The Distinctively Visual’s fundamental purpose lies in its ability to forge a link between ideas and image, prompting members to challenge perceptions of their world and enhance perspectives of humanity. Henry Lawson’s “The Drover’s Wife” and “In A Dry Season” embody the distinctively visual as a way to vividly recreate life within the Australian Outback and embody notions of survival, isolation and suffering. Perceptively, Nick Ut’s photograph “The Napalm Girl” visualises the brutality of bloodshed in order to prompt audience members into critiquing the construct of war. These texts recreate aspects of their contextual era, offering a variety of perspectives on the world that drive their respective audience members to respond and ultimately …show more content…
understand their world due to the Distinctively Visual. In “The Drover’s Wife” Lawson creates powerful images by employing distinctive visual language that enables the responder to visualise the isolation that people feels in the infertile Australian landscape.
Lawson characterises this aspect within the emotive lexicons of “loneliness and solitude” while enduring “pain and suffering” in order to overcome the obstacles to survive in the harsh Australian environment. Thus, the Drover’s Wife acts as a symbolic analogy of the landscape, presenting the uniqueness of the harsh landscape through her hardships and persistent survival. Alliteration within “No undergrowth, nothing to relieve the eye… nineteen miles to the nearest… civilisation” characteristically emphasises the isolation of their location, alienating the Drover’s Wife from the rest of civilisation. This consequently exposes the responder to a story about the mother’s hardships, which instantly provokes a sympathetic response to the plight of the individual. In addition, the experience of the drover’s wife reflects the harsh and the infertile nature of the bush. Due to the fact that living in the bush has stifled and thwarted her development as she has bluntly “no time to show” her children love. Furthermore, the use of descriptive …show more content…
language in the short and truncated sentences “no horizon”, “no ranges in the distance” and “no undergrowth” emphasises the lack of any aspect of the picturesque in the Australian outback. This desolation is sustained within the bleak tone of “she rode nineteen miles for assistance… carrying the dead child,” emphasising the pain and suffering she endures, exposing the lack of empathy from the environment that she inhabits. Subsequently, this builds suspense, for readers, propagating the hardships that accompany those that occupy the outback in order to survive. As a result, the responder is immersed with an understanding and admiration of what those who dwell in the inhumane conditions of the bush, consequently allowing them to undermine the outback as a destitute location, void of any emotional connection. The monotony of this landscape is continued within Lawson’s “In a Dry Season” who vividly recreates this setting through recounting the persona’s experience within the Australian Outback.
Their train ride becomes symbolic of their journey of maturation, as Lawson captures their eventual disillusionment with the harsh Australian outback, capturing the eccentricity of the landscape and the unique essence of Australian bush culture. Subsequently, the figurative language within “draw a wire fence, and a few ragged gums and add some scattered sheep running away from the train” captures Lawson perspective of the harsh reality of the outback existence, portraying it as a dull environment in comparison to the Drover’s Wife. Lawson engages the reader as he forces the reader to visualise the atmosphere they are in, which is further reinforced through the high modality in “ragged”, allowing the responder to clearly visualise the isolation of the Bathurst community. This provides the reader with an insight into the Australian outback through his train ride by capturing the true nature of Australia. In addition, Lawson further implicates this point through the use of descriptive language in “there is sometimes a small, oblong weatherboard buildings unpainted”. This allows the reader to visualise the unique landscape of the outback as old and rusty, enabling them to gain a better understanding of what Lawson sees from his perspective. This is further depicted when Lawson writes of the
outback, as “death is the only cheerful thing in the bush”. This paradox elucidates Lawson’s critique of the outback bush, inviting the responder to be drawn to his personal experience of a fast disappearing outback lifestyle. As a result, Henry Lawson captures the realistic portrayal of the harsh, monotonous Australian rural outback, which is still perceived that way by society today. Nick Ut’s “The Napalm Girl” presents distinctive features as a key to inciting perspectives on the impacts of war as it presents the true nature of the battlefield and its insidious impacts on humanity. Distinctive images of its brutality are shown through the girl’s facial expression of agony. This illustrates the brutality of human conflict in the Vietnam War as well as the innocent civilian that is mercilessly treated, presenting an insight into the painful experiences of the victims. Thus, this provides contrasting perspectives on humanity as it draws individuals into the experiences of others, which helps us to realise the complexities