NSW HSC Advanced English

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English is a compulsory subject for the award of the Higher School Certificate at the end of secondary schooling in New South Wales, Australia. Marks gained in English must also be included in the calculation of the University Admission Index used to determine entry to university. Students must study one of the following courses:

  • English (Advanced)
  • English (Standard)
  • English as a Second Language (ESL)
  • English (Life Skills)

English (Advanced) contains several topics, the first being Journeys which is common between English (Advanced) and English (Standard). The theme of Journeys is studied through the "Journeys Stimulus Booklet" provided by the NSW Board of Studies, and through one other prescribed text.

Contents

[edit] Journeys Stimulus Booklet

The Journeys Stimulus booklet contains seven texts which can be analysed with respect to Physical Journeys, Inner Journeys or Imaginative Journeys. The critical points of these seven texts are outlined below, with respect to Physical Journeys

Texts included in the Journeys Stimulus Booklet are

[edit] "The Road Not Taken"

poem by Robert Frost

The poem "The Road not Taken" by Robert Frost from the journeys stimulus booklet utilises an extended metaphor of the physical journey to explore ideas made about choices and their consequences in life. The Poem starts with the persona standing literally at a crossroad which metaphorically represents the choice that will affect the rest of his life.

The journey may place contradicting time constraints on the traveller, causing them to make life-long decisions in a short period of time. Time is represented in the opening line of the poem with the wood being described as a "yellow wood" (Autumn time). This would suggest that time is running out for the persona, although this idea is contradicted in the third stanza where the time setting is "that morning" suggesting that there is still far to travel. The persona must not sit and ponder the decision for too long, nor must it be too hasty, as the decision may have long lasting ramifications.

The journey may not reveal much about the future, so the traveller is left to simply guess which is the better path to take. The persona critically evaluates the merits of each road, by looking down the road until it bent in the undergrowth. While it is speculated that the first road may have "perhaps the better claim" in the final line of the second stanza it is admitted that the roads had worn "really about the same".

While the journey presents opportunities to the traveller, the choice of one, may simultaneously render something inaccessible, such as in 'blood on the tracks'. The persona made the decision to travel down the second of the two roads and "kept the first for another day", but it is soon revealed that the persona "knowing how way leads on way" "doubted if I should ever come back". His regret at this truth of physical journeys is expressed through the use of the sigh in "Oh, I kept the first for another day" and "sorry I could not travel both"

Throughout a journey where many choices must be made, future satisfaction may be achieved individually. In the final stanza Frost predicts the satisfaction of the persona "ages and ages hence" as they look back on the decision made that day. The persona chose to take "the road less travelled", and it was this non-conformity "that has made all the difference".

[edit] "The Ivory Trail"

book cover from the novel "The Ivory Trail" by Victor Kelleher

The book cover for “The Ivory Trail” contained in the 'Journeys' stimulus booklet uses a montage of images to convey a message about journeys, and specifically the journeys contained in the novel.

The Journeys may be dramatic and dangerous such as that alluded to in the front cover of “The Ivory Trail”. This is achieved through the orange/red colour wash which seems to come from the setting sun in the background and reminds the responder of heat and fire. The danger of the journey is alluded to through the use of the setting sun showing the imminence of nightfall and te dangers related to this.

The Journeys in this text could explore unknown and mysterious places. This is hinted at by the montage of exotic images that makes up the background of the book cover. The sphinx, which is a key image in the montage is the stereotypical image of past mystery, this alludes to the fact that the book explores places unfamiliar to the targeted western audience. This suggests that the journeys pertained to are mysterious in nature themselves.

The eyes in the bottom left corner of the cover seem wide in fear or wonder, precisely what at is not clear adding to the mysterious nature of the cover.

The Journey may also have spiritual aspects, as the images of the temples in the background would suggest. In this case they are especially relating to eastern religions and death, as setting sun represents.

Physical journeys may be carried on through the generations, and never explicately ending. The quote “Not all journeys have an ending” located in the top right corner at either the beginning or end of the responders reading path reveals more about the nature of journeys pertained to in the cover. The underlying assumption with any journey, physical especially, is that there will be a terminus at some point, even if this is at the point of death of the traveller. This quote challenges the underlying assumption that a journey must end, and suggests that some journeys may be carried on through generations.

