Themes and Issues

in Australian
Poetry: Can We Do Better?

Written from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Perspectives

Student Name: _______________

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Perspectives in Australian Poetry

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In this unit, you will:

 Learn and be able to use poetic terminology to analyse poems and their
effects
 Strengthen your knowledge of Aboriginal history and culture
 Develop your ability to respond to poems
 Learn about writing an essay for a public audience
 Develop your ability to make meaningful connections between literature and
contemporary issues

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What is Poetry?
Poetry is one of the oldest forms of writing in which writers express their feelings and put
forward their ideas in specific forms. A reader’s feelings are aroused by poetry as a result
of the poet’s feelings having been moved by something in the world around them. It may
be an animal or a bird; it may be the sound of rain or the setting of the sun; it may be a
simple scene or an intense experience. Whatever the occasion, the poet responds to it and
is inspired by it. As a result, readers see familiar objects, people and experiences in new
ways.
Some of the most well-known forms for poetry include:
o Blank verse (the Shakespearean play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream is an example)
o Sonnet (14-line poem with a specific rhyme scheme)
o Limerick (a 5-line stanza)
o Ballad (simple song of some length)
o Dramatic monologue (one person speaking on a subject)
o Ode (often a poem of praise)
o Elegy (often about sad subjects)
o Free verse (modern poets often reject traditional poetic forms and create a poem
following their own thoughts, free from any regulations)
Poets write for a variety of purposes, including to:
o Express emotions
o Make us think
o Arouse our emotions
o Change attitudes
o Paint word pictures
o Describe a person, animal, place or event
o Give us new insights about life and the world around us
o Entertain and have fun
o Tell stories
o Engage our sense of sight, sound, taste, touch and smell
o Recount a past incident
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Vocabulary and Spelling

Poetic Stanza Metaphorical Speech

Rhythm Assimilation Language Aboriginal
Rhyme Positioning Onomatopoeia Diction
Pattern Appreciation Imagery Breadth
Scheme Analyse Sensual Variety
Alliteration Deconstruct Reflections Viewpoint
Assonance Subject Transporting Evidence
Simile Devices Response Quotation
Metaphor Techniques Aural Supporting
Personification Figurative Relationship Highlights
Suggests Exemplifies Depicts Describes
Interconnectedness Aborigine Aboriginal Alludes to
Cultural Contexts Represent Aesthetic features
Evocative Syllable Analysis Personification
Dispossessed Indigene Integration Belonging

Learning New Vocabulary:

1. Look up any words that are unfamiliar to you in the dictionary.
2. Write a complex sentence for each unfamiliar word, making sure that the meaning of the
word is clear in your sentence.

Spelling strategies:
Highlight any words that you are not confident about spelling.

Choose appropriate spelling strategies to help you to learn the new spellings.

 Sound out the word a syllable at a time (for words that are spelt phonetically).
 Exaggerate the difficult part of the word (for words with silent letters i.e. environment)
 Chunk words into syllables and link syllables to familiar words with the same letter patterns.
 Use a mnemonic to remember how to spell the word (Never Eat Chocolate Eat Salad Sandwiches And
Remain Young = necessary)
 Chant words on-o-mat-O-p-o-e-i-a
 Visualise the word written down (for visual learners)
 Write out the word/ mime typing the word (for kinaesthetic learners)
 Use spelling rules (for words that follow a set pattern –‘I before e, except after c i.e. friendship, deceive)

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 Year 8 Poetry Glossary
Form/ structure: free verse; sonnet; ballad + pattern of stanzas

Word Clusters/ Semantic Field: is when a poet chooses groups of connected words which are related
to one another be it through their similar meanings, or through a more abstract relation (connotations and
associations) often used by writers to keep a certain image or idea persistent in their readers' mind.

Figurative language or imagery: Figurative language is non-literal wording that adds creativity or
rhetorical meaning to writing. It invites the reader to use their senses or prior knowledge to understand
meaning. Includes metaphor, simile, personification, hyperbole, allusion, metonymy, and symbolism

Simile: a comparison of two things using like or as.

The hard gust of wind came brutal like the blow of a fist. (Conrad)

Metaphor: a direct comparison

Personification: giving human qualities or characteristics to something that isn’t human.

The branches reached out and clasped at our clothes.

The wind howled in anguish.

Alliteration: the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words.

The sun slowly reaches the highest point in its bright blue home. (Moya)

Assonance: repetition of vowel sounds in words – internal rhyme as opposed to end rhyme.

My stepmom shouted loud as a train.

Consonance: repetition of consonant sounds anywhere in words, not just at the beginning. (Repetition at
the beginning of consecutive words is alliteration.)

Call me Jack, the wacky one.

End Rhyme: use of rhyming words at the end of two or more lines of poetry.

The music’s pumpin’

I start jumpin’
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 (Maya Liparini)

Onomatopoeia: use of words that sound very much like the noise they name.
Swish those skirts, snap those fingers-
Go ahead, but watch the night go poof.