of the human experience. To elaborate, vectors are created by the horizon dividing the sky and the land, and the different levels created by the heads, arms and tallness of the bodies, the road and the scrubland and the positioning of people in the foreground and background. The vectors gave us the realisation of the important features of this image and allowed us to focus our attention into the finer details like the facial expression of the children. Furthermore, shading directs the audience’s eyes in different areas of the frames and created differences in the people and road, which acted as a sense of guidance for the importance of certain objects within the image. As a result, this allowed the audience to see the truth behind the purpose and what was going on in the image of the devastation that war brought to men, children and women alike. As a result, the distinctive images in the photograph convey perspectives to the responder about the world. In conclusion, the short stories “The Drover’s Wife” and “In a Dry Season” by Henry Lawson and Nick Ut’s photograph “The Napalm girl” provides contrasting perspective on humanity, which help us realise the complexities of the human experience. Thus, this enables the responder to feel the hardships that others face, which provides a greater insight and different perspectives about the world.
In the short story “Chickamauga,” by Ambrose Bierce, there are several examples of imagery throughout the passages that help to describe the horrors of war. Bierce sets the story with a young boy playing war in a forest, who is then approached by a “formidable enemy,” a rabbit. The sudden appearance startles the boy into fleeing, calling for his mother in “inarticulate cries,” and his skin getting “cruelly torn by brambles.” The selection of these details leaves a lucid image in the mind of the reader, allowing them to see a sobbing boy running through the forest, covered in cuts and scratches. It represents the innocence and fear of a child, lost and alone in an unknown place. The birds above his head “sang merrily” as the boy was “overcome
The visual I have created is meant to display how the author Seven Galloway effectively used descriptive language and imagery in the novel The Cellist of Sarajevo to demonstrate character development in Dragan, one of the protagonists. For instance, in the first image moving forward from the 12’oclock section of the clock, we can see an image of Dragan in Sarajevo with the intent of setting the mood of war, where “everything around him is a peculiar shade of grey”. This imagery is meant to display not only the visual cast set upon Sarajevo in a time of war, but also to show Dragan’s internal demeanor and how he initially perceives the world around him, while the idea of a ‘grey’ world surrounding him outlines his pessimistic worldview. These ideas are also manifest in the following image, where we
Motorcycles and Sweet Grass is a very rare occurrence in aboriginal literature. Most works about oppression and sadness as the aboriginal population once was. However, Drew Haydn Taylor attempts to implement humorous aspects of native culture in this novel.
Without the use of stereotypical behaviours or even language is known universally, the naming of certain places in, but not really known to, Australia in ‘Drifters’ and ‘Reverie of a Swimmer’ convoluted with the overall message of the poems. The story of ‘Drifters’ looks at a family that moves around so much, that they feel as though they don’t belong. By utilising metaphors of planting in a ‘“vegetable-patch”, Dawe is referring to the family making roots, or settling down somewhere, which the audience assumes doesn’t occur, as the “green tomatoes are picked by off the vine”. The idea of feeling secure and settling down can be applied to any country and isn’t a stereotypical Australian behaviour - unless it is, in fact, referring to the continental
Distinctively visual allows one to explore the ways images are created through the use of visual and literary techniques. The Australian bush is a harsh, dangerous and lonely land with no one around for miles. Henry Lawson clearly identifies this as he highlights the difficulty and consequences if one doesn’t adapt to it. The prescribed texts ‘The Drover’s Wife’, ‘In a Dry Season’ and ‘The Bush Undertaker’ by Henry Lawson and related material ‘Spelling Father’ by Marshall Davis-Jones as well as ‘Australia’ directed by Baz Luhrmann paint an image of what is normal for someone in their position as well as what they need to be. This can be seen through the concepts love for the family, the harsh Australian environment and the eccentric minds stereotypically
The suburban house, as the film’s setting and sphere of action, is extraordinary partly because it is ‘next-door’ to an airport. The odd layout of this backyard is underlined because their suburb meets the kind of architectural cast-offs often found at the margins of big cities. This mix of the humble backyard with the international vectors of travel, tourism and international trade plays out in the film’s narrative which connects the domestic and the distant. The Castle displays many locations and landscapes easily identified as being unique of Australia- The ‘Aussy’ barbeque and patio setup, greyhound racetrack and poolroom, just to name a few. The neighbours of the Kerrigan’s are a symbol representing the multicultural diversi...