[edit] "The Wind in the Willows"

Extract from "The Wind in the Willows" by Kenneth Grahame

The Extract from “The Wind In The Willows” by Kenneth Grahame in the Journeys stimulus booklet uses satirical characters to explore different individuals views on the Physical Journey.

A journey is not perceived the same way by different individuals. This is portrayed in the first paragraph with the individuals different reactions to the caravan portrayed here. The underlying assumption of physical journeys is that everyone who is given the opportunity to travel will take it. The Character of Toad seems to re-affirm this assumption with his endless enthusiasm. This is seen through the use of exclamation marks in his speech “Travel, change, interest, excitement!” and “the rolling downs!”. The character of Rat, however, challenges this assumption. Rat does not feel compelled to leave his “dull, fusty old river” and will not even try to make it sound better than it is.

Many good things can come out of the physical journey. Toad realises that the Journey into the “whole world” would be personally beneficial, this is summarised when he tells Rat that he’ll “make an animal out of you”. The anthropomorphism in this phrase is used to make a pun out of the common phrase “I’ll make a man out of you” to add to the gentle humour of the extract.

The extract also shows that to journey is to step out of the known into the unknown. For rat the journey out of the familiar into the unfamiliar presents huge possibilities for disaster. Toad, however finds this aspect of journeying exciting.

Journeys often need to be planned in detail so that the imminent disaster that rat sees can be avoided. Toad shows that he has taken on the initiative to have “Planned ‘em all my self, I did!”. The lockers have also been stocked so that “nothing whatever has been forgotten”. Ironically all that Toad has planned is only aimed at keeping himself in comfort as he travels, which partially defeats the purpose of going at all.

[edit] "Journey to the Interior"

poem by Margaret Atwood

The Poem “Journey to The Interior” by Margaret Atwood from the Journeys Stimulus booklet represents a stream of consciousness travelling through the persona’s mind. Through this stream of consciousness the persona explores the nature of a metaphysical journey using physical journey metaphors.

The persona’s perception of the metaphorical physical journey ahead changes throughout the poem. At first the hills are impassible being “welded together”, but as the persona journeys they “open…to let me through”. This change shows that the persona is learning as they travel.

The metaphorical physical journey contains many distractions which draw the persona away from nearing the final destination. The “small details” which are distracting the persona give hints as to the nature of the journey being undertaken which is being described metaphorically as a physical journey. “your shoe…under the chair where it shouldn’t be” conveys the notion that the journey is literally an inner journey where a disruption in the stream of thought would bring the journey to a halt. The idea of the physical journey is still kept here when the shoe is described as being “among the brambles”.

There are many obstacles that the persona must overcome to continue in their metaphorical journey. The recurring image of trees and brambles represent the obstacles. In the first stanza, the persona is "Surrounded by a tangle of branches" then in the second “Your shoe…under the chair” is described as being “among the brambles”. Likewise “A sentence crossing my path” is described as being as “sodden as a fallen log”. In this way the everyday household items which are literally hindering the progress of the inner journey, metaphorically become the objects which hinder a physical journey.

The physical journey may be dangerous if care is not taken. The final line of the poem outlines the dangers of the Inner journey using metaphorical physical journeys images. The persona must "keep my head" as it is "easier...to lose my way forever here, than in other landscapes".

[edit] "Blood on the Tracks"

extract from film review by Renay Walker

The extract from “Blood on the Tracks”-a film review by Renay Walker for the movie “Beneath Clouds” shows much about how the journey can be used to convey meaning; especially in films.

The Journey is a popular and diverse metaphor that can, and has been used across a range of films. Walker opens the review by simply stating “The road metaphor is significant in many ways”. The journey or “Road” is significant because of it ability to convey a wide varieties of meanings in films.

The journey is a concept that all understand. The culture or background of an individual are irrelevant in journeys, as it is a theme common to all mankind. This ability of a journey, to cut "across the divide between nature and culture” enables it to portray absolute meaning, something that will be interpreted the same by a wide variety of people.

The journey may be used in a wide variety of films. The list of films that make use of the journey metaphor shows the wide variety of texts (esp. films) that make use of the journey. Texts such as “Homers Odyssey” and “Where Eskimos Live” are listed to emphasise this diversity and show that the journey has created its own, diverse, genre, “that of the Road Movie”

More specifically, even an apparently simple journey can explore complex ideas about character. The specific review of the film “Beneath clouds” starts in the third and final paragraph of the extract after Walker has put forward their ideas about the journey. Although Walker believes the film “hardly ground breaking” in concept, it has a distinct place in “Australian cinema” because of its deeper meanings achieved through the use of the journey and declares that “there is nothing really straight forward about moving on a road”.