Repetition: technique of repeating a word or phrase for rhythm or emphasis.

We feared nothing,
Because we had nothing to fear.
(Shannon Winston-Dolan)

Rhythm: the way a poem flows from one idea to the next. In free-verse poetry, the rhythm seems to
follow the poet’s natural voice, almost as if he or she were speaking to the reader. In more traditional
poetry, a regular rhythm is established. Notice how the accented syllables in the follow lines create the
poem’s regular rhythm.

Whose wóods these áre I thínk I knów.

His house is ín the ´village though.
(Robert Frost)

Sense Imagery: language that engages our senses: sight,

touch, hearing, smell, taste. When a poet creates language
that allows use to see, hear, feel, smell, or taste, he or she
has put us into her setting, put us at the time and place of
the poem.

Symbol: can be an object, picture, written word or sound

which is used to represent something else either by
resemblance, convention or association.

Poetic Techniques Revision – Match the technique to the correct definition and then write an
example of the technique.

Poetic
Definition Example
Technique
the comparison of two unlike things by
Simile
saying one IS the other

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 a word or phrase to stimulate your memory
Metaphor
into imagining a picture

the giving of human traits to non-human

Alliteration
things

Onomatopoeia the repetition of a beginning sound

Imagery repetition of a word to add emphasise

Personification similar sounding words

the beat in a poem to make it sound like a

Repetition
song

comparing one thing to another using ‘like’

Rhyme
or ‘as’

Rhythm the sound a thing makes

Literary Devices Definition Match 2

Directions: Drag the name of the correct literary device from the box at the bottom next to
its definition.
1. When something non-human is given human characteristics or behaviour (e.g. the flame danced).

2. A question that does not require an answer (e.g. Is this a joke?).

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 3. A direct comparison (e.g. You are my sunshine)

4. The running over of a line of poetry into the next line or stanza, without punctuation.

5. The repetition of a word or phrase at the start of successive sentences or clauses (e.g. you are brave, you are

wise, you are bright).

6. A describing word (e.g. scary/exciting/beautiful).

7. A word that is written as a sound (e.g. bang/crunched).

8. An indirect comparison (e.g. her eyes were like the sun).

9. When the same letter is used to start different words in the same sentence (e.g. the rats ran rapidly).

10. The repetition of the letter ‘s’ both at the start of different words or within words (e.g. the snakes

slithered/hissing).

Rhetorical Adjecti Personificati Alliterati Sibilan Simil

Question ve on on
MetaphorAnaphoraOnomatopoeiaEnjambment ce e

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How figurative devices (similes, metaphors) work
Analysing poetic devices requires you to do more than simply identifying similes and metaphors; you
must explore how they work.

This means asking:

Why has A been compared to B?

Why not some other comparison?
What is it about B that the poet wants us to see in A?

Let’s look at a typical Elizabethan trope (the use of a word in a sense other than the literal):

Her lips are cherries.

The purpose of this and any metaphor is to link the connotations [visuals, intellectual associations, and
emotions] that the reader is likely to have for the comparative term (cherries) to the original term (lips).

Her lips are deep red

glossy
appealing
succulent
natural

In the same way, “Her hair is gold” evokes in the reader connotations of: value, wealth, rarity, beauty,
desirability. Taking a more cynical view, a reader might see, in this comparison, traces of
commodification, in which women are seen, on some level, as reducible to the status of a possession to
be gained and hoarded.

So when you analyse a figurative device, understand that this entails a rigorous exploration of the
connotations that any comparison is designed to evoke.

It also means using words like connote/connotations, evoke/evocation, associate/associations.

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Devising your own love metaphors
Try this for yourself:
Devise a metaphor or simile to describe love. Then write several sentences to show the
ways in which love and your object are similar.

For example:
1. Love is… changeable (Decide what you want to convey about love)
2. Love is… like a kite (Choose an object that shares these characteristics)

Love is like a kite:

Floating on air and reaching amazing heights,
At first.
Then full of unexpected twists and turns.
It’s never dull,
As no two moments are the same;
But it also has its ups
And downs;
And if you don’t pay
Enough attention – or work
Hard enough
To keep it afloat –
It can crash to earth
And be destroyed
Forever.

Your turn:
1. Decide what kind of love you wish to covey: ________________________
2. Choose an object that relates to those characteristics: ________________

Think of ways that love and your object are similar. List them here:
Love is…

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11
Using Appropriate Language: Highlight acceptable words in one colour and disrespectful language
choices in another.

In addition to regional names, there are local names for particular Aboriginal language groups of the
area, for example the Yugambeh or Toorbul people. The use of these names recognises and respects the
differences between Aboriginal language groups and cultures.

For general discussions, terms such as “Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders” or “Australian
Indigenous people(s)” are acceptable, but their use should be minimised in favour of more specific terms
where possible.

The use of an initial lower case “a” in “Aboriginal” does not respect Aboriginal peoples. The use of an
upper case recognises Aboriginal cultures and groups in the same way as other cultures and groups are
recognised (e.g. Russian, Samoan, European or Chinese).

