Fog a Dox

Connecting to prior knowledge

Begin your exploration of Bruce Pascoe’s Fog a Dox by exploring the cover. Allow an open response; if prompting is necessary, draw attention to the artwork on the cover, the techniques used in the background and the colour of the fox. Encourage some discussion around the title of the book in relation to the image of the fox. Then go to the back cover, where there is another image of the fox, and read the blurb. Several of the book’s themes are introduced here. Discuss the purpose of the blurb and how well these three sentences fulfil the purpose of enticing the reader. Students might like to discuss this after checking some blurbs on a few other texts in your class library.

Place students in one of two groups to do some research, with the purpose of reporting back to the class. One group can research Pascoe, beginning with the short bio in the back of the book. The other group can find out what other books he has written.

Students could read Fog a Dox independently, but if time allows it is recommended that you instead read it aloud over one or two sessions (maximum three). The story is written in the third-person past tense and is sometimes ‘poetic’. The narrative is fast-moving and engaging, making it a perfect read-aloud experience for older students.

If you choose to read aloud but have limited time, try to read to p. 49 in the first reading, then to p. 58, and finally to the end. Do not ask questions or quiz the students. Read, close the book and move to the next lesson. Allow students to take in the narrative and personally reflect on what they have heard before coming together again the next week. It is likely that you will overhear students talking about the book, what they have heard and what they are thinking about in their own time.

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Exploring the text in context of our community, school and ‘me’

There are many aspects of Fog a Dox that individual students might connect to personally across the themes of friendship, loneliness, prejudice, First Nations perspectives and nature. Invite groups of four or five students to talk about their personal reaction to the book and anything that resonated with them. Conclude by inviting students to share their thoughts with the whole class.

Then, in the same groups, ask students to give a personal response to the following prompts:

• ‘Albert cuts down trees, not because he doesn’t like trees or even wants to, it is his job.’
• Albert knew some words from his grandfather’s mother’s Maap language. He thought a few words were better than none.
• Maria’s mother wrung her hands and Maria knew that the wringing would ‘squeeze tears’ from her mother’s eyes.
• Dave wanted the company of a living creature, someone he could talk to.
• ‘But people can’t abide anything different and many can’t relax until the difference is destroyed.’ (p. 45)

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Rich assessment task

Ask students to write a personal response to Fog a Dox. This should not be a retelling, but a response to the whole text (or an event or character) and personal reflections that stem from this. Given the wide-ranging possibilities, this task will be assessed on the connections being made, depth of understanding and clarity of the writing. While this is personal writing, ensure students understand that it will be read and assessed by the teacher.

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Responding to the text

Ask if any students are willing to share their reflections from the previous Rich Assessment Task. If so, select three or four to be read to the whole class to reinforce how each reader (listener) has a personal response.

Provide copies of the text and ask small groups of students to discuss the following quotes and statements from the text. They could use Popplet or another collaborative platform to organise their ideas.

• ‘Brim looked up at Albert and sniffed the awful scent of fox and ducked her head down to nuzzle her pups to check that they had not been harmed by the dreadful presence of foxes. How many foxes? Lotsa foxes. She was too annoyed to count them, there was lotsa foxes and she didn’t care for them one bit.’ (p. 27)
• ‘If Albert thought it was all right for a bitch to suckle a fox, lotsa foxes, then it must be all right.’ (p. 30)
• ‘Some people could find enemies anywhere. All Albert saw were living creatures, little animals of innocence.’ (p. 36)
• Albert is worried that Fog will be disliked because he is a fox. Engage in a discussion about stereotypes and prejudice.

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Exploring plot, character, setting and theme

This seemingly simple narrative provides opportunities for a range of responses that might be quite personal. The characters are diverse; each is quite complex and their paths cross throughout the text. Begin by having small groups read the text to extract key vocabulary, quotes and events related to one of the five characters listed below. They should then come up with a group character description. Ask students to explain how Pascoe’s language choices influence their personal response to that character.

Conclude with a whole class discussion so that each group can discuss the character they explored.

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Rich assessment task

Working independently, students can explore Dave’s character as they did in the previous activity. Remind them that the reader first meets Dave when Albert recalls him getting one of Brim’s pups, and then later when he brings a collar for Fog. Dave was also key in the rescue of Albert.

Students should collect information from the text before writing a paragraph in their own words describing and summing up Dave’s character. They can use a table like the one below to plan their writing:

Assess the planning table and the final paragraph. Look for connections the students make to Pascoe’s craft and how the words, actions, events and relationships create the character.

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Examining text structure and organisation

Fog a Dox is a narrative. Check that your students are familiar with the structure of a narrative and revise if necessary. The story is organised into seven chapters. Draw the students’ attention to the small pencil drawing and the title at the beginning of each chapter:

1. Lyrebirds
2. Choughs
3. Dogs and Doxes
4. Birthdays
5. Spinebills
6. Bush nurse
7. The River

Working with copies of the text, ask small groups to think about the structure chosen by Pascoe. Each group should select a chapter from the book and explain how (1) the illustration and (2) the chapter title connects to the content of the chapter.

Each group will share their findings with the whole class. Finally, ask each group:

Are there any illustrations or chapter titles you would change? Why or why not?

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There are two main stories that come together in Fog a Dox: Albert’s story and Maria’s story. These intersect towards the end at the bush hospital. Discuss how Pascoe crafted this moment and the effect it has on the reader.

