Judith Wright: Poetry Lesson Plan

Sandra Milliken, an Australian composer, wrote a choral piece using “The Old Prison” as the text, and researched the specific Tasmanian prison to which Wright refers: “Established by Governor George Arthur in 1830 and in service until 1877, the jail housed around 2000 prisoners, most of whom had re-offended since their arrival in Australia as convicts. The prison was virtually escape-proof, surrounded as it was by cold, shark-infested waters” (see the related links section at the beginning of this lesson plan for a URL to Milliken’s full text). Could we interpret “The Old Prison” successfully without historical context? Why or why not? How would your interpretation of the piece...