Notable Possibilities

The first Night of Notables was held at our school in 2003. This means that every student in the school can recall the fun they had in Year 7, dressing up as a famous person and showing their parents and the rest of school how creative and thoughtful they could be. And here’s an amazing thing: older students love to come and see what the new kids on the block are doing for the Night of Notables. Those new kids on the block are YOU! Which notable person will you choose? How will you make the night special and memorable?

Here’s a tip: choose someone that no one else has ever chosen. Choose someone YOU don’t know very much about. That way there will be a mystery for you to solve and many people will be curious to know about the person you have chosen.

So here are some notable people who, despite their great achievements and determination to improve human life, have (at least to my knowledge) never been chosen by students before. I’ve taught Year 7 every year since the Night of Notables was introduced, so I do have a pretty good idea. For each person below, I’ve tried to give a little description or at least include a link to a reputable site that will tell you about the person. I am hankering for someone to choose one of these people, instead of the obvious people who are chosen every year. Be original! Go for it!

PS: You won’t be able to watch any of the You-Tube videos at school, I’m afraid. Our computers crack up when you ask too much of them. But don’t despair: these videos should work at home.

Notable People who have never been N O T A B L E at our School:

IMG_0040_DevilsMarblesKath Walker (Oodgeroo Noonuccal) She was an Aboriginal writer and activist who gave back her MBE in protest against the treatment of her people. Influential in winning the vote for Aborigines, she was a writer of great purpose and conviction. For instance, she wrote: “We need help, not exploitation.” One of her saddest poems was about an old man who was the last of his tribe. There was noone left who could speak to him in the language of his people. The poem shows her sense of loss and the desperate isolation of the old man. Oodgeroo Noonuccal wrote many moving poems. She was also partially responsible for gaining the vote for Aboriginal people. Click on this link to read a brief introduction to her life: http://www.library.uq.edu.au/fryer/worth_fighting/2.html

  • Harriet Tubman was nicknamed the “Moses of her People” for her role in saving slaves through the so-called Underground Railroad in America.
  • Jane Austen was one of the great authors of the English language. In her novels she described the narrow social world of the English country towns where she lived; she explored the limited social experiences of her characters. That doesn’t sound all that impressive, does it? And yet, and yet…Somehow these stories, set in the early 1800s, have had an abiding impact on her readers. They have inspired many films, discussions and debates. For Austen’s insights into human nature are astounding. This brilliant woman, who never married and who died in her forties, had an acute understanding of human love and cruelty, a sharp wit, a measured cynicism and a power with the English language that few, if any, have been able to match. (***Whoops! Claire tells me her older sister Lizzie chose Jane Austen just last year. So she has been chosen before…Still, she deserves another run and she certainly hasn’t been chosen very often. Sorry, Lizzie!)

  • Emily Bronte was a great author and poet. Her poem “Remembrance” is deeply moving and her novel, “Wuthering Heights”, is one of the great works of English literature. Yet she was writing at a time when women usually had to take the name of a man to have any chance of being published.
  • Vera Brittain was an author and peace activist between the World Wars in Britain. Although she was accused of being disloyal for trying to seek peace, her name was ultimately found on a list of people the Nazis would like to assassinate, which improved her reputation with the English people! Her famous book, “Testament of Youth”, told the tragic story of the young men she loved who died in WWI, including her brother and fiancee.
  • Judy Horacek is an Australian cartoonist who takes a strong feminist stand and is politically astute and cynical, yet with that whimsical edge to her work that many great Australian cartoonists seem to have. A champion of the rights of minority groups and a social commentator, she would be a fine choice for the Night of Notables. Her cartoons can be viewed at the National Library of Australia website. Here is the link:
  • http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Search/Home?lookfor=Judy+Horacek&filter%5B%5D=format%3APicture