Lawson distinctively uses literary techniques, including similes, adjectives and descriptive writing in the short story, so the readers can easily visualize the personal experience of ‘what it's like for the drover’s wives to live’ in the untamed outback in the 1870’s. Lawson uses similes, such as "... she runs out, points a stick at the birds as though it were a gun." This quote displays her courage and inventiveness; the quality of being smart and clever, that she thinks stick as a gun to scare the birds. The gun creates images in the reader’s mind as she has to protect herself and the children against nature. Lawson distinctively used descriptive writing to emphasize the feeling of desolation and lifelessness, such as the bushes are hanging depressed around the ‘waterless creek’, which signifies that the wife and the family are alone without a man for protection. Furthermore, Lawson uses adjectives to describe other words in specific details, such as, “everlasting, maddening sameness of the stunted trees”. The quote explains the grotesque and trailing environment she must endure. Hence, imagery techniques are used to understand the character’s situation and feel empathetic to all the drover’s
This photograph, taken in 1967 in the heart of the Vietnam War Protests, depicts different ideologies about how problems can be solved. In the picture, which narrowly missed winning the Pulitzer Prize, a teen is seen poking carnations into the barrels of guns held by members of the US National Guard. This moment, captured by photographer Bernie Boston symbolizes the flower power movement. Flower power is a phrase that referred to the hippie notion of “make love not war”, and the idea that love and nonviolence, such as the growing of flowers, was a better way to heal the world than continued focus on capitalism and wars. The photograph can be analyzed through the elements of image as defined by ‘The Little Brown Handbook’ on page 86. There are a total of nine elements that contribute to the communicative quality of an image. The message that this particular image tries to convey is the strong sense of way that conflict should be handled; by way of guns or by way of flowers. The ‘way of guns’ is violence and excessive force which heavily contradicts the ‘way of flowers’ which is a more peaceful and diplomatic way of handling conflict or disagreement. This photograph depicts these ideologies through its use of emphasis, narration,point of view, arrangement, color, characterization, context and tension.
Distinctively visual landscapes are portrayed to be a fundamental impact and influence on an individual’s identity, and how one’s relationship with setting highlights their personal growth and maturation. Goldsworthy’s metaphorical depiction of Darwin as being rich and changing in its abundance of nature reflects Paul’s personal growth and development. The extended metaphor “everything thing was larger than life in the steamy hothouse of Darwin, and the people were no exceptions.” Symbolically signifies the hot, humid climate that acts as a sense of normality, as the fertile environment is metaphorically allowing him to grow and mature. Goldsworthy explicitly juxtaposes Dr Crabbe’s perception of Darwin with Paul’s interpretation as he engages the readers in the differing opinions towards the country. Paul’s father acutely defines Darwin as “a ci...
The 19th century Australian Novelist and short story writer, Henry Lawson, uses distinctly visual techniques of writing, which allowing responders to visualize the hardships faced during . Australia’s colonial period The iconic story “The Drover’s Wife” reveals the hardships faced by women and the sacrifices and adjustments they made to survive. Lawson’s story “In a Dry Season” gives the reader an insight into the difficult lives of Australians during the colonial period. The Artwork “Sunday Evening” by Russell Drysdale stresses the hardships faced in the Australian outback. His artwork compliments Henry Lawson short stories.
