This document provides guidance for analyzing the novel "Raw" by Scott Monk. It begins by outlining some of the key challenges faced by characters in the novel, such as Brett Dalton, and how they deal with these challenges. It then discusses the themes of challenge and endurance in the novel. The document provides an overview of various literary elements to analyze like plot, setting, characters, literary devices and themes. It includes summaries of some of the main characters and discusses how they are characterized. Finally, it discusses different literary devices used in the novel like symbolism, imagery and sound techniques. The overall document serves as a study guide for analyzing various elements in the novel "Raw".

1. Raw by Scott Monk
Novel Study: Challenge and Endurance
Learning Object by Michelle Merritt

2. • As you read the text, consider
how it links to our Area of
Study. What challenges do
the characters in the novel
face? How are these dealt
with? Do they have the
endurance to keep going?
“Raw” By Scott Monk

3. • Challenge and Endurance: A
Challenge is something that
requires great mental and/or
physical effort to be completed
successfully; testing a person’s
ability, faith and understanding, and
oftentimes, also their endurance to
keep going even when the
challenge becomes difficult,
unpleasant, or even painful.
Area of Study:

4. Title
Plot
Summary
Setting
Characters
Literary
Devices
Themes

5. “Raw” By Scott Monk
• Analysing the title of the
Novel; something that is raw,
is in its natural state and may
be imperfect or lacking
experience and/or
understanding. Raw also
implies that something may
be unprotected and
susceptible to hurt.

6. ‘Raw’ follows the story of Brett Dalton,
a teenager with an attitude who has
chosen to succumb to peer pressure
and live outside the law. After being
‘picked-up’ for various minor offences,
Brett finds himself at the mercy of a
tough judge who sends him to The
farm in the home of rehabilitating him.
The story follows Brett’s life on the
farm and whether or not the
experience has the power to ‘change’
him.
Plot …

7. Mungindi
The Farm
The Setting…

8. Brett Arrives In Mungindi
• “a country town split in half by the
Queensland-New South wales
border” (Page 3)
• “He (Brett) didn’t know where he
was and didn’t want to…he realised
one unknown town was as
unknown as the rest” (Page 2)
• He got his first look at Mungindi
about two-thirty. It was worse than
he expected … His life was to be
sucked out of him just like the
town’s had” (Page 5)

9. Brett Arrives On The Farm
• “It sounded like a pushover. Just Old
McDonald and a couple of geese … it aimed
to turn troublemakers like himself into model
citizens. As if”. (Page 3)
• “There wasn’t anything worth pinching” (page
12) about Sam and Mary’s house.
• “Brett was allowed to help himself to anything
on the table” (Page 12)
• “No-hopers like this one will never get a job
because …” (Page 20) police officer about
Brett.
• “Sam. He was the enemy” (Page 20)
• Sam on The Farm; “This isn’t a detention
centre … It’s more of a halfway house for
young guys like you” (Page 25)

10. Brett Dalton
•Protagonist. He has been sent to a detention centre on The Farm, for committing
various crimes. “Raw” follows Brett’s life and the changes that he undergoes during
this period.
Frog – Robert Scully
•Is the youngest of the boys on The Farm, he is 12, “only a tadpole”Pg12. Frog is
bullied by the bigger boys and when Brett comes to the Farm he seeks his
friendship; looking up to Brett. Brett becomes a ‘big brother’ figure to Frog. Frog
even asks Brett to teach him to fight.
Sam
•Sam runs The Farm. He and his wife Mary have created a ‘halfway’ house for
trouble boys. You can see that Sam cares for the boys that are sent to him. Sam
does his best to befriend/guide Brett; however, in the beginning this is not welcomed
as Brett sees Sam ‘as the enemy’.
Josh
•Antagonist. Josh is a young aboriginal boy who has been on The Farm the longest
and is now working on the Farm as a farmhand. Brett and Josh get off to a rocky
start in the beginning, but soon realise they have a number of things in common and
develop a mutual respect for one another.
Characters …

11. Form
Features
Context
Register
Structure
Shapes meaning

12. FORM
• What form does
this text take?
• “Raw” is a novel
and is structured
as such.

13. FEATURES
• What language
features are
used to create
meaning in this
text?

14. CONTEXT
• What is/was happening
in the world when this
text was composed?
• Historical/Cultural/Social

15. REGISTER
• Does Monk use
different types of
language to
convey meaning
throughout the
text?

16. STRUCTURE
• How has Monk
structured the text
to create meaning?
• Why do you think
he made these
choices?

17. SHAPES
MEANING
• Through the choice
of form, structure
and language
features Monk
shapes meaning.

18. Composer: The person or persons who
create something. Scott Monk is the
author of this text, or the composer.
Point-of-View: We all read a text from our
own personal point-of-view. Mental state,
age, cultures, socio-economic status and
wealth can all effect/alter perspectives.
Responder: you are responding to what
you read/view etc. You are not just
passive.
Useful Vocabulary:

