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The anzac legend essay
The anzac legend essay
The anzac legend essay
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"We have no unknown soldier
These are not forgotten men
But cousins, uncles, neighbours
Who will never laugh again.
But they'll not be forgotten
For the price they had to pay.
For their children's children's children
Will still march on Anzac Day
No, they'll not be forgotten
For the price they had to pay.
For their children's children's children
Will still march on Anzac Day."
- Vic Macdonald 1988
Every year on the 25th of April Australia comes together to celebrate the bravery and extreme courage of those soldiers who risked and lost their lives while fighting for Australia in Gallipoli. But should it be celebrated? Should we cheer the men that returned when so many were killed and died of disease in the trenches at Gallipoli? Should we celebrate their bravery? Does this glorify war? Or should we mourn the waste of over sixty thousand brave men? Why has a day that commemorates death and defeat come to symbolise a national identity to the people of Australia?
The ?modern? Anzac day does not only celebrate the Anzac?s (Australia New Zealand Army Corps) but all the wars that Australia has participated in. But why is the focus of Anzac Day on Australia?s defeat at Gallipoli while fighting someone else?s war, and not perhaps the victory at Milne Bay against the Japanese. What is it about the battle at Gallipoli that brings Australia together to commemorate? Or do they celebrate?
This paper will be focussing on the texts from the play ?The One Day of The Year? by Alan Seymour. Which explores a war veteran and his son?s view of the meaning and reason of Anzac Day.
The play ?The One Day of the Year? gives a very strong message about two very different views of the meaning of Anzac Day. The reader of the play is ...
... middle of paper ...
... and the right to voice their opinion. Australia is a lucky country to have freedom of speech. So should Anzac day be celebrated? Commemorated? Or Mourned? It is all about opinion, just like Alf and Hughie settled there differences by agreeing to disagree. Australia should allow that freedom of opinion and speech. In summary if you personally believe that Anzac should be celebrated you should be free to do so. Likewise if you believe that the deaths and carnage that occurred at Gallipoli should be mourned and not celebrated. However whether you choose to celebrate or mourn, remember the sacrifice of the brave soldiers who fought and died in the name of Australia.
They shall grow not old....as we that are left grow old
Age shall not weary them, nor the years contemn
At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, we will remember them
- Laurence Binyon
It is well known that Captain Arthur Philips landed in Australia on 26th of January and took over the land and is referred to as “invasion Day”. Yet little do people know, Captain Arthur Phillip didn’t land in Australia on 26 January. He first landed in Australia between the 18th and 20th of January 1788 in Botany Bay, however where he landed he couldn’t find fresh water so he then sailed into Sydney Cove on the 26th where he found a Tank Stream…..problem solved. Australia day today celebrates our diverse society, our remarkable achievements, our future as a nation and how we can make Australia a better
Hannie Rayson’s play ‘Hotel Sorrento’ explores the changing nature of Australian cultural identity. Rayson successfully perpetuates and challenges common Australian stereotypes in order to establish how the Australian National Identity has changed over time. She presents these stereotypes through the characters expectations of gender roles, attitudes towards Australian culture and the theme of ownership.
The soldiers are remembered for maintaining courage and determination under hopeless conditions. The ANZAC legend owes much to wartime correspondents who used the Gallipoli landing to generate a specifically Australian hero. Among the many reports, which reached Australia, were those of Ashmead-Bartlett. His Gallipoli dispatches described Australians as a 'race of athletes ... practical above all', whose cheers, even in death, 'resounded throughout the night'. Ashmead-Bartlett helped in...
Here is a question — how did the ANZAC legend develop? The legend of Anzac was born on 25 April 1915, and was reaffirmed in eight months' fighting on Gallipoli. Although there was no military victory, the Australians displayed great courage, endurance, initiative, discipline, and mate-ship. Such qualities came to be seen as the Anzac spirit. The ANZAC book written and illustrated in Gallipoli by the men of Anzac —- The Anzac book became the finest “trench publication” produced during the Great War, and was an instant bestseller when first released in 1916. Created by soldiers under enemy fire and in extreme hardship, the illustrations, stories, cartoons, and poems were intended as a Christmas and New Year diversion for soldiers facing a harsh winter in the trenches on Gallipoli.
The Anzac Legend is the source of the Aussie Fight and bravery that will live on for future generations to understand and to acknowledge their courage and bravery.
“a verse for the cheated” discusses the effects of colonialism in Australia. The poem suggests the the European invaders or “tourists” arrive and are ignorant in respect to the Indigenous Australians.
