Belonging, 'the China Coin' Esl
No individual can live without belonging. A sense of belonging to a place, people, or culture is greatly influenced by each individual’s identity and relationships.
‘The China Coin’ by Allan Baillie,the poems Feliks Skrzynecki and Postcard featured in ‘Immigrant Chronicle’ composed by Peter Skrzynecki and the magazine article ‘My Life as an Immigrant’ composed by Dzong To, all demonstrate how identity and relationships form a person’s sense of belonging. By using using various language techniques such as * Internal monologue * First person * Symbolism * Personification * Humour * Visual image the composers are able to convey this idea on belonging to us.
In the China Coin, the main protagonist Leah is Eurasian girl born in Australia. She travels to China with her mother after her father dies of cancer, in search of the other half of an ancient coin sent to Joan after her father’s death. Leah feels no sense of belonging in China when she first arrives there. Her identity and relationship towards the place and culture is negative as she says,”I hate China I hate it.” This internal monologue enables the reader to understand Leah’s lack of any sense of identity and therefore sense of belonging to the country.
Furthermore Leah feels uneasy because her appearance is different to the people in China and she says, ‘I am a giant’. This example of internal monologue conveys to the audience that she doesn't belong to China. By also using a metaphor with negative connotation, ‘giant’ the composer helps us understand her personal feelings. Additionally Leah doesn't feel a sense of belonging with people living in China, and this is shown in the internal monologue ‘few young women looking curiously at her’. The word ‘curiously also betrays her sense of not belonging because of her appearance.
Furthermore, Joan finds her family but Leah is estranged from her mother and her mother’s side of the family ‘They were all the family Leah had, but
‘The China Coin’ by Allan Baillie,the poems Feliks Skrzynecki and Postcard featured in ‘Immigrant Chronicle’ composed by Peter Skrzynecki and the magazine article ‘My Life as an Immigrant’ composed by Dzong To, all demonstrate how identity and relationships form a person’s sense of belonging. By using using various language techniques such as * Internal monologue * First person * Symbolism * Personification * Humour * Visual image the composers are able to convey this idea on belonging to us.
In the China Coin, the main protagonist Leah is Eurasian girl born in Australia. She travels to China with her mother after her father dies of cancer, in search of the other half of an ancient coin sent to Joan after her father’s death. Leah feels no sense of belonging in China when she first arrives there. Her identity and relationship towards the place and culture is negative as she says,”I hate China I hate it.” This internal monologue enables the reader to understand Leah’s lack of any sense of identity and therefore sense of belonging to the country.
Furthermore Leah feels uneasy because her appearance is different to the people in China and she says, ‘I am a giant’. This example of internal monologue conveys to the audience that she doesn't belong to China. By also using a metaphor with negative connotation, ‘giant’ the composer helps us understand her personal feelings. Additionally Leah doesn't feel a sense of belonging with people living in China, and this is shown in the internal monologue ‘few young women looking curiously at her’. The word ‘curiously also betrays her sense of not belonging because of her appearance.
Furthermore, Joan finds her family but Leah is estranged from her mother and her mother’s side of the family ‘They were all the family Leah had, but