19. How Meaning is Made …
Meaning is made
when the responder
(you) comes to an
understanding of
texts.

20. How Meaning is Made …
Authors/composers
use a variety of
techniques to
convey this meaning
to their audience

21. How Meaning is Made …
It is important to be able
to identify techniques
used by the author and
equally as important to
be able to discuss their
effect.

22. Literary Devices
These are the tools that an author uses to tell their story:
Characterisation
Symbolism and Motif
Themes
Narration

23. Characterisation in Raw by Scott Monk
Protagonist
• Brett is the Protagonist of the “Raw”.
• We know this because we come to understand the novel
and life on The Farm through Brett’s feelings, his
experiences and the interactions he has with others.
Activity: Using Brett’s feelings, his experiences and the
interactions he has with others, comment on what life on
The Farm would be like.

24. Freedom of
Choice
Respect for
Power/Authority
Naivety: Forced
to mature
Improve Familial
Relationships
Themes…
Consider the
feelings of others
Facing the
Consequences
Self Awareness:
Rethink
worldview

25. Freedom of Choice
• Raw is about choice. It is the choices
that Brett has made that has led to his
incarceration.
• Brett is sent to The Farm for a three month period.
The novel tells us that Brett doesn’t come from an
abusive family and he also doesn’t undergo a
‘radical transformation’. Brett is a regular teenager,
he has made a few bad choices, and has succumb
to peer pressure. He has the opportunity to change
his life.
• “Just remember, Brett: only you can change your
life.” (page 86) Sam to Brett. And on Page 340,
Brett reflects on this comment again.
• “He was free and happy and wanted to start a new
life on his terms. Not the court’s. Not his family’s.
Not Sam’s. But on his term’s.” (page 88)

26. Respect for Power and
Authority
• The police show their power by arresting and
incarcerating Brett. Constable’s Gallagher and Nelson
show their authority and power over Brett on the drive
to Mungindi: Their short tempers and description of
Brett as a “no-hoper” (page 14) are examples of this
• On the Farm, Sam and Mary show their authority by
way of mutual respect; however, Brett finds this
challenging at first. “To Brett, Sam was everything he
resented here. The more he tried to change him, the
more Brett would resist. Brett wasn’t going to follow
any rules or become the man’s buddy like all the
other losers. He was happy with who he was and the
way he lived. He’d beat the system before it beat him.
In the end Brett would win.” (page 57)
• Brett believed that power and authority limited his
freedom and would do anything to rebel; towards the
end of the novel, Brett could see that people could
use power to show love, respect and that it wasn’t
necessarily a bad thing.

27. Naivety: Forced to Mature
Despite his ‘tough’ exterior, Brett seems to
have a naïve view of the world. His
inexperience, poor judgment and lack of
knowledge have led him to the Farm.
Whilst there however; Brett begins to
become more aware of the world around
him.
• “he was allowed to roam free! … What
kind of a detention centre was this?”
(page 37)
• “Brett felt real fear” (page 76)
• “He was scared of what would happen to
him now that he had no money, and
scared that something worse could have
happened last night … He was spooking
himself” (page 98)

28. Improve Familial Relationships:
• Mary – “Do you have parents Brett? ‘Yer, two.
They split up a couple years ago but sorted
things through recently. They’re good people but
they can’t handle this one” Police officer
Gallagher (Page 13)
• “Dreaming of home, Brett started to think about
his parents … They were good people and the
only ones who’d stuck by him.” (Page 41)
• “Nice parents you have Caitlyn (conversation
between Brett, Caitlyn and her father) ”…“We’re
better than yours, I reckon” came the response
from Caitlyn’s father. “What are they ? Alcoholic
dole bludgers too?”(Page 228)
• “Brett realised how lucky he was having normal
parents. Parents who shouted at him and had
gone through a tough time, but good people
nonetheless.” (Page 307)

29. Brett begins to consider the
feelings of others:
• Over time, Brett starts to reconsider his
relationships.
• Despite the obvious care and compassion Sam
shows for the boys in his care, Brett still sees him
as the enemy.
• He and Josh first get off on the wrong foot. To
Brett, Josh is an extension of the Farm, Sam’s
boy, later, Brett comes to realise Josh’s story and
to feel compassion for him.
• Even in matters of the heart, Brett begins to
change. He begins to see his former relationship
with Rebecca as a negative part of his life. He is
ready to move on to something better, someone
like Caitlyn.

