John Foulcher: Successful Adaptation To Change
Section 3
Successful adaptation to change involves risk taking which means that the inevitability of unpredictable outcomes, both positive and negative leaves many individuals lost in fear and pain. While some find contentment in familiar family and friends, others find change confronting, causing feelings of fear and insecurity, while still others seek the thrill of exploration. In spite of these varying attitudes to change, change is a concept that is essential to the continuation of life. These varying concepts of change and its importance are represented through structural and language techniques. In the poem ‘Loch Ard Gorge’ by John Foulcher, a poem that refers to the thrill and dangers of naval exploration. The feature film ‘Rush’ …show more content…
directed by Ron Howard, conveys the fear resulting from injury and the positive change that can come from suffering. Finally, the poem ‘Enter Without So Much as Knocking’ by Bruce Dawe tests the reader’s own understanding of the negative effects of commercialized change on human life.
Whilst the positive thrill of exploration and risk taking involves new worlds and perspectives, the negative aspects when disaster strikes well outweigh the positive effects. Such journeys may include other people such as the way that Australian poet John Foulcher explores the notion of change via thrill of exploration, as well as the discovery of the past. Foulcher creates a relationship between himself and the responder through the use of inclusive language within the text. This is conveyed in “We climb along a weathered cream precipice,..” the use of inclusive language takes the responder on a dangerous journey along the cliff face with the author to the setting where the poem is taking place. The journey Foulcher shares with responders opens their eyes, revealing the tragic historical past and the violent events that had taken place along the Victorian coastline. With the realisation of the shipwreck of the Lock Ard ‘a century ago’, the true strength and persistence of nature is revealed as it simply goes on ‘kicking tufts of unconcern’ like ‘the sheep and cattle’, the unusual metaphor here together with the ‘gravestones’ that ‘hump the grass’ reveal just how much has changed physically at this tourist site since that terrible night. Moreover, nature’s power to provide negative unpredictable outcomes reveals the risk of sea journeys in the past. Change is perceived by the reader as both, positive and negative resulting in the responders joining Foulcher as he takes them on an exploration to discover the unfamiliar secrets of history.
This idea of risk taking and unpredictable outcomes is also represented in the film ‘Rush’ which involves the highly dangerous sport of Formula One in 1970’s. The protagonists cheat death and get a thrill from it which is represented in the quote, “The closer you are to death, the more alive you feel. It's a wonderful way to live.” which describes risk taking with positive connotations. This is reinforced by the way the director capture the protagonists crash. The use of a long shot down the straight looking at a corner introduces the responder to the location and makes them fill like they are sitting on the straight watching the scene take place. The heavy rain droplets running down the screen emphasise the dangers and how heroic the drivers are. When the car flips many components from the vehicle fly off in every direction illustrating how dangerous the sport was, not only for the driver and the car but for the audience who are at risk of projectiles from crashing cars. This crash changed the F1 culture forever, it encouraged drivers never to push racing to extreme limits where conditions are likely to result in great injury or death. Both of these texts demonstrate the thrill that some find in risk taking. However, this text also demonstrates the dangers in the exploration of new situations.
Since change is unpredictable, individuals often experience pain and suffering which negatively affects their lives but also has the potential to encourage personal growth and understanding as they struggle to adapt.
This is explored in ‘Rush’ as Howard explores both change and the positive and negative thoughts of fear which arise from injury and suffering. Suffering forces individuals to take stock of their lives ,“…While in Hospital getting my lungs vacuumed I realized there was more than just winning, I have a wife and want to live till a long age….”, the use of personal first person reflection and the black humour of ‘ getting my lungs vacuumed’ makes the character, Nikki Lauda, exaggerate his feelings towards the positive aspects of life and how much he values it. The use of the flashbacks to where Lauda was in hospital connected to all the medical equipment show the true terror all bystanders experienced. A close up shot from the doctor pushing the vacuum down his throat as well as the strong sound of sludge being sucked from his lungs, turns the responder stomach to almost feeling the smallest of pain Lauda experienced during his recovery. The director included the direct and confronting image in the film to express how the positive outcomes of change only become obvious after fear of injury and …show more content…
suffering.
