White Australia By Henry Lawson 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.

‘The Australian Dream’ spoken by Stan Grant, has presented his perception on the issue of racism amongst Indigenous Australians, in which their struggles have been covered by the media to enhance Australia’s image of being a multicultural country. Despite Australia being infamous for its idea of a multicultural country, Stan Grant opposes against this and reveals the truth that racism is still continuous. Therefore, proving Stan Grant point that racism allows for the emotional and physical struggle on one’s lives. “But every time we are lured into the light, we are mugged by the darkness of this country’s history.” Through the utilisation of metaphor and juxtaposition, Grant is able to make a strong emphasis that, Australia had tried to erase racism, such as through the apologies and reconciliation made by the people, but are then blinded by the past targeting of Aboriginal people who continue to be

‘We’re all Australians now’ draws the reader to see the war from a positive Australia home front perspective. Texts from

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.

Good morning and welcome to the Sunday afternoon poetry session. The alienation of individuals and groups within society is a tragic feature of Australian life. The despair and despondency experienced by those individuals allow for artistic endeavours that address issues that have left them outcast and marginalised from mainstream society. The isolation of minority groups such as migrants, Indigenous Australians or those deemed to be “other” from Australia’s dominant, white culture, provides an interesting lens through which our society can be viewed and examined. Two poems that explore and address the alienation of a minority group are Lisa Bellear’s Women’s Liberation and Uyen Loewald’s Be Good, Little Migrant. Through the use of the highest form of literature, although with differing emphases, the two poets put forth the harsh reality of the estrangement their own social and ethnic group face.

In this free-verse war poem, the idea of 'journey' extends itself to cover both the physical and emotional aspects of the subject matter of the poem. Repetition and word

This idea of distorted representations of Aboriginals being accepted by the majority of the Australian public resulting in the mistreatment of them is seen through the use of irony evident in “Home sweet home” which was said by one of the Aboriginals that was in jail which is ironic as jail is a dark and horrible place as opposed to a

The representation of Indigenous Australians in fiction and nonfiction texts are influenced by a range of factors. In the contemporary world of multicultural Australia, there has been a variety of ways groups of people are represented in texts. The Indigenous population is often portrayed in ways that strengthen harmful stereotypes. However, there are also a variety of positive outlooks and portrayals expressing their strength and achievements. In texts studied in year 8 English, the representation of Indigenous Australians in Crow country are characterized as outcasts and reflect cultural distinction. Newspaper articles regarding “Adam Goodes” demonstrates how preconceived thoughts from many Australians destroys sporting stars outlook upon

The poem is written to represent all soldiers, regardless of allegiance, and shows that in death we are all joined as one, ‘the sand joins them together'. It does not boast about victory but rather the irony that no matter their race or country they all end up ‘on the other front'. Again the lines 17 and 18 really emphasize that in death the countries the soldiers were fighting for are irrelevant. Although the poem has a worldview, an Australian perspective is brought out through the ‘sway and wander' and ‘waves and fades' recreation of the sea. Kenneth Slessor is presenting a less optimistic view of the war perspective in Australia, one that does not celebrate the call to

Words are powerful tools that can be used to represent people and shape opinions about others. In a similar way, certain actions and our treatment of other cultures demonstrate our understandings and acceptance of, different beliefs and cultures. Two texts that support these statements and include representations of Indigenous Australian culture and beliefs are: ‘Riding the Black Cockatoo’ by John Danalis and ‘Company Sin’ by John Butler Trio.

I n t h e p a s t , Australia has participated in substantial events, poised against other ethnicities, but as Australia’s identity emerges, we discover just how far we’ve come since the White Australia Policy and the Cronulla Riots. However, under closer inspection, we discover the real truth, and that is that we truly haven't moved forward at all, and that realistically we put up the facade of being a multicultural country, but once that mask is removed, Australia is just the same as it was all those many years ago.

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 racial struggles of Australia tend to closely mimic those of the United States. Claudia Rankine’s collection of poems, “Citizen: An American Lyric” explores these themes. The lyrical themes found in Midnight Oil’s songs relate to Citizen as they exemplify the racial struggle between the Aborigines and the white settlers of Australia which can easily be related to the struggle of the blacks and whites in the US which is exemplified in the songs Beds Are Burning, Warakurna, and The Dead Heart.

Christopher Wallace was inspired to write this poem because he allegedly had four uncles who were killed in World War I. The poem talks about how innocent lives were taken and how many young Australians had no choice but to go to war because of conscription. In this poem Wallace foreshadows the dullness and sorrow war has and that the reader should not forget the sacrifices that were made for Australia’s Freedom.