When discussing an event or community, it is always preferable to use local language group names and
family grouping names to describe the people involved. Governments once used terms such as “full-
blood”, “part-Aboriginal” and “half-caste” to classify Aboriginal peoples according to skin colour and
parentage. “Tribe” is a Western term that was introduced from North America and Africa and is no
longer acceptable terminology in Australia.

Preferred terms for referring to people who are not Aboriginal Australians may vary depending on
contexts. Generally, “non-Aboriginal peoples” or “non-Indigenous peoples” are used to describe groups
other than Aboriginal Australians.

While the terms “blacks” and “whites” should be avoided (because such language describes people by
the colour of their skin and is therefore considered racist terminology), the terms “blacks”, “black
fellas”, and “white fellas” are used by some Aboriginal communities and the acceptance and use of these
terms should be respected, but we should not use these terms ourselves.

 The Federal Government definition of an Aboriginal person, as defined by the Aboriginal Lands
Rights Act 1983, is a person who:
is of Aboriginal descent
identifies as an Aboriginal person
is accepted by the Aboriginal community in which they live.
It is important to avoid making assumptions about cultural knowledge based on physical appearance, as
this can introduce or perpetuate stereotypes and generalisations.

Traditional Custodians

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Traditional custodians is a term often used to refer to the origin Aboriginal inhabitants of an area, who
have inherited the traditions and customs associated to that area and are imbued with the custodial
responsibility of continuing those traditions and customs and well as the management of sites and the
environment.

Elders
Traditionally an Elder is one of those selected through initiation and ceremony to possess certain aspects
of the Lore and are responsible to the Lore Men or Women who were the keepers and espousers of the
principles inherited from the Creator spirits and country.

Today an Elder is usually considered to be the person who is part of the eldest living generation or is a
person who is well respected and has done a considerable amount of work within the community and has
been accepted by the Elders as a spokesperson and who has considerable knowledge of the principles for
country. Today an Elder is looked up to by the other members of the Clan/s as providing guidance on
cultural issues.

Appropriate Language Choices Inappropriate Language Choices

CONTEXT: Why do Aboriginal people write poetry?

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Some aboriginal poets consider themselves to be mouthpieces for their tribes, expressing grievances and
concerns felt collectively by the entire aboriginal community. Others emphasise this political aspect of
verse even further, believing that the act of composing poetry is an inherently political one, which is
itself an invaluable form of activism. Others view poetry as a means of preserving impressions and
appreciations of nature and the beauty of life, and eschew any political involvement. Still others
consider that writing verse is an essential emotional release and a salve for bitter experiences. Finally,
some aboriginal poets hope to become successful individual role models for their people who, through
international as well as domestic recognition, can bring the Black Australian situation to the attention of
the world.

Edited extract above from The Poetry of Politics: Australian Aboriginal Verse, Adam Shoemaker
(University of Queensland Press, 1989)

Find definitions for these words:

Grievances:
Collectively:
Inherently:
Invaluable:
Activism:
Eschew:
Salve:
Re-read the extract with these definitions in mind.

The article was written more than four decades ago. What changes would you make to ensure its
language choices were appropriate today?
Flags of Australia – The Aboriginal Flag

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 The Aboriginal flag is divided horizontally into equal halves of black (top) and red (bottom), with a
yellow circle in the centre.
 The black symbolises Aboriginal people and the yellow represents the sun, the constant renewer of
life.
 Red depicts the earth and also represents ochre, which is used by Aboriginal people in ceremonies.
 The flag - designed by Harold Thomas -- was first flown at Victoria Square, Adelaide, on National
Aborigines' Day on 12 July 1971. It was used later at the Tent Embassy in Canberra in 1972.
 Today the flag has been adopted by all Aboriginal groups and is flown or displayed permanently at
Aboriginal centres throughout Australia.

Flags of Australia – The Torres Strait Islander Flag

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 The Torres Strait Islander flag – designed by the late Bernard Namok – stands for the unity and
identity of all Torres Strait Islanders.
 It features three horizontal coloured stripes, with green at the top and bottom and blue in between,
divided by thin black lines.
 A white dhari (headdress) sits in the centre, with a five-pointed white star underneath it.
 The colour green is for the land, and the dhari is a symbol of all Torres Strait Islanders.
 The black represents the people and the blue is for the sea.
 The five-pointed star represents the island groups. Used in navigation, the star is also an important
symbol for the seafaring Torres Strait Islander people.
 The colour white of the star represents peace.

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The Australian Flag

 The Australian Flag came into being after the federation of Australian on 1 January, 1901. It selected
as the result of a public competition
 The present Australian flag can be considered to consist of three main elements:
The Union Jack, denoting Australia's historical links with Great Britain. The Union Jack itself is
composed of red and white intersecting and overlayed vertical and diagonal crosses on a blue
background,
The Southern Cross consists of five stars in a more or less kite-like pattern. The constellation of the
Southern Cross is a significant navigational feature of the southern hemisphere, strongly places
Australia geographically and has been associated with the continent since its earliest days,
The Commonwealth Star or Star of Federation has seven points to denote the six states and the
combined territories of the Commonwealth. The seventh point was added in 1909.

