Space Demons is a compelling character-driven story which cautions the
idleness ... Does anyone have a favourite book that is more than twenty-five
years old?
Teachers’ Notes Space Demons 25th Anniversary Edition
Gillian Rubinstein Teachers’ notes written by Madeline Holmes OMNIBUS BOOKS Contents Category
Junior Fiction
Title
Space Demons
Author/Illustrator
Gillian Rubinstein
Extent
204 pp
Age
10+
ISBN
978 1 86291 938 9
Introduction………………..……………………………………......
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About the author……………………………………………………
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Before reading the text.………………………………………….
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Reading the text.........................................................
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After reading the text……….………………………………......
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Extension activities..................................................... 11
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Introduction Space Demons is a compelling character-driven story which cautions the idleness of youth in a tale where addiction and hate stand side by side. Gillian Rubinstein’s tightly packaged narrative is an insightful look at human nature and the darker side we grapple with. More than that, it tells a story about the difficulties of human relationships, in particular the strain on children when their parents’ relationships fracture. The dark tale is balanced by the strength and resilience of individuals to adapt to life’s challenges, and there is a great sense of hope by the novel’s end.
About the Author Space Demons was Gillian Rubinstein’s first novel for children. The 2011 edition marks twenty-five years since it was first published in the 1980s, achieving universal critical acclaim as well as great popularity with young readers, for whom computer games were a new thing. It was only the first of a number of novels that Gillian wrote for young adults in ensuing years, including its sequels Skymaze and Shinkei. She has published more than thirty books, including picture books such as the perennial Dog in, Cat out (illustrated by Ann James) and junior reader novels. Gillian now writes books for adults under the pseudonym Lian Hearn.
Before reading the text 1)
Gillian Rubinstein’s Space Demons is a science-fiction novel. This type of
fiction is set in an imagined reality with futuristic science and technology. Have a brainstorming session where students speculate on what the future may hold. Consider the technological and scientific advances that may be realised in the next fifty years.
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Once you’ve made a class list, explain that these ideas are the premise for sciencefiction novels. Make sure every student has come up with a science fiction ‘idea’ as they will use this in later activities. It doesn’t have to be a hugely original idea. It could be something as simple as everyone has car-sized planes as their mode of transport. 2)
Space Demons was first published twenty-five years ago in 1986, but is still
enormously appealing to children today. Have a discussion about literature that is timeless. Ask students what their favourite books are and get them to find out when they were first published. This information is easily available through an Internet search. Does anyone have a favourite book that is more than twenty-five years old? Do students have any favourite books they think will still appeal to them in twenty-five years’ time? Consider what qualities a book has to have to make it appealing to new generations. Think about how language changes and how slang words of today differ from those in the past. Consider other things that might become outdated in literature such as clothing, technology, television references or hobbies.
Reading the text Part One Class discussion: first impressions 1)
After you have read the first chapter, have a discussion about your first
impressions and thoughts on Space Demons. Talk about Andrew and Ben’s friendship. What do we learn about Andrew and Ben immediately? How does the author convey this information? Consider the statement ‘He and Andrew had been best friends in an unquestioning sort of way ever since they had started kindergarten
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together.’ What do you think the author means by an ‘unquestioning friendship’? What does this tell us about their relationship? Talk about how we have different types of friendships. For example, the friendship bond you have with a classmate may differ from the one you have with a player in your sporting team or what you share with a sibling. Think about how you would define an ideal friendship. 2)
Andrew is out of sorts and bemoans the endlessness of winter. There are
many ideas about the relationship between the weather and people’s moods. Do students think there is any truth to this concept? Does the weather shape their moods? Andrew’s boredom is not unusual. We all experience boredom at some point, but how do people shake boredom? Research task: Developing a game concept Andrew’s new computer game is unique to the field – there’s never been anything like it. Imagine your job is to come up with a game concept. It doesn’t have to be a computer game. It could be a board game or an interactive group game. Stretch your imagination! You have to pitch your idea to your company board and it’s up to you to persuade the members that your idea will be successful. Consider all the aspects. First look at the category your game falls into and see what’s already been successful and how you think your game will fit into the market. You need to research your game’s potential audience and argue why it would appeal to them. For example, an Internet search might tell you that children between the ages 10 and 15 prefer indoor activities to outdoor activities so you could use this type of information to reason why you’ve chosen to invent an indoor game. Make sure to include a list of instructions and rules for the players. If you’ve chosen to create a board game, you could even make your own board and pieces to show. If