‘Enter without so much as knocking’ is a poem written by Bruce Dawe in order to test the reader’s opinion towards change and question the inevitability of change through the broad range of language techniques used. The parody of 1950s advertising slogans in the quote “…like every other well-equipped smoothly-run household, his included one economy size mum, one Anthony Squires-Coolstream-Summerweight Dad...” enforces the influence of consumerism on society as it manipulates people to change without them being aware of it. This is seen through the use of caesura and tone to reinforce the thoughts of shallow commercialism and its strong influence on change. The overload of commercialism is perceived as utopic but is only changing the world into a dystopian society as it large influences the actions and products of each and every individual. This tests the reader’s thoughts of change and why they have changes.
Throughout all three texts composers take their responders on a journey to demonstrate their perspectives of change.
In ‘Loch Ard Gorge’ and ‘Rush’ the composers express factual historical events. The composers take their responders on a risky historical tour to inform them about both the positive and negative effects of social, cultural and personal changes and the impact on human life. Those personas require adaptation and often risk taking behavior in order to understand themselves better. By contrast, “Enter without so much of knocking’ reveals that change can be subtle as the persona is not aware of the changes until it is too late and he is faced with
death.
Intro: risk taking – different perspectvie unpredictable outcomes: positive and negative inevitability, no control expressed through anguage and structural techniques
‘Loch Ard Gorge’ by John Foulcher: destruction caused by nature
‘Rush’ by Ron Howard: fear resulting from injury and the positive change that can come from suffering
‘Enter Without So Much as Knocking’ by Bruce Dawe: negative effects of commercialism on human life.
Body 1: LAG positive thrill of exploration and risk taking the negative effects of disaster “We climb along a weathered cream precipice,..”
Inclusive language “we”
Body 2: Rush risk taking and unpredictable outcomes high speed cars,
The closer you are to death, the more alive you feel. It's a wonderful way to live.” the protagonists cheat death: scene down wet straight car flips.
Changed culture forever: never push racing to extreme limits
Body 3: Rush (optional)
Attitude to life changes due to experience
,“…While in Hospital getting my lungs vacuumxed I realized there was more than just winning, I have a wife and want to live till a long age….”,
Sound effects and close-ups on lungs being vacuumed
Body 4: EWSMAK
Gradual, unnoticed change
Effect of commercialism
“…like every other well-equipped smoothly-run household, his included one economy size mum, one Anthony Squires-Coolstream-Summerweight Dad...”
Parody of advertising slogans
Utopia v. dystopia
Conclusion:
LAG & Rush – historical, effects of negative change
EWSMAK – change without noticing
Successful adaptation to change involves risk taking which means that the inevitability of unpredictable outcomes, both positive and negative leaves many individuals lost in fear and pain. While some find contentment in familiar family and friends, others find change confronting, causing feelings of fear and insecurity, while still others seek the thrill of exploration. In spite of these varying attitudes to change, change is a concept that is essential to the continuation of life. These varying concepts of change and its importance are represented through structural and language techniques. In the poem ‘Loch Ard Gorge’ by John Foulcher, a poem that refers to the thrill and dangers of naval exploration. The feature film ‘Rush’ …show more content…
directed by Ron Howard, conveys the fear resulting from injury and the positive change that can come from suffering. Finally, the poem ‘Enter Without So Much as Knocking’ by Bruce Dawe tests the reader’s own understanding of the negative effects of commercialized change on human life.
Whilst the positive thrill of exploration and risk taking involves new worlds and perspectives, the negative aspects when disaster strikes well outweigh the positive effects. Such journeys may include other people such as the way that Australian poet John Foulcher explores the notion of change via thrill of exploration, as well as the discovery of the past. Foulcher creates a relationship between himself and the responder through the use of inclusive language within the text. This is conveyed in “We climb along a weathered cream precipice,..” the use of inclusive language takes the responder on a dangerous journey along the cliff face with the author to the setting where the poem is taking place. The journey Foulcher shares with responders opens their eyes, revealing the tragic historical past and the violent events that had taken place along the Victorian coastline. With the realisation of the shipwreck of the Lock Ard ‘a century ago’, the true strength and persistence of nature is revealed as it simply goes on ‘kicking tufts of unconcern’ like ‘the sheep and cattle’, the unusual metaphor here together with the ‘gravestones’ that ‘hump the grass’ reveal just how much has changed physically at this tourist site since that terrible night. Moreover, nature’s power to provide negative unpredictable outcomes reveals the risk of sea journeys in the past. Change is perceived by the reader as both, positive and negative resulting in the responders joining Foulcher as he takes them on an exploration to discover the unfamiliar secrets of history.
