Poem Analysis: Bali Nine

People affected by Cronulla Riots in any manner were ‘out of the frying pan, and were into the fire’, when the documentary displayed Prime Minister John Howard declaring the riots as “un-Australian”. He made us believe that his view was optimistic and disagrees that there is underlying racism in Australia.

Richard Blanco is a Cuban- American poet who was given the oppurunity to write an inaugaration poem for Barack Obama's second swearing-in. He wrote a poem titled "One Today" that praised the good and unique things about the United States and also the everyday people who's daily routines help to make America the proud country that it is.

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.

Gilbert’s poem portrays many Aboriginals plight’s within Australia and conveys notions of despair, anguish and anger for his fellow Aboriginal comrades. Again, Gilbert uses strong visual imagery in “the anguished death you spread” which helps convey the persona’s feeling of horror and anger at the Europeans. This is further emphasised through the poet’s vehement and repetitive use of second person pronouns in “you” which conveys a sense of blame and accumulates into an accusatory tone and generates a strong sense of detachment between the author and the European settlers. Furthermore enjambment enhances the accusatory tone in “you pollute all the rivers and litter every road” because the lack of punctuation and pauses makes the lines sharp and quick, creating a sense of anger in the author. In addition the author’s use of metaphors in “humanity locked in chains” creates a sense of struggle and inability to escape the oppression the Aboriginals are in, whereby the word “chain” is symbolic for trapped and lack of freedom. Kevin Gilbert’s emotional poem brings light to the pain and suffering Aboriginals are going through, which is a stark contrast to the image of Australia, being a free and accepting

The poem “A Story” by Li young Lee tells of a young child asking his father for story. The boy simply wants a story that he has never heard, his father is bombarded with panic as he seems to think he is disappointing his son. Through analysis of structure, points of view and metaphors this seemingly simple story is transformed into a deep meaningful poem about a complex relationship between a father and son.

In conclusion, to sum up the whole thoughts, Bali Nine initially has existed for over one decade. It begins in 2005, when Indonesian police caught nine Australians were bringing 8.3kg kokain. The drug smuggling issue became famous dramatically because two of the nine people in Bali Nine case were received the death penalty from the Indonesian court. The thing also became worse, when Jokowi, Indonesian president decided to cancel all of the judicial review and process the executions immediately. Moreover, the Australian government put lots of efforts to change the Indonesian government decision, particularly on Joko Widodo as the head of the government and state in Indonesia. Nevertheless, both of the Indonesian and Australian government remains

Hence it is necessary that readers approach the text logocentrically to successfully create their own metaphysical meaning. Australian voices are greatly represented in the opening scene which represents distinctly Australian vision.

Thus through Keating’s skillful manipulation of Aristotle’s pathos and ethos, he is able to vehemently communicate with us his solution to the maltreatment of Aboriginals by engaging the viewers to comply with his need for reconciliation. Moreover, the use of Churchill’s extravagance of language in the emotive words “inequality, racism and injustice,” further incites us to a call to action; putting a halt to these grievances. The negative connotations of the alliteration of “the plight of Aboriginal Australians affects us all” further reiterates his argument of taking ownership of the past and thus challenging the status quo to learn another discourse on the controversial subject of reconciliation. Moreover, Keating’s employment of the anaphora of “imagine if” allows for Monroe’s visualisation of the

Paul Keating’s ‘Redfern Speech’ demonstrates textual integrity as it has dichotomy of real and ideal values. Paul Keating uses the power of rhetoric to effectively highlight the mistakes made by “White Australians”. Some journalists showed surprise that this speech bluntly acknowledged the cultural devastation wrought by colonial conquest. This is affirmed by the inclusivity in “it was we who did the dispossessing” followed by short sentence “We brought the diseases. The alcohol” reinforcing the atrocities

“A Hanging” by George Orwell is an influential, autobiographical essay, in which the subject of capital punishment is powerfully examined. The essay is based on a prisoner’s execution in a Prisoner of War camp in Burma during the Second World War. In the essay, Orwell is a prison guard for the camp and carefully illustrates his views on capital punishment. The structure of the essay is of three distinct sections. These sections provide the reader with contrast and repetition, and are grounded in reality but with emphasis on the creative,

A wise man once said, “If we believe that murder is wrong and not admissible in our society, then it has to be wrong for everyone, not just individuals but governments as well.” As most of us already know Andrew Chan and Myuran sukumaran were arrested in 2005 for attempting to smuggle 8 kg of heroin form Indonesia to Australia. And then we might think, that the Australian government would prosecute these two Australian men. But no, they are sentenced to death in Indonesia. Thesis that is causing the most controversy is the fact that these two Australian men are being executed in a country they're not

The next story, again regarding a woman, is made to push us into a position of anger rather than regret, preparing us for the greater injustices to come later in the text. Wockner casually details how another woman’s “co-accursed – including the drug ring mastermind – won clemency back in 2012.” Wockner is subtly showing us the unjustness of the legal system, in the example of a woman who was simply a pawn being sentenced to death while her boss is set free. Anecdotes like this appeal to our sense of justice, inciting feelings of rage towards those who caused the injustice – in this case, the Indonesian

The context is within a nation where capital punishment was commonly utilised, Burma, and is set during the 20th Century. The overlying idea within the text is the cruel and ugly reality of capital punishment and a disapproval of a system which routinely takes away many lives, provoking a negative reaction of the audience towards such

From an early age, children are taught that murder is morally wrong. In today’s complex society that is impeded by unsettling periods of civil unrest, it is an expectation for everyone to acknowledge and accept that murder is one of the worst crimes individuals can commit. Perhaps it can be said that the death penalty is one of our legal system’s biggest contradictions of itself, as, if someone commits murder (or another heinous crime of that caliber), such ‘murderers’ will, in states that have capital punishment laws, be sent to Death Row and ultimately murdered in order to prevent potential future crimes by such perpetrators. I believe that the death penalty is wrong not only as it is immoral to take a life, but also, such ineffective laws waste money and do not deter crime.

Some of the poems and essays I have read during this class were relatable to me. Being away from college, I have struggled with not being at home. I have become a different person when I am at school, but when I am home, I feel like I am my normal self again. Some of these authors of the poems and essays that I have read throughout this class has struggled with being somewhere where they don’t belong and that they are someone else when they are not home. Unlike the other poems and essays we have read throughout the course. I enjoyed reading the ones about “home” because I actually understood what they are going through and that I can relate. Some of these poems and essays include “Going Home” by Maurice Kenny, Postcard from Kashmir”, by Agha Shahid Ali, “Returning” by Elias Miguel Munoz and “Hometown” by Luis Cabalquinto. All of these poems deal with duality.