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your concepts are too detailed to make yourself, show what you imagine in poster format. Think about how your game is to be packaged. It might be traditional packaging that you see in shops. If so, research the most popular games and see what the general trends are. Maybe your game is only available online, in which case you could mockup a website screen and show what your Internet site could potentially look like. Literary component: response journal Start a response journal to record your impressions of the novel. This will be useful when you come to the extension activities. Keep a character record and add visual descriptions as you gather more information. Look carefully how Gillian Rubinstein gives you information about the characters in passages of dialogue. You could include chapter summaries and map the journey of the characters. Take note of the way the story is written. Look at point of view and see if this changes as the novel progresses. Write about what you like and what you don’t like and try to justify your responses. Start a word bank of unfamiliar words you come across, and on a separate page, make a list of words, expressions and sayings that you think may be outdated. Part Two Class discussion 1)
Elaine on bossy people: ‘why are people so bossy? Why don’t they just leave
other people alone?’ Some people are naturally bossy and though this can be irritating to those being bossed around, sometimes it’s important to have people who have this ‘boss’ mentality. Consider what type of person you are. Do you like being in charge or do you prefer to go with the flow? Consider the structure of our society. Do we need
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bossy people to function? What do you think would happen if there were no dominant personalities? 2)
Now that you’ve read more of Space Demons, you might have noticed the
way that Andrew and Elaine share the narration. In Space Demons, Gillian Rubinstein uses two character viewpoints to tell the story by having Andrew and Elaine’s viewpoints alternate chapter by chapter. Have a discussion about this choice of narrative with questions like: Why do you think the author decided to tell the story this way? What does it achieve? Do you think it adds to the story? What would the reader miss out on if we only saw the story from Andrew’s point of view? Research component: past inventions Space Demons is built upon the premise of technological advances in computer games. Think about technology that we use every day and those inventions that we are so reliant on. Choose an invention that you think the world could not do without to research. When you gather your information, as well as researching the background of the inventor, see what you can discover about the reaction of the public at the time. How did your chosen invention change lives? Were people excited by the invention or sceptical? Present your findings in a report and conclude with your thoughts on what our world would be like if this invention had not been thought into existence. Literacy component: Narrative drive The telling of any story relies on a narrative. That is the chain of events that makes a story whole. Think about the first stages of Space Demons’ narrative: Andrew’s father gives him a computer game. Ben and Andrew play the game and discover that this new technology can draw the player’s physical self into the game. Ben and Andrew react differently. Ben is afraid of the game and no longer wishes to play while Andrew becomes addicted to the game’s world and devotes hours to playing.
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It is not enough to have a narrative though. The narrative drive is an important role in a successful story. This is the factor that makes readers turn the page to find out what is going to happen next. A story that lacks narrative drive is something you can stop reading without caring how the story ends. Gillian Rubinstein’s Space Demons makes you want to skip ahead to see what’s happening. Think about narrative drive in terms of a sporting match. Why do we watch sport? Essentially we want to find out who will win and how this victory is sought. Some matches are more entertaining than others – some are hard fought, surprising, deserved, while others may be predictable, unsatisfying or boring. So, to recap, narrative drive is the promise that something will happen and successful narrative drive urges the reader to finish the book. Select a page of Space Demons that had you transfixed. You might like to use the first page of a chapter so there’s a sense of beginning. Using this as your model, create a new story that uses the same sentence patterns. Change the characters, setting and themes but see if you can bring the same sense of narrative drive to your writing. This will help you get a feel of how to create a story with pace. Part Three Class discussion: addictions Andrew’s obsession with his computer game becomes all-consuming. Why do you think Andrew becomes so involved in Space Demons? Do you think it’s because of his parents’ split? Is this his way of coping, perhaps? Have a discussion about addictions. Talk about what students think an addiction is and how people become dependent on something. Some addictions are harmful, like smoking, while others, like eating vegemite sandwiches, are harmless. Some people are more prone to addictions than others. Think about why people become addicted to things that can harm them.
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Research task: debating uniforms Elaine’s dad doesn’t think that students should have to wear uniforms as he believes they repress individuality. In groups of three, argue for or against the wearing of school uniforms. In order to support your argument you will need to research the reasons for and against uniforms. If you are arguing for the wearing of uniforms, you could look at the history of uniform-wearing (in organisations other than schools too) and the reasons why groups wear uniforms (e.g. uniformity). If you are arguing against wearing school uniforms, you could research the rights of the individual and look at examples in the public where organisations don’t use uniforms and their reasons for this. For information on how to construct and conduct your debate, visit this terrific website: http://www.kyrene.org/schools/brisas/sunda/debate/sunda_debate_unit.pdf Literary component: characterisation The characters in Space Demon make the story memorable. Think about your favourite book and why you liked it so much. Invariably it’s the characters that draw us into the world of the story. Remember that these characters are purely fictional. The writer is building them from scratch. Think of it as making a cake, a process that requires many ingredients. It’s the same when you create a character. You have to give them many layers to make them real to a reader. Look closely at the characters in Space Demons and see how the author has built their personalities. Look for visual cues – the clothing and actions of a character. Look at the dialogue: what they say and what others say about them. Look at how characters react to one another and see what that tells you as a reader. Consider what information the reader is given about the character’s history, relationships, living situation and family. All these elements make up the characters of Ben, Elaine, Andrew, Mario and John.
