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To what extent has studying the concept journeys expanded your understanding of yourself, of individuals, and of the world' In your answer, refer to your prescribed text and at ONE related text of your own choosing. A journey involves movement from one place to another. This place may be physical, emotional, spiritual, or imaginative; it may also be all of them. Most journeys involve a type of evolution for the persona, individuals surrounding the persona and the world either physically, spiritually, emotionally or imaginatively. Two of Robert Gray’s poems Late Ferry and North Coast Town explore aspects of journeys which has expanded and developed the understanding of us, of individuals and of the world. Theses aspects reflect how some journeys are a reward and provide hope for the future, some journeys improve the persona, the individuals and the world and not all journeys have positive outcomes. Through the clever use of imagery and poetic techniques Robert Gray has brought these aspects of journeys to life. Similarly in the picture book Belonging by Jeannie Baker some of these aspects are shown through the use of colour and the placement of certain objects in certain images and the gradual change of the pictures. The poem Late Ferry by Robert Gray presents a detached observer, watching a ferry leave the shore into the neurotic and dark harbour. This poem presents the aspect of journeys as a reward and providing hope for the future through the persona’s physical journey with emotional undertones. This is shown when a little speck of light from the ferry which “seems honeycomb filled as it is with its yellow light”, is seen by the persona who cannot see the ferry completely as it gets lost in the sinisterness of the harbour. Here the “honeycomb” suggests warmth and ends the poem on a positive connotation and tells us as an audience that though some journeys may be challenging, there’s always hope and a reward like the “honeycomb” that provides a reduction to the daily challenges. By studying this aspect of journeying as an individual I have learnt that journeys expand the understanding of me, individuals and the world. This aspect of journeying is similar to the picture book belonging by Jeannie Baker. As the story develops the outline of the images in the visuals become softer, on pages twenty three and twenty four the curves of plant life reinforces the concept of hope and freedom for the future of the environment. Through the use of softer lines as the story progresses it established the idea that hope is gradually approaching the neighbourhood and they will flourish as a community and that they have learned how significant the natural environment is to their daily lives. The poem North Coast Town by Robert Gray presents the journey of an outsider who is observing the changes of a town which is becoming more commercialised and artificial. This poem presents the aspect as journeys not all having positive outcomes. This is shown when imagery and allusion create “a shell station (with the men’s locked)” as an untrustworthy and inhospitable environment that has changed in nature over time. This suggests that journeys may not always have positive outcomes, and this expands us as an audience because we may learn and self- grow better from bitter experiences. This aspect of journeying is similar to Belonging as the community in the book do not realise the importance of the environment in the beginning. In the first image of this picture book, the fence of the characters’ house is made of corrugated iron. The iron imitates a symbol of man-made/synthetic objectives and again reflects to the artificial and imitation of the neighbourhood. However in contrast to North Coast town, the persona in Belonging and the community around her realise that artificiality