Authors have been known to use their writing as symbols of other things that are occurring in the world. For George Saunders, in Pastoralia, he writes about characters that reflect real-life workers that are earning a low wage. Through many elements in his story, Saunders shows his audience how the narrator goes through his daily routines in order to provide for himself and his family, how his cave mate tries to provide for her mother and son, and how they aren’t in the best of conditions. Although it seems that this is a different period, it greatly relates to...
Australia as a country is commonly known by foreigners for its vast expanses of empty space. It is first entwined in the film when Lady Ashley asks the drover how long it’s going to take to get to Faraway Downs and the Drover replies, “We’ve been on it for the past 2 days.” The camera then zooms out to show the dust trail they have left through the immense empty desert. The emptiness of this remarkable land is strongly emphasised again while they are traveling through the Never Never Desert. While displaying the magnificent open land, they zoom in with the cameras to show the heat and sweat of the outback and then zoom back out to show all the dead trees and dust. The film makers also show the main characters struggling to survive through the desert without water to further illustrate how tough it is to stay alive in such an unforgiving land. Though we Aussies don’t all live in the bush, it can still reaches scorching temperatures of 40 degrees in places such as Rockhampton but we don’t give up and move to somewhere that is cooler, we stay and try our hardest to live like any other normal group of people. This same theory has been cleverly used by the directors of this film when Lady Ashley decides to stay and protect her land instead of flying back to England and selling Faraway Downs. To add to this,
By using distinctively visual techniques Misto is able to assert his view on the British shame on the events of Belalau, However this view of shame is contrasted with Raising of the Flag on Iwo Jima. This image depicts six wounded United States servicemen raising the American Flag during the battle of Iwo Jima, This image is seen as patriotic unlike Shoe Horn shows the shame of the government. Rosenthal uses distinctively visual features such as monotone, gaze and salience to create a patriotic reaction from the image. Raising of the Flag on Iwo Jima was captured using a black and white camera, the use of monotone in the photograph creates timeless and powerful meanings for the responder, this is important as the monochrome is used for its simplicity and the black and white colours are symbolic of the adversarial nature of war. By using this colour hue Rosenthal creates a patriotic reaction by dividing the war into an “us or them mentality”. By placing the American flag in the centre of the frame, Rosenthal shows how flag and countries are important to individuals. As the responders gaze is drawn from the flag to the secondary figures of the wounded servicemen, Rosenthal is able to re affirm his views on patriotism towards the audience as the men are willing to die for their country. It is shown through the comparison that both Rosenthal and Misto are able to assist two conflicting views on the issue of war. Thus is because Rosenthal’s image of the Raising of the Flag on Iwo Jima is a highly decorated piece of US propaganda, whereas Show Horn tells an untold story and therefore reaffirms the sense of shame. The use of controversial topics allows for the audience to have mixed opinions about events that have been presented to
In “Tracks”, Curron explores the harshness of the Australian desert and the impact it has on the personas welfare. Similar to Lawson stories, Curron uses long shots of the landscape portray similar features such as barrenness, desolation, bleakness stunted trees and no water to be seen. This distinctively visual scene provides the responder with evidence that the Australian environment is a harsh and dry place to live in. The close up of Davidsons face demonstrates the physical effects that the Australian desert has on her, as the audience can evidently see her face and lips are sunburnt and peeling, which is a physical impact from the environment. The slow motion scene of Davidson walking through the desert emphasises the impact the environment has on her mental welfare. As a result of the hot and inhabitable environment, she is shown to be delirious, fragile and in a weakened mental state. Australian environment on an individual’s physical and mental
Roughing it in the Bush is a story that chronicles the hardships and triumphs faced by early settlers in Northern Canada. Susanna Moodie creates vivid portraits of through the way she stresses the degradation relating her status as a gentlewoman, the necessity for manual labour in a new world, and the discrepancy between refined society and the pioneer community. Relaying a cautionary tale, Susanna Moodie uses a straightforward prose filled with hyperbolized descriptions that show a negative bias influenced by her personal hardships and way of life to inform potential emigrants about the realities of living in the bush and to forewarn readers that the pioneer life is not suited towards the upper class and rather, is detrimental to their economic and social status.