Kate Grenville is one of Australia’s best known authors, she was born in 1950 in Sidney, Australia. She has won many national and international awards for her writing about Australia’s past and the interactions that may have been taking place between the first settlers and the aborigines. The Secret River was one of these popular novels, which is exploring the past, although it is only historical fiction. The inspiration for writing these historical fictions, came from the fact that she did not knew much about her ancestors which settled on a river named Hawkesbury River in New South Wales.
William Thornhill is a convict, who has been transported by the ship Alexander to his new home in His Majesty’s penal colony with his family in 1806, which is located in New South Wales. William is not able to sleep the first night; he is plagued by fear and worry about their future at their new home, he thinks about this new prison he is in, guarded not by humans, but by ten thousand miles of sea, he has no chance to return home, and the idea of that he will die under these alien stars scares him.
The same night William encounters an aborigine outside his hut, the aborigine carries a spear and Williams has no arms at all, he tries to force the Aborigine to leave by saying “Be off” and raising his hand, but he aborigine just repeats what William said to him.
William will not let the aborigine hurt the unarmed settlers, but at the same moment the aborigine disappears, leaving William with the horrific though that the darkness could hide hundreds or even thousands of aborigines with spears. He went quickly back into the hut, although it did not offer any protection against what the darkness might hide.
William Thornhill is a 1st person narrator...
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The poem “Who are We” on the other hand describes Australia from the Aborigine point of view, and the dare consequences it had for their life and lifestyle. The poem also describes the special relation that the Aborigines have with the nature, and how the white men destroyed it all, how they took their land and home from them, and made them prisoners in their own land, “Where in the world do we feel free, when born into life as an Aborigine”. The poem describes all of those things such as the lost generation and how the majority has ignored them, which became a historical amnesia in the Australian society. “Nature is screaming and crying in pain, at the loss of her children”
These two pieces of text, describes the events from their own point of view, although “Strangers” is about the very first contact and “Who are We” are about the consequences of the white men.
The novel “Nanberry” written by Jackie French, tells the story of early European settlement in Australia. Nanberry, Surgeon White and Rachel Turner are all main characters in the novel but three minor characters who could have been examined in more detail were Maria, Colbee and Mr. Trench. Each of these characters either performs something or states something that is vital to the story line and plot. This essay will also suggest ways that these three characters could have been developed to make “Nanberry” a little bit more thought – provoking.
Samuel Wagan Watson is a contemporary Indigenous Australian poet whose poems often examine colonialism and its effects. His poem “a verse for the cheated” does just that, as it comments on how many people are ignorant when it comes to Indigenous Australians. In this poem Watson represents Australians as a people that can often be ignorant in regard to Aboriginals. By using strong language features and symbolism, Watson is able to communicate the everyday effects of colonialism on the Indigenous people in Australia.
Though the stereotyping and alienation is strong in Dougy and Gracey’s community they manage to break away from it. The whites feel that the Aborigines get everything free from the government and never do any work of their own, and according to the book, most of them do just this.
...at these several events in our nation’s history have demoralised our reputation to other countries globally. To make us known as a better country to other nations, we’ve completely abolished the White Australia Policy, gave back the aborigines their freedoms and we were also the first country in the world to give women rights. Australia today in present day is now one of the most multicultural societies on Earth, and we definitely follow our values of mateship, acceptance and freedom.
William was finally able to see clearly what was important. It wasn’t his job that allowed him to think creatively or knowing the Declaration of Independence by heart. He no longer cared about the labels that were cast upon him, people could call him terrorist for all he cares. The thing in which he feared in the past, were now his ammunition to get exactly what he wanted: a straight shot to a payphone to hear his family’s voice, a chance to fix the physics of his daughter’s pictures, and to let his wife know that she came before his work. Alexi successfully showed us how to shed the weight of frivolous problems, enabling us to move more quickly to the things that we need most.
