No Sugar

Reading Check and Short Answer Questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Act I

Reading Check

1. Why does Milly give Cissie and David money?

2. Why do Sam and Joe need to go catch rabbits?

3. According to the Sergeant, what type of item is soap?

4. What is the setting for Scene 4?

5. Which piece of advice does Mr. Neville give Jimmy?

6. Which animal are Aboriginal people not allowed to bring to Moore Settlement?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What information does the Sergeant share with Frank? What does he caution him against doing?

2. What is “gaol”? How many times has Jimmy been in “gaol”?

3. Provide one example of how daily life differs between Jimmy and Frank.

4. What is JP’s “duty?” How does his duty affect Frank’s court ruling?

5. What reason does the Sergeant give for transferring Jimmy and his family to Moore Settlement? What does Jimmy believe is the real reason for the transfer?

Paired Resource

“The White Man’s Burden”

• Rudyard Kipling’s 1899 pro-imperialist poem was written to urge the US to invade the Philippines.
• Kipling’s central argument is that Western European societies should share their Civilization through imperialist conquests.
• How does Kipling's phrase “The White Man’s Burden” connect with the treatment of Aboriginal communities in the play?

“List of Multiple Killings of Aborigines in Tasmania: 1804-1835”

• Science Po shares information regarding the UK’s invasion of the Australian island Tasmania in the 19th century.
• The brutal killings of Aboriginal people living on the island relates to the themes of Systematic Racism and Civilization.
• Based on the text as well as the above resource, in which ways was the killing of Aboriginal people in Tasmania a formative moment between the Australian government and Aboriginal communities?

Act II

Reading Check

1. What does Matron Neal examine Gran and the family for?

2. What information does Matron Neal reveal to her husband that agitates him?

3. What do Joe and Mary decide to do?

4. What happens after Matron bites into a quandong?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Who does Joe meet at the Moore Settlement? What does he ask this person to do?

2. Who is Mr. Neal? Describe how this person affects Mary’s well-being.

3. Briefly summarize the story that Billy shares with the group.

4. Describe the altercation between Billy and Joe. What is the outcome?

Paired Resource

“Involuntary Service: Aboriginal Housemaids and Sexual Abuse in Early Twentieth-Century Australia”

• Collingwood-Whittick’s 2017 article is a case-study on the sexual assault of Aboriginal women. (Content Warning: discussions of sexual and gender-based violence.)
• Collingwood-Whittick interweaves various texts into her article that touch upon The Importance of Family as one of the tactics in silencing sexual assault reports.
• Based on the text as well as the above resource, how are cycles of sexual assault against Aboriginal women repeated?

“Aboriginal Incarceration: Health and Social Impacts”

• The Medical Journal of Australia discusses the rates of incarcerated Aboriginal men.
• This resource touches on the theme of Systematic Racism as a part of the cycle of incarceration in Aboriginal communities.
• Based on the text, as well as the above resource, what is the reaction of Aboriginal communities to incarceration? What is the reaction of white Australians to the incarceration of Aboriginal people?

Act III

Reading Check

1. What do Joe and Mary discover about Government Well?

2. What does Mr. Neville order the Sergeant in Northam to do?

3. Which organization has invited Mr. Neville to present a paper at a future meeting?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Describe the conversation between Joe and the Sergeant. What has changed since Aboriginal communities were forced out of Government Well?

2. Summarize the content of Mr. Neville’s speech. What does he believe the most important factor in the treatment of Aboriginal people should be?

Paired Resource

“Genocide in Australia”

• The Australia Museum frames the murder of Aboriginal groups by white colonizers as a form of genocide.
• The discussion of Aboriginal genocide links with the themes of Systematic Racism and Civilization.
• In which ways does the term “genocide” provide a new perspective on the destruction of Aboriginal communities?

“Davis, Jack (1917–2000)”

• Indigenous Australia shares a biography of playwright Jack Davis.
• This source discusses The Importance of Family on Davis’s playwriting career.
• Based on the text and the above resource, how did Davis’s background affect the writing of No Sugar?

Act IV

Reading Check

1. What does Mr. Neal assure Matron Neal about Mary?

2. What is Joe’s plan when he is released from prison?

3. What do Milly and Sam request of Mr. Neal?

4. What name does Joe give his baby?

5. What do Joe and Mary decide to do at the end of the play?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What do Cissie and Topsy see Billy doing to David? How does each of the characters respond?

2. Summarize the discussion between Mr. Neal and Sister Eileen. What subject do they disagree on?

3. According to Mr. Neville’s speech on Australia Day, why are Aboriginal people at the Moore Settlement?

4. Which hymn is sung at the Australia Day ceremony? Describe the circumstances surrounding this song, as well as the outcome of the scene.

Recommended Next Reads 

The Dreamers by Jack Davis

• Davis’s 1982 play focuses on the everyday life of an Aboriginal family living in Western Australia.
• This play shares the same themes as No Sugar: Systematic Racism, The Importance of Family, and Civilization.
• Shared topics include the setting of Western Australia, and the struggles within Aboriginal communities.

An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

• Dunbar-Oritz’s 2015 nonfiction account retells the history of the US from the perspective of Indigenous communities.
• Shared themes include Systematic Racism and Civilization.
• Shared topics include retelling of history from the perspective of the colonized and amplifying Indigenous voices.
• An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States on SuperSummary