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Depiction of Different Types of Journeys through Literature

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The concept of journeys can vary from person to person; literally a journey is a progression, either physically, mentally or spiritually. Journeys come under five main titles, inner, spiritual, imaginative, emotional and physical. Practically all texts contain one or a combination of these journeys. Les Murray, an Australian poet, has a very strong concept of journeys throughout his poems. Through the use of such techniques as figurative language and film a composer can express their individual concept of journeys. Les Murray’s poem “Widower in the Country” is a mixture of a physical and emotional journey which traces a mindless, daily routine of a grieving widower. Les has presented his idea that a physical journey can mask a deep …show more content…

From the physical journey of driving through a town the reader will experience a second journey, a spiritual journey when they oversee the lives of the people within the town. The composer utilizes a 2nd person perspective to engage his audience and hopefully take them on the same physical and spiritual journey. He uses personification such as “The houses there wear verandas out of shyness” to give the audience a sense of the community and set a harmonizing tone. I believe this poem really captures Les Murrays hypothesized concept of journeys, as it’s much deeper than a simplistic drive. Melissa Hamilton, a journalist for the Australian newspaper recently wrote an article tilted This (Transplanted) Life, which is a physical, inner and spiritual journey. It is a recount of her journey home, it’s written in first person to personalize her journey and evoke mood and tone with her audience. The composer uses juxtaposition to compare the city to her country home, “When we arrive I stumble with soft city feet over the gidgee stones” and to compare the people of the city and country “the quite is loud enough to keep them up at night.” Through her thorough description of the country surroundings and the lifestyle of the people that live there, she takes us on a spiritual journey of her hometown. The composer also uses creative language such as exaggeration, repetition, alliteration, personification and a metaphor to establish her love and knowledge of

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