Viva Voce
Intro
1. What does the concept relationships mean to you on a person level?
On a personal level, the concept of relationships means the connection or bond between two people. A relationship should involve two people putting in an equal amount of effort to overcome barriers and challenges together. Being in a healthy relationship can enrich a person’s life and can also help them to identify who they are. There can be all different types of relationships between two people. For example: Mother and Daughter, Mother and Son, Mother and Father, Father and Son etc. An example of a relationship I have in my life is a relationship with the Mum. This is a relationship that will never end and will only grow stronger.
Prescribed Text
1. How has the composers background of one of your poems you have studied impacted on their ideas about relationships?
Oodgeroo Noonuccal’s background has had a major impact on her ideas about relationships. In the poem We Are Going, Oodgeroo writes about the relationship between aboriginals and their land. Oodgreoo writes about the loss of the traditional ways and a diminishing culture. Oodgeroo has wrote about these things because she witnessed it all happening. Oodgeroos experience with the white men also influenced her to write about a sense of distance between the aboriginal people and the white men in their relationship. When Oodgeroo watched the white men take over their land, she witnessed her tribe in pain. This made her realise that her people had a strong relationship with their land and culture, and that it had just been taken all away from them.
How have TWO poems explored the Concept of Relationships?
The poem Flames and Dangling Wire, which Is written by Robert Gray, explores the relationship between man and the environment. This is evident in the use of techniques such as simile and juxtaposition. Simile is when you compare two things using the words ‘like’ or ‘as’. An example of Gray using simile in the poem is in the quote “Behind us, the city driven like stakes into the Earth.” This simile creates a sense of penetrable doom as the stakes are forced into an earth that wasn’t created for this purpose. The use of ‘stakes’ somewhat suggests that the Earth is screaming, being forced against its will. This technique and quote is an example of man taking over and making its mark on the world with little consideration for its natural beauty. This example relates back to the relationship between man and the environment being explored in the poem. Juxtaposition refers to the placement of two ideas next to each other to create impact. In the poem, Gray has placed juxtaposed images of the city with the rubbish dump. The purpose of this is to inform the audience of the domination of the city and the men of the city pouring out their rubbish to feed the ever burning fires. An example of Gray using juxtaposition in the poem is in the quote “Now the distant buildings are stencilled in the smoke. And we come to a landscape of tin cans..” This is a powerful technique and quote because it suggests that after mankind phases out, the rubbish will still remain. This example then relates back to the relationship between man and the environment. The poem Beach Burial, which is written by Kenneth Slessor, explores the relationship between man and war. This is evident in the use of techniques such as symbolism and vivid imagery. In the poem, Slessor has used religious symbolism. Symbolism is used to present us with the stark and real image of crosses being put on each of the soldiers graves. The crosses symbolise the suffering and persecution of Christ which is reflected in the suffering and persecution of the soldiers. The use of symbolism is evident in the quote “And each cross, the driven stake of tidewood.” The stake used to drive the crosses into the graves represents destruction and evil – both of which are associated with war. This example then represents the relationship between men and