jasper jones analytical essay questions

Jasper Jones

Craig silvey, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on Craig Silvey's Jasper Jones . Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.

Jasper Jones: Introduction

Jasper jones: plot summary, jasper jones: detailed summary & analysis, jasper jones: themes, jasper jones: quotes, jasper jones: characters, jasper jones: symbols, jasper jones: theme wheel, brief biography of craig silvey.

Historical Context of Jasper Jones

Other books related to jasper jones.

• Full Title: Jasper Jones
• Where Written: Fremantle, Australia
• When Published: 3 Oct, 2009
• Literary Period: The young adult “boom”
• Genre: Gothic, young adult, Bildungsroman
• Setting: Corrigan, Australia
• Climax: Charlie discovers how Laura Wishart died.
• Antagonist: Pete Wishart / Warwick Trent / the racist townspeople
• Point of View: First person

Extra Credit for Jasper Jones

Rock star: Silvey may have carved out a place for himself in the literary world, but he’s arguably best known as the lead singer and songwriter for the Australian indie band The Nancy Sikes . Even the name of Silvey’s band betrays his literary predilections—Nancy Sikes is a character from Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens.

Readers of all ages: It’s hard to classify Jasper Jones ’s target audience—while it’s about children, and has a charmingly mysterious tone, it’s full of dark, disturbing events that aren’t exactly suitable for young readers. Silvey is no stranger to writing books for young readers, though—his second book, The World According to Warren , is a picture book about a dog.

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Sample lesson sequences, sample assessment and resources for 'Jasper Jones'.

Support materials developed by NSW public school teachers as part of the Stage 6 mEsh project where 62 teachers led writing teams (over 150 teachers) across NSW.

You can adapt the following unit of work as required.

Close study of literature - Jasper Jones

• Jasper Jones sample lesson sequence (DOCX 76 KB)
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• Jasper Jones resource 1 Rubric sheet (DOCX 55 KB)
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Everything You Need to Know About Analysing ‘Jasper Jones’ for English – Summary, Context, Themes & Characters

Are you studying the book ‘Jasper Jones’ for English and struggling to come up with an analysis? W e’ll walk you through a summary of Jasper Jones with its context, characters and more to help you with your analysis.

PLUS we’ll also provide a free sample analysis table (also called a TEE Table ) and a sample paragraph that you can download! 

It’s time for you to ace your book analysis of Jasper Jones — let’s get started! 

Jasper Jones Plot Summary Who are the Key Characters in Jasper Jones Context of Jasper Jones What are the Main Themes Explored in Jasper Jones? Book Analysis of Jasper Jones Studying this Text for HSC English

Plot Summary of Jasper Jones

The text begins in 1965 Corrigan , a fictional small town in Australia, and follows the experiences of 13-year-old protagonist, Charlie Bucktin. 

One summer evening, Jasper Jones, who is an outcast in Corrigan because of his mixed-race background, visits Charlie and asks for his help . They go to a secluded clearing in the bush where Charlie is horrified to see the corpse of a young girl, Laura Wishart, beaten and hanging from a tree.

Jasper promises that he’s innocent but he knows that because of his outcast status and shady, rebellious image, he will most likely be blamed for her murder . Charlie and Jasper throw the body into the nearby river to buy them enough time to solve the murder themselves.

The next day, Charlie spends his morning with his parents, Ruth and Wesley Bucktin. He looks up to his father and they bond over their passion for reading and writing. However, Charlie doesn’t like his mother Ruth and finds her controlling.

He spends his days with his best friend, Jeffrey Lu, a smart and humorous boy who is Vietnamese. Since many soldiers from Corrigan were sent to fight in the Vietnam War, Jeffrey faces a lot of racism from the community, such as not being allowed to play on the town cricket team. Charlie also chats with Eliza Wishart, Laura’s younger sister, and has a crush on her.

The town find that Laura Wishart is missing

Later that day, he researches murder cases that occurred in Corrigan and nearby towns, which exposes him to some horrifying insights into murders and serial killers. He finds it really difficult to digest how and why people can hurt and kill others in such gruesome ways. 

Meanwhile, a search is organised for Laura and the townspeople grow anxious as parents are fearful that more disappearances might occur. When Charlie returns home from the library, he finds that his mother is extremely worried about him and he’s punished for leaving the house without telling her.

This creates tensions between them, but his father suggests that instead of responding with anger and hatred, Charlie should be more diplomatic and polite towards his mother. 

A week after Laura’s death, Jasper finally visits Charlie again and they go to their secluded glade. Jasper tells him that he’s been arrested and beaten up by the local police because they suspect he’s involved in Laura’s disappearance .

He also tells Charlie that he thinks Mad Jack Lionel, an isolated old man, is actually responsible for Laura’s murder. Before they leave the glade, they find that someone has scratched the word “Sorry” on the tree where Laura was hanged.

When Charlie returns home that night, he learns that his parents thought he was missing and had called the police. He quickly comes up with a story about sneaking out to visit Eliza and to his surprise, they’re convinced by his story. He’s later grounded for two weeks and tensions rise between his parents as Ruth blames Wesley for Charlie’s misbehaviours. 

Jeffrey joins the cricket team

After spending two weeks indoors reading and writing, Charlie goes to watch Jeffrey finally bat for the Corrigan cricket team as a sub for another player. During the match, Eliza spots Charlie and sits next to him.