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Gillian Rubinstein’s characters are believable because they act logically. The characters in Space Demons behave how you would expect them to. That’s because the author established the different personalities from the onset and she makes her characters act within the parameters she’s already set up. Choose a character in Space Demons and write down everything you learn about him or her. If you’ve kept a detailed reading journal, this will be an easy task. You’ll soon find there’s quite a bit of information to glean! Now it’s your turn to build a character. The following questions are a guide to building your own character. The examples given in italics demonstrate how you could imagine your character. My name is Fred My age is 12 I was born in a hospital ward My secret is I have no bones in my little finger – just a metal rod. My oldest habit is counting my freckles. I have 163. I hate to wear blue because it makes me feel wet. I love my dog unquestionably. My great fear is falling apples because my uncle was killed when an apple fell on his head. I would never drink tap water because I am allergic to the chemicals. I will always check the ceiling for spiders because someday a spider will lose its balance and fall on me. I live in a red-brick house with a leaking roof. At my house we have weekly family meetings which are mostly about whose turn it is to take the dog for a walk. Already you get a sense that Fred worries about a lot of things – particularly things he can’t control – and that he has allergies and a dog that doesn’t get much exercise. But how would we put Fred in a scene? Think about an event to start your story off. 9
And consider where your character might be. They could be in a shopping centre, the backyard, a public bus or in a car etc. What is their emotional state and why? Who or what is their antagonist? (An antagonist is a person or thing working against them!) Here is an example of a scene with Fred. Fred is on his nature strip supervising the cutting down of his street’s apple trees. Fred is annoyed at his neighbours’ lack of cooperation. Fred’s plans are cut short when his mum comes out to ask him to take the dog for a walk. Already we have the setting, we have action, we know Fred’s emotional state and in this case, the antagonist can be his neighbours, who are hindering Fred’s plans, and the apple trees, which cause Fred considerable worry, and even Fred’s mum, who interrupts his plans. Now it’s your turn. Using your character information, place them in a scenario that could develop into a story. Take a closer look at the opening in Space Demons to see how Gillian Rubinstein sets up her scene.
After reading the text Class discussion: final impressions Throughout the book, the main characters all experience feelings of anger and dissatisfaction with their lives. Andrew becomes absorbed with his computer game in reaction to being confused and hurt by his parents’ break up. The depth of his emotions allows him to access a computer game fuelled by hate. This is an interesting focus for a story. What do students think of the book? Do these dark emotions make it a depressing story? Is it a hopeful story? Which character did you best connect with and why? Did you feel sympathy for a character? Was there a character you disliked? Discuss how each character evolved over the course of the story. Is there a moral to the story?
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Literacy component: Writing your own story. Using the ‘original’ science-fiction idea that you came up with in the first class discussion, write a short story drawing on what you’ve learnt about characterisation and narrative drive. Because you don’t have as much time as Gillian Rubinstein, nor as many words, try not to overcrowd your story with characters! As with Space Demons, you might like to have your character disappear into another world and explore how your protagonist copes with a new environment. Don’t worry, this isn’t copying someone else’s work! There are lots of stories about people visiting other realities, so you can write one too.
Extension Activities 1) Write a review on Space Demons. A good review is entertaining to read. It should be as interesting as the book you are writing about. You’re summarising the book for a potential reader. Avoid saying whether something is good or bad and instead look at what you think works and what you think didn’t work. Once you’ve compiled your review, you might like to go one step further and, in groups of three or four, have a book review session like you see on TV. As well as talking about Space Demons you might like to introduce books you’ve read in the same genre or by the same author as a comparison. You could even film these sessions and have someone pretend to be the author appearing on the show. 2) Consider Elaine’s statement about friendship: ‘You can’t be friends with someone just because it seems like a good idea’. Decide if you agree or disagree with Elaine and compose a one-hundred-word argument. 3) Choose an important relationship in the book and select the most significant episodes in the relationship. What do you learn about the characters and the development of the characters and the relationship? Write a short piece
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discussing how the relationship has changed over the course of the book and all the factors that are involved. 4) Select a scene or section from the novel and present it as a storyboard or as a graphic novel with words and pictures. 5) Elaine’s letters to her mum give us an insight into her character and how she changes as the book progresses. Imagine that a close friend disappeared one day. Write a series of letters to the person expressing how you feel and describing what life is like without them. 6) Find out about the author. You could look online by tracking down articles and criticisms from magazines or newspapers. How important do you think it is to know about the author’s background in relation to the novel? 7) Prepare a monologue as one of the characters from the novel. Try to reveal your chosen character’s personality and thoughts and feelings about particular events and people in the story. 8) When Andrew’s mum asks if Mario is Italian, Andrew says, ‘what difference does it make anyway?’ Andrew is saying to his mum that race shouldn’t matter. Consider what it would be like to be a minority in a country and how the colour of your skin or the way you look might make people look at you differently. Write a short article for your school newspaper about why ethnicity should be celebrated. 9) Choose a scene from the novel and write a script to act out as a group or in pairs. The scene might be presented as a live performance in class or as a film.
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