Its Raining in Mango :: Free Essay Writer

It's Raining in Mango Thea Astley’s It’s Raining in Mango (1987) is a story of Australian history told through five generations of the Laffey family. Astley introduces several issues to the reader that were and still are part of Australian society. Through the use of narrative techniques including characterisation, narrative point of view and naming, Astley is able to position the reader to challenge such societal ideologies, and instead support the thoughts and ideas expressed by the strong and dominant characters in the text. Two issues developed in the text are race and gender. Throughout the text, the white colonists are very racist towards the Aboriginals. Even cattle, horses and white women are placed hierarchically higher in society than the black people. In response to this, Astley constructs all narrations to be written through the eyes of the Laffey family, who are respectful towards Aboriginals, hence not racist, and despise societal ideologies. By making the narration of the text show a biased point of view, readers are provoked to think and feel the same way, foregrounding racism shown in the ideologies of early Australian society, and showing that Aboriginals are real people and should receive the same treatment to that given to white people. â€Å"They looked human, they had all your features.† (pg 27) There was, however, one section in the text whose narrative point of view was not given by a character in the Laffey family. This instead was given by a voice of an Aboriginal woman, when the Aboriginal children were being taken away from t heir families. By giving voice to the Aboriginal society, the reader is able to get a glimpse of their point of view on the matter, which once again shows that society was racist, and Aboriginals were treated harshly. Another narrative technique used to bring forward the issue of race is naming. By using harsh names to describe racist white people, it made Aboriginals seem a far ‘softer’ race. An example of this is Block, the white concreter who began a brawl in a pub in Mango. By using a name such as this, Thea Astley positions the reader to see Block as a hard, cold, strong male, and is also seen as an object instead of a person. Also by showing that Block is a concreter, this reinforces the thought of him being a ‘bad’ person, as he is ‘cold and hard as concrete’.

Belonging creativwe writting Essay

It has been a year since I moved out of home to attend a prestigious school. I have met new people, made new friends, and gotten use to moving around this town since when I first arrived. Although I am extremely happy about where I stand today, I’ve started to get this uneasy feeling, is it because I haven’t been feeling well or is it because I’ve started to dream more about those back at my home town. I’m running late to school again, if mum was here I wouldn’t hear the end of how I’m going to be scolded by the teacher, as much as I hated hearing it I wonder why I’m remembering it now. I got to school 10 min late for the first period. I got scolded by the teacher and got held back in class for the time I lost. I looked out the window and remembered back at school at my home town, always causing mischief and constantly being scolded, I felt a little bit happy and nostalgic mesmerising the past. It was time for roll call. I had to give a note to the teacher explaining why I was late. Rather than being scolded, he gave me short lesson of advice on how to prioritize my time. At some point I looked around the class seeing all my friends talking and laughing, it reminded me back of back at school in my home town. It was the same, although when the teacher would try to give me advice I would argue, and frustrate the teacher. I acted like a child always thinking I was right. It made me giggle a bit of how much mischief I use to get myself into. The teacher asked me if I found anything he said was funny, I apologised for being rude and listened to what he had to say until the bell for recess rung. My close friends weren’t at school today, they had a field trip for biology so I sat by myself on the silver seats in the shade and took out my recess. Watching everyone talk and play made me feel a bit lonely, it reminded me of when I first moved here, I thought I wasn’t going to make any friends and I was too shy and afraid to talk to anyone so I sat by myself at recess. Although now it’s different I have good friends here that make me happy. Then I remembered my childhood friends, all the games we played, all the laughs we had, all the arguments and fights, it felt nostalgic it brought a smile to my face that I haven’t shown in a while and it also hurt me just as much when I remember the day I left to come to this school. I wonder if they still think about me, I wonder how they all are, are they fine, are they doing well, are they still the same even without me being there and causing mischief. I wonder. Recess finished, and now I have my Health and PE class. When I arrived at class, I found a substitute teacher. He announced that our teacher will not be teaching for the rest of the week as they are sick. Instead of giving out the work he allowed us to have PE for both periods, he gave out a range of sports for us to choose form, once we decided we were playing. Everyone was sweating and laughing and enjoying themselves. I remembered back at my old school in my hometown when we would trick the substitute teacher in letting us play for two periods and the ruckus we caused because of it, it made me laugh a little bit and continued to play. ` Class ended, everyone is tired and exhausted. I went down for lunch and saw my friends; they had come back from their trip. I felt a little relieved it let me forget about a little about leaving my old friends. We talked about their trip and what they did, it seemed like they had a lot of fun. As we finished our lunch and headed towards the field and we lie down in our usual spot and relax and talk about what ever came to our mind. Without noticing the lunch bell rang and we stayed, everyone was leaving but we were too busy chatting we didn’t notice. Then a girl came running to tell us we’d be scolded again if we were late again after lunch. As we walked towards class I couldn’t take my eyes off her, I’ve had a crush on her since I came to this school, I don’t know why but it feels as though I’ve known her from somewhere. Then once again I remembered the girl I liked in my old school, I could never talk to her, I was too shy despite my mischievous self. I felt a little down because in the end I never told her before I moved and kept thinking if the same would happen again. During the last two periods I slacked off a little trying to think why I’ve been thinking so much about my old friends, about my home town. I couldn’t come up with an answer, but it hurt, it hurt so much, that I didn’t feel like I belonged here, but why? I’ve made good friends here; I feel at ease, I even have someone I like so why does it hurt so much. The final bell rang and it was time to head home, I didn’t feel like going home so I took a detour and went the longer way around, a longer way than usual that I didn’t know where I was going but kept going. I found myself on top of a hill; there was a small field of grass going down the hill. I took my bag off and sat down. I remembered that when I always felt upset and lonely I’d run off to a secret spot behind the woods of the park in my home town. There would be a grass field just like this. It calmed me down it made me feel like I was back at home, I felt a little relieved. I stayed there for a while, until it started to get dark so I headed back home. On my way I bought a few things to make food at home, on my way home I kept thinking how much I wanted to see my friends and family once again, just once would be enough. I got towards my apartment and saw my light on, I ran, I ran as quick as I could, I swung open the door and said â€Å"Mom, dad I’m home.† I looked around and there was no one; it looks like I forgot to turn off the light before I left again. All these old memories of my home town made my edgy, and showed me just how empty I really was. I finally realised why it hurt so much, and why it wouldn’t go away, and why it kept hurting more and more every time I thought about it. The truth was I was trying to cover up the fact that I truly don’t belong here no matter how much I try my heart and memories are anchored back at home and that’s where they’ll stay.