Charlie’s very shy and awkward around her but they talk, share some laughs, and daydream about living in New York, like the characters in their favourite books. Eliza tells him she thinks he’s very sweet and they kiss. Meanwhile, Jeffrey’s performance helps Corrigan win the cricket match and his teammates, even Warwick Trent, reluctantly congratulate and respect him. 

Later that night, four men visit Jeffrey’s house and destroy his father’s garden. Charlie witnesses this and screams for his father, who immediately runs to take on all four men.

He’s joined by other neighbours, who beat up the four men and offer words of support to Jeffrey and his father. Charlie’s inspired by his father’s courage but is also very upset and wonders why someone would do such a thing. 

Access Jasper Jones Book Downloadable Sample Paragraph and Examples of Analysis

Jasper and Charlie confront Mad Jack Lionel

On New Year’s Eve, Charlie plans to attend Corrigan’s traditional fireworks show. Eliza tells him she has something important to tell him but before he can meet up with her, Jasper shows up outside his window and asks Charlie to come with him to confront Mad Jack Lionel and get him to confess to killing Laura. 

When they visit Mad Jack’s house, Charlie is surprised to see that Jack is actually a lonely old man who’s unexpectedly polite and approachable . Jasper angrily informs Jack that he knows Jack killed ‘her’.

Jack cries and confesses that he did kill ‘her’ however, he isn’t talking about Laura. As they continue to talk, it’s revealed that Jack is actually Jasper’s grandfather . When Jasper’s father married Rosie Jones, a beautiful Aboriginal woman, Jack disapproved of the marriage because she wasn’t white.

Jasper’s father then chose to change his surname to Jones and Rosie soon gave birth to Jasper . Overtime, Jack changed his mind and grew quite fond of Rosie. One day, Jack was alone with Rosie when she got appendicitis and needed medical attention. Jack tried to drive her to the nearest hospital but got into a car accident along the way, which killed Rosie.

After the accident, Jasper’s father cut all ties with Jack and also never told Jasper about him . Jack tells Jasper that he thought Jasper was avoiding him because he knew about Rosie’s death but now, he realises that Jasper had avoided him simply because he didn’t know who Jack was. 

As he walks back home, Charlie bumps into Eliza, who tells him she needs to tell him something. On their way there, Charlie sees his mother with another man. Angry that she’s been having an affair, he tells her he won’t do what she says anymore.

Charlie learns the truth behind Laura’s death

Eliza takes him to Jasper’s glade, where she tells Charlie that she’s responsible for Laura’s death. She shows Charlie a letter that she found near Laura’s body and reads it to Charlie.

In the letter, Laura explains that her father had raped and abused her for years. One day, she tried to tell her mother about this, but she didn’t believe Laura. Later, she got into a fight with her father, who beat her savagely and told her to never talk about his abusiveness again.

Eliza heard some noises from Laura’s room and decided to follow Laura to Jasper’s glade where she observed the suicide. Guilt-ridden about watching her sister kill herself without saying anything, Eliza returned to the glade a few nights later and wrote ‘Sorry’ on the tree. 

Traumatised by Laura’s letter and Eliza’s explanation, Charlie then confesses that he helped Jasper throw Laura’s body into the nearby river . Jasper arrives and asks what Eliza is doing there, and they tell him everything they had talked about. As the three of them stay in the glade for the rest of the night to cope with their trauma, Charlie notices that Eliza’s upset towards Jasper and blames him for the death. 

Life after solving the mystery

The next day, they all go their separate ways and Charlie knows he’ll never see Jasper again because Jasper is leaving Corrigan for good. When Charlie returns home, his mother is packing to leave Corrigan too.

Charlie and his father are now on their own and Wesley finishes the novel he’s been working on. Charlie is the first to read it, and he loves it. 

As the summer holidays come to an end and Charlie returns to school, he decides to sneak onto Mad Jack’s property and steal peaches to impress his classmates. While he’s there, he asks Jack to do him a favour by staging a fight with Charlie, promising to make it up to him by making Jack dinner on Sunday.

This impresses his peers even more and he walks away from Jack’s house, cheered by the school children. Charlie finds it funny that it took him more courage and bravery to pick up the peaches, which were rotten and covered with bees, than to sneak onto Jack’s property. 

All of a sudden, someone sees smoke and Charlie runs towards it, seeing that Eliza’s house is on fire. Charlie sees that her parents are safe, but her father has burns on his body. He realises that Eliza was the one who set the house on fire, and realises that he’ll never completely understand her motives.

He is also confronted by the reality that Corrigan will, like always, blame Jasper for it. Charlie goes to Eliza, who calmly observes the fire, and whispers ‘perfect words’ in her ear. 

Key Characters in Jasper Jones

Charlie Bucktin 13-year-old Charlie Bucktin is the protagonist of the novel. Charlie is intellectual and an aspiring writer, which often makes him an outsider in Corrigan, where athletic skills and sporting abilities are valued a lot more than academic talents. He also loves to read and draws connections between his life and the books he reads, including notable novels such as To Kill a Mockingbird and Pudd’nhead Wilson. However, he’s still naive and innocent when it comes to the real world, and he often questions the actions of other people and the complexities of human behaviour. Throughout the novel, Charlie struggles to grasp how crimes, injustices, and racism can occur. He’s also very anxious and irrationally fearful, but as the novel progresses, he learns to overcome his anxieties and matures significantly.  

