Copy Cat
Program:
Round the Twist
Year Level:
Year 5 to Year 9
Curriculum Study Areas:
English
Themes/Topics:
Self and Relationships; Narrative Structure
Description:
These activities explore the use of realism and magic in film.
The activities related to Next Time Around also explore the
concept of continuing narrative and embedded sexism in the
English language.
Resources:
Copy Cat ep 2 vol 4 Round the Twist 2
Next Time Around ep 1 vol 4 Round the Twist 2
Lesson plan:
Magical agents
View Copy Cat
Discuss the function of the copy-cat hat in the story and link it to the tradition of magical
agents in tales and films.
In what ways is the copy cat hat similar to traditional magical agents and in what ways does
it differ (for example, it makes people do silly things for comic purposes)?
Individual work
Students write their own tale incorporating such an agent. Older students may be able to
spoof the function of such agents in stories much the same way as Copy Cat does.
Explore realism in film
View and discuss
View Next Time Around. In Next Time Around and Copy Cat the characters do strange
things against their will. The causes of their strange actions are different - in one, it is
hypnosis and in the other, a Mongolian hat. Discuss with the class which cause they
consider to be more realistic and why this is so.
Class discussion
Compare the Copy Cat episode with Next Time Around episode to explore some of the
conventions of realism. The concept of realism is a complex one and at this level should be
treated simply as a series of judgments we make based upon our cultural, life and media
experiences. In other words we make judgments about probability and plausibility based on
our experiences of everyday life and films and television shows with which we are familiar.
© Australian Children's Television Foundation (except where otherwise indicated). You may use, download and reproduce this
material free of charge for non-commercial educational purposes provided you retain all acknowledgements associated with the
material.
Discuss some of these ideas with the class to demonstrate the concept that the real
depends greatly upon our expectations of the genre.
Prompt Questions:
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Why are laugh tracks acceptable in a situation comedy and not on the news?
If all the news for the day is bad why doesn't the television station make up some
good news for the evening broadcast? Do they occasionally?
In some films people break into song in the middle of a sentence. Do people do this
in real life? Why/why not?
In documentaries shaky camera work looks real but we never see it in feature films.
Why?
People prefer fine weather to poor weather. Why doesn't the evening weather report
always tell us that we can expect good weather?
Continuing narratives
Class discussion
Re-cap the story of Next Time Around. This episode opens with the continuing narrative of
Bronson's resistance to his father's marriage plans. Discuss how this issue is established as
a problem and how it is left unresolved in this episode. Ask students to suggest how this
problem could be used as the basis for events and storylines in later episodes. What other
stories could the writers get out of this issue?
Sexism
Class discussion
The episode Next Time Around also highlights another continuing theme throughout
Round the Twist - Linda's rebellion against male chauvinism. Linda objects to the term
"Birdman" (See also Know All and Icemaiden). Use this as an opportunity to draw attention
to the gendered nature of English. Ask students to suggest other examples of gendered
terms and discuss the appropriateness in each case. What does “political correctness” mean
in society today? Encourage the students to look for examplkes of sexism in the media and
books eg. “Piggybook’ Anthony Browne
Magical agents
The idea of a 'magical agent' able to convey fantastic powers to its owner is as old as
storytelling itself. Vladimir Propp in his study of fairy tales found the magical agent to be a
recurring motif in all tales regardless of where they come from (Propp, V (1868) Morphology
of the Folk Tale University of Texas Press, Austin Texas). This idea of the magical agent
with fantastic powers appears in many contemporary forms - spinach in Popeye stories, Jim
Carrey's mask in The Mask, the light saber in Star Wars, Harry’s broom in Harry Potter,
Merlin’s eyes in Merlin.
© Australian Children's Television Foundation (except where otherwise indicated). You may use, download and reproduce this
material free of charge for non-commercial educational purposes provided you retain all acknowledgements associated with the
material.