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SERIES 3 A STUDY GUIDE BY ROGER STITSON http://www.metromagazine.com.au http://www.theeducationshop.com.au In Who Do You Think You Are?, six well-known Australians play detective as they go in search of their family histories and discover secrets from the past. Series 3 takes us to all corners of Australia and the globe, and some extraordinary stories are revealed – from resistance fighting to murder, from child abandonment to adoption, and from nineteenth- century abortion to twentieth-century shell shock, with each individual discovering that their ancestors form an integral part not only of their own identity, but of that of the nation. Combining emotional and personal journeys with big-picture history, these inspiring and sometimes challenging stories remind us how Australians have come to be the people that they are today. In keeping with Australia’s multicultural background, this is also an international story. The six participants travel to the places where their forebears lived, loved and died, and learn about the hardships and hurdles they overcame. This is a fascinating chronicle of the social, ethnic and cultural evolution of Australia’s national identity. GENERAL INTRODUCTORY NOTE This study guide contains a range of class activities relevant to each epi- sode. As some activities are relevant to all the episodes, there is a section later in the study guide devoted to a general overview of the entire series. There is also a dedicated Media Studies section with activities relevant to the construction, purposes and outcomes of the series. A general list of book and film references can be found at the end of the study guide, and a list of website references relevant to each individual episode is also included. CURRICULUM LINKS This study guide is mainly aimed at middle- and upper-secondary school levels, and has relevance to English, Media Studies, History, SOSE/HSIE, Cultural Studies, Politics, Women’s Studies, Philosophy and Ethics, and SCREEN EDUCATION Genealogy. WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? 2 EPISODE 1 Magda Szubanski Magda Szubanski is the actor behind many of Australia’s most loved comic characters. Magda has always been a fearless performer. But where is that courage from? To better understand how world events have shaped her family, Magda will trace the lives of two ancestors – her Irish grandfather, and her Polish father. Both were forced to make grim choices and both were forced to confront the brutality of war. SCREEN EDUCATION WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? 3 MAGDA’s GRANDFAther – LUKE JOHN MCCARTHY or therapy for it? Describe the emotional and historical • From as much as you can extract from the episode, connections between Magda and her guide at Edenhall, construct a timeline of Luke McCarthy’s life. Ensure you Yvonne McEwen. include relevant dates and brief notes of wider historical events, such as the start and end of World War One. • Explain what Magda finds out about Luke from his son, Dominic (Magda’s uncle) in Scotland. Listen carefully to • Plan and write a short fiction story based in any way Dominic’s poem – or write it out, if necessary – then dis- you think suitable on Luke’s life before he was arrested, cuss its contents in class. What do you think the poem tried and jailed, prior to World War One. Before writing is about, and what is Dominic’s attitude towards the discuss in class the possible themes and events that subject matter? Explain the central metaphor towards might be incorporated. Poverty and burglary may be the concept of fighting for your country. examples. • The following activity is about knowing where to look. To find out more about her maternal grandfather, Magda journeys to Dublin, Ireland, where she meets genealo- gist Elizabeth Cuddy. Elizabeth finds and collects a great deal of archival information about Luke and his family, from the early 20th century. In class discuss and make a list of Elizabeth’s archival sources. That is, where does she find her information? Where are the records stored? Who stores them? Why do you think they are stored, and for what possible purposes? • Following from the previous activity, how does re- searcher Richard Moles find information about Luke’s war service in the British Army? How might Magda have SCREEN EDUCATION been led to Edenhall Hospital, in Scotland, to discover more about Luke’s shellshock and his likely treatment WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? 