In her book Nanberry, Jackie French portrays colonial life as a very confusing and perplexing time for both the Indigenous Australians and the White British Settlers, albeit in different ways. With the Indigenous Australians confused by the sudden invasion of the white settler (ghosts), and the British Settlers becoming confused by the new sights, smells and culture of ‘Sydney Cove’. Through the characters of Nanberry, Surgeon White and Bennelong, the viewer is shown just how confusing their life was at the time of the first settlement in Australia. Nanberry is one of the main characters in French’s book, and is a prime way through which she portrays colonial life as perplexing and confusing. Nanberry was born into, and partially raised by an Indigenous Australian family, however he was adopted by Surgeon White at the tender age of eight or nine.
Scott Russell Sanders’ passage from ‘Staying Put: making home in a Restless World’ gives readers the idea that roaming foreign territory and enforcing your ways is worse than staying put and adapting to your surroundings. Sanders achieves this mood through the use of parallelism, juxtaposition, rhetorical questions, and other rhetorical devices. Within the first sentence of the passage, Sanders paints a picture that Americans think that they are inherently good people, always the alpha of the pack that is the world. He describes our selfishness and need for acquiring more land as a ‘seductive virtue’, which can be found in lines 1-2. Sanders again pokes fun at the ‘American Lifestyle’ in lines 20-25.
When I stared at my father’s eyes I saw a man who felt hopeless. It was the first time I saw him cry. All our burdens were placed on him. He did not find support through Cambridge Public Housing. I watched my father’s hopelessness turn to desperation.
Australian identity and what constitutes Australian culture are prominent ideas explored by Peter Goldsworthy’s Maestro. Throughout the novel, there is a strong sense of cynicism towards Australian culture as it is painted as ambiguous and indefinite. This is established through the analogy of Paul representing Australian society and his parents representing the British influence on Australian culture. Goldsworthy also explores the European influence on Australia through Kellar’s character. Goldsworthy’s broader message is that Australian identity is in fact quite complex and open to interpretation due how culturally diverse it is.
For Pearson, allusions to the Redfern Speech alongside clever implementation of inclusive language facilitate the notion that Indigenous issues are a concern for the nation as a whole. This is evident through the usage of ‘our nation’ and the actions that ‘we’ have to take to correct the injustices of the past, which has the effect of reconciling the divide between Indigenous and European Australians; thus unifying the nation. Atwood, on the other hand, employs pathos through personal anecdotes and humour in order to establish a relationship with her audience. This provides her textual integrity, as it resonates with her audience on a personal level. The humorous personal anecdote of her daughter’s breakfast play allows Atwood to reinforce her argument that in order to ignite interest in literature “something else has to happen”, assisting her audience to emotionally identify with her perspective.
There is the underlying theme of prejudice, especially through racism; against refugee of the Vietnam War, Jeffrey Lu; Jasper Jones, an indigenous Australian of mixed descent often being the town’s
As a whole, the Dead Family effectively shows how an individual begins to become isolated from society, and how they may resolve the issue of lack of sense of belonging. Morrison’s work illustrates the voice and feelings that are existing as a result of isolation. According
In this article by Smith, there is an image that represents Australia things like generation y, tracks, flag icon of Australia, union jack, outback Australia, white young Australians, holding the Australian flag (settling) and smiling. Smith further argues that indigenous people survived and managed the land well; consequently modern Australia should try and get indigenous people to get them to feel like they belong in our country Australia. The sense of nurture is included in this article by smith when he uses the words fragile, nurtured and carefully managing. The effect of the article by Smith when the reader reads the article it makes them feel that the land belongs to no one when smith argued the words “terra Nullius.”
David Trask juxtaposes the idea of the American Dream due to social classes and The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald in the arrival entitled A Note on Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. Trask hones in on the social movement brought about during the nineteen-twenties and focuses on Jay Gatsby- the main character of The Great Gatsby- to show how he is the definition of the American Dream. Trask also attempts to figure out how Fitzgerald got the name Jay Gatsby from his original name of James Gatz. From this he begins to focus on the background of Gatsby and questions if his Western upbringing was a cause of his immediate downfall? It is obvious by the end of the article that social classes are real; with his research readers can be swayed to agree
Indigenous Australians, in many states, were denied full citizenship on grounds of their race. Migration laws were set up at every opportunity to support "white" European outsiders to Australia. However, gradual change in people’s perceptions began in the late 1960 's. Racism all through the 1960 's impacted the characters in the way that it improved certain qualities, and got the perusers to additionally comprehend the characters themselves, and in addition feel certain feelings towards them. Supremacist mentalities and activities are obvious all through the novel. For instance, the Lu family are over and over separated because of the way that they are Vietnamese migrants.
You tell me, and I won’t put it down on the form, No-one will know but you and me”. It’s obvious that the author, Thomas King, is trying to make awareness about the treatment of Aboriginals are facing in
The nation (Australia) is constantly looking for a person/group of people to follow. The underprivileged are stuck in the midst and subsequently, they feel a sense of inequality. Noonuccal accentuates the auditory effect of the underprivileged, in an attempt to evoke a depressing or compassionate feeling towards them from the reader through the use of imagery in the ‘underprivileged call’. The use of personification in ‘unfriendly doors’ displays how the statesman can force the ‘unfriendly doors’ to groups of people in which he dislikes, which shows how mean and unfriendly Australians can be.
No matter what changes are made, as long as their skin colour isn’t pure white, they will never be regarded as “Australian”. This puts stress on the requirement for migrants to completely dispose of their own identity for an “Australian” identity. The fact that the protagonist claims that he or she has provided the migrants with equality is also ironic. “Learn English to Distinguish ESL from RSL”, the utilisation of assonance and internal rhyme
The poem My Mother The Land by Phill Moncrieff poetically describes the struggles the aboriginal people faced at the hands of the European people and colonisation throughout history. The fact that the author based the poem on accurate historical events adds to the authenticity of representations and engages the reader in an emotional journey with the struggles the aboriginal people faced with the somewhat loss of their country, culture, identity, people and place. The author uses a variety of language features and text structures to create this view point, for instance the author uses several language features and text structures throughout verse one to demonstrate the loss of culture and people. The poet uses effective language features throughout the poem to describe the loss that the narrator feels in their country, culture, identity, people
In the last passage of The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the reader gains insight into Gatsby’s life through the reflections of Nick Carraway. These reflections provide a summary of Gatsby’s life and also parallel the main themes in the novel. Through Fitzgerald’s use of diction and descriptions, he criticizes the American dream for transformation of new world America from an untainted frontier to a corrupted industrialized society. In the novel, Fitzgerald never mentions the phase “American Dream,” however the idea is significant to the story.
