Exercise 7

Investigative Exercise 7 Podcasts

Find a podcast in any Australian library. Post to your blog a short summary of the podcast. Include the library’s name, title of podcast and link. Make certain you label your post.

A podcast from the State Library of New South Wales, Australia

I found a podcast from the events and talks podcast section (http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/podcasts/events/index.html). The podcast I chose is called Anne of green Gables (http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/podcasts/events/anne_green_gables.html). In this podcast Susannah Fullerton, the author of two books about Jane Austen, explores the lasting appeal of Anne of Green Gables, which now celebrates its 100^th year of publication and analyses the life of its author, Lucy Maud Montgomery.

Ms Fullerton begins with an interesting excerpt from the famous book, followed by a close analysis and focus on how the author’s life impacted the characters and storyline. She mentions that the book transcends the age line, being a novel that is able to be read by both adults and children, with a mix of both romance and realism. Ms Fullerton also describes the Lucy Montgomery’s ability to write books which cross cultural borders and are loved all around the world; Anne of the Island was sent to polish soldiers in WW2 as it was thought to be an uplifting read to prepare them for war, in Japan Anne of Green Gables has been taught to generations of children, a musical production of The Blue Castle was an absolute hit in Poland, and Ellen Montgomery received fan mail from around the world, including letters from Australia. Many modern writers have been greatly influenced by Ms Montgomery’s incredible books, journals, short stories and poems.

 Anne of Green Gables concerns itself with sibling Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert who own the sprawling Green Gables estate on Prince Edward Island. Marilla, who is cautious, religious and has no tolerance for nonsense agrees that the best way to maintain the property would be to adopt an adolescent boy. When Matthew arrives at the train station, and the child waiting for him is freckle-faced, red-haired Anne Shirley, he realizes there was a mistake, but can’t bear to break the heart of the ecstatic orphan who somehow found her way to Prince Edward Island. Marilla agrees for Anne to stay for a trial period, and at first her rapid tongue, dreaminess and knack for finding trouble seem to suggest she will soon have to leave. Through trials and tribulations, Anne does win over those important to her, including Marilla, who cannot even imagine what life would have been like without Anne.