[edit] "Journeys over Land and Sea"

Extract from Smitsonian Libraries website

“Journeys over Land and Sea” an extract from the Smithsonian website explores the concept of journeys and its effects on our understanding of the world.

The quest for knowledge beyond ones own boundaries is a feeling common to all people from all times. The author notes how “In every age” man has tried to “push beyond their own boundaries” in order to gain an understanding of what lies beyond it. The journeys undertaken reflect mans ceaseless curiosity at the unknown. The author also notes how one voyager’s tales of discovery may inspire others to “pursue the unknown farther from home”, thus starting an endless cycle of the pursuit of discovery through the physical journey.

Journeys bring about discovery and change and help contribute to an ever expanding understanding of the world, even if this was not the original intention of the traveller. While the “Great Voyages of Exploration” undertaken were “primarily to expand…territories”, these were not the only outcomes of the journey. Despite their intentions “Scientific and Artistic discoveries abounded” as new things were discovered and new ways of looking at things were explored. These discoveries eventually brought a different kind of voyage, where “expeditions solely for scientific and commercial purposes” were undertaken.

The earliest voyages were often filled with fear as the travellers ventured out into the unknown. The Graphic on the top left shows an ancient perception of what lay beyond the boundaries. In this picture a large sea monster appears to be attacking a ship. The Monster, the dominant feature of the graphic, belittles the ship which is only a secondary in the image. This small size of the ship in this graphic emphasises the size of the monster and the vulnerability of the ship.

Journeys may not be physical, but can an imagined physical journey. The second graphic portrays a man utilising the four elements –earth, wind water and fire to reach into the heavens. The sun, and moon, which are given human faces are looking on. Their presence also hints that the journey that this imagined figure is embarking upon may be beyond this world. This picture represents the composers view of travel in the future.

[edit] "The Town Where Time Stands Still"

Extract from "The Town Where Time Stands Still" by Shirley Geok-lin Lim

The extract from the book “The Town where Time Stands Still” examines many of the motives behind physical journey, both conscious and unconscious.

While journeys may appear to be undertaken for simple reasons, there are often deeper, more subtle reasons. The “baser motives” of the journey are what appears to draw the traveller to the journey at the outset. These baser motives are described as things like “profit and pleasure”. However, the text argues that no matter how legitimate these ideas seem, the main cause is a “subtler and sometimes even unconscious, compulsion”. It is this search for the “genii loci”-which roughly translated is the places where genius’ are-that is the true reason for travel. It is this search for a deeper understanding, or a higher level of thinking that compels the traveller. This extract uses a paradoxical image of an “unconscious, compulsion” to help describe the complexities of human motives. It implies that the reasons behind travel are difficult, even near impossible to understand.

In their pure form, Physical Journeys are the pursuit of inner change rather than just an external [geographical] change. The text argues, using a structural link back to the “baser motives” of sentence one, that the “purer realm of travel, which has nothing to do with vacations” is what we should all desire. It is this change in “external geography” that is said to cause the more important change in the “internal psychology”. This change takes place “like an irresistible force” and it is what enables the traveller to return home “blessed and altered”. It is the physical journey that enables the travellers thinking to be changed.

[edit] "Physical Journeys" Prescribed Texts

As with the texts included in the Stimulus booklet, each of the five prescribed texts can be studied with respect to Physical Journeys, Imaginative Journeys or Inner Journeys. However, some texts lend themselves more towards one of the types of journeys than to others. Of the five prescribed texts listed, only one may be studied.

The five Journeys prescribed texts are:

[edit] Immigrant Chronicle by Peter Skrzynecki

The poems from Peter Skrzynecki's "Immigrant Chronicle" look into difficulties experienced by his family as they migrated from Poland to Australia in 1949. The key points of each of the seven poems that are prescribed are outlined below.

[edit] Crossing the Red Sea

The poem “Crossing the Red Sea” by Peter Skrzynecki charts the feelings of the migrants as they physically travel from the northern to the southern hemisphere, out of their hardship and into their new lives. The poem has five sections, each reflecting upon different aspect of the journey and ifs effects on the Migrants.

