ipl-logo

Summary Of The Poem Land By Jack Davis

971 Words4 Pages

The poems Land by Jack Davis, The Developers by W. Les Russell, and Municipal Gum by Oodgeroo Noonuccal all explore themes of invasion and displacement and express how white man has stripped the Indigenous Australian people of their identities. This is because the land is their identity and by invading, the Europeans have taken this away from them and in modern-day Westerners still do not understand the deep connection the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have with the land and the fallacy committed by stealing it. Firstly, the main subject matter in Land, The Developers, and Municipal Gum is the way in which the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders (ATSI) identify strongly with land. The land is their identity. It is a relationship …show more content…

Being one and the same means that Russell suffers as the land does at the hands of the European invaders. There are also several cases in the poems where land is personified to further demonstrate the parallel between it and the Indigenous people. Found in The Developers is the line “I am this Land and it is mine” (LINE). This not only displays, once again, the way the ATSI and the land are one, but is also personification. Like a proper noun, the capitalisation of “Land” means the land has a name, like a person. Not only that, but the way in which it is capitalised mirrors religion, capitalising words such as ‘God’. Considering Aboriginal spirituality, it appears Russell used a capital letter to convey a sense of divinity in the land, almost like a deity. Another example of personification in The Developers occurs after Russell discusses giving the land away to the Europeans and asks “What man can give his mother” (LINE). This metaphor of land being a mother-like figure accentuates the idea of the ATSI being close to the land, but makes it personal; comparing it to the closeness of a child and their mother. Like The Developers, Jack Davis’ Land also utilises this

Show More
Related
1016 Words | 5 Pages

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.

Read More
767 Words | 4 Pages

After 10 long years Torres Strait Islander Eddie ‘Koiki’ Mabo has lead indigenous Australians to a victory over the Queensland government. This win this case is a historical moment, as of yesterday, the indigenous Australians have been recognised as the owners of Murray Island. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are known to have resided in Australia, 40,000 to 60,000 years before the British arrived in 1788. When the British took over they decided to take all the land for themselves even though the indigenous Australians were here first. This court case recognises indigenous Australians unique connection to the land and acknowledges that they have the rights to the land.

Read More
595 Words | 3 Pages

Bruce Pascoe in the excerpt titled, ‘Lake Corangamite’ from his book ‘Convincing Ground’, narrates his journey to Lake Corangamite, whilst taking particular note of the way Australians recognize the Indigenous people but do not fully respond respectfully to their nation’s history. The excerpt begins with Pascoe noting how Aboriginal names and terms have been widely used, yet there is still a ‘bleakness’ (Pascoe 74) present. He then goes on to recount his initially unsuccessful luck with gaining information about a particular house with distinctly holed walls. After several attempts, Pascoe is finally able to be let in to photograph the house and is told briefly that ‘the settlers had a lot of fights with the Aborigines’ (Pascoe 75).

Read More
598 Words | 3 Pages

Dixon uses this poetic device to make abstract or unfamiliar ideas concepts more concrete and easier to understand, visualize and remember. This encourages the reader to realize that Indigenous Australians saw people like A. O. Neville, who presided with the policy to remove Aboriginal children from their families, as the devil. This device helps communicate the message by showing how much members of the Stolen Generations have suffered. This also makes the audience understand why this practice has had such a negative and ongoing impact on First Nations

Read More
1078 Words | 5 Pages

Freedom of Speech, the right to vote, and the right to equality in public places. These are all basic rights that everyone in this world should have. All over the world, including in Australia discrimination of these rights occurred for the native people of the land. This happened because of their race and skin colour.

Read More
499 Words | 2 Pages

Personification is a powerful tool used by writers to help the reader understand what is being said. Since the invasion of Europeans in 1788, Indigenous Australians have struggled with displacement and loss of identity. This sentiment is fully examined in Municipal Gum presenting the view that all their traditions and culture have just faded away. Simile

Read More
1101 Words | 5 Pages

Section 1: Sequence the key events of the “Its time” campaign and the Whitlam Labor Government between 1971 and 1975, and explain why the election win in 1972 was significant. (Max 300)! http://primeministers.naa.gov.au/primeministers/whitlam/elections.aspx! ! 1. The Coalition fell further behind Labor in the polls, and Gorton resigned in 1971!

Read More
762 Words | 4 Pages

“The stories in ‘The Turning’ focus on moments of change for the characters, sometimes as the result of a significant event, deliberate decision, a chance meeting or a seemingly trivial act.” The stories ‘Big world’ and ‘Aquifer’ are two short stories from the book ‘The turning’ by Tim Winton. They are both perfect examples of short stories with characters that change due to significant events in their lives, most often their childhoods. Significant events that occur during childhood are very likely to follow and affect how the person changes and stick as vivid memories even as an adult.

Read More
50 Words | 1 Pages

Belonging to the land and to each other is fundamental to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and their culture. Connections with the land, families, clans and communities are at the core of Aboriginality. It is through these connections that nurture belonging from which Aboriginal peoples identities and cultures emerge.

Read More
1863 Words | 8 Pages

There has to be an understanding of the relationship

Read More
293 Words | 2 Pages

The landscape is the most physical symbols of the past that Jim remembers about and his childhood. Willa writes “The only thing very noticeable about Nebraska was that it was still, all day long, Nebraska.” The plough symbolizes the man 's effort to

Read More
1190 Words | 5 Pages

It tries to explore the process of reclaiming Aboriginal identity in the works of Sally Morgan’s My Place and Rubi Langford Ginbi ’s Don’t Take Your Love to Town. The paper focuses on how these selected writers engage in the reclaiming process, and also tries to locate the changes that occur in the identity of Aboriginals in Australia during pre-colonial, colonial and in contemporary

Read More
918 Words | 4 Pages

Language is an essential role when affirming or challenging culture and identity. Through the use of poems people are able to express cultural and personal experiences, which in doing so can reshape the understanding of their own identity and the identity expressed in their communities. In Ali Cobby Eckermann’s poems “Unearth”, “Eyes” and “Trance” she uses language to affirm and challenge the personal and cultural identities of indigenous Australians. These poems explore themes of cultural resilience and personal identities of the indigenous Australians. These three poems explore the themes of forced displacement, cultural resilience, and the impact of colonialism as well as the power of language to transform and heal.

Read More
728 Words | 3 Pages

The author creates aboriginal representations and suspense through the punctuation that he has used in the poem. The author uses almost no punctuation to ensure the poem flows seamlessly yet uses an occasional comma to create suspense. The use of capital letters in the poem emphasise the words to create aboriginal representations and adds an aesthetic element to the poem. For example the capitalised word Mother indicates that it is a title as well as showing the significance of that term to the aboriginal culture and describes the secure relationship between the land and the aboriginal narrator.

Read More
946 Words | 4 Pages

Far from being genetic, being Indigenous is linked to a particular place. As time moves forward, many Indigenous people find themselves separated from the territories traditionally occupied by their ancestors and living in multicultural settings, thus bringing new ingredients to a contemporary Indigenous identity. (Weaver 2014:1) One’s land is a base for one’s identity. They earn their livelihood from their land.

Read More

More about Summary Of The Poem Land By Jack Davis

Open Document