Having looked at the symbolism of these flags, design your own flag for BGGS.

Provide labels to explain what each of your flag’s design features represents.

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Research Project: Aboriginal Peoples and their Experiences
1. Aboriginal History
 How long have Aboriginal people inhabited Australia?
 How did they discover Australia?

2. Early Years of Settlement

 When did the First Fleet arrive?
 What were their instructions for dealing with the inhabitants?

3. Early conflicts/Frontier Wars (late 1700 – mid 1800s)

 Find examples of early conflicts. What caused them?

4. Policy of protection (1869)

 What was it?
 What did it lead to?

5. Assimilation policy (approx. 1937)

 Find a definition for this policy
 Why wasn’t it successful?

6. Integration policy (1967)

 What were the aims of this policy?

7. Self-management or self-determination (1972 - 1996)

 What does this policy entail?
 Is it working?

8. “Sorry” Speech
 Who gave the speech? When?
 What did it apologise for?
 How was it received?

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Task: Research each topic (be sure to use reputable sources and to check the
information that you find)

 Create two PPT slides per topic

o Include bullet-pointed information
o And appropriate images

Suggested Resources:

A useful starting point for many of the questions:

https://www.commonground.org.au/learn

Aboriginal History and Timelines:

http://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/history/#axzz46tUzJaHL

https://www.aboriginalheritage.org/history/history/

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20
Contemporary Conversations

1. What do you know about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history and culture?

2. What do you know about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today?

3. How have Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples been represented in other texts ( other poems
you have read, novels, films, TV shows, paintings) with which you are familiar?

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Ongoing Conversations

This term, we will be reading a number of media articles that relate to the
poems we read, and you will be invited to offer your considered perspective
on the focus question: can we do better?
Useful resources for understanding and introducing the contemporary
conversations:

The link to the media resources on the library databases is here:

https://library.bggs.qld.edu.au/oliver/learnpath/guide/FirstNationsPoetry
We’ve grouped these articles under the following headings:
o Art
o Closing the Gap
o Reconciliation
o Stolen Generation
o Land

Creative Spirits – Swimming the River: https://youtu.be/0P9FRacTji0

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Background and Context
Jack Davis, 1917-2000

Jack Davis’ family history was typical. His mother was taken away from her tribe in Broome and raised
by a white family. His father was also removed from his family and brought up by whites. Such removal
of children was common practice by authorities under the government’s “assimilation policy” which
helped to gain psychological control over the Aboriginal population.

Jack Davis was an Aboriginal activist, playwright, actor and poet. Born in Perth in 1917, Jack spent his
childhood in Yarloop about 140 kilometres to the south. Jack always had a fascination with words and
when he was ten, he preferred a dictionary to a storybook.

After his father was killed in an accident when Jack was just out of primary school, Jack moved north of
Perth in search of work. He worked as an itinerant labourer, windmill man, horse breaker, boundary
rider, drover, and stockman.

At fourteen, outraged and indignant at the treatment of Aboriginal people by non-Aboriginal

landowners, Jack began to write poetry as a means of expression. He was influenced by Worru, whom
he met at the Moore River Native Settlement.

A humanitarian, Jack will always be remembered for his writing about Aboriginal history and culture,
and for his relentless fight for justice for his people. He gained national and international recognition for
his work and made an enormous contribution in helping to bridge the gap between cultures and
communities.

“Two Worlds” by Jack Davis

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 Two worlds collided

In anger and fear

As it has always been – 

Gun against spear.

Aboriginal earth, 

Hungry and dry, 

Took back the life again, 

Wondering why.

Echo the gun-blast

Throughout the land

Before more blood seeps

Into the sand

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 SENTENCE PHRASE WORD

Identify a sentence from the poem that is Identify a phrase from the poem that moved, Identify a word in the poem that has either
meaningful to you and helped you to gain a engaged, provoked, or was in some way captured your attention or struck you as
WHAT?

deeper understanding of the poem’s message: meaningful to you: powerful:

WHY did you choose this sentence? WHY did you choose this phrase? WHY did you choose this word?
SO WHAT?

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Analysing “Two Worlds”
(Jack Davis)

Subject Matter

1. The first line of the poem describes Aboriginal people and Europeans as “two worlds” colliding.
Explain in two sentences what the poem is about.

2. The poem is set a long time ago. What words indicate this? Relying only on the poem, how would you
describe this period of Australian history? Quote some words and phrases that suggest this to you.
Drawing on your own knowledge of Australian history, has the poet represented it accurately? Explain
your point of view.

3. The poem describes the conflicts that occurred after the European settlement of Australia, as Aboriginal
people and settlers tried to share the land. What words indicate that these conflicts have been happening
for some time?

