Dougy, by James Moloney

Short Response Questions

Reading ‘in’, ‘between’, and ‘beyond’ the lines.

Chapters 1 and 2
1. From your reading of the first two chapters of Dougy, what have
you learnt about the town, about Dougy’s family, and about Dougy
himself?
2. How does Dougy feel about his sister Gracey. Use some evidence
from the text.
3. Everyone on the bus from Cunningham celebrates Gracey’s good
news. The next day the celebrations are over, and there is a clear
divide between the white kids and the black kids. Why do the
opinions of the children change so quickly?

Chapters 3 – 6
4. Find 5 quotes that show that the trip to Brisbane is a very new
experience for Dougy, Raymond and Gracey.
5. Re-read page 27. Why do you think the two men at Lang Park have
such different opinions about aboriginal people?
6. Dougy keeps hinting that something terrible is going to happen in
his town. Now we find out that Mrs Granello’s offer of a scholarship
for Gracey is somehow related to what will happen. Make your own
prediction of what you think will happen.

Chapters 6 and 7
7. What is Paddy O’Shea’s response to Gracey’s scholarship? Why
does he feel so strongly about this?
8. How do you think the townspeople would have reacted to Gracey’s
return if she had not won her races?
9. How do the townspeople come to the conclusion that Johnny Warren
had something to do with Melissa Brodie’s accident?

Chapters 8 – 11
10.What is it that prompts Mr Price to go looking for Johnny Warren?
11.Why doesn’t Craig want to stay in the Hall with Gracey and Dougy?
12. If Cooper knows how Melissa Brodie’s accident was not caused by
Johnny Warren, why do you think he does not try to stop the
fighting?

Chapter 12 – 14
13.Raymond has been talking about wanting to get hold of a gun. Why
do you think this is becoming a focus for him?
14.Why does Raymond stop Brett from firing the gun again?
15.Why doesn’t Brett want to leave the others in the hall?
16.Dougy has told us many times through the story how he is ‘nobody’.
Raymond and Gracey are unable to keep up with things in the hall.
How does he cope with the situation in the hall?

Chapter 15 – 17
17. Why does Dougy go back down through the hole in the ceiling?
18.What is the ‘figure’ that rises up out of the water to grab Gracey?
19. Why do you think the people involved in the ‘war’ do not get
arrested?