Xplore 12 EXTRA ACTIVITIES – e-Manual

2.2 Different Peoples (p. 69)

Rabbit-Proof Fence – film

WATCH/READ Cultural note:

The State Barrier Fence of Western
1. Watch the trailer of the film Rabbit-Proof Fence. Then
Australia, formerly known as the Rabbit
complete the following sentences. Proof Fence, the State Vermin Fence, and the
Emu Fence, is a pest-exclusion fence
Rabbit-Proof Fence trailer constructed between 1901 and 1907 to keep
LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lbnk8wSVMaM
rabbits and other agricultural pests, from the
a. Three Aboriginal girls were… east, out of Western Australian pastoral
areas.
b. The white people called them… There are three fences in Western Australia.
The fences took six years to build. When
c. Mr Neville believes these children must be taken… completed in 1907, the rabbit-proof fence
d. The Moore River Native Settlement is the place… (including all three fences) stretched 3,256
km.
e. The children decide to… The number 1 Fence was the longest
unbroken fence in the world, 1,833 km long.
f. They walk 1,500 miles along…
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbit-proof_fence

2. Complete the following synopsis with the missing

words/expressions. Choose the best option.

Rabbit-Proof Fence is a 2002 Australian drama film

directed ____1____ Phillip Noyce ____2____ on the book
Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence by Doris Pilkington
Garimara. It is based on a ____3____ story concerning the
author’s mother Molly, ____4____ two other mixed-race
Aboriginal girls, who ran away ____5____ the Moore
River Native Settlement, north of Perth, Western
Australia, to return to their Aboriginal families, after
being placed ____6____ in 1931. The film follows the
Aboriginal girls as they walk for nine weeks ____7____
1,500 miles (2,400 km) of the Australian rabbit-proof
fence to return to their community at Jigalong, ____8____
being pursued by white law enforcement authorities and
an Aboriginal tracker.
Source: http://www.filmeducation.org/persepolis/synopsis.html

1. a. for b. by c. from 5. a. for b. by c. from

2. a. based b. adapted c. interpreted 6. a. there b. here c. nearby
3. a. accurate b. true c. correct 7. a. down b. along c. next to
4. a. also b. too c. as well as 8. a. whereas b. after c. while

Teresa Pinto de Almeida | Paula M. Araújo | Telma Coelho

Xplore 12 EXTRA ACTIVITIES – e-Manual
WATCH
1. Watch the film Rabbit-Proof Fence. Identify the main characters.
a. Molly 1. the Aboriginal tracker
b. Gracie 2. the Chief Protector of Aborigines
c. Daisy 3. the mother
d. A.O. Neville 4. the elder sister who is 14 years old
e. Moodoo 5. the younger sister who is 8 years old
f. Riggs 6. the 10-year-old cousin
g. Maude 7. the local constable who takes the girls

2. Who says this in the film?

a. ‘Our people, the Jigalong mob, we were desert people then, walking all over our land.’
b. ‘See that bird? That’s the spirit bird. He will always look after you.’
c. ‘If only they would understand what we are trying to do for them.’
d. ‘This is your new home. We don’t use that jabber here. You speak English.’
e. ‘She’s pretty clever, that girl. She wants to go home.’
f. ‘The continuing infiltration of white blood finally stamps out the black colour.’

WRITE
Choose one of the following tasks.
1. The Australian government decided to officially apologise to
Aborigines for the actions taken such as those depicted in this
film. What do you think of this decision? Should the government
have issued an apology? Write a for and against essay.

2. Imagine years later Molly decides to write Neville a letter to challenge him for his actions and to
share her experiences. Write the letter.

3. Create a multimedia presentation (PowerPoint, Prezi, etc.)

detailing the girls’ journey and providing a better understanding
of just how far they traveled and the perils they likely faced.

Teresa Pinto de Almeida | Paula M. Araújo | Telma Coelho

Xplore 12 EXTRA ACTIVITIES – e-Manual

KEY
START
1. Possible answers:
a. forcibly taken from their family.
b. half castes.
c. from their primitive world to be educated.
d. where the children are taken. / where hundreds of aboriginal children are educated.
e. run away and go back home.
f. the rabbit-proof fence.

2. b; 2. a; 3. b; 4. c; 5. c; 6. a; 7. b; 8. c

WATCH
1. a. 4; b. 6; c. 5; d. 2; e. 1; f. 7; 8. 3
2. a. Molly; b. Maude, Molly’s mother; c. Neville; d. Miss Jessop; e. Moodoo; f. Neville.

Teresa Pinto de Almeida | Paula M. Araújo | Telma Coelho