Summary Of Jackie French's Nanberry

Literacy academic Lois T Stover once wrote, “There is nothing simple about quality young adult literature. Good young adult literature deals with the themes and issues that mirror the concerns of the society out of which it is produced. It does so in ways that help readers understand the complexities and shades of grey involved in dealing with these issues. ” The novel Jasper Jones (2009) by Australian author Craig Silvey, illustrates the story Charlie Bucktin, a 13 year old boy living in the parochial mining town of Corrigan, in 1965. The foremost theme is the prejudice within the population of Corrigan. There is the underlying theme of prejudice, especially through racism; against refugee of the Vietnam War, Jeffrey Lu; Jasper Jones, an indigenous Australian of mixed descent often being the town’s

Black Diggers is a play written by Tom Wright about the indigenous Australians who fought in World War II and their previously forgotten stories. The Ideas and themes involved in the text circle around two main points. The first is the inferiority of non-indigenous Australians in the play which can be seen by all the non-indigenous characters who aren’t called by their names. The second is the injustice shown towards non-indigenous soldiers due to discrimination and violence throughout the play. These arguments are evident in the old soldier’s monologue which was set in 1956. This monologue is a psychoanalytic perspective of how this particular Aboriginal felt at different points throughout his life therefore it is a record of his personal truth. This story is similar to other Aboriginal soldiers’ stories like the ghost’s and the bloke’s in the Glebe Town Hall monologues. The old soldier’s monologue

The poem, ‘Be Good, Little Migrants’ by Uyen Loewald, thoroughly explores the concept of identity throughout the poem. Uyen Loewald is an Australian migrant of Vietnamese background who has been subjected to racial oppression and degradation when first migrating to Australia. As a result, she created the poem, ‘Be Good, Little Migrants’ to express her emotions of frustration and anger at the plight of new Australian migrants. The poem conveys the notion that migrants of a non-British background, more specifically Vietnamese and Asian, had to discard their own cultural identity. Furthermore being forced to change and adapt to an “Australian” identity. This process is known as assimilation. The continuous repetition of the imperative, “Be good, little migrants” in each stanza,

Oodgeroo Noonuccal’s non-traditional view of Australia in ‘An Appeal’ shows how stereotypes of Australia are not always correct. The poem shows how camaraderie and mateship are not always expressed in Australian lifestyle. It is evident in the poem that not all Australians help each other to get through tough times and Australia is divided into different groups of people and is not equal. ‘An appeal’ shows how the nation stands up for themselves and fight for what is right against the power of the ‘not really’ authoritative people of Australia.

The poem My Mother The Land by Phill Moncrieff poetically describes the struggles the aboriginal people faced at the hands of the European people and colonisation throughout history. The fact that the author based the poem on accurate historical events adds to the authenticity of representations and engages the reader in an emotional journey with the struggles the aboriginal people faced with the somewhat loss of their country, culture, identity, people and place. The author uses a variety of language features and text structures to create this view point, for instance the author uses several language features and text structures throughout verse one to demonstrate the loss of culture and people.

The Ngunnawal People have been living within the borders and surrounding mountains of the Australian Capital Territory for over 25,000 years. The way the Indigenous people used the land to live off was extremely efficient and sustainable. They had a bounty of knowledge about the land surrounding them, and over generations, devised resourced management skills to ensure maintenance of the animals and plants, and most importantly, the land in which provided these things. Aboriginal culture existed long before Captain Cook arrived in Australia in 1770. He claimed the land to be "Terra-Nullius", meaning that the land did not belong to any person. This claim obviously seemed ludicrous and crazy to the Indigenous people whom already lived on the land.

He is a young aboriginal boy at the edge of the earth living with the white settlers learning their ways. He was living a happy life when everything was torn away him, his family, his people and his aboriginal ways. He has to start again and rebuild his life learning a new language and the new English ways. He takes on the new life with resilience and heart, striving in the new colony. Jackie French has portrayed her character Nanberry in an interesting way due to his constantly changing character. He is a very loyal and brave young boy which learns very quickly.

Eddie Mabo thought that the best years of his life, came from growing up on Mer island, the island to him, was his safe place, away from the troubles of poverty and the xenophobic nature of the Caucasian culture of Australia, a place that was filled with a recognizable culture and language, a place where the community were caring and selflessly helped one another. On the island, life truly was a paradise, people didn’t need to worry about feeding each other, as the island provided that comfort, people didn’t need to worry about housing, as the land belonged to the people, or so they thought.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are known to have resided in Australia, 40,000 to 60,000 years before the British arrived in 1788. When the British took over they decided to take all the land for themselves even though the indigenous Australians were here first. This court case recognises indigenous Australians unique connection to the land and acknowledges that they have the rights to the land. When the British first arrived in Australia, they assumed that Aboriginal

The 1788 colonisation at Sydney cove, disrupted trade and access to natural resources and impacted the Gameraigal way of life. Between 1790 and 1820 the colony expanded into the Gameraigal lands. Diseases such as small pox and gonorrhoea decimated the aboriginal population and a lack of common cultural understanding fuelled heavy conflict in the area. Many who survived became displaced from their traditional homes or integrated into European society. Alcohol and tobacco compounded problems further, and by the 1860’s aboriginal people were only occasional visitors to North Sydney.

Melina Marchetta uses a plethora of themes within ‘on the Jellicoe Road’ to establish the major characters. The themes of the text all revolve around self-discovery and identity, thus they link together to give readers an in depth understanding of the characters world. Ultimately, themes have the ability to create exceedingly complex characters, and Marchetta demonstrates this within the novel.

In conclusion “We Are Going” gives an Indigenous Australian perspective on colonisation in Australia. Noonuccal effectively expresses this perspective and adversity through the effective use of imagery, her ability to manipulate tone and mood. Finally, her clear easy to understand language is key in her conveyance of the struggle the Indigenous Australians had to go

“And that’s why we got dragged ‘ere... So he could have a nice, white little town.” ‘Many of the injustice perpetrated against Indigenous people in No Sugar are the result of a sense pf superiority dominant in privileged “white” Australians’. Discuss

Remembering Babylon is a contemporary story set in the 1840’s written by the Author David Malouf in 1993 and published in 1994. It is about a young white boy (Gemmy) getting raised by Aboriginals and ending up in a small settlement and gets taken in by white settlers and having to choose between the white and aboriginal culture. Renewal is represented as a positive force for change in adapting to the Australian society. This renewal is shown through the characters experience of fire, hybridity and epiphany.

Until recently, the western trained archaeologist and anthropologist constructed the identities and histories of the Aboriginal people. The western hegemony which still existed in the anthropological and archeological practice effectively silenced the indigenous voices. The identity of the Indigenous Australians does not rest in an imagined Australian Aborigine, but in the multiplicity of names and identities. However, Anthropology is instrumental in constructing the one Aboriginal identity through the operation of language. Therefore, the Aboriginal people, who became one in order to redefine their cultural identity, seek to re-appropriate their past from the colonialist anthropological and historical narratives. In order to see why it is indispensable for the Aboriginal people to reinvent their past, it is important to find out how the Aboriginal people were actually represented in the Anglo-white narratives. In order to view the white Australian’s perception of the Aborigines from the period of contact till the present times it is necessary to examine some of the literary representations from the vast body of White representations. In 1843, Father Raymond Vaccari, a passionist missionary noted in his memoir, “Among the evil dispositions of the Aborigines, I may mention an