The Arrival

Introductory activities

Activity 1: pre-reading

Present students with the following prompts in preparation for thinking through some of the themes in Shaun Tan’s The Arrival. The first prompt focuses on a sense of aloneness or alienation; the second is concerned with objects we identify as having pragmatic or sentimental value; and the third relates to unfamiliarity and a lack of connection. Give students time to read each prompt, then have them form pairs or groups to work through their thoughts and ideas. This will feed into a broader discussion about alienation and journeys. You can have students join up with other pairs or groups, OR come together as a whole class, to share responses.

1. View the photograph entitled Alone… by Steve Evans. What do you think is happening? How might the person in the image feel? How does the image make you feel?
2. Imagine you are five years old and planning to run away from home. What items would you want to pack?
3. Think of a time when you were new to a place and couldn’t find your bearings OR didn’t know anyone else. Describe how you felt and whether your sense of being in an unfamiliar place was resolved (if so, how?).

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Activity 2: visual collage

Select key images from The Arrival, ensuring an even spread from the beginning, middle and end of the text. The number of images should be equivalent to the number of students in your class.

Step 1

Give each student an image and guide their exploration with the following questions:

• What is the focus of the image? How do you know – does it seem illuminated, does it use stronger lines, is it in the foreground?
• What is happening in the image, either in that moment OR in terms of what might come before or after?
• Based on what you see, to which genre of storytelling might this image belong: fairytale, horror, romance, mystery, drama, crime, soap opera, etc.?
• What is the mood of the image? How does lighting, the placement of objects, and selection of what is large/small or near/far guide your interpretation?

Step 2

Place students in pairs, then direct them to discuss the following questions and try to come to an agreement:

• How are the images similar or different in terms of lighting, objects, size, movement, etc.?
• How might these two images connect in a single narrative? What story might they collectively tell?

Step 3

Each pair will join up with another pair to make groups of four. They will repeat Step 2, putting all four images into a narrative sequence and coming up with an explanation for their choices.

Step 4

Each group will justify their narrative sequence to another group OR the whole class.

Note

This exercise can be useful for sharpening attention during the first reading of the text, as students look for and evaluate their interpretations of the images and predicted sequences.

Make a note of all the images used during this activity. At the conclusion of the first reading, it can be a rowdy/fun activity to see how accurately the class can reorder their images to match Tan’s narrative. A follow-up discussion will enable students to articulate how narrative works to give The Arrival its structure, meaning and impact.

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Personal response on reading the text

NOTE: Every student must have access to the text.

Activity 3: ten facts, ten questions

Encourage students to revisit their responses to Activities 1 and 2.

Step 1

Allow students to engage with the narrative during the first reading. Encourage them to look for:

• events involving the protagonist
• changing settings
• the development of the narrative
• recurring motifs and themes

Step 2

Guide a class discussion to arrive at ten facts and ten questions, i.e.:

• Ten facts about The Arrival that the class can state with certainty (e.g. it is a fantasy landscape; it’s a man travelling to a new place)
• Ten questions that the class has not yet resolved (e.g. is he a refugee? Why are there so many birds? What’s the point of this book?)

Keep these questions accessible or on display as students undertake subsequent activities and readings. This will allow them to review their growing understanding and appreciation of the text.

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Outline of key elements of the text

A selection of key themes

• ‘The journey’ as a personal and universal experience
• Belonging, alienation and disconnection
• Home, family and belonging
• Global politics involving peace, conflict, oppression and migration

Elements of the setting

• Surrealism, emphasising alienation and universality
• Extensive use of boats, water and harbours
• The passage of time revealed in images of seasons, weather, day/night, migration of birds, clock faces
• Familiar yet unfamiliar settings, e.g. harbours, shopping precincts, animals, cooking utensils, food, billboards

Key characters

Structure

• The Arrival is structured in six sections, marking the progress of the protagonist’s journey.
• Narrative threads and cohesion are provided by the repeated use of motifs: origami, boats, teapots, hands, birds, etc.
• The plot is constructed solely through the placement, size and sequencing of images, with no recognisable print text.
• There is a suggestion of promise and blue skies ahead in the final image of the text.

