Immigrant Chronicle Discussion & Ideas (1 Viewer)

[Arceupins]

Like many other people across the state, I will be studying Peter Skrzynecki's 'Immigrant Chronicle' this year for the Area of Study.

I think that to help all of us achieve as high as possible in our exams (I'm hoping for 90+) it might be a good for everyone to share ideas/notes/links/techniques/theories etc.

I'm still in the process of finding related text material, but I'm thinking that I'll be able to use 'Requiem For A Beast' quite nicely and link it in with several of the poems in the prescribed collection.

So please, share your information and help your fellow HSC graduates of 2010 to achieve higher than any other year before!

 

[ninetypercent]

good luck

I'm doing Immigrant Chronicle too
so far it looks as if I'll be doing Feliks Skrzynecki and Migrant Hostel as my two texts

 

[Arceupins]

Been considering using 'This Is England' (film) as another related text but I'm not sure how best to link it in to the poems.

 

[Roriito]

Hey thanks for putting this thread up,

I was hoping i could get help...what techniques are used in Feliks Skrzynecki showing he doesnt belong to Australian society of which he is forced to belong to for study purposes ect. ? other than the parallel between Caesar;s Gallic War and his state.

I'd very much appreciate that.

If you have any questions regarding "Migrant Chronicles" im willing to help as well.

 

[Arceupins]

Hey thanks for putting this thread up,

I was hoping i could get help...what techniques are used in Feliks Skrzynecki showing he doesnt belong to Australian society of which he is forced to belong to for study purposes ect. ? other than the parallel between Caesar;s Gallic War and his state.

I'd very much appreciate that.

If you have any questions regarding "Migrant Chronicles" im willing to help as well.

The idea that I got was that the persona presented in the poem feels as though he doesn't belong in either Polish or Australian culture. He feels isolated from the former because he doesn't feel much association with it, and feels distant from the latter because of the few ties he still holds with his heritage. He is, as such, caught in a middle ground or limbo of sorts.

He is however, shown to be moving further and further away from his culture in the final verse of the poem where it reads:

'Stumbling over tenses in Caesar's Gallic War,
I forgot my first Polish word.
He repeated it so I never forgot.
After that, like a dumb prophet,
Watched me pegging my tents
Further and further south of Hadrian's Wall'

This verse is of great importance. The first two lines demonstrate the distance growing between him and his culture, in the way he is learning a new language and forgetting another (Polish). The final three lines reinstate this through the use of a metaphor. Hadrian's Wall was a barrier between Caesar's England in the south and Scotland to the north. In this case, the Polish culture is represented by Scotland, and the Australian culture by England. Across the divide two very different languages were spoken, most importantly latin (Gallic War) in the south. By learning latin, and 'pegging his tents further and further south of the wall' he is in a sense overcoming the language barrier and moving further into the culture undermining his heritage.

Now I know that's a lot of text, but that's just how I perceived that part of the poem. I only wrote that much because I'm currently writing a class essay on it anyway - argh!

 

[henrirutherford]

Seriously, are u gay zander? lolz

 

[Arceupins]

Fuck you cunt, I'm trying to be smart

 

[jiratic]

frankly this text is absolutely bullshit for belonging, its very hard to compare texts to it directly as its so migrant centric. You just have to compare them in relation to notions of belonging/acceptance, identity and all that shenanigans, and contrast them.
really wish i had the crucible or just about anything else

 

[Aerath]

frankly this text is absolutely bullshit for belonging, its very hard to compare texts to it directly as its so migrant centric. You just have to compare them in relation to notions of belonging/acceptance, identity and all that shenanigans, and contrast them.
really wish i had the crucible or just about anything else

Honestly, you really don't want that. Skrzynecki, as shit as he is, is relatively easy compared to every other text for Belonging.

 

[ayix80]

Skrzynecki , I tell you I am so sick of trying to spell that name already.

I found a STUDYGUIDE on him tho.

Books for sale - Study Guides - Nisi Bookstore

Has anyone bought from this Nisi? I'm probably going to try it cos I'm desperate but it would be good if someone else could tell me if this writers any good.

Looks good, has like timeline, analysis and background.

According to the page it covers:

Poems Include:

* 10 Mary Street
* Ancestors
* At the Folk Museum
* Feliks Skrzynecki
* Immigrants at Central Station
* Postcard
* St. Patrick’s

Anyway, if someone trys it before I buy it, PLEASE post and tell if its good.

 

[Dora Explorer]

Hey thanks for putting this thread up,

I was hoping i could get help...what techniques are used in Feliks Skrzynecki showing he doesnt belong to Australian society of which he is forced to belong to for study purposes ect. ? other than the parallel between Caesar;s Gallic War and his state.

I wouldn't say he was "forced" to belong in Australian society, because it doesnt really imply that there in the poem.
And that technique of the Gallic War doesnt really show it either.
The last stanza is meant to show that he is moving away from his father's culture towards the Aussie culture.
However him really not belonging to either culture is shown i think in stanza 4, if im right.

 

[minty388]

The book is a crock of sh*t. I hate it.

Im struggling to find related texts, i have some ideas but cant figure out how to relate them back to the poems... any ideas??

 

[ninetypercent]

Skrzynecki , I tell you I am so sick of trying to spell that name already.

yup. same and how to pronounce the name as well!

 

[Aerath]

The book is a crock of sh*t. I hate it.

Im struggling to find related texts, i have some ideas but cant figure out how to relate them back to the poems... any ideas??

For starters, there's the Belonging Related Text Suggestions thread. Secondly, you could also consider texts that have similar responses to a change in belonging as Skrzynecki's - an individual who feels alienated from both family and cultural heritage.

 

[screwed4hsc]

hi all im doing skrznecki aswell, just starting on my assignment now. <.<
Does peter establish a sense of belonging in any of his poems? from what I have, such as in 'Feliks Skrznecki' and 'Migrant Hostel' its all about his experiences of not belonging - so is this what we should be talking about?

i dont understand tho i thought the whole concept of the unit was belonging .. not isolation etc.

 

[Aerath]

In a belonging essay, you are most certainly permitted to talk about the concept of not belonging/B]. This means that concepts of isolation and alienation are valid themes to place in your analysis.

 

[Metal_Katuron]

frankly this text is absolutely bullshit for belonging, its very hard to compare texts to it directly as its so migrant centric. You just have to compare them in relation to notions of belonging/acceptance, identity and all that shenanigans, and contrast them.
really wish i had the crucible or just about anything else

My god yes T_T
These are not great poems for belonging, it's there. It's just blaringly obvious and is not an exploration of belonging. It's a story of Skrysnecki's life, and dude, we are not interested. If belonging is supposed to be a universal theme then why, oh why was this a related text?

 

[Metal_Katuron]

yeah, I know where you're coming from. But the fact that we're studying Belonging also means we have to study alienation and not belonging.
In feliks skyrznecki there is a bit about belonging, Feliks and his garden and the key to citizenship and what not?

 

[gesh17]

If it hasn't been mentioned already, in terms of ORTs it's better to find a text that enables you to draw differences between texts during synthesis rather than similarities. (I.e. All your texts shouldn't be about Immigration and cultural disparities.)