preview

Essay On Australian Identity

Good Essays

Australia is a multicultural terrain made up of individuals from many contrasting backgrounds with disparate attitudes and values. On the surface, it would seem that Australia is fair-for-all and wholly egalitarian, and it is commonly thought that the majority of the people who live here value mateship and friendliness, and though this is true for some of the population, this representation of Australia isn't the truth for everyone.
The tapestry that makes up Australia has frayed edges and broken threads, from a distance it looks accomplished and errorless, but close up there are issues. The way women writers represent Australia in texts is diverse. The identity of Australia is revealed through standard, Aboriginal and migrant texts, and is …show more content…

He describes his experience at an Australian school and the other children there. "They were all hooting, making faces. There was nowhere to shelter. They were standing too close, yammering too loud." They would ask him questions such as "Do you eat dogs?" This represents white Australians as not being used to other children from other races, and as being curious which then leads to them being offensive.

Migrant Australian English texts mostly represent Australia as being a wonderful country full of friendly people and opportunities. Naw Pi from the book More to the Story (Rosemary Sayer 2015) describes her experience as a migrant in Australia. The writer shares that Naw Pi, "realising she would also need to learn English properly, signed up to attend classes at TAFE." This represents Australia as having opportunities for everyone, and that the migrant family values these opportunities. This is also evident later on in the text, "They told Paul and me about their aspirations to achieve more in Australia."
Overall, Migrant Australian English texts represent migrants as being willing to learn, and thankful for being able to live in

Get Access