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While Fog a Dox is a narrative, it contains some factual information. Have students examine how Pascoe incorporates factual information. For example, p. 25 contains information about the chough bird and p. 103 contains information about the stingless bush bee. Share opinions and findings with the whole class.

Finally, ask students to comment on the overall text structure used by Pascoe, including his organisation of chapters, stories within the text and the snippets of factual information.

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Examining grammar and vocabulary

Fog a Dox is rich in vocabulary and figurative language. Pascoe uses this language so effectively that often a few words can transport the reader through the text.

Divide the class into three groups to engage in word searches.

As the groups search for and record their words, they can briefly discuss the words and the context in which they appear. They should note the page numbers of the words they find in preparation for the next activity. They should also make sure they can pronounce the words; many online dictionaries include audio recordings (e.g. Cambridge Dictionary), and Google also provides pronunciation results.

Some sample responses have been listed below:

Do a whole class share, allowing each group to select some examples that demonstrate how vocabulary choices and figurative language can express shades of meaning. Then, back in their groups, students should work through their lists to record the meaning of each word or phrase. The first step is to return to the text to check the context in which the word of phrase appears. For example:

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To conclude, remind the students that Albert learned some words from his grandfather’s Maap language. Ask them to work in small groups to make a list of Maap words in the text. For example:

• mirrigan – dog (p. 14)
• yarren – shrike thrush (p. 111)

Rich assessment task

Show the students this short video featuring Jirrbal Elder Uncle Ernie Grant. Uncle Ernie talks about developing a Holistic Teaching and Learning Framework that acknowledges First Nations peoples’ holistic view of the world. This framework has six elements (01:06):

1. Land
2. Language
3. Culture
4. Time
5. Place
6. Relationships

Ask students to review Fog a Dox and their lists from the previous activity to identify words and phrases that link to these six elements. Aspects of culture can be found throughout the text, particularly in relation to the characters’ respect and love of the land and nature. Have students locate these references and think about how they occur.

Provide the following examples from the text and ask students to identify their connection with Uncle Ernie’s holistic framework:

• ‘”Beautiful little boors”, the old man murmured, unconsciously using the Maap word for babies.’ (p. 12)
• ‘The re-browed fire tail which Albert called towered in his grandfather’s language.’ (p. 97)
• ‘That’s our spirit bird. When we see him everything’s all right.’ (p. 110)
• ‘Yarren we call that one. He’s a good bird. Lovely to have around the camp. He is a good friend of our people.’ (p. 111)

Note the use of ‘we’ and ‘our people’, and the connection to nature.

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Friendship and love are strong themes in Fog a Dox. These themes are presented in a number of ways between the various characters, sometimes in unexpected ways.

As a whole class, brainstorm the characters connected by the theme of friendship or love. This may include the following and other examples found in the text:

• Albert and his love for the bush and country
• Albert and the reciprocal love between him and Brim
• Brim and her love for her pups
• Maria and her mother
• Friendship between Albert and Dave

Work together to map the friendship/love connections using the text. For example, the developing friendship/respect between Dave and Colin: ‘Mate, thought Colin, a mate of me uncle’s, mate enough to carry ninety kilograms in the dark. That’s a decent sort of mate’ (p. 104). Use the IWB or mindmapping software to help with this.

Repeat this task using another theme in the book: prejudice. Prejudice is embedded throughout the text as various characters deal with a lack of acceptance. For example, Albert knows that people will not accept him having a fox as a pet, so calls Fog a ‘dox’. Finally, Albert admits to Maria that Fog is a fox: ‘We call him a dox so that people won’t kill him, but he’s a fox and one day he’ll go’ (p. 107).

Another example is how Dave protects himself by not disclosing his last name: ‘You didn’t get far in the bush world of cattlemen and splitters with a name like Lovelock. Especially if you weren’t a slap-on-the-back sort of mate, a few-quick-beers-before-the-missus-finds-out sort of fellow. No, that sort of bloke would laugh in the face of a man called Lovelock’ (pp. 38–39).

Other examples from the text:

• Some saw Brim as the enemy because she had dingo in her (p. 36)
• Some accused Fog of stealing chickens and ducklings even though they had never seen her (p. 45)
• Maria and Nora Foran talk about teasing (p. 89)

Conclude by sharing any additional examples the students can think of.

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At the start of this unit the students engaged in a brief discussion about the blurb (see Literature > Connecting to Prior Knowledge). This was prior to reading the book. Revisit the blurb now and invite comments on the effectiveness of the three sentences. It could be argued that the final sentence encapsulates the book:

A gentle tale of courage, acceptance and respect, Fog A Dox shows the strength of true friendship.

Ask small groups of students to discuss this sentence and their opinions on how well it describes Fog a Dox. They should finish by individually providing an argument to either support the final sentence as it is, or to provide an alternative sentence.

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Rich assessment task

In small groups, students are to plan and create a PowerPoint or similar presentation on friendship, inspired by the characters in Fog a Dox. Allow them to represent friendships with words, images or both. Some groups might like to create freeze frames representing friendship; these can be photographed and woven into the presentation.

Assess the collaborative and decision-making strategies the group uses to create and execute the presentation. Guidelines for the finished product:

• Each group member must have a role.
• The product must be multimodal.
• The product must be appropriate for the audience identified (other class members).

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