This comprehensive student book offers an in-depth study of the prescribed poems from The Perseverance (2018) by award-winning poet Raymond Antrobus, tailored to meet the requirements of the NSW Stage 6 Standard English Focus Area: Language, Identity and Culture.

This resource guides students through a close exploration of Antrobus’ unique voice and poetic style, inviting them to consider how language can shape, challenge, and reflect both personal and collective identities. Through a range of engaging and thought-provoking activities—analytical, imaginative, and reflective—students will develop critical reading skills, refine their writing, and deepen their understanding of cultural perspectives and the assumptions that underpin them.

With scaffolded learning tasks, writing practice, and opportunities for rich textual analysis, this student book empowers students to build confident, well-supported responses to the prescribed poems that communicate their understanding of the ways Antrobus uses language to affirm, challenge, and disrupt prevailing assumptions and beliefs about D/deaf culture and identity.

This student book provides opportunities for students to engage with the following poems from The Perseverance:

• ‘Echo’

• ‘Jamaican British’

• ‘Ode to My Hair’

• ‘Dear Hearing World’

• ‘The Ghost of Laura Bridgman Warns Helen Keller About Fame’

• ‘Doctor Marigold Re-evaluated’

• ‘To Sweeten Bitter’

Authors: Emily Bosco and Anthony Bosco

Format: A4 paperback, 124 pages

ISBN: 978 1 923140 13 4