Section 1

The Journey, can take large numbers of people to places from which they will never return. The First stanza begins with a physical description of the migrants who were so “many” that they were “Themselves a Landscape” (metaphor). Among these migrants, there is a mood of nostalgia as they “Watch a sunset; They would never see again". The sunset symbolises, their old lives, to which they would never return. The “Scoured and polished deck” at the end of the first stanza represents the hardships that the migrants have suffered in their homeland.

The Journey has given the migrants a freedom to speak about their war experiences with others. The symbolism in "Voices left their caves" represents the deep places from which the migrants are recalling these memories. Similarly "Silence fell from its shackles" shows the freedom that speaking has brought. The "Sunken eyes" of the migrants suggest the pain and suffering that the migrants are going through, but their morale is is kept up as they "look for shorelines"- memories of good times before the war

Section 2

The journey is a time of transition for the migrants as they feel that they are “neither masters nor slaves”, neither oppressed, nor in control. Instead, time personified is in control of their lives and demonstrates this by giving a “mock salute” by hoisting the "red banners" representing communism. The biblical reference to the Israelites who were in the same state of transition when leaving Egypt, by crossing the Red Sea in the book of Exodus links with the title of the poem.

Section 3

Whilst The journey may be long and tiring, it gives the migrants a time of reflection. The "Patches and Shreds; Of dialogue” and “Unshaven faces” show how the journey is taking a physical toll on the migrants. Through this disjointed conversation, two opposing views of the colour red appear, the first- “a field; Of red poppies” and the second “Blood; Leaves similar dark stains” show how their memories of war are never far below the surface.

The final stanza of section 3 is enclosed in parentheses as it seems to describe a side thought. This stanza uses another biblical allusion to express the feeling that the fact that the migrants are even alive is a miracle. The biblical character "Lazarus", who was brought back from death after 4 days by Jesus, is depicted "saying a Prayer; In thanksgiving; for miracles”

Section 4

The journey has broken down barriers between migrants, and has enabled them to speak openly, and ultimately deal with their past hurts. The sea is given the quality of kindness and calmness as it breaks through “Walled up griefs” (personification) that would otherwise “Never be disclosed”, accepting complaints and criticisms readily “With a calmness; That brought a reminder: Of people listening to requiems”. The sea reminded them of the “Pine trees whispering”-(European Image) that they had left. This loss made the migrants emotional as they spoke with a “A trembling voice”, however a degree of hope is given as the ship “sailed; From the sorrow; Of northern wars”

Section 5

The journey brings hope to the migrants, however some seem so fanciful that the migrants dare never disclose them. The migrants feel that the “Magic of dreams” which have been taken away by “Daybreak”, are more “Tangible than words” could express. They feel afraid to mention these, as they feel they will give rise to false hopes. However, Skrzynecki Suggests that “Had we talked; Of death...More than time; Would have been lost” suggesting that they may have lost much of their grief and pain which they were carrying on their journey. The final stanza begins with a structural link back to section three where the “gestures; Of Darkness and Starlight” brought healing to the migrants, as they said a "prayer in thanksgiving". The darkness and starlight are then personified so that they beckon towards “A blood-rimmed horizon, beyond whose waters; The Equator; Was still to be crossed”. This represents the hope of the future as the sun rises on a new life for them, beyond the horizon and the equator. Whilst much of the journey is still to go, there is much optimism about the future felt, as is expressed here.

[edit] Migrant Hostel

The poem, “Migrant Hostel”, by Peter Skrzynecki describes vividly the difficulty experienced by the “busloads” of migrants who went through the Migrant Hostel in Parkes. The insecurity, and the sense of imprisonment felt by the migrants as they waited to be relocated into a society that was not welcoming of them, is expressed throughout the poem.

The first line of the poem, “Parkes, 1949-51” gives a setting in all four dimensions, while also showing the enormity of the time spent waiting for the last stage of the journey to be completed.

Many journeys may be taken en masse, such that the whole process becomes impersonal and uncertain. The first stanza describes the enormity of the numbers of migrants journeying, describing them as “busloads from the station” with the “comings and goings” in the hostel such that “no one kept count”. The uncertainty of the situation is emphasised with “sudden departures from adjoining blocks” stopping anyone from being too settled.

