Speehch

Good morning Mrs Lansett and Mrs Morrison Today I am going to talk to you about the concept of belonging. The true meaning of belonging can be defined in various ways. Belonging is something all people crave so that they feel accepted to a certain group. This group may be family, peer groups, colleagues or ethnicity groups. People desire the need to feel and be an important part of a group, this gives people a feeling that they feel they must have. The definition of belonging is displayed in Peter Skrzynecki’s poems, Migrant Hostel and Postcard and also in my chosen related text Kanye West’s ‘Runaway’. These texts will demonstrate numerous techniques that display the true concept of belonging. The first text I have chosen is Migrant Hostel, a poem by Peter Skrzyneki. This poem demonstrates a great sense of belonging as it is about migrants who have come to live in Australia following WW2. These migrants are isolated from the rest of the country’s population even though they were invited by the government. A strong technique used in this poem to clearly demonstrate the concept of belonging is imagery. Imagery is demonstrated in the first stanza with the quote “comings and goings arrivals of newcomers in busloads from the station sudden departure”. This quote depicts the large amount of migrants entering the hostels. Another strong technique used in this poem is symbolism. The quote “that had only begun”. This is symbolic of the migrants starting their new life in Australia. Another display of symbolism is the quote “or were dying”. This is symbolic of them sacrificing their old culture for the new one they must assimilate. The poem ‘Postcard’ also by Peter Skrzyneki is about someone who has received a postcard from a friend residing in Poland. Despite previously living in the old town of Warsaw the poet feels as if he no longer belongs there. The quote “the voices of red gables and a cloudless sky” shows he is no longer able to ignore his roots if he wants to embrace and understand his and his father’s original heritage. Symbolism is also another technique used in this poem with the 3rd stanza quote “drink to freedom under the white eagle’s flag”. This demonstrates that the poets parents still believe they have a strong connection. Runaway is a film that demonstrates a great sense of belonging. As a phoenix falls to earth a confused Griffin picks up the phoenix in his arms and brings her to his home. However complications arise when the phoenix comes into contact with objects from the human world, such as a news display on a T.V to something as simple as a teacup. Griffin later falls in love with the phoenix and has made it his girlfriend and decides to take her out in public to meet new people but everywhere they go she seems to be discriminated against. This leads to the phoenixes quote at the end of the movie “The thing I hate about your world is that whenever something is different you try and chance so now I have to go back to my world” Throughout all of these texts the audience were able to understand the concept of belonging through numerous powerful techniques and quotes. Migrant Hostel, Postcard and Runaway all demonstrate a great deal of belonging. Thankyou.