Belonging

Area of studies: Skrzynecki Poetry Poem: Feliks Skrzynecki Synopsis: Illustrates aspects of the migrant experience within Australia and the difficulties of assimilation for the older generation. His father has made a good life in Australia but can’t be Australian because his identity is polish. This poem shows the immigrants isolation in a different country and his attempts to deal with it and remain positive. Feliks loves his garden and keeps to himself, due to language barriers of communication. Personal description of his father shows lack of common ground and his growing away from his father and polish heritage. The poem is about peters efforts at assimilation and his father’s lack thereof. Link to Belonging: The poem explores ideas about cultural belonging and the difficulty of creating feelings of belonging. Feliks can’t feel at ease in the new country, spiritually he still belongs to the country that shaped him. Highlights tension between peter and Feliks because of their different feeling to Poland. Peter is willing to assimilate and surrender his heritage. Idea of family belonging, there is a clear affection and respect for Feliks despite the conflict. Technique | Quote/s | Explanation of meaning | Imagery (descriptive language) | Alert, brisk and silent, He swept its paths... | Feliks takes pride in looking after his garden, shows strong connection to new home in Australia. He feels a sense of belonging in his garden. | Hyperbole | He swept its pathsTen times around the world | Shows that as long as Feliks’s garden is neat and tidy he will survive, it’s his place of refuge. | Third person | His polish friends... | Sign that peter is becoming more Australian and Feliks staying polish. The distance between father and son growing. | Metaphor | After that, like a dumb prophet...Further and further south of Hadrian’s wall | This shows the growing distance between Peter and Feliks as Peter assimilates to the Australian way were Feliks refuses to change. | | | | Area of studies: Skrzynecki Poetry Poem: St Patrick’s College Synopsis: Tells of the poets experience at school. The audience learn how Peter was sent to this school as his mother was impresses by the uniform and wonted to fit in at work. The poet emphasis how long he spent at school by repeating “eight years”. Formative part of his life. The poet seems overwhelmed by the experience and there is a sense that he is swept by the schools demands. Link to Belonging: Peter belongs to the schools, indicated by him wearing the uniform the, “blue, black and gold”. While he seems accepted by the school there doesn’t seem to be a sense of belonging to it. He appears to be a uneasy student, never confident about his place at school. Repeating “for eight years” which reflects his own disbelief at his lack of ease. An atmosphere of confused sounds- “voices at the bus stop, litanies and hymes” gives the impression of a lack of connection with what’s happening around him. Poem helps us realise that you can belong to groups but not really belong, belonging is a spiritual connection that goes beyond following conventions and wearing a uniform. Technique | Quote/s | Explanation of meaning | Sarcasm | Luceat lux vestraI thought was a brand of soap. | Shows a lack of respect towards the school and his lack of belonging. | Simile | Like a foreign tourist | Emphasis sense of alienation, unable to share his thoughts, ‘foreign’ shows no common links and his ethnicity is what’s to blame for not belonging. | Personal pronoun | Before I let my light shine. | Tone of assertiveness and individuality, showing it is no longer about his mum or school and that he is in control of his destiny. | Contrast | That the darkness around me......Before I let my light shine. | Showing his experience after school was more beneficial than at school. It’s also ironic as the school motto is “let your light shine”. | | | | Area of studies: Skrzynecki Poetry Poem: Ancestors Synopsis: an excellent example of belonging and expresses his feeling of not belonging in his family. The poem presents a series of rhetorical questions which reflects on a dream Skrzynecki has had or is having. We could deduce from this poem and its use of present tense that the dream is a recurring dream about these vague images of Ancestors and how Skrzynecki is desperately trying to understand their relevance to him. In this dream, the ancestors are unfamiliar to Skrzynecki but give off a very powerful presence to him. They appear to have a message for him, but he can’t hear what it is, they are always pointing at him but never speak so there meaning becomes very mysterious. The use of rhetorical questions gives the poem a dramatic feel and makes the reader feel the same frustration that Skrzynecki feels. Main theme is on the lack of identity. Link to Belonging: Even though he cannot make a real connection there still is one. There is sense of belonging with them as the share blood. The poem shows family belonging. He may not know much about the figures but he really wants to, an unavoidable relationship. They are spiritually connected to him and part of subconscious. There all men which may suggest gender are part of belonging. Technique | Quote/s | Explanation of meaning | Imagery (symbolism) | “Bearded, faceless men” | Shows he doesn’t understand his culture and that he doesn’t know much about the men in his dream. | Rhetorical question | “ Why do theyNever speak – How longIs their wait to be'” | It shows that he is trying to understand and connect to his heritage.The hyphen is there to create urgency; poet wants us to give him the answer. | Irony | “ Why do you wakeAs their faces become clearer.” | This is ironic because waking up is bad cause the faces disappear and he also dislikes being in reality. The chances of him knowing his ancestors disappear. | Simile | “your tongue dryAs caked mud'” | Emphasis the negative impact of his ancestors visit. | Juxtaposition | “Where san and grass never stir” | Shows the idea of barren vs. fertile/alive, shown showing his confusion. | Area of studies: Skrzynecki Poetry Poem: 10 Mary Street Synopsis: This poem is about the poet’s relationship with his house where he spent his childhood. Regents park, Sydney’s western suburbs, working class area. Chronicles the day