The journey brings people with common experiences together as they search for anything to remind them of home. The simile of the homing pigeon, emphasises how the “Nationalities Sought each other out instinctively” as they tried to find comfort in something familiar in unfamiliar surroundings. But in the same way that the migrants found comfort being with others from the same backgrounds, the memories of war are still to close, and those from opposing sides were “Partitioned of at Night; by memories of hunger and hate”.

The journey can be unpredictable, with the travelers not knowing when or where they would end up going, sometimes in a state of limbo for “two years”. The bird imagery is sustained into the third stanza where the migrants are described with the simile “We lived like birds of passage”. This bird image is sustained throughout the stanza as the migrants are looking for any signal or “a change; in the weather” that would tell them when they may be leaving as they were “unaware…whose track we would follow”.

The journey may take the travelers to places that they are not completely welcome, as the migrants were not welcomed by society in general. The migrants are separated from the general public by a “barrier at the main gate; sealed off the highway”. This barrier is personified in the simile “As it rose and fell like a finger”, that “Pointed in reprimand or shame”. This extended simile shows how the migrants felt that society thought they were unacceptable as they daily “passed; underneath or alongside it-; Needing its sanction”.

The final three lines of the poem express two opposing views of what the end of the journey may bring for the travelers. Some migrants were hopeful for the future as they passed “in and out of lives; that had only just begun”. But others felt that they could never make a new start as they passed into lives that “were dying”.

[edit] Immigrants at Central Station

Immigrants at Central Station, from Immigrant Chronicle depicts the feeling of the travellers waiting for a train at central station. This train will take them to their respective new homes within Australia, and so is the final leg of their journey into their new lives in Australia.

While the travellers may have been looking forward to the end of the journey, they may feel sadness for the past as they embark on the final leg. The immigrants were apprehensive about this stage of their journey, such that it was "Sad to hear/ The trains whistle”. The sadness felt by the migrants could also be due to the significance of finally leaving the past behind them; this is enhanced with sensory images of the weather like "All night it had rained", with the rain representing their sadness. As well as this mood of sadness, there is an air of foreboding as the next stage of the journey looms imminently, this is shown by the metaphor: “The air was crowded” followed by the personification “With a Dampness that slowly/ Sank into our thoughts”. The first stanza ends with the simple statement, “But we ate it all” showing that the migrants would simply accept the "benevolence of empty streets" with all the bad, and travel on unquestioningly.

The Journey can also bring to the surface memories or past hurts. Whilst the narrow train platform has physically "hemmed us [the migrants] against each other", this is likened to "cattle brought for slaughter", an image reminding the responder of the inhumanities of the concentration camps that the immigrants have previously suffered. The "trains whistle" is then personified to be "like a word of command" ordering them what to do. Whilst the journey to their new home in Sydney, away from the migrant hostel should be a happy one, these negative images show how the migrants still feel they are being controlled from the outer.

Journeys may be waited for for a long time, yet upon their arrival, the travellers may want to resist the sudden need to move. The image "Time waited anxiously with us" shows how the migrants felt the time to be dragging on whilst waiting for the train. The physical period of time that they have been waiting has caused considerable boredom as is emphasised by the image "Watching pigeons that watched them". Yet despite this boredom, it was still "sad to her the trains whistle so suddenly" as the train made ready to leave. This structural link back to the first stanza returns to the mood of sadness and anxiety, whilst also showing the sudden inertia felt by the migrants as their past is finally cut off from them, "Like a guillotine".

The final lines of the poem emphasise the hope, brought on by the physical journey, felt by the migrants. Whilst the migrants do not know what their future holds as is shown by the image of the signal box that literally cut them "off from the space of eyesight", they feel hope about the future as "time ran ahead/ Along glistening tracks of steel”. This image of time shows how it is no longer waiting with them but going ahead into a brighter (“Glistening”) future.

[edit] Feliks Skrzynecki

In the poem,the persona reflects on his father "Feliks Skrzynecki", the impacts of the Physical journey to Australia on him and the inner journey that the physical journey has brought about.

The persona's love of his father, is clear from the beginning as he describes him using the affectionate term “My Gentle Father”. More of Feliks Skrzynecki's good attributes are listed as he "Kept pace only with the Joneses/ Of his own minds making”. This shows how the persona's father does not feel pressured to be like anyone else, nor does he feel pressured to assimilate into Australian culture. Feliks “loved his garden like and only child”, such that he “Spent years walking its perimeter...He swept its paths/ Ten times around the world”. This hyperbole depicts Feliks Skrzynecki's love of the simple things in life, and suggests that the Garden is Feliks' world, where he enjoys the simple things in life.