The writer’s craft

The following elements are particularly relevant to this study of The Arrival:

• use of parallels and contrasts (war/peace, harmony/tension)
• symbols/motifs (birds, teapots, boats, water, serpents)
• visual devices

Activity 4: close study – the first three pages

This activity is teacher-directed, leading to a later independent/small group activity. As well as modelling the process, you will need to provide the metalanguage for deconstruction and discussion of individual images and the text as a whole. You can find some useful links under More Resources.

See also ‘Shaun Tan invites you into his studio’ and ‘The Arrival by Shaun Tan | A Book That Anyone Can Read!’ on YouTube.

Step 1

Move beyond the frontmatter to the sequence of nine images that open The Arrival (Part I, p. 1):

• What do you notice about the use of colour?
• What tools has the artist used to create the images?
• What repetition do you notice in the first three pages? What do you think that might mean?
• How is the narrative established?
• How is the mood established?
• When and where do you think the story is set? What makes you think this?

Step 2

Look at Part I, pp. 2–3 (there are nine images on p. 2, followed by a full-page image of the protagonist and his wife):

• Why has Tan chosen a layout with nine individual drawings, and then moved to a full-page illustration?
• What story does the full-page image provide or hint at?
• What elements in that image seem to have special meaning and contribute to the development of the story?
• What motifs are already evident in these first three pages?

Step 3

Distribute the deconstruction table (PDF, 81KB) for students to complete individually, in pairs OR in small groups. Ask them to deconstruct one of the nine double-page spreads in The Arrival:

• Part I, pp. 6–7
• Part II, pp. 2–3, 10–11, 20–21, 34–35
• Part III, pp. 18–19
• Part IV, pp. 20–21
• Part V, pp. 6–7, 12–13

Step 4

Regroup as a whole class to provide feedback and discuss students’ reflections and conclusions. This should include reference back to the ten facts and questions (Initial Response > Personal Response on Reading the Text > Activity 3).

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Text and meaning

Activity 5: themes and narrative

Students should bring their learnings from the previous activity as they work through this next exercise. You may need to provide guidance, as well as individual and/or group support, to ensure effective differentiation and engagement.

Step 1

Students will select one double-page spread from the text and discuss how it suggests a theme or aspect of the narrative.

Step 2

Next, students will locate a single page containing four to twelve images that connect with the same theme/narrative aspect. Remind them to refer to the deconstruction table (Activity 4 > Step 3) and use the appropriate metalanguage to examine that page and determine how the images contribute to the theme.

Step 3

Ask students to look back through the entire text to map out the overall narrative structure. They can set this out as a simple timeline, identifying the key developments from each part (I to VI).

Step 4

Based on everything they have learned and explored to date, students should decide what they believe are the central themes in The Arrival. They should list these alongside any supporting evidence from the text.

Step 5

Once students have arrived at their own conclusions, show them this video in which Tan talks about his work.

Step 6

Finish by having students revisit their ten facts and questions (Initial Response > Personal Response on Reading the Text > Activity 3). They might like to edit or swap out some of the responses based on their new understanding of the text.

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Ways of reading the text

One theoretical approach to The Arrival involves Green’s 3D Model of Literacy. Originally designed to support the integration of ICTs in literacy education, the model can be (and has been) adapted to support an integrated conceptual model for teaching and learning more broadly within English. Green’s 3D Model supports teachers to deconstruct texts according to three overlapping dimensions, ensuring thorough analysis and preparation for instruction. While there is no expectation that students engage directly with the model, you may find that they are better able to engage with the text in its entirety and complexity once you incorporate it into your teaching.

The three dimensions (in no particular order) are:

Any one of these dimensions can serve as the entry point for discussion. While conceptualised separately above, readers will learn to address all three dimensions simultaneously. This diagram (PDF, 81KB) provides another representation of the model in relation to The Arrival.

