Belonging Hypothesis Research

Belonging means different things to different people. The most common definition is feeling a sense of connectedness to a person, place or thing. Understanding nourishes belonging while a lack of understanding can prevent people from belonging. This is shown through Peter Skrzynecki’s poem ‘Migrant hostel’ which is about the challenges faced by travelers on their journey, and the hardships they have to overcome by exchanging their old world for the unfamiliar and unwelcoming new world in which they don’t understand anything. Skrzynecki’s poem ‘Feliks Skryznecki’ explores a relationship between father and son, and their contrasting experiences of belonging to a new place. The related text, ‘The Red Tree,’ by Shaun Tan also shows that a lack

A fundamental part of human existence and interaction is the notion of belonging or identifying with a group. Groups form and exist for various reasons and purposes, comprising of individuals similar or diverse in nature, that often work together toward a common goal (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2014). In 1902, the American sociologist by the name of C. H. Cooley, made distinction between primary and secondary groups. Cooley (1902) classified primary group to have intimate and comparatively permanent associations as one might find in a cohort of close friends, or a family. The groups or associations in which individuals related to each other through formal and often legalistic rules, were classified as secondary groups (Nolen, 2010).

It is a well-known fact that belonging to a group can make an individual feel not only accepted, but more powerful that if they were on their own. Whether it is a community, youth group or even religion, belonging is an everyday occurrence of like that many of us do not even realise. Belonging to a group is more influential than belonging to an individual. We can see this in the texts The Crucible by Arthur Miller, 1984 by George Orwell and the listening task. Belonging to a group can give you a feeling of acceptance, but also can help you not to be targeted or marginalised. Also, people who appear to belong to groups, when looked at closer, in truth do not belong. Belonging to a group can also give you more power as a

In addition, dealing with familiar people was way less stressful than setting up myself into totally different place and meeting new people, which peaked my fear of the unknown and raised so many questions in my head. Thus, when I first moved I did not feel any sense of belonging, rather I disliked the transition as it made me feel lonely. Of course, a large move like this one had a significant social impact in my life. Thus, I decided that I should overcome all these barriers and deal with all my fears.

HSC  STUDY   BUDDY   1     ADVANCED  ENGLISH  CONTENTS   PAGE:  BELONGING   BELONGING  ESSAY  –  PAGES  2-­‐3   BELONGING  SHORT  STORY  –  PAGES  4-­‐5

English HSC 2009 - 2012 is Belonging. What does belonging mean? From the Oxford Dictionary and Thesaurus: belong, verb, 1) to be rightly put into a particular position or class; 2) fit or be acceptable in a particular place or environment; 3) belong to be a member of; 4) belong to be the property or possession of. Belonging, noun, affiliation, acceptance, association, attachment, integration, closeness, rapport, fellow feeling, fellowship. Antonym: alienate, verb 1) cause to feel isolated 2) lose the support or sympathy Synonyms for alienate, verb, estrange, divide, distance, put at a distance, isolate, cut off, set against, turn away, drive apart,

Finding a sense of belonging to a place can influence an individual’s sense of acceptance within the community and culture or opposingly can enhance their sense of isolation and alienation from society.This is reflected through Raimond Gaita’s memoir Romulus My Father and Manfred Jurgensen’s poem Bonegilla 1916 through extensive literary devices.We learn individuals perceptions of place and their ability to adjust to new places governs their ability to belong and feel at home with new cultures.

Explore how this is evident in you prescribed text and at least ONE other related text of your own choosing.

“We belong … like fish in water. We’re in our environment.” This quote from the New York Times shows the perception of belonging as the idea about connecting to a place, person, group or a community. 'Feliks Skrzynecki' by Peter Skrzynecki, 'I'm nobody! Who are you?' by Emily Dickinson and 'The Rabbits' by John Marsden & Shaun Tan show the concept of belonging as being contrasted towards the New York Times quote, showing the alienation and non-existent connection towards it. These texts have furthered my understanding on the perceptions of belonging by recognising the different concepts of connection to people, places and things.

Considered a fundamental aspect of being human, belonging is an ambiguous concept which can offer individuals a sense of identity, security and connectedness. Experiences of belonging are closely related to a person’s interaction with others, as positive experiences can enrich their sense of belonging, and negative experiences can limit their sense of belonging. An individual’s limited experience of belonging through their inability to positively interact with others can often incite them to reject the majority through acts of defiance, self-alienation and

The feeling of belonging is not a necessity that everybody needs but is a common feeling that most people believe to be important in their lives if they want to be happy. People believe the feeling to belong helps them to be happy because if they feel like they belong somewhere they will feel safer and more confident when in that place. The place people feel like they belong in does not have to be a physical place like a house or a town/city but can also be a social place or in some ways an emotional place. An example of these would be a group of close friends or a person's home although a home is also a physical place it varies depending on the person because of the emotional feelings attached to that place are different so it could be considered an emotional place for someone to

The concept of belonging deals with not only acceptance but also with dejection and alienation. This concept can influence our belonging to a relationship or place by our background and culture. These ideas are explored through Shakespeare’s play “As You Like IT”, the poem “Villane on a Theme” by George Good and the film “Remember the Titans” directed by Boaz Yakin. By analysing the texts in relation to belonging we see a variety of perceptions to belonging in the means of relationships, family and place. The different contexts in which each text is written explore slightly different ideas that together broaden our understanding on the complexity that is belonging.109

Both Khaled Hosseini's novel ‘The Kite Runner’ and the short stories "Are You Different?" by Mia Francis and "Chinese Lessons" by Ivy Tseng in the anthology "Growing Up Asian In Australia" by various authors discuss the notion of being displaced. In the texts, the role of being an outsider extends from being excluded in one's own family to a large-scale extermination of the ethnic minorities. In both ‘The Kite Runner’ and ‘Growing Up Asian in Australia’, it is inferred that the idea of being the outsider causes individuals to experience pain, because the way that they perceive themselves and by the people around them as different leads them to feel voiceless, discriminated, and conflicted in a place where they should feel like they belong.

When individuals have not visited their home for large increments of time, one could expect the individual would feel homesick. The same is true for

* ” three things fed my father’s anger: his knowledge that I was lying, his fear for my character and his dismay that he had lost something precious” - accumulative listing - piles emphasis on Romulus’ strong beliefs in honesty and morals which he fears Raimond might lack to form a good character. A sense of belonging is presented in the fact that father and son are attached by social values of honesty and reputable character.