Skrzynecki's Perspective example essay topic

757 words
Our attitudes, perceptions and perspectives of everything around us are perpetually changing with time and experiences. It is a natural process which we have little control over, and usually only recognise it with reflection and hindsight. The poem Feliks Skrzynecki by Peter Skrzynecki is an example of this. As a young child, Skrzynecki was amazed by his father's great strength and hyperbole's are used to express his child-like perception and admiration of Feliks. As Skrzynecki grows older, becoming a teenager, he gradually becomes more distant from his father.

The metaphor in the last stanza "Watched me pegging my tents further and further south of Hadrian's Wall" implies this because Skrzynecki is leaving his Northern culture behind and becoming more and more Australian. Skrzynecki is writing the poem as a mature adult, reflecting on his perspective of his father when he was a child. The tone of the poem tells the reader that Skrzynecki's perspective has since changed, and he now admires his fathers perspective of the world. Feliks "kept pace only with the Jones es of his owns mind making" and never attempted to learn English, which means he never made an effort to try and fit in to the Australian culture and lifestyle. Feliks has a very different perspective of the world compared to his son. He is "as happy as I [Skrzynecki] have ever been" and this is ironic because Feliks has experienced more hardships in his life compared to Skrzynecki, yet he is happier.

This is because he is more grateful for the peace in his new life but Skrzynecki has always lived with this peace and has had no calamities to compare it to. We value this text because it highlights how children grow apart from their parents during the course of adolescence, which is something many people can relate to, and how their perspectives during their teens have changed when they reflect on it as an adult. It also highlights the changes which immigrant families have to go through. Another example of changing perspective is text 5 "Fractals". It highlights the change in perspectives of today's society through both its form and content.

In this text, the changes in technology have allowed the information to become interactive, with users being able to integrate a variety of information through the use of 'links'. This text represents the changing face of information in the world, and the many layers of information that are present in the text highlights the various ways in which data can be interpreted and viewed, offering a different perspective for the browser of the encyclopedia. The content of the article also has an impact on the reader. Fractal geometry was not discovered until the 1970's so even though the essential facts and matter had not changed, a different perspective of it transformed the perception of the original concept. This is also similar to the poem Feliks Skrzynecki as the poet's perspective of his father changes as he grows older and reflects on his childhood, even though his father has remained unchanged. The very nature of fractals is also relevant to changing perspectives.

They are described as self-similar, meaning that each small portion of the fractal can be viewed as a reduced-scale replica of the whole. This suggests that fractals are essentially just a repeated pattern which does not change at all, only the viewer's magnification and perspective of the fractal does. Text 5 is a valuable source of information. Its technological form means that the information can be easily accessed, and links and "inter-activities" can help the reader to learn more. The article contains many features of scientific writing such as its literal, objective and factual composure and neutral formal tone which indicate that it is a reliable source of information. Its inviting presentation and intelligible language make it interesting for the average person, broadening their knowledge and perhaps changing their perspective on life by considering fractal patterns and likening them to behavioral patterns in their life.

The Dictionary defines change as 'making or becoming different, substitution of one for another'. After discussing various aspects of change and changing perspectives in these texts, it is quite evident that the meaning of change cannot be limited to these few words, yet has a variety of meanings on a number of levels that can help us to shape our understanding of changing perspectives.