4. From your own knowledge of Aboriginal culture, explain the relationship Aboriginal people have with
the land.

5. Look at stanza 2. Whose land does Davis suggest it is? How does this convey the poet’s perspective of
the conflict?
Analysis Questions

1. Symbolism is used at the end of the first stanza in the line “gun against spear”.
o Explain who each of the symbols represent.

o Why are these effective symbols? What do they tell us about each group?

o Finally, explain how these symbols convey the uneven nature of the conflict. How are readers
meant to respond to this?

2. Personification is used very effectively in the second stanza.

o Explain what is given human thoughts and feelings.

o To take something back, one has to have given it in the first place. Explain how the lines “Took
back the life again/ Wondering why” effectively convey the close relationship between the land
and the Aboriginal people.

o How does the land feel about the conflict? With whom are readers positioned to sympathise?

3. The poem makes effective use of a cluster of words associated with violence.
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 o List the words here:

o Collectively, what effect do these words have?

o What picture do they paint of the early years of European settlement?

o How are readers meant to respond to this?

THEME / ISSUE YOUR POEM ADDRESSES (be specific here – e.g. dispossession, loss of
cultural identity, disrespect for Aboriginal land, marginalisation, assimilation)

THE ONGOING CONVERSATION (what is the contemporary topic that your poem
connects with?)

THE POEM’S PERSPECTIVE (this is what the poet offers to the conversation – the invited
reading of the poem)

Oodgeroo Noonuccal (Kath Walker), 1929-1993

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Oodgeroo of the Noonuccal, known until 1988 as Kath Walker, was born Kathleen Jean Mary Ruska on 3
November 1920, on North Stradbroke Island in Southeast Queensland. Her father, who belonged to the
Noonuccal people, the traditional owners of Minjerribah (North Stradbroke Island), was employed by the
Queensland government as part of a poorly paid Aboriginal workforce; his activism for better conditions
for Aboriginal workers left a strong impression on his daughter.

In the 1950s, Walker became interested in writing poetry. The plain-speaking style of her poetry, and the
strong element of protest in it, meant that she did not initially receive literary acclaim for her work, but the
role of the political ‘protest poet’ was one in which Walker would come to revel.

During the 1960s, at the same time as developing her reputation as a poet, Walker became increasingly
engaged in political activism in support of Aboriginal rights, social justice, and conservationism.

Before reading the poem, look up the meaning of

these words:

Corroboree:

Bora ground/ ring:

“We are Going” by Oodgeroo Noonuccal

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 They came into the little town

A semi-naked band subdued and silent

All that remained of their tribe.

They came here to the place of their old bora ground

Where now the many white men hurry about like ants.

Notice of the estate agent reads: 'Rubbish May Be Tipped Here'.

Now it half covers the traces of the old bora ring.

'We are as strangers here now, but the white tribe are the strangers.

We belong here, we are of the old ways.

We are the corroboree and the bora ground,

We are the old ceremonies, the laws of the elders.

We are the wonder tales of Dream Time, the tribal legends told.

We are the past, the hunts and the laughing games, the wandering camp fires.

We are the lightning bolt over Gaphembah Hill

Quick and terrible,

And the Thunderer after him, that loud fellow.

We are the quiet daybreak paling the dark lagoon.

We are the shadow-ghosts creeping back as the camp fires burn low.

We are nature and the past, all the old ways

Gone now and scattered.

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 The scrubs are gone, the hunting and the laughter.

The eagle is gone, the emu and the kangaroo are gone from this place.

The bora ring is gone.

The corroboree is gone.

And we are going.'

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Analysing “We Are Going”
(Oodgeroo Noonuccal)

Subject Matter

1. What is the poem about? Explain in two sentences. What happens in the poem? What is its message?

2. The poem is set in Australia’s past. Relying only on the poem, how would you describe this period of
Australian history? Quote some words and phrases that suggest this to you. Based on your knowledge
of Australian history, explain whether the poet has represented it accurately?

3. The poem is set in rural Australia. What words suggest this? What do you think is the poet’s attitude to
this country town? Quote some words and phrases that suggest this to you.

4. How does the poet represent Aboriginal Australians? What are they like at the time the poem is set?
What were they like in the past? What words and phrases suggest this to you? How is the reader
positioned to feel about them?

5. How does the poet represent non-Aboriginal Australians? What words and phrases suggest this to you?
How is the reader positioned to feel about them?

6. What do you think about the way that the poem ends?

Analysis Questions

4. Explain the effectiveness of the alliteration used in the second line of the poem: “A semi-naked band
subdued and silent”. How do the words sound when read aloud? What does the repetition of the “s”
sound emphasise and how does it help to convey the poet’s feelings about the Aboriginal people’s
situation? How is the reader positioned to respond to this?

Sibilance: making or characterised by a hissing sound.

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5. How does Oodgeroo convey the Aboriginal view of the settlers through the simile in the fifth line: “the
many white men hurry about like ants”? How is the reader positioned to think/feel about the settlers
through this simile?