Jasper Jones Jasper Jones is a half-Aboriginal, half-white boy who seeks Charlie’s help in hiding Laura Wishart’s body and solving her murder, which sets the rest of the narrative into motion. Jasper is raised by an alcoholic and abusive father, so Jasper often resorts to stealing for survival. This, paired with his mixed race background, makes him an outcast and town scapegoat. He’s blamed for every crime or wrongdoing in Corrigan. As Charlie gets to know him better, he realises that Jasper is approachable, loyal and sympathetic, and that he is very different to the town’s portrayal of him. He slowly learns that the reasons for Jasper’s status as an outcast are far more complex than he originally thought, and are rooted in social structures more than Jasper’s behaviour/personality.  

Jeffrey Lu Jeffrey Lu, a 12-year-old Vietnamese boy, is Charlie’s best friend. He is a talented cricket player and despite facing a range of obstacles, he optimistically manages to win the respect of Corrigan and plays on the cricket team, helping them win a match. Jeffrey and Charlie share an absurd sense of humour and bond over their intellect. 

Eliza Wishart Eliza Wishart is Laura Wishart’s sister and Charlie’s romantic interest. She’s intelligent, beautiful and witty, which often leaves Charlie flustered around her and he struggles to think of witty things to say to impress her. Charlie finds her company comforting and frequently talks to her, thinks of her, or daydreams about living in New York together. Throughout the novel, Charlie suspects that Eliza knows something about Laura’s disappearance and is keeping it a secret. Towards the end of the novel, he finally uncovers what the secret is. He also finds it difficult to understand how Eliza can appear so calm and collected while simultaneously being capable of destruction and intense emotions such as rage and sorrow. 

Mad Jack Lionel Mad Jack Lionel is a recluse resident of Corrigan, who is feared by young people in the town because of different urban myths and rumours about him. As a result, children try to steal peaches from a tree on his property as a sign of courage. One of the rumours about Mad Jack Lionel, is that he once killed a woman many years ago. As Jasper and Charlie investigate Laura’s death, they learn that Jack is Jasper’s grandfather and that he got into a car accident while driving Jasper’s mother to a hospital, which caused her death. Towards the end of the novel, Charlie starts to see Mad Jack Lionel as a lonely, misunderstood old man and believes he deserves compassion and sympathy. 

Ruth Bucktin  Ruth Bucktin, Charlie’s mother, is an antagonistic figure in Charlie’s life and he sees her as cold, angry and unreasonably strict. She’s unhappy with her life in Corrigan and would prefer to be living with her wealthy parents, far from Charlie and Wesley. Charlie’s relationship with his mother is completely undone once he discovers that Ruth is unfaithful to his father. 

Wesley Bucktin Wesley Bucktin is Charlie’s father and Ruth’s husband. Wesley is very intelligent, calm and patient, who always tackles problems diplomatically. He’s one of Charlie’s biggest role models and Charlie appreciates his father’s honesty and straightforwardness. However, Charlie realises that even Wesley has his secrets, including that he is secretly working on a novel. 

Jasper Jones is set in 1965 Corrigan, a fictional small Australian town. As the 1960s were a period of major social change both within and beyond Australia , the decade was seen as a turning-point in Australian history. It was considered to be super influential on the country’s growth and development. 

During the 1960s, the USA and the Soviet Union were involved in a long and violent war in Vietnam. As an ally of the United States, Australia sent thousands of its own troops to fight alongside America.

Many of the troops faced horrific deaths, which led to a lot of criticisms within Australia about the country’s decision to fight in the Vietnam War. As a result, many Asian residents in Australia, found themselves to be victims of violence, racism and harassment. 

The 1960s also saw the rise of civil rights movements across America and Australia, which advocated against racial discrimination . In Australia, civil rights activists fought for equal rights for Indigenous Australians and criticised racism in colonised Australia. 

The second wave of feminism also emerged during the 1960s (a lot of changes were happening in this decade!) and criticised sexual harassment, double standards, and discrimination within a patriarchal society. 

This is the context protagonist Charlie Bucktin finds himself in, as he navigates growing up and coming of age in a period of major changes worldwide. 

Themes Explored in Jasper Jones

Here are some of the themes in ‘Jasper Jones’ to help your analysis: 

• Justice and Morality 
• Truth and Honesty 
• Coming of age
• Sympathy, Empathy and Understanding

Looking for a list of quotes from the text? We’ve got you covered with our Jasper Jones quotes !

How to Analyse the book, Jasper Jones, in 3 Steps

When you’re answering an English essay question, you might be tempted to start with your thesis . But it’s actually better to lay the foundations of your essay with a strong analysis ! While a good thesis is super important, you can’t get those top marks without analysing your text first. 

Once you’ve got an in-depth analysis of the text and its meaning, you can develop a solid essay response. 

Are you trying to write an essay for Jasper Jones that’s going to get you great marks? If yes, you might benefit from some personalised help with one of our English tutors in the Hills District and all across Sydney!

We’ll be walking you through an analysis of Jasper Jones with these simple steps!

Step 1: Choose your example(s)

Your example is the evidence to support your argument, so finding good examples is super important when it comes to analysing a text!