to day life of his family in their new country. An atmosphere of love and joy. The fast paced materialism contrasted with the joy and relationships of his family. He appreciates the experience as happy and values it as key part of his childhood. Link to Belonging: Paints a picture of a family at peace. They belong there, it provides a sanctuary. They are united as they are able to be relaxed and be free. The house symbolises the family units connection through difficult times. Shows a positive view of family belonging. It also represents the negative view of difficulties in them assimilating. During their stay they felt dislocated, this shows the difficulties of not belonging, in particular the challenges migrants have. Poem shows changes. The found more ease. The family does not seem to need the protection of the house as they are becoming more Australian. This shows the belonging is a changing concept, we move in and out of groups we belong to. Technique | Quote/s | Explanation of meaning | Imagery | “Under a rusty bucket:” | This builds a picture of a working class family for the reader. | Simile | “Like a well oiled lock,” | It becomes a symbol of routine to show they to the same things each and every day. | Metaphor | “We become citizens of the soil” | Now deemed ‘Australian’, a new identity has been created. Metaphorically alludes to the process of assimilation. | Symbolism | “Inheritors of a key” | Symbolic of the key to love and happiness, not necessarily a key to a property. A house is a house no matter where you live as long as they have the family the key is present. | | | | Area of studies: Skrzynecki Poetry Poem: Post card Synopsis: The last stage of the poet’s journey as an immigrant where he begins to accept his heritage. When he first sees the postcard he does not feel any emotions for the old world. It looks unreal to him. But it begins by holding his attention and he studies the details. He tries to recognise the place, his reluctance to recognise Warsaw leads to his close scrutiny of the card. He comes to know that he will just have to face his heritage and come to accept its part of him. There will be a meeting in the future between his old and new worlds. Te closing line, the climax, shows that the poet sees this as significant. Link to Belonging: Explores ideas about cultural heritage. The poet first feels no sense of belonging to a place his parent’s value. The post card doest connect to him even thought he will see it one day. Even though there is uncertainty he still feels a sense of belonging. Many feel pride in their new country and are keen to assimilate yet the tugs of heritage are strong and cannot be denied. Technique | Quote/s | Explanation of meaning | Personification | “A post card sent by a friendHaunts me” | Shows a lack of connection with his past/heritage. | Rhetorical question | “What’s my choiceTo be'” | It shows that he is stuck between two cultures , he really has no connection with any culture and can’t decide which culture to choose | Symbolism | “A lone tree” | Tree is symbolic of roots, roots are associated with his ancestors, Reinforce that he must accept his heritage. | Tone | “On the river’s Bank........Before you die.””Stanza 7 | Sense of hope that he will go back to his home land and accept his roots and heritage. | | | | Area of studies: Skrzynecki Poetry Poem: In the folk museum Synopsis: This poem tells us of a visit Skrzynecki has to folk museum. The name of the museum was not given to show how meaningless the experience was to the poet. The museum hold relics of Australian history and Skrzynecki can feel no connection to. It was a hallow and cold experience. Link to Belonging: The poet feels alienated by the relics of the past as they do not connect in any substantial way to his own existence. The overriding feeling is one of dissatisfaction and disconnection. This collection which “isn’t mine” does not connect to the poet. They are commodities which for the poet hold no significance ,whether historically, culturally or personally. Technique | Quote/s | Explanation of meaning | Personification | “on the streets that leads around autumn” | Shows the lack of life within the museum, showing poets lack of connection to the past. | Enjambment –Continue without pause. | “to remind me of a past Which isn’t mine” | Shows the poet is the immigrant and his cultural heritage came from another country, and showing his confusion to where he belongs. | Simile/imagery | “That’s as cold as water to touch” | Shows that the items are cold had he finds the boring, has no connection. | Alliteration | “And I leave without wanting a final look” | Emphasises his impatience, he wants to go, showing a lack of interest or connection to what he sees. | Personal pronoun | “I look at words” | Shows he is doing all this by himself, like in other poem he is isolated, doesn’t feel a place to belong or people to belong with. | Area of studies: Skrzynecki Poetry Poem: Migrant hostel Synopsis: The poem describes the experience of an unpleasant part of the migrant journey. Prison like circumstances of the hostels and length of time spent there were not the best introduction. The idea is also here that migrants from opposing sides of war torn Europe were thrown together. They cannot begin t o take their place in Australian society. They are still in limbo with their future unknown. Link to Belonging: The temporary nature of a hotel emphasis the lack of belonging the immigrants feel. Barrier between them and Australian society, they are isolated. The poem shows the ways migrants were treated in ways they made feel like they didn’t belong. The connections between the immigrants who drifted together based on their heritage shared experiences shows a sense of belonging. Technique | Quote/s | Explanation of meaning | Simile | “Nationalities sought each other....Like a homing pigeon” | Trying to find each other in the hostel emphasise the need for something familiar someone to belong with. | Personal pronoun | “Whose Track we would follow” | Show that they are in this together through universal experience. | Simile | “As it rose and fell like a fingerPointed in remand and shame” | Shows the shame and alienation the migrants feel in their new country. Patronised, they don’t belong. | | | | | | |