The Gallipoli campaign was a military disaster but it is still one of the most important conflicts in which Australia was involved. On 25th April 1915 between 4:30 and 6:30 am the Gallipoli Peninsula was invaded by British, Australian and New Zealand forces. This was to start the long, hard weeks in which the troops were fighting for ground that the enemy controlled in Turkey. They were attempting to gain a supply route to Russia to aid them in repelling the German and Turkish soldiers from their country. I will be discussing the willingness of Australians to volunteer for the war effort and the love and respect they had for their Mother Country, England. I will also discuss how the young, naive soldiers arrived at war not knowing what warfare entailed. They were shocked by the conditions and casualties. I will also discuss the bravery that was shown by the ANZACS in the most dangerous conditions. I will conclude with my reasons of why the Gallipoli campaign holds such value and importance in Australian history and ideology.
Thesis: During World War 1, the amount of Australians enlisting decreased due to the realisation that war was not as it was portrayed to the public
Firstly, the Kokoda Battle was an important event because of its cultural significance to Australia. The Kokoda track stands as an icon for Australian participation in the Second World War, just as Gallipoli serves the same purpose for the First World War. In 1942, the Australian Territories of Papua and New Guinea were in law if not in public sentiment, as much a part of Australia as the Northern Territory. It is then quite true to say that Australian soil was invaded by the Japanese in 1942. The main objective of this battle was for Japan to capture Port Moresby via the Kokoda track and from there they would control the Pacific. This war was also very significant because of the mateship, loyalty and hard work the Australians did to protect our country even when they were “flat out” of energy, as evidenced by this quote
Peter Weir’s 1981 film Gallipoli can in every sense of the phrase be called an ‘Australian classic’. The impact and effect this film has had upon the psyche and perspective of several generations of Australians has been significant. Whilst it can be argued that every Australian is aware of the ANZAC legend, and the events that occurred on the Turkish beaches in 1915, Weir’s film encapsulates and embodies a cultural myth which is now propagated as fact and embraced as part of the contemporary Australian identity. The film projects a sense of Australian nationalism that grew out of the 1970’s, and focuses on what it ‘means’ to be an Australian in a post-colonial country. In this way Gallipoli embodies a sense of ‘Australian-ness’ through the depiction of mateship and through the stark contrast of Australia to Britain. A sense of the mythic Australia is further projected through the cinematic portrayal of the outback, and the way in which Australia is presented in isolation from the rest of the world. These features combined create not only a sense of nationalism, but also a mythology stemming from the ANZAC legend as depicted within the film.
Aboriginal soldiers returned to their country where they had no citizenship rights, controlled by the government policies which prevented them from living in towns, socialising with other Australians and voting. This is evident in phrases such as, “He returned to the outback, no mates did he find. If he had a beer he was jailed and then fined,” and, “Confused and alone he wandered around, Looking for work though none could be found. The Anzac marches he badly neglected, Would show to his comrades how he was rejected.” This informs the reader about how the Aboriginal soldiers did not receive the same benefits as the European soldiers did, even though they made the same sacrifices during the
The Anzac spirit is not defined by any simple term; it is defined by the acts of valour and heroism of a person or group of Australians. The first Australian to be recognised with the highest award of bravery was Sir Neville Howse after the Boer war in South Africa (1900). The Highest medal available to troops, The Victorian Cross is awarded to a person who “in the presence of the enemy, displays the most conspicuous gallantry; a daring or pre-eminent act of valour or self-sacrifice; or extreme devotion to duty.” Howse was once again sent to fight for his country in World War 1 where he demonstrated his Australian clout for the second time in war. Howse demonstrated the Anzac attitude throughout his whole life leading him to things like serving as the Commonwealth Minister of Health. Howse demonstrated the values of someone worthy of the Victorian Cross through everything he did, thus allowing a spark of the soon to be dubbed Anzac spirit to be kindled and kept alight throughout the rest of Australian
In his theatrical work J.B., Archibald MacLeish hints to the postwar era of World War II through explicit and implicit references. J.B. is relevant to society and reflects the events that took place in the 1950s. For that reason, the play purposefully and effectively demonstrates that, despite the bitterness and calamities of the forties and fifties, people should remain optimistic and should have faith that there will be hope, instead of dwelling on the injustice in the world.
After a grueling and torturous two months of preparing for the Remembrance Day assembly, we were then told to write a four page reflection on our experiences – while it was still “fresh in our minds.” Not one page, not two, but four. In fact, I got so disinterested while writing this, I began reading about Lucy Maud Montgomery’s 141st birthday, and this is coming from someone who has never even seen – let alone read – a copy of Anne of Green Gables.