Lesson plan:

Exploring exposition

This episode is different from many others in the Round the Twist series in that it is more serious and has a romantic and somewhat sad storyline.

As a whole class

View the early scenes of the episode Nails.

Class discussion

Discuss how the more serious and romantic atmosphere is established in the early scenes. Points to consider include the use of music and close-ups.

View the sequence showing the auditions for the school play. This sequence has a number of functions within the narrative:

• it is a form of exposition. It explains to the viewer the complexities of the existing relationships between the students (Pete and Fiona), and the unpopularity of James Gribble
• it provides the plot enigma (mystery) to be solved in the episode
• it adds a new dimension to the character of Linda - she seeks a romantic involvement.

Identify and explain these three narrative functions - exposition, enigma and characterisation and discuss how the actions and dialogue in the scene contribute to each function.

Plot and character

Actions and events in a story can serve two different functions. Sometimes they are plot related and serve to move the story towards its climax and eventual conclusion. These types of events raise questions in the minds of the audience as to what will happen next and are important in arousing and maintaining audience interest. At other times the events and actions are vehicles of characterisation - they give the viewer more information about a character but are not central to the plot.

Class discussion

Discuss which actions and events in Nails are plot related and which are character oriented.

• Linda asks her father for a bra
• Tony Twist asks Miss James to go with Linda to buy a bra
• Andrew arrives at school
• The teacher tells Andrew to "lose the gloves."
• Linda and Pete visit the island
• Linda and Andrew look at the photograph of his mother
• Andrew removes his gloves
• Mr Shelford tells Linda to leave and never come back
• Linda stands alone in the storm watching the island
• Bronson wears his sneakers in the bath
• Andrew saves his father from drowning.

Individual activity

As mentioned above this is a different type of Round the Twist episode than most of the others and draws more from the romance genre than comedy. Have students design the front and back covers for the video cassette of this episode. The cover should suggest the genre (type) of film, the mystery it contains and a short review that will entice people to buy or hire the video.

Extension activity

This episode draws on a tradition of storytelling from the British isles and elsewhere about the marriage of a human and a sea creature, usually a mermaid or seal woman. In all these stories the sea creature leaves the sea, marries, has children but eventually returns to the sea, leaving behind a sad husband and children who are different from their fellows and often characterised by a strange sadness and longing. Splash was a comic version of this myth. The 1995 film The Secret of Roan Inish is another example of such a story, as is the play Call the Selky Home. If possible find another example of such a story and compare the similarities. The students could attempt an Australian variation on these legends in either a dramatic or written form.

Adolescence

This episode explores some of the issues around adolescent relationships:

• falling in love
• coping with partner's parents
• adolescent expectations.

Class discussion

Use some of the sequences (for example the auditions, Linda and Andrew on the island) as a basis for discussing the pressures and difficulties of adolescent relationships. What are the unwritten rules of adolescent relationships? Who is allowed to make the first move? Should we be bound by old fashioned ideas of male and female behaviour?