The persona is, however, reminded of the hard physical labour that his fathers life as entailed. The persona begins with a physical description of his fathers hands, describing them to be "Like the sods he broke" and then admires his fathers strength like a child, wondering ”how he existed/ On five or six hours' sleep each night...Why his arms didn't fall off”.

  • As the child, Peter is critical of his fathers Polish friends “Always shook hands too violently” and “Feliks Skrzynecki/ That formal address/ I had never got used to”, he feels detached from them.
  • Their reminiscence is of a world alien to the poet “Farms where paddocks flowered/ With corn and wheat”
  • “Five years of forced labour in Germany/ Did not dull the softness of his blue eyes” poignant image of his past. Shows Feliks has dealt with the past and has still maintained his sanity- his eyes have never been dulled by the hard ship
  • Peter again admires his father as he emphatically describes- “I never once heard/ Him complain”.
  • His attitude is very positive such that “When twice/ They dug cancer out of his foot,/ His comment was: 'but I'm alive'.”
  • The journey has made him thankful for what he has
  • As Peter grows older, he can only remember “remnants of a language/ I inherited unknowingly”. This shows how he retains only small parts of his polish heritage—he is mostly Australian
  • However he retains enough to curse a “Department Clerk” who was critical of his fathers effort to assimilate into Australian culture (esp. language).
  • The metaphor “Dancing-bear Grunts” shows the clerks ignorance, and unfriendliness
  • The beautiful and harmonious images the backyard “Bordered by golden cypress” shows the father contentment with the simple things. “My father sits...Watching starts and streetlights come on/ Happy as I have never been”
  • Peter feels separated from his father and the things that make him happy.
  • The distance between father and son is evident, when the poet describes a time “when I forgot my first polish word” to Peter, he doesn't feel any attachment to Poland, but to his father it is everything.
  • Feliks is however powerless as is expressed in the simile “Like a dumb prophet” to stop his son from “Pegging my tents/ further and further south of Hadrian's wall”. (Hadrian's wall, border between England and Scotland)-Peter is slowly moving away from the old culture of the north, and his father cannot do anything about it.

[edit] Post Card

  • The “post card sent by a friend/ Haunts me”, the poet cannot stop thinking about it.
  • The friend “requests I show it/ To my parents”, as it may hold memories for them—shows how distance he has become from his old culture, only his parents appreciate it.
  • The straight, impersonal description of the picture in the second stanza shows how the poet feels detached from this place. “Red buses on a bridge...High-rise flats...”

Section 2

  • Skrzynecki feels no connection to Warsaw, as he has never known it “Except in the third person”-only knows it from his parents descriptions.
  • Skrzynecki then describes it as a “Great City” which was destroyed by WWII, and “Its people massacred/ Or exiled” (people felt they were being exiled when they left.

Those who have journeyed, still maintain links with their homeland

  • The only part of the city that survived was “In the minds of a Dying generation” suggesting that the old Warsaw has been lost and the only thing that is left is the memories kept by people who have left and are old
  • They take care of their memories, cherish the old and condemn the new (communism) in the extended personification “They shelter you...Condemn your politics/ Cherish your old religion”

Journeys can cause cultural confusion to the travellers

  • Skrzynecki seems to grow weary of the post card playing on his mind-”Let me Be”, he argues that there is nothing special about it--”I've seen red buses/ Elsewhere/ And all rivers have/ That obstinate glare.”
  • While he knows his parents reactions- “Father/ Will be proud” and his “Mother/ Will speak of her/ Beloved Ukraine” Skrzynecki does not know how to feel “Whats my choice/ To be?”
  • The extended personification of the city is continued as Skrzynecki realises that he “can give you [Warsaw]/ The recognition/ Of eyesight and praise”, but he can never love it in his heart, he can only “despair”.

Section 3 An inner journey can prompt a physical journey

  • Skrzynecki now feels the city beckoning to him to see it with his own eyes but he “Refuse[s] to answer/ The voices/ Of red gables”-but he tries to ignore these thoughts
  • However, Skrzynecki feels that the journey to Warsaw is inevitable as “A lone tree/ Whispers:/ 'We will meet/ Before you die.'”