For this analysis, we’re looking at how Jasper Jones explores justice and morality within society.  We’ve chosen the following quotes as an example: 

“What kind of lousy world is this? Has it always been this way, or has the bottom fallen out of it in the past couple of days? Has it always been so unfair? What is it that tips the scales so? I don’t understand it…” “I understood then that maybe we really did do the wrong thing for the right reasons”

Step 2: Identify your techniques

Now that we’ve found a good example, we need to identify the techniques used within that example. Techniques help you to delve deeper into the meaning of the text and really strengthen your argument!

Try to find at least two techniques within your example to create a sophisticated and strong analysis!

In this example, we’ve identified 3 techniques: repetition, rhetorical questions, and contrast.

Step 3: Carry out your analysis 

Once you’ve got your examples and techniques, it’s time to put it all together! 

When you’re carrying out your analysis, remember that the focus should be on the effect of the techniques . As you analyse your examples and techniques, flesh out their effects and how they support your argument.

Think about what the composer is trying to express and how the techniques they use achieves this deeper meaning.

To achieve those top marks, you need to go beyond simply stating your techniques and examples. 

Rather than simply labelling techniques like this: 

Craig Silvey uses rhetorical questions and repetition as protagonist Charlie asks himself, “What kind of lousy world is this? Has it always been this way, or has the bottom fallen out of it in the past couple of days? Has it always been so unfair? What is it that tips the scales so? I don’t understand it…”. He contrasts this with Charlie’s realisation “that maybe we really did do the wrong thing for the right reasons”. Through this use of repetition, rhetorical questions and contrast, Silvey interrogates the complexity of justice and morality within society. 

Our analysis needs to take a deep-dive into how those techniques create meaning. This would look more like: 

Protagonist Charlie Bucktin finds himself asking a series of rhetorical questions, like “What kind of lousy world is this? Has it always been this way, or has the bottom fallen out of it in the past couple of days? Has it always been so unfair? What is it that tips the scales so? I don’t understand it…”. Silvey’s use of repetition and rhetorical questions provokes an emotive response from readers as they empathise with Charlie’s critique of the absence of morality and justice within society. This is contrasted by Charlie’s interrogation of his own actions to help hide Laura Wishart’s body further in the novel, as he reflects, “I understood then that maybe we really did do the wrong thing for the right reasons”. As Charlie undergoes the coming-of-age journey through a process of emotional growth, he develops a deeper understanding of the complexities of morality. He acknowledges the multi-faceted nature of morality and recognises the tension between achieving justice and meeting moral obligations. 

Studying this text for HSC Year 11 Module B: Close Study of Literature 

If you’re studying this text for HSC Year 11 Standard English Module B: Close Study of Literature , we’ve got you covered! We’ll show you how you can link your analysis to the syllabus focus questions. 

Link #1: How do the distinctive qualities of texts shape the way we respond to them?

One distinctive quality of Jasper Jones is that it’s written from a first-person narrative voice and follows the perspective of 13-year-old Charlie Bucktin.

With this perspective, we gain insights into the characterisation of a coming-of-age protagonist , which shapes how we respond to the text by encouraging us to empathise with Charlie and engage personally with the text by drawing parallels to our own experiences as an adolescent.

This shapes the way we respond to Jasper Jones emotively as Charlie progresses from childhood innocence towards maturity. 

Link #2: How do texts represent ideas and concerns from the context in which they are composed?

Craig Silvey grew up in a rural town in Western Australia, which is represented by the text’s setting of Corrigan, a fictional town in Western Australia that parallels his own personal experiences, ideas and concerns.

Delving deeper into the context in which Jasper Jones was composed, Craig Silvey talks about what he wanted to explore through Jasper Jones and discusses how he wanted to foreground the coming-of-age experience, especially “ that moment where the bubble is burst and you’re suddenly exposed to the real truth of things” .

The author’s background in relation to the composition of Jasper Jones shows how context can shape the creative decisions made when writing a text, and how these are represented through the text.

Get some essay practice in with our practice questions for Year 11 English Standard Module B !

Need some help analysing other texts?

Check out other texts we’ve created guides for below:

• All the Light We Cannot See
• Lord of the Flies
• Jojo Rabbit
• In Cold Blood
• To Kill a Mockingbird
• Pride and Prejudice
• The Book Thief
• Nick and the Candlestick
• Things Fall Apart
• Mrs Dalloway

Are you looking for some extra help with your book analysis of Jasper Jones?

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We can help you master your book analysis of Jasper Jones by taking you through the summary, key characters and themes. We’ll also help you ace your upcoming English assessments with personalised lessons conducted one-on-one in your home or online! Check out Parramatta tutoring for personalised tutors at your home!

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Maitreyi Kulkarni is a Content Writer at Art of Smart Education and is currently studying a Bachelor of Media and Communications (Public Relations and Social Media) at Macquarie University. She loves writing just about anything from articles to poetry, and has also had one of her articles published with the ABC. When she’s not writing up a storm, she can be found reading, bingeing sitcoms, or playing the guitar.

• Topics: ✏️ English , ✍️ Learn

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Study Guide : Jasper Jones: How to plan an essay

• Chapter summary
• Film Reviews
• Book Reviews
• Indigenous social issues in Australia during the 1960's
• How to plan an essay

How to plan an essay : Writing steps

Plan your essay   .

Once you understand exactly what you have to do to answer your essay question, you're ready to start planning and researching.

Do this well and you'll have no trouble writing your essay.