Thus, this creates connotations to patriotism and pride towards the country the reader lives in. Coupled with the large image of Australia filled with smaller images of people of all ages, and race, sporting the Australian flag, influences the reader to enter the article with a positive attitude towards Australia Day, as it seems to put this day in high esteem, which consequently convinces the audience, before even commencing to read, that the day is about ‘unity’ and not division. The smaller images of a non-traditional and traditional stereotypical Australian prove that race play no part in this celebratory day, creating the sense of Australia being an accepting
Bruce Dawe is considered to be one of Australia’s most influential poets of the 20th century. Dawe’s poems capture Australian life in numerous ways, whether it is our passion for AFL in Life-Cycle or our reckless nature towards war as in Homecoming. Dawe creates very complicated poems reflecting the author’s context relevant to the time period, your context is based upon your reading of the poem, where you may gather different meanings, to that of the original intent, hidden within the text.
Gail Godwin's short story "A Sorrowful Woman" revolves around a wife and mother who becomes overwhelmed with her husband and child and withdraws from them, gradually shutting them completely out of her life. Unsatisfied with her role as dutiful mother and wife, she tries on other roles, but finds that none of them satisfy her either. She is accustomed to a specific role, and has a difficult time coping when a more extensive array of choices is presented to her. This is made clear in this section of the story.
Through numerous poetic techniques Paterson has shown that the Australian diversity is as diverse as the country itself. The Australian identity concerns the way Australia is viewed by other people. There are a variety of different aspects that contribute to this identity of Australia which include historical icons. Paterson recognizes how lucky we are to live on a land notorious for its diverse landscape. He is signaling that we are missing out and we need to cherish the great land we were given.
Indigenous Australian land rights have sparked controversy between Non Indigenous and Indigenous Australians throughout history. The struggle to determine who the rightful owners of the land are is still largely controversial throughout Australia today. Indigenous Australian land rights however, go deeper than simply owning the land as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders have established an innate spiritual connection making them one with the land. The emphasis of this essay is to determine how Indigenous Australian land rights have impacted Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, highlighting land rights regarding the Mabo v. the State of Queensland case and the importance behind today’s teachers understanding and including Indigenous
The True History of the Kelly Gang is a fictional novel written by the Australian writer Peter Carey. The novel is presented as an autobiography written by the Australian bushranger, Ned Kelly, to his daughter. It portrays Ned’s life as a child and as an adult. The audience also reveals the struggles of discrimination he overcomes as an Irish in the Australian world. This novel is packed with many themes but the most obvious and eye-catching would be racism. We are also able to identify many quotes and passages used within the text to demonstrate this theme. Carey’s persuasive language and point of view plays a crucial part in promoting the theme of racism.
Nan Dear, the matriarch of the family, is challenged and is subsequently forced to reflect on her past experience with white Australians. In the past, Nan Dear experience the Stolen generation, ‘they forced us to leave. Forced us to leave Cummeragunja. Our home.’ The inclusive pronoun ‘us’ places herself amongst other children who were taken away from their home.
The poem “We’re not trucking around” by Samuel Wagan Watson presents an Aboriginal perspective on Australian National identity, showing the audience that Australians still mistreat Indigenous people, expressing his perspective through the ideas that white men still mistreat Aboriginals and the marginalization of Aboriginal culture. Watson reinforces his idea through poetic and language
Throughout both ‘Rainbow’s End’ and ‘The Rabbits’, the audience discovers the plights that the Aboriginal Australians faced, due to discrimination and assimilation, in intensely confronting, yet intensely meaningful ways. We see how the discrimination and forced assimilation of cultures was common in the lead up to modern times because of composers like Harrison, Marsden and Tan reminding us of these events, allowing us to discover and rediscover our past wrongs through their works, in order to pave the way for a brighter, harmonious future. Without these documentations and retellings of events such as these, history would repeat itself, conflicts would be more apparent and we as a species would not be able to thrive and prosper due to our prejudices and superiority complexes.
How does this text either help you to explore and understand the possibilities of belonging or exclude you from connecting with the world it represents?