Significant Themes in 'Past the Shallows' Past the Shallows: The Power of Nature and Loss; Conflict as Fundamental to the Human Experience in 'Past the Shallows'
The Duality of Nature Theme in Past the Shallows
The Duality of Nature Quotes in Past the Shallows. Below you will find the important quotes in Past the Shallows related to the theme of The Duality of Nature. Chapter 1 Quotes. Water that was always there. Always everywhere. The sound and the smell and the cold waves making Harry different. And it wasn't just because he was the youngest.
Notes On Texts & Human Experiences
Page length: 11. DOWNLOAD THE RESOURCE. Resource Description. Quotes for each main theme explored in Past the Shallows by Favel Parrett. Some small paragraphs with integrated quotes. Report a problem. Subscribe. Download this Notes document for HSC - English Standard. Find free HSC resources like study notes, essays, past papers, assignment ...
Past the Shallows Quotes
Page Number and Citation: 233. Cite this Quote. Explanation and Analysis: Unlock with LitCharts A +. Out past the shallows, past the sandy-bottomed bays, comes the dark water—black and cold and roaring. Rolling out an invisible path, a new line for them to follow. To somewhere warm. To somewhere new.

Analysis of Human Experiences in 'The Raven' and 'Past The Shallows'

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Past the Shallows

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Past the Shallows

Introductory activities

1. Exploring the cover

2. Discussing cover comments

3. Exploring the novel’s title

4. Reading the epigraph

5. Reading the opening page

6. Background to the novel and the author

What are we looking for as we read the novel the first time?

Synthesising tasks

Journal reflection questions:

The key elements of the text

What is established in the opening paragraph?

Exploring the characters

Characters through objects

The characters

Group work on the characters

Task: Character analysis

The sea as a metaphor and a character

Ideas in Past the Shallows

Writing activities

B. Writing a review

Synthesising task: Reflection

Ways of reading the text

Applying a feminist reading

Comparison with other texts

Family: Book and poem comparison

Rich assessment task

Part A: Imaginative writing – ‘ What if…?’

Part B: Reflection

Revisiting initial responses

‘How I read a book’

What is it that makes Past the Shallows award-winning and worthy of study

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Past the Shallows

Past the Shallows Questions and Answers

Study Guide for Past the Shallows

Essays for Past the Shallows

Lesson Plan for Past the Shallows

Wikipedia Entries for Past the Shallows

Notes On Texts & Human Experiences – Past the Shallows

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Past the Shallows

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