30. Facing the consequences of
his actions.
• Brett lived his life not worried about the future.
At sixteen his thoughts were about smoking,
drinking, stealing, he didn’t like school and the
constraints that it put on his life. He wanted
complete freedom, even if that meant
impeding on the freedoms of others through
his choices. When arrested for break and
enter, Brett is angry at the police, ‘pigs’, he is
then upset at his parents sitting speechless in
the courthouse and he develops an initial
disdain for Sam and being stuck on the Farm
– Brett struggles to realise, all of these things
are happening as a result of his actions. His
behaviour has consequences.

31. Self Awareness: Re-think
Worldview.
• Brett begins to realise that he needs to change. His
relationship with Josh allows him to reflect on
himself. Brett comes to appreciate how Josh has
changed his own life (pg.288) and in turn can see
what he needs to work on. Josh says; “you think
everything I say … has another meaning... It’s like
you want the whole world to hate you...It’s like you
can’t stand letting people get too close to you.” (pg
289)
• Initially Brett is angered by this, later though he
says, “I did take it personally. I needed to…I’ve
been blaming everyone but myself.” (pg. 296)
• “A lot of people would say that he’d failed when he
did get back to Sydney, that he was a loser. But
they’d be wrong. He was a young and he was
going to start again.”

32. Narration in Raw by Scott Monk
Third Person
• “Raw” is written using a third-person narrative style.
• The language indicators that show us this are the use of
pronouns like, “he”, “she”, “they” etc.
• Third-person narration means that the novel is not written from
one person’s perspective, or point of view.
Activity: Why do you think Monk chose to use this
narrative style? As the responder to this text, do you see
any advantage in using Third-person narration?

33. Language Techniques
These are the tools that an author uses to tell their story.
Irony
Symbolism
Imagery
Sound

34. Literary Devices: Irony
Irony occurs when we are able to
see the difference between reality
and appearance.
In “Raw” we see an example of
‘situational irony’. Brett is a thief;
however, when he becomes the
victim he is forced to reconsider
his past actions.

35. Literary Devices: Symbolism
Symbolism occurs when some aspect of
the story, like a person, object, or location,
actually represents something else.
In “Raw” the weather can be seen to
symbolise, or reflect the way that Brett is
feeling or some kind of inner struggle.
When Brett first arrives on the Farm (pg 9)
a bolt of sunlight flashes him in the eyes.

36. Literary Devices: Imagery
Authors use imagery to emhasise an
idea or when they present an idea that
essentially stands for something else.
Symbolism and Figurative Language
are devices used to create imagery.
“I was raped” on hearing this admission
from Josh, “He (Brett) was shivering,
but not because of the cold wind”

37. Literary Devices: Sound
Authors use sounds to convey meaning and
heighten emotion and feeling. Monk uses
Onomatopoeia; the technique where the word
itself imitates the sound.
“BOOM! BOOM! … Josh thinks he can ride
Paterson’s brumby” (Page 30) This is where we
are introduced to Josh for the first time, he
recklessly bounds into Brett’s life.
“The Mustang rocked … but the engine just rrr-
rrr-rrred and died” (Page 98) Brett hitchhiking.

38. It is important to identify
the technique and to also
be able to say why it is
used, and the effect on the
responder (you).

39. Writing an Analytical Essay
QUESTION
• Essay titles come in two types, the specific and the
general.
• Write your selected question or thesis statement at
the start of your essay
INTRODUCTION
• Say how you intend to approach the question,
define terms, outline the points you intend to
elaborate on in the order you plan to tackle them
MAIN BODY
• take each point you have outlined in the
introduction and discuss it using evidence from the
text and quotes as support.
CONCLUSION
• This single paragraph pulls together the parts of
your argument in a summary, do not include new
information here

40. Writing an Analytical Essay
STAGE 1
Analyse the
question. Define
key terms and
ideas and rewrite
these in your own
words to ensure
that you
understand.
STAGE 2
Outline, in point
form, the main
ideas for each
paragraph. This
means your
introduction, main
body and
conclusion
STAGE 3
Begin writing.
Ensure that each
paragraph has a
topic sentence,
clear argument
and that this is
supported with
evidence.
STAGE 4
Proof read your
essay and let it sit
for a while – you
may find errors
later. Submit it for
drafting prior to
the due date.