Many poems and stories begin by creating a mystery or a puzzle which the reader has to solve by reading the rest of the text. Students need to be made aware of this literary convention and to see it as a form of game which the reader has to play in order to gain meaning and pleasure from the text. 'How Gilbert Died' is a useful vehicle for teaching this literary convention. 'How Gilbert Died' is a poem about the death of an Australian bushranger, written by Australia's most popular poet A.B. 'Banjo' Paterson. Below you can download a lesson plan for the poem, a copy of the poem itself and a set of teachers notes.