How to plan an essay : Essay Plan

Write an essay plan

A good essay plan helps you arrange your ideas logically and stay on track during the writing process.

Your plan should state how you're going to prove your argument, including the evidence you're going to use. Structure your plan around the different parts of an essay. To do this:

• Write your argument in one sentence at the top of the page – you'll flesh this out into your introduction.
• Write three or four key points that you think will support your argument. Try to write each point in one sentence. These will become your topic sentences.
• Under each point, write down one or two examples from your research that support your point. These can be quotes, paraphrased text from reliable authors, etc. Remember to reference your examples when you write up your essay.
• Finally, write the main point you want to leave in your reader's mind – that's your conclusion.  

Source :    http://ergo.slv.vic.gov.au/learn-skills/essay-writing-skills

How to plan an essay : Essay Structure

Essay structure.

Essays are structured differently depending on the question and the subject, but some elements are common to most essays.

You can plan and write more efficiently if you understand what each element does:

• the introduction  tells the reader the point you're going to prove
• the body   is where you  discuss  your argument and give examples to illustrate your key points
• the conclusion   drives your argument home by describing how you've done what you said you were going to do.

 Source:  http://ergo.slv.vic.gov.au/learn-skills/essay-writing-skills/plan-your-essay/essay-structure

How to plan an essay : Form your argument

Form an argument.

Y our argument is the message you want your reader to remember when they finish reading. When writing an essay, you need to set up a clear argument in the introduction and develop it in the body of the essay. 

A good argument :

• is objective and avoids biased language
• can be summed up in one sentence
• communicates why you think your argument is right
• is interesting and convincing.

If the essay question is testing work you've covered in class, you might already know what you think about the topic. Research is then about finding evidence to back up this point of view.

If the question is asking you to find out new information, it's often harder to come up with a clear argument. If you're not sure what you think about a topic, start reading and let the information you find guide your essay.

Keep an open mind

Whatever your opinion about a topic, it's important to be open to different points of view during your research. If most of the information you find disagrees with your argument, consider changing your point of view – after all, your essay has to be shaped by the evidence you find.

Source:  http://ergo.slv.vic.gov.au/learn-skills/essay-writing-skills/plan-your-essay/form-argument

Using quotes in an essay

How to plan an essay : Quotes

Find & record quotes.

An essay isn't just a list of facts – you need quotes and examples from books, websites, people and other resources to prove your argument.

There's no one place to find good quotes. However, once you begin your research, you'll start noticing parts of the text that would add to your essay. Record them in your essay plan, so you can see how they work with each paragraph, and with your essay as a whole.

You never know which quotes you'll need later, so copy and paste into a Word™ document the bibliographical information of  all  the quotes you find. When you finish writing, tidy up this list and your bibliography's done

Quoting conventions

When using quotes, you need to follow certain  conventions  so that your reader can tell where the quote begins and ends. Quotes are usually referenced like this;

To quote a word, phrase or short passage:

• use single quotation marks ['...'] at the beginning and end of the quote
• use double quotations marks ["..."] around a second quote if you're using a quote referenced in another quote.

To quote a long passage or speech:

• begin on a new line
• indent the quote
• don't use quote marks
• start the sentence following the quote on a new line.

Source:  http://ergo.slv.vic.gov.au/learn-skills/essay-writing-skills/using-quotes/find-record-quotes

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Jasper Jones

44 pages • 1 hour read

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-2

Chapters 3-4

Chapters 5-6

Chapters 8-9

Character Analysis

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Discussion Questions

Using Literature to Broaden Perspective

Charlie is an avid reader, and this reading influences both how he thinks about the world and how others think about him. Jasper first comes to Charlie because he knows the boy has unique insights about other people thanks to his heavy reading habits. This is important to Jasper because the people of Corrigan mistreat him because of his Aboriginal heritage. People automatically believe the negative things they are told about Jasper. He believes that since Charlie reads, he will understand more of the world and other people. This is, indeed, part of why Charlie reads. After Charlie is confronted with the reality of Laura’s death and makes the decision to help Jasper hide her body, he goes to the library to read about killers because he wants to understand why people commit evil acts. Given that he does not hold religious beliefs, he cannot use religion as a means to understand evil, nor can he talk to other people about the incident of Laura’s death. Therefore, he goes to the next best source of understanding: books.

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Jasper Jones Bundle: Analysis Powerpoint + Model Essay + Essay Planner

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Save heaps of time with this Jasper Jones bundle of three products:

• Novel Analysis Powerpoint

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Model Essay

• BONUS FILE - analytical paragraph on Chapter 1

What's in the powerpoint?

Lead students in critical thinking and discussion of Craig Silvey's Jasper Jones, exploring such themes as race, growing up, prejudice, violence, love, grief and family. The powerpoint includes everything to help students comprehend and analyse these themes, including the relevant aesthetic features.

This chapter by chapter powerpoint includes:

• Building student interest on first impressions of the cover and blurb
• Understanding setting and context: 1960s Western Australia in a small mining town
• Chapter 1 Discussion questions + interest building activities
• Chapter 2 Discussion questions + allusion
• Chapter 3 Discussion questions + dramatic irony and symbol
• Chapter 4 Discussion questions + motif and symbol
• Chapter 5 Discussion questions + theme
• Chapter 6 Discussion questions + intertextuality
• Chapter 7 Discussion questions + foreshadowing, imagery, climax
• Chapter 8 Discussion questions + characterisation
• Chapter 9 Discussion questions + power of literature

The presenter notes section of each slide also has teaching suggestions with a focus toward preparing students for an analytical essay.

