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SHOPPING
trolleys
notice how they have perfect steering
until you put something in them
their automatic response is to apply the brakes.
however they can be goaded forward
by the application of a foot sharply placed
on the rear bottom bar. surprise is essential.
you can make them move their wheels
but there is no guarantee that they will all move
in the same direction. the poor things
are terrified & only want to escape. an average
family shopping turns them into nervous
wrecks for weeks. you might think that those
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Shopping Trolleys
trolleys you see out in carparks & under
sapling trees are sight-seeing. they aren’t.
they’re trying to avoid having things put in them.
it’s hopeless. there’s always someone who wants
to use them as garbage bins laundry baskets
billy carts or flower pots. or bassinettes.
they are prolific breeders in the wild
& run in enormous herds
they rust in captivity & frequently collapse
during use. recovery is unusual
by Jenny Boult
from Rattling in the Wind (Omnibus Books)
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Teaching notes for
Shopping Trolleys
Text form:
Medium:
Field:
Tenor:
Mode:
OTHER
Lyric
Book
Shopping trolleys
Writer to unknown reader
Written
RESOURCES
Draft writing paper.
Drawing materials.
Dictionary.
INTRODUCING
THE UNIT
This is a humorous poem written in a slightly unusual
way. Encourage students to read the poem aloud which
they may find difficult because of the unconventional
punctuation and sentence structures. Help them to find
the sentence patterns as they read. Encourage them to
talk in groups about the ideas in the poem. Encourage
them to speculate as to why a poet would write a poem
such as this.
IMAGE
ACTION
Remind students that an image is a word picture and
help them identify the images in the poem. For example
the ‘sight-seeing trolleys’. Encourage them to see how
they could represent this image of the trolleys visually,
perhaps draped in cameras, with a tourist bag and maps.
Allow time for students to share their cartoon images,
and to talk about the ideas that they are communicating.
THESE
TROLLEYS ARE ALIVE!
Remind students that personification attributes to
inanimate objects the qualities of animate beings.This
makes the trolleys seem to be alive and helps the reader
to see a particular view of the trolleys. Some of the
qualities that Boult gives to the trolleys are human
characteristics while others are animal. Encourage
students to talk about the effect of these comparisons
for the reader. Point out to students that when they are
presenting their interpretations of a text such as this
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poem, their views are more likely to be accepted if they
are able to provide evidence from the text to support
them. Encourage students to identify the words in the
poem that support their statements about the trolleys.
PLAYING
WITH WORDS
Help students to explore the meanings of the words in
the dictionary and in the context of the poem.While
words have their literal meaning recorded in the
dictionary, they also have a cluster of associated
meanings. Poets play on these to create their own
meanings.
CREATE
YOUR OWN POEM
Encourage students to choose an inanimate object and
develop some possible actions and human characteristics
for it.They can present these actions in illustrations and
then write a poem using these ideas to personify the
object. Remind them to think of how they can use the
imagery of words, unconventional punctuation and
personification to describe an inanimate object.They
should also think of the perspective from which they
will be writing. Have them draft the poem on scrap
paper and publish the final version.
CHANGE
THE POINT OF VIEW
Encourage students to be as imaginative as possible as
they construct their stories. Point out to students that
they could write this story in first person, as the trolley,
or they could write it in the third person, distancing the
narrator from the actions and events. Encourage students
to conference with each other and to develop drafts of
their stories. Have them publish them.
FOLLOW-UP/EXTENSION
Students could work in groups to devise a board game
based on the poem. Penalties for landing on particular
squares could include aspects from the poem, such as
‘Go back three lanes—automatic brake applied’.They
could then publish a set of written instructions to play
the game.
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Name _________________________________________ Date _______________
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Shopping Trolleys
Image action
Jenny Boult has created a number of images of shopping trolleys in this poem.
Reread the poem and identify some of these images.
Select one image and create a cartoon version of it. You may wish to use some of the
words from the poem to label your cartoon.
These trolleys are alive!
Jenny Boult gives the shopping trolleys human or animal
qualities. This makes them seem alive, as if they have
minds of their own. Reread the poem. List the human
and animal qualities that the poet gives to the trolleys.
Beside each quality, write words from the poem that
indicate it.
NA 4.6 NSW 3.7 Analyses and explains techniques to position the reader and to interpret experiences differently in texts.
NA 4.8a NSW 3.6 Selects a range of strategies appropriate for the texts being read.
NA 4.10 NSW 3.13 Evaluates writing in terms of effectiveness of presentation of subject matter and adjusts to focus on context, purpose and audience.
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Name _________________________________________ Date _______________
Shopping Trolleys
Playing with words
Use a dictionary to find the meaning of the following words, and then explain
what these words mean in the context of the poem.
Words
Dictionary meaning
Meaning in poem
automatic
guarantee
nervous wrecks
sapling
bassinettes
prolific
captivity
recovery
Create your own poem
Write a poem involving an inanimate object. Firstly develop some possible
actions and human characteristics for it, then draw the object. Decide whether
you will write in first person (as the object) or in third person (as a narrator or through
a character). Draft on scrap paper and publish below.
NA 4.7 NSW 3.8 Identifies the structures of different texts and with assistance discusses the grammatical structures and features that shape readersí and
listenersí understanding of texts.
NA 4.10 NSW 3.13 Evaluates writing in terms of effectiveness of presentation of subject matter and adjusts to focus on context, purpose and audience.
NA 4.12a NSW 3.10 Uses a range of strategies to plan, edit and proofread own writing.
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Name _________________________________________ Date _______________
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Shopping Trolleys
Change the point of view
Imagine that you are a supermarket trolley. Think
about your life in the supermarket. Write a story
about your life. You may wish to draw upon ideas from the
poem as well as developing your own view. Draft your
story on scrap paper and publish the final version in the
space below.
NA 4.10 NSW 3.13 Evaluates writing in terms of effectiveness of presentation of subject matter and adjusts to focus on context, purpose and audience.
NA 4.12a NSW 3.10 Uses a range of strategies to plan, edit and proofread own writing.
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