Elgin Academy

English Department

National 5 English

Scottish Texts

“Dear Santa” by Anne Donovan

After you have read the story, discuss the following questions in your groups. Make sure you write your own responses in your jotter.

  1. Where and when is this story set? Give evidence from the text to support your answer
  1. What do we learn about each of the following characters? Support your answers with quotations from the text.
  1. the narrator (Alison)
  1. the narrator’s mother
  1. the narrator’s father
  1. the narrator’s sister (Katie)
  1. Santa
  1. What seems to be Alison’s feelings towards each of the other characters?
  1. How do you think Anne Donovan wants the reader to feel about Alison?
  1. How do you think Anne Donovan wants the reader to feel about Alison’s parents?
  1. In what ways is Alison’s encounter with Santa important to the story as a whole?
  1. Comment on the effectiveness of the following images from the story:
  1. “. . . ah’m this big lurkin thing at the endy the back row, daurk and blurred.”
  1. “But then a big lump came up, no in ma throat, but in ma hert, heavy and grey lik a stane . . .”
  1. “. . . watchin her hair glowin like a halo against the blackness of the room.”
  1. “She goes out, nearly closing the door, but leavin a wee crack of light fallin across the bedclothes.”
  1. Pick out all the other images relating to light and darkness in the story. Why do you think Anne Donovan has included them?
  1. Here are some themes (or “central concerns”) that the story explores.

·  sibling rivalry

·  isolation

·  growing up

·  appearance versus reality

·  mother/daughter relationships

Make notes on how each one of these themes features in the story.

  1. Does this story have anything in common with any other Anne Donovan story you have read?

Don’t forget to make a note of any words (Scots or English) in the story that you don’t understand! Add them to your Anne Donovan glossary.

Created by I Valentine, Elgin Academy, 16.5.13