Clancy Of The Overflow Analysis

Through the use of poetic devices, the author has successfully encouraged the audience to explore their thoughts on Australian identity and to reflect on our nation’s history.

Australian National Identity was forged by multi cultural nationalities. Within our country we now celebrate all and various events as a Nation. Our Australian Laws and language is linked with Britain. World

Australia has had many national identities in its existence; the most noticeable of these being the Bush discourse, the battler discourse, the Convict discourse and the Larrikin discourse. Russel Ward utilises these discourses in his book, “The Australian Legend”. He explains that the typical Australian is a practical man, tough who drinks heavily. A. B. Facey is a classic example of a typical Australian, although he does not fit in with all of the aspects of Ward’s construction.

Identity. It’s a broad and difficult concept. As Australians, our identity is multi-faceted, having various different expressions. One aspect of my sense of Australian identity is masculinity and the idea of the “Aussie Battler.” An Aussie Battler is a man from the working class, a person who has pride in the country they live in. An Aussie battler is a patriarchal figure who works hard to support their family, often spending their spare time with the family or at the pub. The Piper’s Son, an Australian novel by Melina Marchetta, reflects my sense of Australian identity through it’s representation of Australian masculinity in the depiction of Dominic Finch-Mackee as the archetypal “Aussie Battler.”

The concept of the “Australian legend” is an idea that has been altered many times throughout history, however the common conception of this interpretation has remained the same. This perception of a typical Australian legend is of someone who is extremely strong, independent and very capable in a natural outdoor environment such as the bush or outback. Many different sources display this idea and include the same or related characteristics. Russel Ward, author of “The Australian Legend”, focuses on an examination of the development of the "Australian character" and it’s influence on Australian culture. This was very significant in creating and supporting this idea. Crocodile Dundee, a famous Australian movie, references many aspects of what

The two poems ‘Clancy of the Overflow’ written by Banjo Patterson in 1889 and ‘The Migrant woman on the Melbourne tram’ written by Jennifer Strauss in 1975 both conveys the distinctive visuals and experiences. ‘Clancy of the overflow’ portrays a man named Clancy he longs for the country during his time in the city. Clancy enjoys the atmosphere of the country such as the landscape, animals and people while the city stresses him and bores him. ’Migrant woman on the Melbourne tram’ takes place in Melbourne, about a migrant woman experience feeling alienated and lost settling in Melbourne due to the different behaviours between her and the community of Australia , she tries to adapt to the society but struggles to cope. ‘Clancy of the overflow tells his experience using visual images and negative emotive towards the city and words positive emotive words to the country words to emphasise his beliefs towards the audience, while on the other hand ‘Migrant woman on the Melbourne tram’ tells the experience of difficulty in adapting to the Australian culture using visual images and uses descriptive words to emphasise the obstacles encountered.

Australia’s identity has always been a complicated one. Starting with Aboriginal genocide, 1800’s cowboys and villains, two world wars and a bunch of poems describing them, it makes it difficult to conclude on what being an ‘Aussie’ really is. Thankfully, the two thought-provoking poems Nobody Calls Me a Wog Anymore by Komninos Zervos, and My Country by Dorothea Mackellar both use their discerning selection of themes to reflect modern attitudes in some extent. Along with their themes, Nobody Calls Me a Wog Anymore and My Country both use their story to capture the attributes modern Australians possess to some degree.

To the world, we are amusing admired for our sense of humor and one of a kind accents, that many around the world try to imitate- and fail. When you think about the characteristics that an Australian embodies, what comes to mind? Is it the proud, hard-working, down-to-earth, artistic, creative qualities we aspire to unhold? Or is it the laid back, bogan, with no care in the world?

Hello ladies and gentlemen, I am here to bring forth some poems that represent our beautiful country for the Australian day anthology. Australians identity is a wonderful thing with our mate ship and way of life respected throughout the world. Our acknowledgement of our past makes us the country we are and creates the country we have, with the pride shared between all who happily call Australia there home. These poems explore our country’s pride through times of hardship, this being the Vietnam war. And how our strong mate ship and pride helped us prevail through this time. These are very clear throughout the poems becoming clear staple pieces for this era.

Dorothea Mackellar’s ‘My Country’ is a poem expressing Mackellar’s deep passion and love for her country, Australia. The whole poem’s intention seems to evoke the sense of praising for the country and express Mackellar’s deep relationship and passion with her land. Mackellar attains this response from the audience by using numerous language techniques such as; Juxtaposition, personification, sound patterns including alliteration and assonance, imagery, and paradox. The use of first person throughout the whole poem suggests that the theme of this poem has been evoked by personal experience.

Australia has only been here for little over 200 years whereas other countries have a lot of history with solid identities. Australian art is an important factor that helps to create its identity because its artists are passionate about the unique aspects and symbols of Australia and they incorporate them into their works to really show what they think Australia is.

A key component of Australian culture today is not only their diversity, but more importantly, the

Mackellar and AD Hope use literary devices like imagery, personification and tone to convey their perspective of Australia. The Poem Australia by AD Hope describes his negative opinion of Australia as he looks down on Australians way of life. Contrastingly, the poem My Country was written by Dorothea Mackellar at age 19 in 1904. She wrote while she was homesick in England and she expresses her deep passion and love for Australia as she compares the natural beauty of Australia to the landscape of Britain.

What does it mean to be Australian? Is it our multiculturalism, our wicked sense of humour or is it our recognisable accent? We are unique, we have thousands of species of native animals and we are proud of it. Australia has its own slang, which could be counted as a language in itself and we have neighbours of all different races. Australia is multicultural and is extremely accepting of others, no matter the country from which they have immigrated from, it is an Australian value. Furthermore, we respect and accept others religions and cultures into our society.

Mateship. Adventurous. Loyal. Free. Proud. These are the typical words Australians use to describe themselves, to identify themselves as different from the rest of the world. But who is an Australian? Someone that was born in Australia? Only people we choose to call Australian? People with great achievements that we choose to take credit for? Only people that love sport and vegemite? Or maybe only people with ‘Aussie’ accents? The Australian population is a proud one indeed, proud of their nation, their achievements and their own independent way of life, but sometimes us Aussies, forget about the rest of the world and all those other people that make us, who we are.