6. Choose one of the metaphors in the poem (lines 10-20) and write it here:

7. What two things are compared in the metaphor and why is this effective? How is the reader positioned
by the metaphor?

8. There are several examples of the poet’s use of imagery in the poem. Select one that you found
particularly effective and write it here:

9. Explain the image’s meaning and how readers are expected to feel (e.g. the image of the Aboriginal
people as they came into the town; the image of the way that non-Aboriginal Australians have responded
to Aboriginal culture and traditions; the image of the culture and traditions of the Aboriginal Australians
before the arrival of non-Aboriginal people)

THEME / ISSUE YOUR POEM ADDRESSES (be specific here – e.g. dispossession, loss of
cultural identity, disrespect for Aboriginal land, marginalisation, assimilation)

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THE ONGOING CONVERSATION (what is the contemporary topic that your poem
connects with?)

THE POEM’S PERSPECTIVE (this is what the poet offers to the conversation – the invited
reading of the poem)

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Hyllus Maris 1933-1986

A visionary with a passion for education.

Hyllus Maris was an activist, artist, cultural leader and philosopher. Above all, she was a visionary, who used
her many talents to stand up for what she believed in. Her success in establishing an Aboriginal school
challenged the education status quo and has been unlocking young people's potential ever since.
Born on Cummeragunja Aboriginal Reserve in 1934, Hyllus was the third of nine children. Hyllus and her
siblings inherited a profound sense of social justice from their parents, both of whom were prominent
Aboriginal rights activists.

In 1939, her family were among 200 people to walk off the reserve in protest over its management. Afterwards
they lived on the outskirts of Mooroopna, in a makeshift settlement known as the Flats. Its residents were
excluded and stigmatised by mainstream society because of their Aboriginality. Many who grew up on the Flats
remember Hyllus as their protector, a compassionate girl unafraid to confront the perpetrators of discrimination.

She took a keen interest in Aboriginal affairs and supported her parents' fight against inequality, becoming a
member of the Aborigines Advancement League and attending meetings of the Federal Council for the
Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders (FCAATSI).

She was determined to build a school that would focus on three key areas — wellbeing, education and culture
— and established the not-for-profit Green Hills Foundation to raise funds. Intense lobbying by Hyllus and
others secured a grant from the Victorian Schools Commission, to purchase land near Diamond Creek. A pilot
project was then conducted. Shortly after, the first independent Aboriginal school in Victoria opened its doors.
Worawa Aboriginal College officially opened in 1983. 'Worawa' is an Aboriginal word for eagle, the eagle
being of great significance in Aboriginal culture and a symbol of the tremendous potential Hyllus saw in
Aboriginal children.

In 1999, an annual memorial lecture was established at La Trobe University in honour of her contribution to
Aboriginal education. Today, Maris House at Melbourne Girls' College sits as a tribute to its namesake. Hyllus
was inducted to the Victorian Honour Roll of Women in 2001. A street in the Canberra suburb of Franklin nears
her name.

“Spiritual Song of the Aborigine” by Hyllus Maris

I am a child of the Dreamtime People
35
 Part of this land, like the gnarled gumtree

I am the river, softly singing

Chanting our songs on my way to the sea

My spirit is the dust-devils

Mirages, that dance on the plain

I'm the snow, the wind and the falling rain

I'm part of the rocks and the red desert earth

Red as the blood that flows in my veins

I am eagle, crow and snake that glides

Through the rainforest that clings to the mountainside

I awakened here when the earth was new

There was emu, wombat, kangaroo

No other man of a different hue

I am this land

And this land is me

I am Australia.

Analysing “Spiritual Song of the Aborigine”

(Hyllus Maris)

Subject Matter

36
 1. What is the poem about? Explain in two sentences.

2. What is the speaker’s relationship with the land? What words suggest this? Quote some words and
phrases that suggest this to you.

3. How does the poet represent Aboriginal Australians? What words and phrases suggest this to you?
How is the reader positioned to feel about their connection to the land and Australia?

4. How does the poet represent non-Aboriginal Australians? How is the reader positioned to feel about
them?

5. What do you think about the way that the poem ends?

Analysis Questions

6. Explain the effectiveness of the use of first-person pronouns ‘I’ and ‘me’. How do the words sound
when read aloud? What does the repetition of the pronouns emphasise and how does it help to convey
the poet’s feelings about the Aboriginal peoples’ unique connection to the land? How is the reader
positioned to respond to this?

7. How does Maris convey the Aboriginal view of the land/nature through use of personification? For
instance, the “river” is invested with the idea of “singing” and “Chanting” and the “rainforest” is
personified as humans who seem to cling to the mountains. How is the reader positioned to think/feel
about the Aboriginal peoples’ lineage and bond with the land through this device?

8. Choose one of the metaphors in the poem and write it here:

37
9. What words in the poem are used to show that the speaker’s sense of belonging and identity is rooted in
nature?

