Foreign Soil Lecture Review

Vocabulary-style flashcards based on lecture notes covering themes, characters, settings, and literary features of the short story collection Foreign Soil.

Foreign Soil

A collection of short stories that won the Victorian Premier’s Award for an Unpublished Manuscript in 2013, focusing on marginalized voices such as immigrants, refugees, and the LGBTQI community.

Narrative Techniques in Foreign Soil

Experiments with language, dialect, and structure used to capture specific narrative voices and force the audience to confront prejudices and assumptions.

David (Themes)

A short story addressing concerns of gender roles, the migrant experience, independence, trauma, and memory.

David (Settings)

Specific locations featured in the story: Fitzroy, West Footscray, Barkly Street, and Sudan.

David (Characters)

The central figures including David, Asha, and the un-named mother.

Symbols in David

Key literary symbols used in the narrative, specifically the rain and the bike.

Dual Narratives and Flashback

Key literary features and structural components employed within the story David.

Harlem Jones (Themes)

A story centered on concerns of identity, marginalisation, anger, and law and order.

Harlem Jones (Settings)

Locations in London, including the district of Brixton.

Symbols in Harlem Jones

Meaningful objects and elements including the Molotov, jerk chicken, and the significance of the characters' names.

Hope (Themes)

A story that explores the significance of hopes, dreams, innocence, and love.

Tone of Hope

A notably positive tone that provides a contrast to many of the other stories in the collection.

Symbolism in Hope

The primary symbolic elements of the banana and the banana tree.

Cider Valley

The setting mentioned in the story Hope where residents worked with coffee beans in a place owned by British expatriates.

Gaps in the Hickory and Shu Yi

Specific short stories used to illustrate how a person’s background might contribute to their understanding and response to the text.