Activity 6: critical and cultural readings

Tan’s work has appeared in various forms, whether in film, on stage or online. The purpose of this activity is to support cultural and critical readings of The Arrival. Students will explore how the text represents one man’s interpretation of the migrant experience within a specific context (i.e. time, place, values), as well as how different readers arrive at their own interpretations.

Step 1

View the photos and promotional video for Spare Parts Puppet Theatre’s adaptation of The Arrival. Decide which aspects of the story have been emphasised by the creators. What is missing that you think could be included?

Step 2

Watch this video review of The Arrival, delivered in American Sign Language (ASL). How is this person’s reading similar to OR different from your own?

Step 3

Read the 2006 Viewpoint Magazine article extract on Tan’s website, focusing on the sections about meaning and interpretation (particularly para. 8, 14, 17 and 18). How does this support the view that every text is created and appreciated within distinct times, places and values?

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Activity 7: Go Back to Where You Came From

Watch the 2011 promo for the SBS series Go Back to Where You Came From (2011–2018). You can also find the series on ClickView, if your school has access. After viewing the promo, have students consider the following questions:

• What resonance is there between The Arrival and this video?
• How would you cope being sent overseas on a leaky boat?
• Based on what you saw in the promo (or what you know about the series), what views about refugees and migrants are presented?
• How is this similar to OR different from The Arrival?

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Activity 8: The Rabbits and intertextuality

This activity is based on The Rabbits* by John Marsden. Tan was relatively young when he illustrated this book – you can find an interview about his process on his website.

* Reading Australia resource available

Step 1

Before you read this text to the class, consider which features of the illustrations resonate with those in The Arrival (colour, symbols/motifs, etc.).

Step 2

Read The Rabbits to the class. Afterwards, have students respond to the following questions as they relate to Green’s 3D Model of Literacy:

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Activity 9: visual intertextuality

Tan has drawn on a range of human experiences to create The Arrival. His illustrations recall symbols and imagery from the Holocaust (1933–1945); the US Immigration Station on Ellis Island (1892–1924); the sinking of Titanic (1912); and the work of Australian painter Tom Roberts (1856–1931). These intertextual examples could form the basis of a productive classroom discussion or writing exercise, leading to further insights and adding texture and understanding to students’ reading of The Arrival.

Compare the following images from the book to those listed alongside them:

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Rich assessment task 1 (receptive)

Awarding The Arrival

For this assessment task, students will move beyond the text (and its intertextual links) to examine Tan’s work as an artefact of Australian culture and literature.

Step 1

Explore the various awards Tan has won throughout his career. One of these is the international Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. You can explore past recipients and read about why they were selected, or go straight to Tan’s entry and explore the resources on that page.

Step 2

Working individually or in groups (according to need/interest/preference), students will invent a new award for Tan that represents what they value about his text. There are a number of components to this task:

1. Creating an original title for the award
2. Creating the citation or reason for the award (50 words or fewer)
3. Designing and constructing a logo OR trophy/medal for the award
4. Writing a short speech that might be delivered to present the award (250 words)
   1. This should include the reasons Tan was chosen as the winner, particularly his distinctive contribution to Australian literature
5. Imagining what Tan might say or feel about receiving the award (100 words)
   1. Students should draw on their understanding of The Arrival and what Tan has expressed in any interviews/essays they may have watched/read

Performance standards are outlined in the assessment rubric (PDF, 82KB). With support, this task should be accessible to all students. An optional extension would be to explore the place of Tan’s work within Australia’s literary tradition, OR to locate other Australian texts that offer similar or alternative perspectives.

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Synthesising core ideas

Activity 10: five new facts, five new questions

Return to the ten facts and ten questions from Activity 3 (Initial Response > Personal Response on Reading the Text; see also Activities 4 and 5 from the Close Study section). This is a chance for student to tap into their cumulative understanding and newfound confidence with the text. Ask them to record the FIVE most significant facts they have learnt throughout this unit, along with FIVE new questions that cannot be answered directly by the text (this is often the case when readers first encounter good literature).