[edit] Leaving Home

Stanza 1 Journeys can arrive unexpected and unwanted (enforced)

  • The juxtaposed terms or “First” and “Last” show how surprising it was to be appointed to a position so far away.
  • “caught unaware/ By ignorance and faith” shows that they believed that the Gov't would listen to them, but were wildly mistaken, instead they are caught in a trap of beurocracy.
  • Compound words “dull-witted, frog-mouthed obedience” show that they now regret not being more assertive.

Stanza 2

  • Juxtaposing Terms used again with “waited three hours/ For a two minute interview” showing how pointless the whole exercise was
  • The surreal metaphorical image “Watching myself outside in the rain/ My severed head under one arm” shows his dislocation, feeling that he may as well not have been there at all.
  • He has dressed in “A black suit to outdo”, but his further description of himself as a pallbearer shows he is not happy about the situation.
  • The images from Chagalls paintings show how ridiculous Skrzynecki feels-”Red and white sign at my feet:/ Cabbages for Sale” . He is dancing to the Gov't's tune “The fiddler...inviting me to dance”

Stanza 3

  • "The man behind the desk” is the embodiment of Beurocracy: “Never once looked me in the eyes-/His face the back of my application papers”
  • The compound words are used to insult-”Hawk-nosed, Crew-cut” as well as hyperbole “Millionth person/ That couldn't pronounce my name”
  • The traveller has no choice in the Journey, rather a “Verdict” was given--“'You must go.'”

Stanza 4

  • The car is “like a war-time train”, taking him to where he does not want to go
  • He did not realise the significance of leaving and “Said goodbye so quickly”

Stanza 5 The enforced journey may cause anger from the journeyer

  • “Swore that head office/ Would not see my face again”-so angry does not want to work for them anymore
  • “Unless I become my own Scipio Africanus” (conqueror that returned with great might)-he will only return to destroy them.
  • The sense of dislocation from family is felt when he “Dreamt of three headless crows” is repeated
  • The Chagall Images return, signifying a return to head office where “Bald toothless faces...[are] Clapping to a fiddle's music” this shows that when Skrzynecki returns to head office, he will be dictating the terms (Making them dance to the music).
  • “Their naked, hairless bodies/ The colour of sour milk” shows Skrzynecki's feelings towards them.

[edit] A Drive in the Country

  • Beautiful imagery, depicting the scene in its natural essence
  • Originally said: the discontinuation of the internal natural juxtaposition of the subliminal message counterpoints the disagreement with the holistic thoroughfare of the medley, but as this didn't make sense it was removed. “swallows swam/ Through the air” (alliteration)
  • Repetition of “I stood” shows he is an active participant in the scene.
  • More beautiful images describing the scene around him “Saw how leaves bent their ears to the ground” & “the she oaks dipped their hands in the shallows” personification emphasises the soothing and relaxing effect of nature
  • Skrzynecki observes literally a rope swing- “Over the water for children to swing from”, but all he “thought of [was] a Gallows” this stark contrast shows how his unhappiness contrasts with the peaceful scene around him. The journey has enlightened him to the fact, that he feels like “dead men”
  • Despite the beautiful scene, he cannot help but keep looking “back to the road” where he knows he must return, with “many miles yet to go”, showing he has much hardship to go.
  • “Thinking of a room/ Where an alarm clock was set/ And tomorrow already there” shows how he feels about his life, an endless monotony where he cannot escape for very long (Tomorrow has arrived in his mind before the end of a break)
  • the poet returns to the scene where he is alone and the “only...the swallows and wild ducks” metaphorically “replied to my thoughts”.

Journey has brought about change in life direction

  • Negative tone as the poet “Spoke to myself/ Like a man who is dying”, showing he can only see emotional death in his current monotonous life situation (“ that only runs one way”), and made the decision to “walk away from a road” and follow his own path.


[edit] References

"Area of Study: The Journey"-Cambridge University Press 2003

"Top Notes-Journeys: Stimulus Booklet"-Five Senses Education PTY LTD 2003

"Excel HSC Study Guide: Peter Skrzynecki"-Pascal Press

"Top Notes-Peter Skrzyneckis Immigrant Chronicle"-Five Senses Education PTY LTD 2003

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