Introduction by Alice Pung

1. What were Asian-Australians referred to as when the author was growing up? Power points

2. How does she interpret this title? "I thought it was because we were so smart and dweeby in a dynamic Micro-soft-magnate sort of way".

3. What did this title actually refer to? The face of a powerpoint looks like an asian person.  Did the author find this demeaning? She didn't quite understand what people meant when people told her to look at the powerpoint  Why/why not?

4. ‘All that untapped potential! All that electrifying brain power!’ What techniques are being employed by the author? Exclamation Marks. How does they highlight he misunderstanding? She misunderstood what europeans meant when they called her powerpoints.

5. What did the teen author take away from teen fiction? What did she feel that she needed to do? Why? What does this say is essential to fitting in to a culture?

6. Who are the authors that she turns to? She turns to the people who usually write about asians, the "Outsiders". Why? It shows what this book is going to be about., the many stories of those people when they grew up in Australia.

7. In the third paragraph how does the author use repetition. It repeats different people. How does it highlight the focus of this book? This book is a multi-perspective of how asians in Australia lived in the last 40 years.

8. What metaphor does the author use to highlight the writers and the writing style in the third paragraph?

9. Why does the author use a quote in the 4^th paragraph? "Change only the name and this story is also about you."  What does it say about her reaction to the stories in the book? It made her realise the difficulties of earlier generations of immigrants.

10. On page 2 the author talks about the themes that she loosely choose for the collection. What are they and why is it ironic that they show up in this book? She is trying to make the audience feel pity for the people she is talking about.

11. At the bottom of pg 3 on to page 4 the author says that sociologists have described Asians as the ‘model minority’. What is meant by this? What difficulties arise out of this label for young Asian-Australians?

12. What are the editor’s hopes for the collection of stories? That it will bring a more crowded and multi perspective story and that she is not the only one with her experiences growing up.

Pigs from Home by Hop Dac

1. How does the author start this story which is in direct contrast to the title of the story? What effect does this have on the reader and their expectations of the story?

2. What core Vietnamese value is instilled in the author?

3. What is humorous about the mother’s ‘flair for natural medicine’ in regards to her personality?

4. How does the description of the killing of pigeons continue the style utilised in the introduction of the story?

5. What is the author’s opinion of pigs? Give two quotes to support your conclusion.

6. In the paragraph on pgs 53-54, give two examples of alliteration employed by the author.

7. On pg 54 what simile is used to describe pigs? How does this simile work for the situation it is used?

8. What simile does the author use to describe her mother sunning herself? How does this relate to the core focus of the story?

9. What does the author describe as ‘the divide between the old world and the new’? What do you think is meant by this statement?

10. What is the author’s reaction to the slaughter of the pig at night? What statement does the author make about the neighbours which displays the way he feels about the whole experience? What is important about including this statement?

11. Why don’t the parents have pigs anymore? How does this relate to the description of the burial of the last pig they owned?

12. How would you characterise the description of the mother’s treatment of the pig’s blood? Is it appetising?

13. What is ironic about the way the author has a popular Vietnamese dish? What is it about the way the author describes the experience of having pigs that makes it ironic?

14. How does this story relate to the title Pigs from Home?

15. Why do you think this story is in the Battlers section of the book?