Reign Of Error The Hoax Of The Privatization Movement...

When imagining a well-rounded school, one might think of a school filled with discussion based English classes, interactive Math classes, exciting labs, and rich History classes; one may also think of an endless list of extracurricular activities and athletic teams. Sadly, many public schools across the country do not have these opportunities. The Diane Ravitch book: Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America’s Public Schools, focuses upon Ravitch’s opinion on this important issue. Since the No Child Left Behind Act was passed in 2001, schools have focused on math and reading scores; because of this, schools have disregarded and cut back on other subjects that they are not being tested on such as†¦show more content†¦Ravitch uses this fact to express to the reader that if a school focuses all of its valuable time on the only subjects they are being tested on and neglects other subjects, they still look like a stellar school on paper while disregarding certain subjects. This also adequately builds her ethos. Using true facts and evidence proves to her reader that she is trustworthy and believable. Nevertheless, these facts effectively build Ravitch’s argument by showing parents that this is not the education that they should desire for their children; it leaves an impact on the reader and makes them think about their own education or the education that their children are receiving. Overall, Ravitch’s use of factual information aids in building her argument. Furthermore, Ravitch’s use of effective organization methods builds the argument presented to the reader. Ravitch uses repetition to express her argument and drive it into the reader s mind: â€Å"Why today are public schools unable to afford the curriculum they once offered? Why is the richest nation in the world unable to provide a full curriculum for all students in public school? Why are budget cuts†¦ so heavily on the public schools?† (Ravitch 108). Repeatedly asking the reader â€Å"Why† leaves a lasting impression in the reader s mind because it makes them think and answer the questions being asked. This prompts the reader to automaticallyShow MoreRelatedThe No Child Left Behind Law1315 Words   |  6 Pages Today the public school system in America is failing to meet the educational standards. The public education is lack of focus to teach their students abilities and skills and is lack of funds, supplies and resources to improve the learning and educational experiences for students. Public schools getting worse and worse according to critics and experts. The United States is being beaten by other nations with higher test scores and the government have being trying to close the achievement gap andRead MoreThe Importance Of Education1813 Words   |  8 PagesEveryone goes through it, and rarely anyone ever enjoys it. Education. The stigma around school and education among students is often not a very pleasant experience. Many students often dread waking up early, only to go to a series of dry and unengaging classes in an over organized system. The idea that our students dread education so much should be a red flag that the system is failing and changes should be made. Our education syst em needs to undergo various changes to create better educated studentsRead MoreOrganisational Theory230255 Words   |  922 Pagesis central to managing, organizing and reflecting on both formal and informal structures, and in this respect you will find this book timely, interesting and valuable. Peter Holdt Christensen, Associate Professor, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark McAuley et al.’s book is thought-provoking, witty and highly relevant for understanding contemporary organizational dilemmas. The book engages in an imaginative way with a wealth of organizational concepts and theories as well as provides insightful examples