What's in the model essay?

The model essay explores the impact of racism on the characters of Jeffrey Lu and Jasper Jones in the novel as follows:

• Thesis: Jasper Jones explores the psychological and physical impact of deep-seated racism in 1960s Australia.
• Structure: introduction, 2 x extended body paragraphs (Jeffrey and Jasper), conclusion
• Word length: 782 words
• Writing level: Year 11 or 12 standard prose and construction

The model essay includes a broken down:

• introduction
• body paragraph and

Students are asked to circle and label the structural elements in each sentences so they can see how information is synthesised into an free-flow argument.

What's in the essay planner?

This planner helps students organise an analytical / expository essay response and includes:

• Page 1: Unpacking your essay questions and theme
• Page 2: Selecting and analysing quotes with example analysis and paragraph
• Page 3: Essay structure in clear dot points
• Page 4: A whole page essay planner
• Page 5: Essay edits on grammar, punctuation and writing style with examples
• Page 6: Essay edits on formatting, spelling and sentence structure with examples

What other Jasper Jones products do I have?

2 Product Bundle: Analysis Powerpoint + Essay Planner

2 Product Bundle: Essay Planner + Model Essay

Analysis Powerpoint

Sample Paragraph Film - Free!

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Craig Silvey’s Coming of Age in ‘Jasper Jones’: Themes and Analysis

• Craig Silvey’s Coming of Age…

Craig Silvey’s critically acclaimed novel Jasper Jones could have been another cliché story about the budding relationship between Charlie and Eliza, but Silvey managed to tie romance, crime and coming of age all into one. It is a significant contributor to the engaging and relevant young adult fiction that is currently available. This novel deals with issues that are relevant to contemporary readers, despite being set in the 1960s.

Charlie Buckti n is easily the most real, relatable and important character there is. Throughout the novel, Charlie’s coming of age and awakening to the harsh real world is very similar to what modern-day teenagers experience. The transition from childhood to adulthood, the true darkness of humanity, and appearance vs reality are themes that recur constantly during Jasper Jones.

This novel begins with Charlie Bucktin being awoken by an urgent knock on the window of his room. His visitor is Jasper Jones, the outcast of Corrigan. Seen as rebellious and solitary, Jasper is a distant figure of danger and intrigue to Charlie.

Charlie sneaking out for the first time is described as “a little like a foal being born”, which is used to portray Charlie as an innocent child experiencing the world for the first time.

It symbolizes him being reborn as a new person , almost like he can sense that by going with Jasper Jones his life will change dramatically.

This experience is something many current teenagers would be able to relate to, there’s a certain turning point of adolescence when they know everything is changing.

Another significant event in Charlie’s transition from childhood to adulthood was when he saw his mother having an affair. “The walls might be falling, but I feel calm.

I really do”, the ‘walls’ represent Charlie’s childhood and youth. With this event, he knows that nothing can go back to how it used to be. This is relatable for current teenagers as broken marriages and divorce are becoming more common, even more now than when Jasper Jones was set, as divorce rates have doubled since then.

For Charlie, his parents’ expired and worn relationship was a rarity, as the belief back then was that people were ‘married for life’.  Silvey is to be praised for the ways he has been able to create a very real character that represents contemporary teenagers and their issues.

The brutal and horrendous murder of Sylvia Likens plagued Charlie with thoughts about the evil in the world and considered historical monsters, he became aware of more sinister events in the world, which ultimately led to him questioning the world even more. “And how was it that Gertrude Baniszewski could seduce so many children into committing these acts?

How could they turn up, day after day, to do the unspeakable? And how could they return home of an evening, no words or shame or remorse tumbling out of their mouths? What did Sylvia Likens do to deserve this? Or was it just shit luck and chance?”. The repetition of the word ‘how’ expresses Charlie’s confusion and lack of understanding of the darkness of humanity.

He is completely at a loss for an explanation for some of the crueler aspects of society and people, which is a very real aspect of growing up and learning about the evil there is. The use of explicit language is realistic and demonstrates that Silvey was not afraid to write a truly honest novel that was indicative of young adults.

The police physically abusing Jasper also opened Charlie’s eyes to the fact that authority figures aren’t always able to be trusted, nor will they always do the right thing.

Jasper was already aware of this, as is evident in the resigned tone he used when telling Charlie about his beating “They don’t need a reason mate… they reckon I got something to do with Laura being missing”.

This also ties in with the issue of racism and prejudice that was extremely prevalent in the 1960s but has become less so. The inexplicableness and incomprehensibility of the darkness of humanity also plagues Charlie, and many other teenagers trying to make sense of the world.

There are certain things that have no explanation. “And the folks who trouble me, the ones who, through some break in their circuits, through some hole in their heart, can’t feel it, or say it, or scratch it into trees”. The metaphor of the ‘break in their circuits’ and ‘hole in their heart’ shows that the darkness is a flaw, a problem in the fabric of what makes people human.

The repetition of the third person ‘it’ shows how foreign the concept of ‘sorry’ is to some. Charlie’s newfound confusion with why and how there are such sinister people in the world and navigating from being more sheltered as a child to suddenly learn about horrible things is still relevant for today’s teenagers.