4 PASSCHENDAELE, TRENCH WARFARE, SHELLSHOCK • We are told that during World War One Luke participat- ed in the Third Battle of Ypres (also known as the Battle of Passchendaele) Carry out research then write a short account of the horrors of this battle, and its outcome. Was it, in any way, counted as a success for the Allied forces? (See website references for Episode 1.) MAGDA’s fAther – ZbiGNIEW SZUBANSKI • Explain the purposes and the characteristics of trench warfare. Why had trench warfare become a disastrous • Account for the decisions Magda’s father, Zbigniew method of combat during the 1914-1918 war? (See Szubanski, felt compelled to make as a very young website references for Episode 1.) man, in joining the Polish Resistance movement after the German invasion of the country in 1939. In what • Discuss in class why Luke and so many other soldiers way may he have been influenced by his own parents? during World War One were diagnosed with shellshock. What are the symptoms and causes of shellshock? Ex- • From viewing the episode it would be possible to draw plain the medical name given to this condition. The term upon Zbigniew’s experiences as a counter intelligence ‘shellshock’ has altered throughout the 20th and 21st officer for the Polish Home Army in plotting a dramatic centuries since the end of the Great War, as circum- fiction story. Discuss in class the possible themes, plot stances, methods of warfare and medical and psycho- events, characters and narrative approaches you could logical studies and diagnoses have evolved. Account take to writing a short story. Plan and write the story. for the changes in terminology. (See website references for Episode 1.) • Explain the reasons that led to Zbigniew leaving Poland after World War Two, and arriving in Scotland, despite • From the program, as though from Luke’s viewpoint, having been a Polish patriot. plan and write a first-person impression of his thoughts, emotions and responses, years later, after marriage, • Comment on the extent and type of research and when suffering a behavioural episode induced by war- inquiry Magda has to undertake to piece together her time trauma. father’s biography. Who, for example, does she visit and speak to, and what does she learn from each? • Imagine you are Zbigniew’s old friend, Ryszard Bielan- ski, as they continue to write letters to each other over many years. Write a personal letter from Ryszard, and an answering letter from Zbigniew. INVASION OF POLAND, WARSAW UPRISING • Draw a map of Poland, showing both the invasion of Poland from the west, by German forces in 1939, and the later invasion by the USSR from the east. Indicate the position of the capital city, Warsaw. SCREEN EDUCATION • We discover during the program that there is a Warsaw Uprising Museum in modern Warsaw. Plan and create WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? 5 REFERENCES AND FURTHER RESOURCES WEBSITES Episode 1: Passchendaele: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Passchendaele>, accessed 30 November 2010 <http://www.awm.gov.au/blog/2007/04/11/battle-of -passchendaele-third-ypres/>, accessed 30 November 2010 Polish Resistance: <http://www.polishresistance-ak.org/Main%20Page.htm>, accessed 30 November 2010 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_resistance_movement_ in_World_War_II>, accessed 30 November 2010 Shellshock: <http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWshellshock. htm>, accessed 30 November 2010 <http://www.firstworldwar.com/atoz/shellshock.htm>, accessed 30 November 2010 an informative pamphlet about the museum, its loca- <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combat_stress_reaction>, tion, its purposes and activities, its plans for the future, accessed 30 November 2010 aimed at tourists from far away, such as Australia. Note that in order to illuminate the museum for tourists, Trench warfare: you would also need to provide essential background historical details about the Uprising itself. Consider <http://www.awm.gov.au/exhibitions/1918/battles/ how you might design and lay out the pamphlet to best trenchwarfare.asp>, accessed 30 November 2010 advantage. Format using desktop publishing software. (See website references for Episode 1.) <http://www.firstworldwar.com/features/trenchlife.htm>, accessed 30 November 2010 MAGDA’s reflections Warsaw Uprising: • Discuss the way in which Magda’s words, at the begin- ning of the episode, connect directly to her comments <http://www.warsawuprising.com/>, accessed 30 at the episode’s conclusion. Explain why she sees great November 2010 importance in the human characteristic of laughter. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsaw_Uprising>, accessed • Describe the metaphor that Magda perceives near 30 November 2010 the end of the episode, when considering how the old centre of Warsaw, ruined in battle, was rebuilt brick by Warsaw Uprising Museum: brick. <http://www.warsaw-life.com/poland/warsaw-rising • Following from the previous activity, construct an illus- -museum>, accessed 30 November 2010 trated display poster that captures a sense of Magda’s emotional and spiritual journey into her family’s history, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsaw_Uprising_Museum>, which might, in fact, represent and illustrate the kind of accessed 30 November 2010 SCREEN EDUCATION journey we could all take into our forebears’ lives. WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? 6 EPISODE 2 Rod Marsh Cricketer Rod Marsh trawls the records to uncover long-held secrets and piece together the dramatic circumstances that led to his father’s adoption.

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