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Exploring Identity Themes

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Exploring Identity Themes

Read the passage carefully. Then answer the questions using evidence from the text and your own inferences. Identity is made up of many parts, and it can develop as people have new experiences.

The Names We Carry

When Asha’s family moved from Darwin to a town in regional Victoria, she expected the hardest part to be the cooler weather. Instead, it was the first roll call at her new school. “Is it pronounced Ah-sha or Ash-a?” the teacher asked. “Ah-sha,” Asha replied, smiling. She was used to explaining that her name came from her grandmother’s language and meant “hope”. At home, her grandmother told stories in Hindi, while Asha answered in English. Asha loved both languages, even though she sometimes wished people would get her name right without asking. At her old school, Asha had been the confident kid who organised lunchtime cricket. In her new town, she kept quiet for a while. The other students already knew the rules of their games and the names of local places. Asha missed the noise of Darwin and her cousins, but she also liked exploring the walking track behind her new house with her little brother, Dev. One Friday, the school announced a community afternoon. Asha suggested running a cricket game and teaching everyone a hand-clapping game her grandmother had taught her. She worried that nobody would join in. But when she showed the group how to clap the rhythm, Dev began laughing, and soon several students were trying to copy it. Then Asha picked up a cricket bat. “Your turn to teach us,” said a classmate. By the end of the afternoon, Asha felt more at ease. She was still missing Darwin. She was still proud of her family’s stories and languages. She was also beginning to feel part of her new town. Asha realised she did not have to leave one part of herself behind to make room for another.

Read between the lines

Use details from the passage in your answers. More than one interpretation may be reasonable when you explain your thinking.

1.Which statement best explains the meaning of identity in this passage?

It is only a person's name and appearance.
It includes a person's relationships, experiences, languages, interests and sense of belonging.
It is decided by the place where someone lives.
It cannot change once a person starts school.

2.Give two details from the passage that show Asha’s family and cultural identity are important to her.

3.At the beginning of the passage, why does Asha keep quiet at her new school? Give one reason supported by the text.

4.What can you infer about how Asha feels when her teacher asks how to pronounce her name? Use a detail from the passage to support your inference.

5.True or false? By the end of the community afternoon, Asha has stopped missing Darwin.

TrueFalse

6.Complete the sentence with two changes Asha experiences: At first, Asha feels at her new school; after sharing her games, she begins to feel .

7.How does sharing the hand-clapping game help Asha connect with the other students?

8.Asha misses Darwin but is also beginning to feel part of her new town. What does this suggest about identity and belonging?

9.Find one example of contrast in the passage: what was Asha like at her old school, and how did she act at first in her new town?

10.Asha realises she does not have to leave one part of herself behind to make room for another. Explain this idea in your own words, using one detail from the passage.