Belonging

Viva coce 'belonging'
What does the concept of beloning mean to you on a personal level?
Belonging to me on a personal level means to be appreciated, that your thoughts and veiws are regognised and respected. A sense of comfort in a place or people that you can tell them and they wont judge me. But really, to just have a place, a spot, in other peoples hearts.
How may our sense of beloning make us feel accepted and deepen our relationships.
Well personally from my own context, I understand belonging, not only from studying it, but I feel it. Belonging is something that come naturally, you cant force. For example being born into your family, you just happen to be born into that family, so you belong to that family. I feel accepted, because everyone goes through the same process. Maybe they dont belong in these sense of the family being unfit for childeren, but we still belong to that group.
How can our attitudes towards belonging change as we learn from experience or as we mature?
As you grow and learn new things, things you once loved, or used to belong to change, due to you personally losing connection with it. Belonging is something that is there if our hearts are there, if our heart isnt in it we wont belong. Our attitudes change on belonging due to these matters, belonging ever stays the same. For example, you coud of been brought up in this great family home, that you were deeply attached to, and then your famiy decided to move away from that house, and then several years down the track you decide to go back and visit that old house you belonged to, but when you approach the house, none of the old feelings towards that house come up, because the house looks completely different to the time you you shared your childhood in it. Belonging never stays the same.

Prescribed text- questions
How has Skrzynecki's personal backround impacted on his poetry's ideas about belonging?
Skrzynecki was born in to a time of great difficulty. His parents were polish, and they had to flee poland, and come Australia as migrants. His parents knew know english, and had their polish traditions still pounded into them. He grew up in australia and attended a catholic school full of australian students. He had been born in between two worlds, and was sitting on the fence clueless and lost. This is deeply shown through his poems, and in reference to the poem 'st patricks college' he states in the in stanza two " for eight years... and further down "caught the 414 bus, like a foreign tourist, uncertain of my destination, everytime that i got off" he has accomstomed yet, even after 8 years he still feels like a tourist, this is showing not belonging. And in the poem 'Postcards' the persona states "For the moment, I repeat, I never knew you, let me be" its really showing that he doesnt feel like he belongs to his accestrial backround, nor his Australian life. This is why, his poems show so much content of not belonging.
How have TWO poems explored the migrant experience of belonging or not belonging in Australia? Support your ideas with specific quotes and key moments in each stanza.
The poem Migrant Hostel shows the feelings of the Skrzynecki's through the time period of there stay at this hostel for imigrants. They have been sent to this hostel, so they can be settled and assimilated. It states in the second stanza " for over two years we lived like birds of passage" they felt as if they still didnt belong anywhere.
The family observed the comings and goings of immigrants, though it states in the first stanza "No one kept count, Of all the comings and going- arrivals of newcomers. This shows that no one shared a real connection for them to actually keep count. They felt like they did not belong in this placed, and because of the difference in climate, all of them would of being finding it very hard, so this would of made it a strain to belong, because they are usta colder climates.
This hostel sadly gave them memories of the war camps back in Poland and other places that was under the nazi power. This would of made them uneasy, to finely get out of these horid war camps but actually find themselves back in, though in a thought to be free country. These feelings are shown in the second stanza "Partitioned off at night, by memories of hunger and hate" This really affected them.
In the fourth stanza the Peter gives personification to the main gate that sealed off the hosetl to the outside world, the community of citizens. And it states "A barrier at the main gate, sealed off the highway... it rose and fell like a finger" This shows that they were gaurded off from the outside world. You can see clearly the migrant experience through these words in the poem 'Migrant Hostel"
Similaly in St patricks college it shows a vague and breif summary of his feelings and thoughts of his years there. It shows that he does not belong at this school, because everything that he has been taught before this, has been in complete contrast to this schools teachings. He states in the third stanza "for eight years...Caught the 414 bus, like a foreign tourist, uncertain of my destination. This still shows the migrant experience through his school years, because he shows that he doesnt feel normal. Hes not Polish, because he doesnt know it, and St Patrics College in Australia he doesnt know either, hes stuck between both worlds. These two poems clearly show the migrant experience of the Skrzynecki's through Not Belonging.
How has Skrzynecki used poetic techniques or shaped the structure of his ideas in these two poems?
Skrzynecki has used personification in the poem 'Migrant Hostel' through the words "A barrier at the main gate, sealed off the highway... it rose and fell like a finger" This shows the feeling of entrapment and not belonging.
In St patricks college Skrzynecki states in the third and fourth stanzas a time frame, this is the technique of repitition, Skryznecki is giving the reader a time frame to understand, so they can grasp the true frustration and feeling of what he was going through.
Skryznecki has shaped his structure of ideas by showing that his mother really wanted him to attend St patricks because it "was the best" and four stanzas of him showing not belonging, and then finaly gives his finaly concluding point that "the darkness around me, wasnt for the best. He should have never gone there, and he structures his ideas so he gives off his answer to his mothers choice at the last stanza, for the technique of tension and suprise.
Skryznecki shows the carelessness he has for the schools uniform and what it represents by making a saracastic gesture saying " I carried the blue, black and gold, ive been privlaged to wear" the techinique of sarcasm is noted here.
How does Skryznkecki show his attitude towards belonging or not belonging as he learns from his different experiences?
Skryznecki shows his attitude by stating in the concluding stanza of 'ST patricks college' that he should not had sourrounded himself with this darkness and even though his mother sacrificed alot, in the end after experiencing the catholic college for 8 years he states "it wasnt for the best" in reply to his mothers words many years earlier. That this experience didnt make him belong at all, and his attitude was some what sour towards the school. Though in conclusion he states "Before i let my light shine"
I think sryznecki is stating that even though we may have dark times, and not belong, that in the end our hopes will come true and we will find comfort and belonging. That after this long journey and tough experience, he can see that yes it wasnt great, but i didnt die from it, things can only get better.
Related Text-
What is your chosen related text and how does it connect/contrast with the poetry/drama you have studied in class? My chosen related text is a picture withn the graphic novel 'The Arrival' by Sean Tan. It is made up of 6 smaller images running right to left and one big picture on the bottom, and this is the reading path to the images.
It connects to my prescribed texts, because it is also showing a deep sense of not belonging. Similary to Skryznecki's poems Migrant Hostel and St Patricks college, These people in the picture also feel stuck between two worlds, these people have to leave and board a boat to take them to another country, to whom they will be alien residents.
It also connects as this is also dealing with Migrants in the picture, and The poem Migrant hostel my prescribed text is dealing with the experience of the skryzneckis as they assimilated as migrants. The picture shows alot of dread and misery by the posture of the individuals, and the old ladys face in the 1st picture in the top right hand corner. and the unhappieness that is shown by a family in the 5th small picture along. This poem clearly shows not belong, and this connects to the prescribed texts.
What specific Ideas about Belonging or not belonging are represented in the related text of your own choice?
These people in text are showing great loss and sadness because there home country is no longer safe to have people belong to it, its no longer facilitating the idea of belonging so these people have to go. Though they have to move to a forreign land, amd search for a new place to belong.
The idea that belonging can change any minute, that these people were once happy people that had homes just like you and me. But something awefull happened and they can no longer belong. I believe that this picture is showing ho delicate this world is, one minute we can have love and happiness and this can all be crushed and taken away from you. These people in this picture are showing proof to this idea.
They have had to pack the essential items, so they can try find a new place to hopefully belong to, maybe somwhere that is going to remind them of there earlier home.
How has the composer's choice of language and structural features shaped a sense of 'belonging' or 'not belonging' in your related text.
The Arrival by Sean tan has no written word its a graphc novel, for structual features it is a dark sepia toned picture, this is to give off these sense of misery and sadness, and not belonging.
The visual angle on the second small picture shows there is great tension and forcefullness in his speach through the speaker phone, because you can see his full outstretched arm ordering these people go through the gate. This shows that they are not free, nor have ant decisions in what they are doing, this shows not belonging.
The lower large image shows a group of people lined up with there bags. By the posture of the people, and the darkended faces this really shows sadness and misery. These people are there with there bags, but they are not going happily, vbecause they have lost there country to whome they belong.