  • W.E.B. DuBois was an African American activist and writer in the 1920s who spread the story of the murders and lynchings in the south. He tried to promote the right of African Americans in the south to live without persecution, prejudice and arbitrary attacks. In his publications he exposed the cruelty of those who wanted to ensure that, even though the slaves had been freed, they should still be forced to live like slaves. He gave a voice to people who had no voice.
  • Sir Mark Oliphant was a brilliant Australian scientist whose work in nuclear physics was partially responsible for the creation of the bombs that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He was forever regretful at the calamity they had caused, however, and later spoke out against the use of science for immoral ends.

    http://www.abc.net.au/schoolstv/australians/oliphant.htm

    http://www.abc.net.au/pm/stories/s153006.htm

  • William Wilberforce was a campaigner against slavery in Britain in the 19th century. He died just a few days after the bill abolishing slavery succeeded.
  • William Barak was an artist, an activist and a leader of his people, the Wurundjeri clan, who lived in Melbourne before the coming of the Europeans, and whose descendants still live here today. The government continually took land and rights from the Aboriginal people and Barak, despite his growing sense of futility and despair, continued to plead, protest and fight for decency, fairness and equality.
  • http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/barak/artist.html

    Sofonisba Anguissola was a great woman painter of the Renaissance. Until the internet came into being I didn’t even know she existed. Woman artists rarely make it into art books. Yet some of her paintings are just lovely. They warm my heart because they show people enjoying life and doing quite ordinary things – even smiling! One of her most famous paintings shows a few young girls playing chess and smiling. This was quite rare in those days. There’s also a self-portrait of the artist at her easel.

    • Golda Meir – Israeli Prime Minister
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    5 Replies to “Notable Possibilities”

    1. wow Ros! you sure put ALLOT of effort into this.
      This has been a massive help for me,
      and it’s made me slightly paraniod, about the person i choose.

      when u say ” the obvious people”what exactly do u mean?
      more to the point, Who are the people that get choosen every year?
      who are the clieched people?
      im really into the idea of 2 women u’ve suggested, the Bronte lady who wrote rememberance,
      i’m trying to locate a copy of this, and also kath walker, i’ve actually got
      a few of her poems lying around in my room, but i think there under a different name of hers.
      I can’t believe these people have never been choosen! i wonder if i can do 2 people hmmm
      nah i beta just stick to 1.

      anyways thanx Ros 🙂
      From Tina, ur future student, hopefully

    2. Dear Tina,
      Thanks, you’re such a kind and appreciative student. Geez, I’m sorry for making you paranoid. I seem to have this effect on people sometimes (and I even have this effect on myself!). The people who are chosen every year are no less notable and there is nothing wrong with choosing them. I just want to give students a few other options. There are always people who want to do sports stars past and present, for instance. Einstein and Martin Luther King are big favourites but I don’t mind that because they were both great human beings, unlike some sport stars I could mention. Honestly, I didn’t mean this to read like a diatribe against common choices. For students it is most important that they choose someone they really admire and want to research in depth. If that means choosing someone who has been chosen before on many occasions, that is perfectly all right!
      Ms Green

    3. hi miss
      when is our emit repoons assignment due
      and when is the night of notables
      and can i do jk rowling for the night of notables
      because she is a really great author
      and she was on the brink of suicide
      and she actually didnt commit suicide
      and she wrote a book instead
      and it sold like billions of copies
      so i think thats pretty notable.
      okay bye
      -lisa♥

    4. Hi Ms. Green!

      Rachel Kee and I ‘joined forces’ and we have decided to do Coco Chanel for the night of the notables. Is that okay?
      Also, is it okay if we hand out little perfume cards to people walking past our stands? (Rach K is trying to get the cards in Myer or some big shopping centre, but I’m not sure if she can. I have No. 5 at home. It’s only a thought, though.)

    5. Hi, Lisa, Rachel and Cindy!
      Thanks for leaving comments. Lisa, I am a Harry Potter tragic and so I am very happy for you to choose J.K.Rowling. She has brought joy to millions. What more can a notable person do? Cindy and Rachel, Coco Chanel should be OK. I’m ashamed to say I know very little about her but I guess you’ll teach me. I love your idea of the perfume cards. Very lateral! See you soon.
      Ms Green

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