Change And The Different Forms example essay topic

The poem 10 Mary street by Peter Skryznecki changes the reader's perspective toward the migrant experience as it is written from the eyes of a young Peter looking at his parents new life in Australia and how they attempted to keep a bond with the old Poland that he himself never knew. As in the poem 'the door' by Miroslav Holub, the poet uses one metaphor to tie the entire poem together, in the case of Skryznecki's poem, this metaphor is that of the house. The house represents the old culture of the parents and their attempts to keep it alive within a distant culture. Within the house the culture, and time, is preserved through "photographs and letters" from relatives, whereas outside the house time is passing, things are aging or developing.

This resistance to change, repeated several times throughout the poem is demonstrated through the family maintain routine described in the first stanza, giving them a sense of security, and use the metaphor of a "still too-narrow" bridge to symbolism the distance between Australian and European culture. Throughout the poem we, as the responder, are given examples of how much the family cares and looks after their house: "tended roses and camellias like adopted children" and in the fourth stanza "paint guaranteed for another ten years". This reinforces the idea that migrant families attempted to recreate their homeland in their homes and gained a sense of security through familiarity in a country with a completely different culture. The poet uses subtle metaphors within this poem, in particular in the first stanza; "a rusty bucket". This contrasts with the well-oiled lock two lines previous and shows how time is passing outside the house, but within the house time is frozen in that of their homeland at the time of their departure. This contrast between things that are changing and things that are not recurs in the third stanza where their little house in its "china blue coat" stands defiantly, resistant to change, frozen in time while the surrounding neighbourhood is becoming industrialised.

Another very subtle technique is used in the second stanza where the poet chooses to draw attention to his younger self's cap becoming too small, rather than choosing, say, a shirt which would seem more appropriate considering the context. However, when examining this more closely, it implies that his knowledge was increasing already, and shows the culture gap already forming between him and his practical parents. As well as metaphor, another important technique, the poet uses is listing, another technique used in the poem 'the door' to describe the sorts of changes that may occur. In '10 Mary street' listing occurs to some extent in the second stanza where the poet lists all the plants and flowers grown in the families garden, but which occurs to a greater extent in the fourth stanza which focuses directly upon the preservation of Polish culture within their Australian home... This techniques creates almost a sense of being overwhelmed with the extremities of European culture: "heated discussions", "embracing gestures" and the many European foods. This is contrasted extremely with the Australian idiom used to describe their Polish activities: "puffing billies".

This an extremely Australian, and childish term, which suggests this view is coming from the poet as his younger self, and shows how the Australian culture was already beginning to influence him. The poet also demonstrates how the family have attempted to keep their old country or their " pre-war Europe" alive with "photographs and letters". This emphasises what the poet demon started earlier in the poem: that this migrant family attempted to keep their old culture alive within themselves in an attempt to orientate themselves in a new country. This also shows and emphasises just how difficult it would be to move to a strange new country with language and culture barriers, something many audiences would not consider, and this way changes the readers perspective toward the everyday struggle migrants faced.

Another language technique the poet uses is the double meaning present in the 4th stanza: "we lived together". This can mean both "we" as in the family living together, or can imply the two cultures living side by side within their house. As with many of Skryznecki's poem's, a phrase in the last stanza relates back to the language used in the beginning of the poem. In this case his phrase "citizens of the soil", used to describe the naturalization of these migrants to Australia, relates back to the description of the garden given in the 2nd stanza.

Th poem here ends on a negative note with a metaphor of a key used to represent the Polish culture. This then symbolizes that the old Polish culture is no longer relevant in the modern Australian culture, especially to the son. The metaphor of the key and the house again relates back to the beginning stanza with the description of the house and its "well-oiled lock". This text is extremely valuable to students studying the area of study: changing perspectives as it shows to what extent that the sudden change of moving countries and indeed being immersed in an entirely different culture affects the individual and the family unit.

The poem demonstrates how migrant families attempted to resist the change taking place by absorbing themselves in their own culture within their house, in order for them to have a familiar place within the confusion of living in a different society. This poem is also a valuable text for the increasingly multicultural society we are living in today, as it increases our awareness of the plight of migrants and the isolation they feel when arriving in a new culture and being forced to build a new life despite culture differences causing social isolation. As mentioned previously, the poem "The Door", as in '10 Mary street', the poet Miroslav Holub uses one metaphor to tie the entire poem together and several other smaller, related metaphors are used throughout the poem. The door is the central metaphor of the poem, and is a dual metaphor in that it represents what restricts us (such as our own perceptions, physical limits) as well as being a gateway for opportunity and change. 'The Door' describes change and the different forms it comes in through a series of metaphors.

The poet uses an imperative, commanding voice and persuades the reader in stages, from a sense of urgency; "go and open the door" to reassurance "maybe, even if", to demonstrate to the reader that all changes are good and we must be our own agents of change. The repeated command creates an emphatic tone that implores the reader to take a chance, to choose to leave their "comfort zones", their present state and to take on the world outside and possibly change as a result. The sense of urgency is enhanced by the parellism of the poem: the line "go and open the door" is repeated at the beginning of each stanza, this pressure is relieved in the fifth stanza when it simply states "at least there " ll be a draught". This almost humorous statement means the poem ends on a positive note, and suggests that all change is good; even if it is nothing but a draught. The poem lists the forms that change can come in through a series of metaphors: change can be concrete (a tree), abstract (the magic city), it can be ordinary (a dog rummaging), unclear (a fog). This shows the reader how many forms change can come in and suggests that what lies beyond the door will perhaps be different for everyone; and the poem offers different possibilities and results of change.

The tone of the poem is optimistic and change is presented as a positive force. Even when there's a "fog" when we open the door, and obstacle or a difficulty, and things at first lack clarity or we feel uncertain, the poem reassures the reader that "it will clear". The structure of the poem is also an important technique. The most obvious utilisation of this technique is in the second and fourth stanza's. Unusually long pauses are created by starting the lines halfway across the page, emphasising "a picture of a picture" and the word "nothing".

By creating a separate line for the word "nothing" the poet emphasises its isolation. The lines "even if nothing is there" create a shape representing steps, which could be considered in itself a representation of gradual change. Word choice is an important technical factor in the poem: in particular words such as "wood" which has childlike, storybook connotations which ties in with the fantasy, abstract theme of the first stanza, the words "darkness ticking" which has several different connotations, such as a clock ticking representing time, the heart beating representing life, or perhaps the timer on a bomb which represents imminent death. All of these have horror movie associations and plays on people's fears such as being left alone in the dark. The perspective within the poem changes through stages of persuasion, from a sense of urgency to reassurance, to demonstrate to the reader that all changes are good and we must be our own agents of change. The poem changes the readers perspective as it forces the consideration of a range of possibilities as to what the opened door will reveal to us, and emphasises the fact that we need to take action, to actually "open the door" in order to find what lies beyond and assist the progress of change.

The poem changes the responder's perspective in that it demonstrates how all change is good even if at first it is uncertain and unsettling, or it seems boring and mundane. To most people it would seem that some forms of change are negative, however from Holub's perspective all change, even in its most terrifying form, is positive in that it alleviates the boredom of everyday life. This text is valued as it makes an important comment on the concept of change: that all change is good and is inevitable to us and we must assist the progress of change. This point of view is interesting in todays society which is so resistant to change: it would be valued in that it demonstrates to those resistant to change that all change is good no matter what form this change comes in, because even though it may be a negative or mundane change, at least it will alleviate the boredom of every ady life. As in 10 Mary street the poem shows us that change comes in different form and demonstrates the effects or possible effects change may have.