This idea of risk taking and unpredictable outcomes is also represented in the film ‘Rush’ which involves the highly dangerous sport of Formula One in 1970’s. The protagonists cheat death and get a thrill from it which is represented in the quote, “The closer you are to death, the more alive you feel. It's a wonderful way to live.” which describes risk taking with positive connotations. This is reinforced by the way the director capture the protagonists crash. The use of a long shot down the straight looking at a corner introduces the responder to the location and makes them fill like they are sitting on the straight watching the scene take place. The heavy rain droplets running down the screen emphasise the dangers and how heroic the drivers are. When the car flips many components from the vehicle fly off in every direction illustrating how dangerous the sport was, not only for the driver and the car but for the audience who are at risk of projectiles from crashing cars. This crash changed the F1 culture forever, it encouraged drivers never to push racing to extreme limits where conditions are likely to result in great injury or death. Both of these texts demonstrate the thrill that some find in risk taking. However, this text also demonstrates the dangers in the exploration of new situations.
Since change is unpredictable, individuals often experience pain and suffering which negatively affects their lives but also has the potential to encourage personal growth and understanding as they struggle to adapt.
This is explored in ‘Rush’ as Howard explores both change and the positive and negative thoughts of fear which arise from injury and suffering. Suffering forces individuals to take stock of their lives ,“…While in Hospital getting my lungs vacuumed I realized there was more than just winning, I have a wife and want to live till a long age….”, the use of personal first person reflection and the black humour of ‘ getting my lungs vacuumed’ makes the character, Nikki Lauda, exaggerate his feelings towards the positive aspects of life and how much he values it. The use of the flashbacks to where Lauda was in hospital connected to all the medical equipment show the true terror all bystanders experienced. A close up shot from the doctor pushing the vacuum down his throat as well as the strong sound of sludge being sucked from his lungs, turns the responder stomach to almost feeling the smallest of pain Lauda experienced during his recovery. The director included the direct and confronting image in the film to express how the positive outcomes of change only become obvious after fear of injury and …show more content…
suffering.
‘Enter without so much as knocking’ is a poem written by Bruce Dawe in order to test the reader’s opinion towards change and question the inevitability of change through the broad range of language techniques used. The parody of 1950s advertising slogans in the quote “…like every other well-equipped smoothly-run household, his included one economy size mum, one Anthony Squires-Coolstream-Summerweight Dad...” enforces the influence of consumerism on society as it manipulates people to change without them being aware of it. This is seen through the use of caesura and tone to reinforce the thoughts of shallow commercialism and its strong influence on change. The overload of commercialism is perceived as utopic but is only changing the world into a dystopian society as it large influences the actions and products of each and every individual. This tests the reader’s thoughts of change and why they have changes.
Throughout all three texts composers take their responders on a journey to demonstrate their perspectives of change.
In ‘Loch Ard Gorge’ and ‘Rush’ the composers express factual historical events. The composers take their responders on a risky historical tour to inform them about both the positive and negative effects of social, cultural and personal changes and the impact on human life. Those personas require adaptation and often risk taking behavior in order to understand themselves better. By contrast, “Enter without so much of knocking’ reveals that change can be subtle as the persona is not aware of the changes until it is too late and he is faced with
death.
Intro: risk taking – different perspectvie unpredictable outcomes: positive and negative inevitability, no control expressed through anguage and structural techniques
‘Loch Ard Gorge’ by John Foulcher: destruction caused by nature
‘Rush’ by Ron Howard: fear resulting from injury and the positive change that can come from suffering
‘Enter Without So Much as Knocking’ by Bruce Dawe: negative effects of commercialism on human life.
Body 1: LAG positive thrill of exploration and risk taking the negative effects of disaster “We climb along a weathered cream precipice,..”
Inclusive language “we”
Body 2: Rush risk taking and unpredictable outcomes high speed cars,
The closer you are to death, the more alive you feel. It's a wonderful way to live.” the protagonists cheat death: scene down wet straight car flips.
Changed culture forever: never push racing to extreme limits
Body 3: Rush (optional)
Attitude to life changes due to experience
,“…While in Hospital getting my lungs vacuumxed I realized there was more than just winning, I have a wife and want to live till a long age….”,
Sound effects and close-ups on lungs being vacuumed
Body 4: EWSMAK
Gradual, unnoticed change
Effect of commercialism
“…like every other well-equipped smoothly-run household, his included one economy size mum, one Anthony Squires-Coolstream-Summerweight Dad...”
Parody of advertising slogans
Utopia v. dystopia
Conclusion:
LAG & Rush – historical, effects of negative change
EWSMAK – change without noticing