The town of Corrigan and its people certainly have secrets , many of which are revealed to Charlie throughout the course of Jasper Jones. Peeling back the moral exterior of people reveals horrific realities. The learning that underneath someone’s appearance there can be a very jarring reality is becoming increasingly more prevalent, particularly regarding authorities. Authority figures being abusive of their powers, and not who they are thought to be, is an important issue in Jasper Jones. 

Laura’s father appears as the Shire President, a trustworthy, strong, well-respected family man, whereas he is actually “the worst of the lot of them” sexually abusing Laura, his own daughter. “Because Eliza didn’t know, never knew, that her father, the shire president, she never knew that he visited Laura’s bedroom as well. But he didn’t talk politely. He crept in, drunk. Always drunk. Always discreet”. The stream of consciousness writing shows how hard it was for Charlie to process the darkness Laura’s father had in his heart.

This is something many real teenagers struggle with, the acceptance that there are inherently bad people, even though that may not appear to be the case. Laura’s situation is also a prime example of how, back in the 1960s, it was common for people to keep secrets within their families. This was done so they did not ‘air their dirty laundry’ or feel judged by their community.

When the Sergeant who savagely beat Jasper comes to Charlie’s house and is comforting and familiar, Charlie has a difficult time reconciling these different versions of him. “I remember thinking that if I hadn’t seen the cuts and bruises on Jasper’s face for myself, I wouldn’t have thought for a second that this burly paternal copper was capable of locking up an innocent boy without charge and beating him.

If Jasper Jones hadn’t shown me the cigarette burns on his shoulders just hours before, if I hadn’t touched their ugly pink pucker with my fingertips, I wouldn’t have suspected this man to be the monster he was”. Jasper Jones as the town scapegoat is another character who is very different from what he appears to be. Jasper’s appearance is that “He’s a Thief, a Liar, a Truant” according to the town. The definitiveness of this judgment is shown by the asyndeton and capitalization, demonstrating that the town is unlikely to change its perspective of Jasper.

In reality, “Jasper Jones speaks the truth in a whole town of liars”, according to Charlie, which contrasts the entirety of Corrigan’s views. The appearance versus reality of many characters is crucial for Charlie throughout the novel, and for many teens, as they come to realize that not everything is as it seems.

By using themes that all focus on growing up and learning truths about the world, both good and bad, Craig Silvey has been able to make the character of Charlie Bucktin highly relatable to modern-day teenage readers.

Jasper Jones is one of many relevant youth novels, and it showcases the transition from childhood to adulthood, the true darkness of humanity, and appearance vs reality, which all contribute to the realness of Charlie’s coming of age. He is navigating his way through an increasingly complex society, much like contemporary readers. Despite being in completely different eras and societies, Charlie and current teens face very similar problems and issues.

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Jasper Jones

By craig silvey, jasper jones quotes and analysis.

"This is how you’ll end up if you’re disobedient.’’ Charlie, p. 5

Jasper is seen as being a negative influence by the community, and as a result, many consider him a villain. When their children misbehave, the parents of Corrigan will often use Jasper as a negative example and tell their children that if they are disobedient, they will end up just like him. By doing this, they encourage their children to develop the same type of mentality as their parents and to manifest prejudice against a person they barely know and understand. Charlie seems to note a strong community-wide pressure to conform to a certain set of pre-approved behaviors.

"How was it that Gertrude Baniszewski could seduce so many children into committing these acts?" Charlie, p. 88

In the third chapter, Charlie goes to the local library where he reads about different crimes. While there, Charlie reads about the case of Sylvia Likens, a young girl who was raped, tortured and murdered by the family that was taking care of her. What is truly horrifying about the case is that many people knew about Sylvia and about what was happening to her, but they chose to do nothing. Charlie thought about how those who knew about her and even her sister could go on about their day without doing anything and without acting in any way to stop it. What the author wanted to highlight through this example was the fact that sometimes, humans are capable of truly horrific things, one of them being the capacity to ignoring something horrific entirely if they think that revealing the truth will not benefit them.

"Eliza Wishart knows something." Charlie, p. 94

Eliza is Laura’s little sister, a girl roughly the same age as Charlie. Despite being the same age as him, Eliza is much more mature and wise than Charlie, and behaves like a grown-up. This prompts Charlie to think that she knows something about her sister and about what happened to her. What he does not know, however, is just how much Eliza knows and how little he knows compared to her. Towards the end of the novel, Charlie will find out just how misinformed he was compared to her.

"And it happens like that. Like when you first realize there is no such thing as magic. Or that nothing actually answers your prayers, or really even listens. That cold moment of dismay where your feet are kicked from under you, where you're disarmed by a shard of knowing." Charlie, p. 14

When Jasper tells Charlie that the police will blame him for Laura's death, he reminds Charlie that his first reaction was to suspect Jasper as well. This causes Charlie to realize that he is as much a part of the problem as anyone else in Corrigan. Charlie realizes the implications of who Jasper is, in particular his racial background, in relation to this crime, and realizes that Jasper is very much at risk. The "shard of knowing" not only forces Charlie to face his own inherent prejudice, but it signifies Charlie's realization that he will help Jasper through this situation no matter what.