10. Chiasmus is a two-part sentence or phrase, where the second part is a reversal of the first: eg. “When
the going gets tough, the tough get going”. Find an example of chiasmus in the poem and explain its
effect.

THEME / ISSUE YOUR POEM ADDRESSES (be specific here – e.g. dispossession, loss of
cultural identity, disrespect for Aboriginal land, marginalisation, assimilation)

THE ONGOING CONVERSATION (what is the contemporary topic that your poem
connects with?)

THE POEM’S PERSPECTIVE (this is what the poet offers to the conversation – the invited
reading of the poem)

“Say My Name” by Meleika Gesa-Fatafehi

38
Context
Meleika Gesa-Fatafehi is a Torres Strait Islander and Tongan storyteller and poet. She descends
from the Zagareb and Dauareb tribes of Mer Island and the village of Fahefa in Tonga.

Using the QCAA https://www.qcaa.qld.edu.au/about/k-12-policies/aboriginal-torres-strait-

islander-perspectives link, as well as your own research, find the following:

1. Three points about the history of the Torres Strait

a.
b.
c.
2. Find a map of Australia showing the Torres Strait islands and paste it below:
3. What is Tagai?
4. What is a totem? Explain the totemic law of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
people
5. Watch Christine Anu’s ‘My Island Home’ (1994) and read the lyrics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSFGK9HlEto
Lyrics: https://genius.com/Christine-anu-my-island-home-lyrics

“Say My Name” by Meleika Gesa-Fatafehi

My name was my name before

I walked among the living

39
 before I could breathe

before I had lungs to fill

before my great grandmother passed

and everyone was left to grieve

My name was birthed from a dream

A whisper from gods to a king

A shout into the stars that produced

another that shone as bright

They held me without being burnt, humming lullabies in pidgin

My name was passed down from my

ancestors

They acknowledged my roots grew in two

places

So, they ripped my name from the ocean

and mixed it into the bloodlines of my totems

My name has survived the destruction of worlds

and the genocidal rebirthing of so-called ones

It’s escaped the overwhelmed jaw of the death bringer

Many a time

It has survived the conflicts that resulted in my gods,

from both lands, knowing me as kin,

but noticing that I am painfully unrecognisable and lost

They are incapable of understanding

the foreign tongue that was forced on me

40
 My name has escaped cyclones and their daughters

It has been blessed by the dead

As they mixed dirt, salt and liquid red,

into my flesh

My name is the definition of resilience

It is a warrior that manifested because of warriors

So, excuse me as I roll my eyes or sigh as you

mispronounce my name

over and over again

Or when you give me another

that dishonours my mothers and fathers

That doesn’t acknowledge my lineage to my island home

or the scents of rainforest and ocean foam

You will not stand here on stolen land

and whitewash my name

For it is two words intertwined

holding as much power as a hurricane

Say it right or don’t say it at all

For I am Meleika

I will answer when you call

Analysing ‘Say My Name’

(Meleika Gesa-Fatafehi)

Subject Matter

1. What is the poem about? Explain in two sentences.

41
 2. Whose perspective is the poem written from?

3. In the following lines, who is the ‘they’ the speaker refers to? How does the speaker feel about them?
‘They acknowledged my roots grew in two places/So, they ripped my name from the ocean/ and mixed
it into the bloodlines of my totems’.

Student Activities

Poetic Devices
Identify the poetic devices in the poem:

 Metaphors
 Simile
 Alliteration
 Onomatopoeia
 Word cluster to create the concept of ‘language’
42
  Repetition

A closer look
1. Focus on the ‘roots’ metaphor. Record the line here:
a. What are the ‘roots’ being compared to?
b. Write down some features of tree roots.
c. How is Meleika’s identity like tree roots?
d. Therefore, what is the representation of conflict?
2. Focus on the alliteration of ‘the foreign tongue that was forced on me’ and the metaphor ‘whitewash’
a. What seems to have happened to the Torres Strait Islander languages?
b. What impression do these words create of the education of Torres Strait Islander people?
c. How are colonial settlers represented?
3. Consider the word cluster for language
a. Why do you think ‘language’ is emphasized in the poem?
b. How does language connect with a person’s identity?
4. Focus on the ‘hurricane’ simile in this poem. Record the line here:
a. What is the hurricane being compared to?
b. Write down some features of a hurricane
c. What is the link between ‘hurricane’ and the Meleika’s Torres Strait Islander name?
d. How might this link to the ‘warrior’ metaphor?
5. Why do you think Meleika repeats the phrase ‘My name’ throughout the poem?

Reader Positioning
6. How is the reader positioned to feel about the colonial settlement of the Torres Strait?
7. How is the reader positioned to feel about Meleika’s assertion of her Torres Strait Islander identity?

Reflect
8. Select one of the images in the poem.
a. Find a photograph that you think reflects the image.
b. Describe the image using some adjectives.
c. How does the image make you feel?

THEME / ISSUE YOUR POEM ADDRESSES (be specific here – e.g. cultural significance of the land,
cultural heritage, dispossession, loss of cultural identity, etc.)