Conclusion
Why do individuals choose not to belong and what are the positive and negative consequences of this choice?
Some people have always felt un loved or felt on the outside, so whenever love or the posibility of belonging comes along, they get scared and it makes them feel uncomfortable, because this feelings is fresh to them. The positives are that they wont ever feel the pain of losing there belonging, because they choose not to belong, they are not vulnerable to this loss.
The negative would be the individual would never feel true happiness, they will grow old being cold and alone. Because you would never have a place where you feel appreciated or your thoughts recognised and respected. This will make the person angry and confused, and will not live life like it should be lived.
What possible obstacles to belonging might be encountered by an individual?
Belonging is a complex feeling and is veiwed differently by every individual. Belonging means that you are part of it, your tied to it. This means that you also have to answer it, and respect it. For example a person moving to a entirely forriegn country, with a different language and process of doing things, Belonging is going to be very difficult. Understanding is a obstacle, how can you belong to a country that you dont know the language to, that if you wanted directions, or wanted to ask a question you couldnt?
The people that are also part of the same thing you are striving to belong to, they could be very racist or brutal towards you, and this can make the process of belonging alot harder for an individual.
How has exploring the concept of belonging, broadened and deepened your understanding of yourself and your own world?
Exploring all the different concepts of belonging, for example connections to people creates a sense of belonging, gives me the understanding that I belong to the people that love me, and care for me. Not only my relatives and my cultural heritage of people, but my friends and peers at school. I can clealy diffirentiate the difference between belonging and not belonging now in my own life.
After analysing my prescribed texts and related, I really understand what it means to belong and no belong, this has given me great insight of who I am in this world, but who everybody is around me. In my own context, I feel like I belong on a spiritual scale, due to my beleifs of God, but also that i belong to Australia, and i Belong in my own home with my mum, and that i BELONG here at wadalba high school. Exploring the concepts of belong has deffinitley broadened and deepend my understand of myself and my own world.