Alice Pung's Unpolished Gem - Annotation Guide 1: Plot and Characterisation Alice Pung's Unpolished Gem - Annotation Guide 2: Theme, Symbol and Motif Alice Pung's Unpolished Gem - Annotation Guide 3: Literary Devices and Authorial Style This story does not begin on a boat. Nor does it contain any wild swans or falling leaves. In a wonderland called Footscray, a girl named Alice and her Chinese-Cambodian family pursue the Australian Dream – Asian style. Armed with an ocker accent, Alice dives head- first into schooling, romance and the getting of wisdom. Her mother becomes an Aussie battler – an outworker, that is. Her father embraces the miracle of franchising and opens an electrical-appliance store. And every day her grandmother blesses Father Government for giving old people money. Unpolished Gem is a book rich in comedy, a loving and irreverent portrait of a family, its everyday struggles and bittersweet triumphs. With it, Australian writing gains an unforgettable new voice.

1. Unpolished Gem
by Alice Pung
Annotation Guide

2. Learning Intention: to understand
the three levels of annotation
possible for this text.
Success Criteria: to have noted the
annotation guide in an inner cover
insert of your novel and to have
recorded some examples for each.
Level 1: Plot and characterisation.
Level 2: Theme, Symbol and Motif.
Level 3: Authorial style and literary
devices, intertextual references and
allusions.

3. Plot and Characterisation (Level 1)
Prologue
Part I
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Epilogue

4. Theme, Motif and
Symbol (Level 2)

5. Theme, Motif and
Symbol (Level 2)

6. Theme, Motif and
Symbol (Level 2)

7. Alliteration
‘wahs of wonder’(p11), ‘Proletariat princess’, (p97,98) ‘boxed into my blue blazer’ (p100), ‘Lee and Lah Loiterers’ (p104).
Metaphors
‘Father Christmas… as if he is a tangible benign white-bearded guru...’ (p25) ‘…her face a stone mask’ (p118)
Similes
‘spreading stories like the vegemite on my toast’ ‘‘Father Government...like Father Christmas’ (p25)
Juxtaposition
‘We live in a big house, much bigger than the one belonging to Auntie Mao in Vietnam’ (p26)
Metonymy / Synecdoche
“Her skinny ankles were crossed, her hands in her lap, and her back was straight’ (p116)
Colloquial Australian language
“Doesn’t matter about the Aussies, they never take off their shoes anyhow?” (p18)
Idiomatic expressions
“Ay, stop gawking like such a peasant” (p11), “beautiful hah?” (p18).
Humour
“I was Chinese Ronald McDonald, minus the happy times’ (p63)
Foil Characters
Agheare – Alice / Mother (Chia) – Father (Kuan)
Level 3

8. Level 3
Alliteration
Repetition of consonant or vowel
sounds.
‘wahs of wonder’(p11)
‘Proletariat princess’ (p97,98)
‘boxed into my blue blazer’ (p100)
‘Lee and Lah Loiterers’ (p104).

9. Level 3
Metaphor
Comparing two things by stating
that they are similar using words
like as.
‘Father Christmas… as if he is a
tangible benign white-bearded
guru...’ (p25)
‘…her face a stone mask’ (p118)

10. Level 3
Similes
Comparing two items and noting
how there are similar using a
connective such as like.
‘spreading stories like the vegemite
on my toast’
‘‘Father Government...like Father
Christmas’ (p25)

11. Level 3
Juxtaposition
Placing two things that are different in
close proximity to create a strong
contrast.
‘We live in a big house, much bigger than
the one belonging to Auntie Mao in
Vietnam’ (p26)

12. Level 3
Metonymy / Synecdoche
Similar to metaphor, two things are related, for metonymy the
word is linked to the concept but not part of it, for synecdoche
it is part of it.
Metonymy: ‘Every journey is one small step for Australians, but
one giant leap for the Wah-sers’ (p10)
Synecdoche: “Her skinny ankles were crossed, her hands in her
lap, and her back was straight’ (p116)

13. Level 3
Colloquial Australian
Language
Australian ‘Ocker’, ‘Strine’ language.
“Doesn’t matter about the Aussies, they never take off their
shoes anyhow?” (p18)

14. Level 3
Idiomatic Expressions
Colloquial language used by the Pung family and others.
“Ay, stop gawking like such a peasant” (p11)
“beautiful hah?” (p18).

15. Level 3
Humour
The humour used is often ‘dark’ or ‘black’
humour.
“I was Chinese Ronald McDonald, minus the
happy times’ (p63)
“to uninitiated ears his name sounds like an
Eastern European stew: ‘Would you like some
Pol Pot? It’s made with 100% fresh-ground
suffering.’ (p9)

16. Level 3
Foil Characters
A foil is the exact inverse (opposite) of another character, or
they are dissimilar in some key way.
Agheare – Alice
Mother (Chia) – Father (Kuan)

17. Intertextual References
Reader’s Digest household hints and handy tips p91
Stand by Me p96
Dead Poet’s Society p96
Dolly p109
Farewell my concubine p135
King Lear p135
Age of Innocence p178
Lolita p188
The Herald Sun p203
Karate Kid Part 2 p223
Reader’s Digest p 228
Bridges of Madison County p231
Gandhi p239
2001: A space Odyssey p264
Pleasantville p265
Allusions
Derrida p238
Biblical references p234-235
Woody Allen p231
Karate Kid Part 2 p223
Casanova p256
Titanic p270
Level 3