"My point is this: the more you have to lose, the braver you are for standing up." Charlie, p. 56

Charlie says this during his debate with Jeffery on the merits of Superman versus Batman, but it takes on a larger life once Charlie has made this point, as it begins to frame how Charlie examines the courageous natures of those around him. The debate tells us a lot about what Charlie values in a person's character and illuminates one of the main themes of the novel. For someone who, at this moment in the story, doesn't consider himself very brave, Charlie nevertheless knows what bravery looks like. This is why he is so admiring of his best friend, as Jeffery is often brave in the face of neighborhood bullies who target him because of his race and nationality.

"Strangely, of all the horrible things I've encountered and considered recently, dropping a bomb seems to be the least violent among them, even though it's clearly the worst. But there's no evil mugshot, no bloody grove. It's hard to figure out who to blame. There's something clean about all that distance. Maybe the further away you are, the less you have to care, the less you're responsible. But that seems wrong to me." Charlie, p. 126

In this passage, Charlie is considering the death of Jeffery's family members in Vietnam. He feels as though it is wrong that the bombing of Jeffery's family's village isn't on the news the night that it happens. Charlie doesn't realize that a bombing of this nature probably occurs daily in Vietnam during the war and that many innocent people were facing worse atrocities than that. Charlie thinks that there are good and bad things in the world, and trusts resources like news outlets to be a source of good. This passage introduces the important themes of relativity, perspective, and culpability in the novel. Charlie is beginning to understand how the world works and how adults often cope with violence by ignoring it.

" What a World! Said the green witch in my Wizard of Oz dream. I bet she was happy to go. I bet a part of her was relieved to melt into nothing. For some people, it must be nice to know about dying. It must be a relief." Charlie, p. 128

In this chapter, Charlie is facing the ugliness of the world. He is realizing that the world is not as fair or safe of a place as he once thought, and this is a traumatizing realization. Charlie is coming to terms with death overall without coming to terms with Laura's death specifically. He realizes that knowing about death might be a relief for other people, but it still isn't one for him. Charlie is tormented by his knowledge of what happened to Laura and is beginning to consider whether the Wishart family deserves to know the truth. Charlie wonders what it means to know that you will one day die, and accordingly to expect to die.

"Everyone can learn a trade and pay taxes and have a family. But that's not growin up. It's about how you act when your shit gets shaken up, it's about how much you see around you. That's what makes a man." Jasper, p. 144

Jasper and Charlie discuss Jasper's plan to leave Corrigan when the Laura situation dies down, and Jasper challenges Charlie's perception of what differentiates a kid from a grown-up. Charlie empathizes with Jasper's notion that Corrigan is a dead-end town that he must escape. After this conversation, Charlie gets convinced that he must leave Corrigan too, and by doing so escape all that he has seen and done.

"Every character in every story is buffeted between good and bad, between right and wrong. But it's good people who can tell the difference, who know when they've crossed the line. And it's a hard and humbling gesture, to take blame and admit fault. You've got to get brave to say it and mean it." Charlie, p. 205

In this passage, Charlie is considering what the etched "sorry"s, found on the cypress and on Jack Lionel's car, mean. He wonders if the apology is as condemning of Jack Lionel as Jasper thinks, because Charlie thinks that knowing when to say sorry indicates the kind of empathy that isn't found in a killer. At the moment, Charlie has more to be sorry for than ever before in his life. He is beginning to understand the grey areas of life. He is also beginning to understand the complexities of his own actions. The fact that the word is "sorry" makes Charlie think that it might not have been the killer who etched the word into the cypress: "If you're capable of that kind of evil, can you be capable of an equal share of remorse?" (206).

"The world isn't right. It's small and it's nasty and it's lousy with sadness. Maybe that's what this town is so content to face in on itself, to keep everything so settled and smooth and serene. And at the moment, I can't say that I blame them." Charlie, p. 244

Charlie and Jasper have just learned that Jack Lionel is Jasper's grandfather and that their hypothesis that he killed Laura is incorrect. Charlie is buckling under the pressure of everything he has learned, and something has to give, soon. He has lost all of his innocence and hope, and is beginning to better understand the town he criticized for so long. Charlie is coming to realize that prejudice and tragedy are everywhere one looks, and that stories never end as tidily as one hopes they might.

Jasper Jones Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Jasper Jones is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

WHO IS CASAROLLS

Are you referring to the book Jasper Jones?

I need some advice.

It is not uncommon for young children to be curious about their bodies and the bodies of others, and they may engage in behaviors that are considered socially inappropriate or uncomfortable for adults. However, it is important to address any...

Masculinity

“My point is this: the more you have to lose, the braver you are for standing up.” pg. 56

“Every instance in my life, I've felt like the exact opposite of Superman. Except this time, this moment right now. I don't care. I don't feel like a weak,...

Study Guide for Jasper Jones

Jasper Jones study guide contains a biography of Craig Silvey, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About Jasper Jones
• Jasper Jones Summary
• Character List

Essays for Jasper Jones

Jasper Jones essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey.

• Truth and Justice in Jasper Jones
• Jasper Jones: Justice, Agency, and Perspective
• Australian Culture and Jasper Jones
• Quick Thinking in the Toughest Times: Heroism in Seabiscuit and Jasper Jones
• Themes of Prejudice in Jasper Jones

Lesson Plan for Jasper Jones

• About the Author
• Study Objectives
• Common Core Standards
• Introduction to Jasper Jones
• Relationship to Other Books
• Bringing in Technology
• Notes to the Teacher
• Related Links
• Jasper Jones Bibliography