Character Name: Francesca
Symbolism of name:Free, Italian.
Does the name symbolise anything about the character or novel? Francesca an Italian name which fits in with the character in the book, also the author of the book is Italian and has previously written books about Italian teenagers in Australia. She is looking for freedom in this novel, she needs to find her identity, who she is and who her friends are.
Speech:Francesca is a well spoken person but tends to hide her intellectuality by not voicing her opinions for being afraid of being noticed by her peers and labelled weird.
Colloquial expressions, formal vs informal language, use of swearing (blasphemy), other:Swearing for Francesca is not unusual when she becomes angry and emotional, however she normally has well thought replies which are often very humorous and witty. She doesn’t use a lot of slang and it makes the book easy to read and very enjoyable.
Appearance:The author doesn’t go into a lot of detail about how Francesca looks but you can tell by the way she acts and how she speaks that she is a clean tidy person who takes care in her appearance.
Clothing, mannerisms, disfigurations, age, sex: Francesca is a sixteen turning seventeen year old girl who is just as confused as the rest of us, her mannerisms display a bright personality even if she appears a little lost an shy.
Actions: She acts shy and withdrawn and is sad, depressed and mopes around, this doesn’t make her very popular and she doesn’t seem to make friends easily or even want to.
How does the character react? Francesca is a very emotional person and reacts to people in different ways depending on how she is feeling at that time.
Character Name: Mia
Symbolism of name:Mine, Italian
Does the name symbolise anything about the character or novel?I believe that this name symbolises to some extent a part of Mia’s personality. She is very protective of her children,
Speech: Mia doesn’t talk much when depressed, when Francesca tells us how she used to be though Mia sounds wise like all mothers and outspoken.
Colloquial expressions, formal vs informal language, use of swearing (blasphemy), other: Mia doen’t talk a lot in the book but when Francesca remembers how things used to be before her mother had a breakdown Mia seems to be a great role model using loving language towards her husband and children. She’s an active person and believes in making a difference by being load and outspoken.
Appearance:I imagine that when Mia was out and living her normal life before her breakdown she was a very well presented person if not a bit funky and out-there. However when she is depressed she is dressed in her Pj’s and dressing gown constantly.
Clothing, mannerisms, disfigurations, age, sex: It doesn’t actually tell us in the book how old Mia is but I think she is a young mother because it mentions that she was going out with her husband when she was Francesca’s age.
Actions: Mia before depression is described as a very proud and passionate person being active and very social but after she mostly stays in her bed all day or walks around the house in her dressing gown.
How does the character react? Because Mia is depressed in the novel, bar the reminiscing moments of her daughter Francesca, she doesn’t react much and when she does it is with little enthusiasm and emotion. Character Name: William
Symbolism of name: Helmet of determination
Does the name symbolise anything about the character or novel?I believe that the name does symbolise the person’s character in the novel. William or Will as his friends call him is a very determined person and has set goals that he know he can achieve by hard work.
Speech:Will is very proper and formal but still manages to have a teenage feel about him which makes his character mature and interesting. Marchetta has written him so the reader feels like they could have a decent conversation with him.
Colloquial expressions, formal vs informal language, use of swearing (blasphemy), other:Will doen’t use a huge amount of big words or formal language but neither does he use a lot of slang. He does however swear when emotional which tends to be around Francesca.
Appearance:Again Marchetta doesn’t spend a lot of time describing how the character looks. I don’t imagine he would be scruffy, I think he is well groomed.
Clothing, mannerisms, disfigurations, age, sex: William is a 17 turning 18 year old guy who is dead set on achieving his goals he has set in place for himself. His clothing isn’t described but a lot of the story part he is in is set at the school so he would be in a uniform.
Actions: Will falls for Francesca and cheats on his girlfriend with her and hits a road bump in his life when he becomes confused about what he should do which is not something he is familiar with. He finds this difficult to come to terms with and is a key part of the story.
How does the character react? At one point in the novel Francesca corrects William on a mistake he made, he doesn’t like it because he feels he is superior to her. He reacts at first by being shocked and not responding but exacts revenge during a girl vs boys basketball game the girls of the recently turned co-ed school have organised, in aid of constructing friendship between the sexes.
