I made this note a night or two before the exam and I studied them for my essay...I ranked 4th for ESL anyway, much help from this note, so maybe this will help...
How is the concept of journey depicted in your texts?
1. Something of Value – Maggy Saldais
The short story “Something of Value” by Maggy Saldais told us about the inner journey of one Estonian-Australian boy learning about “the value of what is taken away”. The cultural reference “Juhan” for John in the beginning and the symbolism of the “white stripes at the bottom for the hope of freedom” was the media which introduced John to Estonian culture. The journey began as the Estonian grandfather moved in with the family and confronted John, the boy, about things he valued. Through the recounts grandfather shared about the war experiences, John’s emotion was evoked and he learnt about the value of his culture in his life. John’s perspective about his grandfather changed alongside. At the beginning he described his grandfather being a “funny old man” and “stubborn old coot” but as he learnt about his value, he shared respect and loved towards his grandfather as shown in the way they ”talked a lot in the weeks that followed”. The contrast change of John in seeing his grandfather as well as his culture that he “learnt to value what it stood for” showed how the inner journey of John had challenged him and developed his new perspectives about thing he should value, the culture.
2. Only the Heart – Brian Caswell and David Phu An-Chiem
The novel “Only the Heart” by Brian Caswell and David Phu An-Chiem told us about the physical journey which caused the family to face new things that challenge them emotionally and taught them lessons. For example, the physical movement from Vietnam to Pulau Bisa by boat, which included a lot of harsh situation and difficulties, taught Minh that “Only the prisoners know the feel of freedom in his tongue”. This statement was part of the poem which was repeated (as a motif) for Minh has understood the meaning of it. Other example would be the journey of Toan to assimilate in his new Australian environment. At first Toan felt “small in the desk too big for me”. The contrasting adjectives strengthened his scared feeling and revealed his emotion to us. However, as he was challenged by the remarks “stupid” by his friend, he started to push himself and prove that he could succeed. The challenges he faced leaded to inner journey in which he was not only succeed in proving himself but also understanding that “if you don’t want to spend your time on the outside looking in, you have to know the rules”. Various events in the novel has showed that people grow emotionally and intellectually through the passage of journey.
3. The Wind in the Willows – Kenneth Grahame
The extract “The Wind in the Willows” by Kenneth Grahame in Board of Studies stimulus booklet described different perception of the potential physical journey which leaded to inner and imaginative journeys. The story itself was the anthropomorphism- the depiction of characters having the ability to act like human- and in some part was the caricature. Toad, as the caricature of pompous English aristocrats which was filled with ideas, saw the journey being exciting and promising. This was shown through the use of short unfinished sentences, ended with exclamation when explaining the journeys “travel, change, interest, excitement!”. He seemed eager to start the journey immediately as he imagined the journey being positive. On the other hand, Rat, rejected the idea of change as shown in his cynical tone “we” and “start” and “this afternoon?”, confronting the idea proposed by Toad as he perhaps imagine negatively about the journey. The idea of the journey to “make the animal of you” by Toad had not successfully evoked him as he chose to “stick to my old river”, rejecting the change. The inner journey of Rat was whether to go and not to go (?) but considering his perception of the journey being negative, he finally chose to stay secure in his place and refused to go.
4. Immigrant Chronicles – Peter Skrzynecki (Feliks Skrzynecki, Postcard, Migrant Hostel)
Immigrant Chronicles by Peter Skrzynecki is actually a sets of poem describing the life of Poland refugees towards and in Australia. Throughout the passage of journey, the refugees have been challenged emotionally, learnt new things, and grew from it.
The poem “Feliks Skrzynecki”, for example, told us about Peter’s changing relationship with his father using series of anecdotes. At the beginning, he referred his father as “my gentle father”. The use of first person pronoun my and the positive adjective “gentle” showed his admiration and love towards his father. However, as he changed throughout the time, he realized that there was part of his father he could not understand, “that formal address I never got used to”, his Polish culture. The perspective of Peter towards his father kept changing until in the end he drifted “further and further south of the Hadrian’s wall”. The use of allusion Hadrian’s wall which is the separation wall indicated the widening gap between him and his father. Peter also seemed to be aware of his father’s pain of the situation, using the methapor “dumb phrophet” to show the possible father’s feeling.
(described the whole text, or? Separated each poem in distinct paragraphs?)
Other example was the inner journey depicted in the poem “Postcard”. The postcard received by Peter “haunts” him. The choice of verb “haunts” showed that the huge impact of the postcard on him. The Warsaw, as depicted in the postcard, then become alive and personified in his mind. The strong challenge from the city for Peter caused him to continuously tried to deny the city. “I repeat, I never knew you” the repetition indicated his strong will to deny the strong power and influence of the city which even be personified. The way he spoke with the city in conversational-like manner showed that Peter was greatly affected by the city (how?). In the end, Peter had to accept the fact that he could not reject his Polish heritage. This was depicted strongly through the personification of a tree saying “we’ll meet before you die”.
Migrant Hostel also described the inner journey experienced by the migrants. Through the difficult times they endured in the migrant hostel, the migrants learnt about “nationality sought/ each other out instinctively”. They could not escaped from the nationalities, no matter what. This is explained through the use of metaphor “like a homing pigeon/circling to get its bearing”. The homing pigeon was the depiction of the confused refugees in the hostel which circling and seeking for people with the same backgrounds as they were. The feeling of uncertainty of the future was explained also by metaphor “like birds of passage/always sensing the change in weather”, explaining the helplessness of the refugees that they could only looked for the bureaucracy (depicted as “weather”). In the end, the realization for the refugees was that to come out, the journey “had only begun” or if they would not survive, “were dying”.
