Lest We Forget

“Closed are the doors that stood so wide-
The white beds empty, side by side.”

These are the last lines from the poem The Measure by Mary Gilmore.

Mary is trying to express death in these two lines of the poem and the image that she uses is extremely compelling. The term ‘open doors’ usually indicated potential or opportunities, but these doors that were open wide are now closed. there is no opportunity after death and the beds they occupied while they were injured after war is now empty.

 

Stamford Military Hospital 1917

This draws a strong concern towards all the young children that were being deployed for the means of war which was not only cruel but unjustifiable. All the lives that they lost just for hatred and power.

 

I would like to commend Micheal for timing this poem and period right before the ANZAC day long weekend, compelling us to understand why this day is so important for us; why their lives matter so much and why this subject is still so sensitive after 100 years of it.

War is a very brutal solution which cannot be justified for any reason. All we can do now is honour the people who fearlessly entered the battlefield and defended this country.

 

Peer review #5

For this week’s peer review I’ve chosen Georgiana Bou-said ‘s blog on Mary Gilmore, also titled Mary Gilmore.

I loved the background on Mary Gilmore that Georgiana provided. As the blog is titled after the writer, her description allowed me to get a sense about why the blog was titled after her. In saying this, I would’ve loved a brief introduction in her transition to the poem, “The measure”. The transition to the description of the poem felt abrupt.

Overall, I would love to have read more about her thoughts on the poem. Hey brief description of the only gave me insight on what the poem itself was trying to say and not much on her reflection of the poem.

I also love the blog header. Looking forward to reading more of your blogs, Georgiana!

Cheers!

Peer Review #4

For this week’s peer review, I’ve chosen Barbara Apicella‘s post Perspective.

The way Barbara has chosen to review her perspective on the two poems by Charles Harpur and Henry Kendall is very interesting. Although breaking down the poems and then explaining them did help me understand her interpretation but I also felt that the poem covered more of the post and I couldn’t feel a flow in the whole post.

My connection with what she was trying to say broke because I had to scroll down through the poems to read the complete picture of what Barbara was trying to say. I really loved Barbara’s spirit in this post. I would’ve loved to read more of her. But her sentences seemed to be cut short and abrupt. A little more emphasis on the flow of sentences would make her posts more appealing to the readers.

Overall, great post! There are some grammatical errors that can be fixed with a final proof read but nothing too major and the content overall was very enlightening and spirited. Look forward to reading more from you, Barbara!

Assertion

 

Untitled (Jupiter Well to Tjukula) 1979  by Uta Uta Tjangala

As I saw this painting at the end of the tour – I was mesmerised; then I was furious. All the paintings, except for a few, that Michael  had shown us were done by white people! Yes, some of them were influenced by indigenous art but nonetheless by settlers. All we were studying was yet again a foreign art form. But then as I held on to my senses and studied this painting, I realised that this painting is dated 1979 AD – only 12 years after the aboriginal were granted Australian citizenship.

This opened me up to a whole new meaning. This  230.0 x 380.0 cm painting gave out a strong surge of energy. It felt like Assertion. These patterns in the paintings may have a different meaning in the aboriginal culture, but it seemed like the circular patterns represented different aboriginal tribes, all of them similar yet different from each other. All of them have the same core values of being a circle; another interesting feature about the painting is that all of it is formed with dots – which could represent people. The formation of it is more or less the same but all of the circles are connected.

The rest of the patterns seems very intrusive in the painting. All of them are different and from different directions, moving towards different directions. But the circles stand out and they’re fighting these patterns from breaking their link with each other and also from their core. I believe that this painting comes as a statement that they will fight together for what they rightfully deserve. And as long as they’re together, their values won’t be shaken.

This is one thing that I love about paintings – you can always represent it any way you want. This painting comes across as endurance to  me. The aboriginal people have gone through a lot and there is only so much we see today. If I didn’t know any better I could’ve walked through the room and seen this painting, I wouldn’t have noticed that this was only one of the few paintings in the tour, let alone be infuriated about it.

Peer review #3

For this week peer review, I have chosen Arthur Stathopoulos ‘s “Blog 5: Critical response“.

This post definitely introduced a new perspective about the painting. I agree with Arthur regarding the isolation in the picture. Although I had felt the presence of this isolation in the painting, I couldn’t find a word to explain it; all I could think of was distance.I would like to commend Arthur on his interpretation of this painting. He has managed to relate a very important part of Ned Kelly’s life.

 

First Class Marksman by Sidney Nolan

 

 

I do have one conflict with Arthur’s description of this painting; he mentions that the Ned Kelly is portrayed as a criminal in this painting, but I would have to disagree. Although he maybe holding a gun, the title of the painting is “First class marksman” and I don’t see any other coorelation with his representation and that of him being a criminal. I would’ve loved to read more on how he come to this interpretation.

Keep up the good work, Arthur! Look forward to reading more of your blogs!

 

Predictability

Predictability.

Predictability is one of the things that humankind is obsessed with. This gives them the power to control and manipulate the situation. We like to predict everything: games, weather, stories, future. Let’s just say that we like to be in our element and perform the best. It kills us when we can’t predict things. We hate it when we have predicted a sunny day and it starts raining, ruining your day.  I had a similar reaction when I started this unit. When you think about the word literature, you automatically start thinking about Shakespeare, poems and similar conventional English literature of Britain.

This unit has changed my perspective and tarnished my protective predictability. I’ve been struggling with the readings so much. It’s like my brain is repelling everything I’m reading. This gets even more interesting when you take into consideration that English is my second language. It has made me think about how maybe my brain has just been memorising rather than learning. Maybe I’ve just memorised conventional English and I can’t make sense of anything else.

Starting with The Deadman Dance by Kim Scott; the writing made complete sense. It was in English and more or less I could understand the meaning of 90% of the words used in it. But it was still very difficult for me to make sense of. This has definitely made me question how much of what I know is actually practical and independent.

 

Peer Review #2

For this week’s peer review, I’ve chosen Shayma Abbas‘s blog.

In her “Blog #1″although the post was very insightful, I found some grammatical errors that made it very difficult to read. In the first paragraph, I couldn’t figure out what she was trying to explain when she mentions “has inevitably been showcased”. This improves as her post progresses to the second paragraph. In her final paragraph, I find the use of the word “personal” unnecessary, if it is her perspective then it already is personal. Her empathy towards the landscape and references that complemented

Her empathy towards the landscape and references that complemented her view accentuated the appeal of the overall post. I would like to compliment Shayma on her final product, it shows a lot of insight and research.