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Australia Day Poem Analysis

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Selina Tusitala Marsh's poem "How to Make a Captain Cook Cupcake with Pink Frosting" is about the history and ongoing struggles of Aboriginal Australians. The poem uses words to describe the violence, loss of culture, and unfair treatment they have experienced, due to colonisation. The context of the poem is the colonisation of Australia and its effect on Aboriginal Australians. Colonisation brought major problems, like violence, forced relocation, and the destruction of culture. The poem mentions "Australia Day," which for many Aboriginal Australians is also called "Invasion Day" or "Genocide Day." This shows the brutal effect of British colonisation. The poem uses strong words to explain the stories of Aboriginal Australians. It talks about being silenced, mistreated, and having their tradition ignored. This is typical of the context because it reflects the history of colonisation and the suffering of the Indigenous people. The repetition of words like "Be silenced" and "Be shot" suggests how these struggles happen again and again. The strong imagery, like "Uncharted Rivers of Blood," paints an image of the violence …show more content…

Lines like "Be almost wiped out / Be multiple, complex and autonomous" shows how strong the Aboriginal people are, even though colonisation has hurt them and their culture. The context of the poem, which talks about the history and the ongoing suffering of Aboriginal Australians, has influenced the specific examples of verbal language used. For example, phrases like "If you're Koori, Aborigine" and "Know Australia Day as Invasion Day" talk about the stories of Indigenous people in Australia. These examples link the context by showing the unfair treatment and being overlooked of the Aboriginal Australians, specifically on days like Australia Day, which is celebrated by some but others see it as a day of invasion and

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