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Rich assessment task 2 (productive)

For this assessment task, students will reflect on change within their own lives. They will each identify a starting point in their past and represent the transformation that has taken place up to the present. Taking further inspiration from The Arrival, they will respond using simple images rather than written language.

Symbols: start to finish

The Arrival begins with nine symbols that are significant to the protagonist at the beginning of his journey (Part I, p. 1). By the time we arrive at the final section, eight of these symbols remain (though they have been transformed in some way), and one has been replaced altogether (Part VI, p. 1). Understanding the significance of these symbols, and how they change from start to finish, is the key this assignment.

Prompt students to think of some symbols that have relevance in their own lives, AND have transformed across time and place. For example:

• A student whose family has always loved music may choose a family piano as their starting point, and transform this into a phone with earbuds.
• A student experiencing the absence of a special person or place may begin with an image of said person/place (e.g. their grandfather, a farm gate), and conclude with a symbol of how they continue in another form within their current life (e.g. a cricket ball, a letterbox).
• A student who has always loved animals may choose an image of a rabbit they got for their fifth birthday, and transform this into the border collie they walk every night in high school.
• A student who loves spending time with a particular person may begin with an image of something they did together during childhood (e.g. a playground), and conclude with a symbol of their new favourite activity (e.g. abseiling).

Step 1

Draw students’ attention to the symbols at the start of The Arrival (Part I, p. 1). Direct them to identify and develop ideas for SIX TO NINE of their own visual motifs as the starting point for their response. They will go on to represent these motifs using photography, sketches, painting, collages, or other visual media. For now, though, they can proceed to Step 2.

Step 2

Direct students to the symbols at the end of The Arrival (Part VI, p. 1). These have been repeated throughout the text and have likely emerged in class discussions. Students should study how the original images have transformed as a result of the protagonist’s experiences and the passage of time (e.g. the origami creature, the clock, the hand-drawn image). In addition, they should consider the replacement of the suitcase at the end of the journey.

Step 3

Students will create a grid with SIX TO NINE spaces that they will fill with images. Each image should contain a significant symbol from their own lives, representing their personal starting point (see examples above).

Step 4

As per Step 3, except this time the grid will form the final collage of motifs, representing change or the passage of time. Students may find the following tips useful:

• Aim to create cohesion and continuity by adopting a consistent style for this assignment. For example, you might use just one or two colours if illustrating by hand, or a consistent filter if taking photographs.
• Ensure that the images are simple and focus on a single item/concept OR collection of similar things. Simplicity is part of what gives these images power.
• There is no need to be overly ambitious if you are not confident with visual literacy; it is the selection and communication of ideas that is vital here. Conversely, if visual literacy is your strong point, don’t forget to focus on the selection of images and how you can use your skills to communicate this.

Step 5

Arrange the final collages like a double-page spread, with the starting point on the left and the transformed images on the right.

Step 6

Once the spreads are complete, ask students to form small groups. Without any oral or written commentary, each person will present their work to the rest of the group so they can discuss what they believe to be the meaning and significance of the symbols. A useful process would be to invite each group member to make one interpretative comment and raise one question. This will proceed without comment from the creator until everyone has spoken. At that point the creator may respond to the interpretations, challenging where necessary and addressing any questions raised. This will continue until everyone’s work has been discussed.

You might like to conclude the groupwork with peer- and self-assessment. This will be similar to an assessment of Tan’s work as a reader:

• How successful is this collection/sequence of images at conveying a narrative?
• Which visual literacy techniques are apparent here?
• Has the student demonstrated understanding of colour, framing, vectors, and so on?

There is no verbal or written language to assess as students have used the same mode of communication as The Arrival. Instead, refer to the assessment rubric (PDF, 61KB) for this task, which is based on the Year 10 achievement standard.

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