43
 THE ONGOING CONVERSATION (what is the contemporary topic that your poem connects with?)

THE POEM’S PERSPECTIVE (this is what the poet offers to the conversation – the invited reading of
the poem)

Article: Celebrating K’gari: why the renaming of Fraser Island is about so much more than a name
Published: September 28, 2021 6.14am AEST Updated: October 1, 2021

https://theconversation.com/celebrating-kgari-why-the-renaming-of-fraser-island-is-about-so-much-more-than-a-name-
168378?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20September
%2028%202021%20-%202071620440&utm_content=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20September
%2028%202021%20-
%202071620440+CID_7af715e51c2d414bafe41dec92be4788&utm_source=campaign_monitor&utm_term=Celebrating
%20Kgari%20why%20the%20renaming%20of%20Fraser%20Island%20is%20about%20so%20much%20more%20than
%20a%20name

44
https://japingkaaboriginalart.com/articles/art-in-the-torres-strait-islands/

45
 “Municipal Gum” by Oodgeroo Noonuccal

Gumtree in the city street,

Hard bitumen around your feet,

Rather you should be

In the cool world of leafy forest halls

And wild bird calls

Here you seems to me

Like that poor cart-horse

Castrated, broken, a thing wronged,

Strapped and buckled, its hell prolonged,

Whose hung head and listless mien express

Its hopelessness

Municipal gum, it is dolorous

to see you thus

Set in your black grass of bitumen –

O fellow citizen,

What have they done to us?

Dolorous:

Adjective: Feeling or expressing great sorrow or distress.

Synonyms: sad – grievous – mournful – sorrowful – painful – woeful

Analysing “Municipal Gum”
(Oodgeroo Noonuccal)

Subject Matter

1. What is the poem about? Explain in two sentences.

2. The poem is set in urban Australia. What words and phrases suggest this?

3. What do you think is the poet’s attitude to the city? Quote some words and phrases that suggest
this to you.

4. The poem is set in Australia’s recent past. It explores some of the issues caused by the
Australian government’s policy of integrating Aboriginal peoples into mainstream society.
Relying only on the poem, would you say that this policy has a positive effect on Aboriginal
Australians? Quote some words and phrases to support your response.

5. Look closely at the last two lines of the poem. Who is Oodgeroo addressing?

47
Analysis Questions

1. The poet uses cacophony in the second line of the poem: “Hard bitumen around your feet”. Read the
line aloud. What is the effect of these harsh “d” and “t” sounds? How does this poetic device
position readers to respond to the situation of the tree?

2. The poet uses euphony in lines three to five: “Rather you should be/ in the cool world of leafy forest halls/
And wild bird calls.” Again, read the line aloud. What is the effect of the lines’ harmonious and pleasing
sounds? How do they position the reader to agree with the poet and prefer the country to the city?

3. Next, consider the simile used in lines six to eleven. What is the tree compared to?
A simile is used to compare the _______________ to a ______________________.

 What impression is given of the cart-horse?

The cart horse is described as

 Why is this an effective comparison? What do the cart-horse and the tree have in common?
This is an effective comparison as it

 Whom do both the tree and the cart-horse represent?

48
  How is the reader positioned by this simile?
Through this simile readers are positioned to

4. Look at the imagery used in line fourteen of the poem. Why is this particularly effective?

THEME / ISSUE YOUR POEM ADDRESSES (be specific here – e.g. dispossession, loss of
cultural identity, disrespect for Aboriginal land, marginalisation, assimilation)

THE ONGOING CONVERSATION (what is the contemporary topic that your poem connects
with?)

THE POEM’S PERSPECTIVE (this is what the poet offers to the conversation – the invited
reading of the poem)

“The First-born” by Jack Davis

Where are my first-born, said the brown land, sighing;

49
 They came out of my womb long, long ago.

They were formed out of my dust – why, why are they crying

And the light of their being barely aglow?

I strain my ears for the sound of their laughter.

Where are the laws and the legends I gave?

Tell me what happened, you whom I bore after.

Now only their spirits dwell in the caves.

You are silent, you cringe from replying.

A question is there, like a blow in the face.

The answer is there when I look at the dying,

At the death and neglect of my dark proud race.

Analysing ‘The First -born’

(Jack Davis)

Subject Matter

1. What is the poem about? Explain in two sentences.

50
 2. Whose perspective is the poem written from?

3. Who is the land’s “first born”? How does the land feel about them?

4. Who does the land describe as “you whom I bore after”? How does the land feel about them?

Analysis Questions

 Answer these questions in full sentences.

 Include as much detail as you can.
 Contextualise and integrate quotations effectively.

1. What device is used in the first line of the poem?

51
2. Aboriginal people are compared to a person’s ‘first born’. What rights traditionally would a
person’s first-born child have enjoyed? Particularly when it came to land?

3. What effect does this have on the reader?

Complete this sentence: A is effectively used to represent Aboriginal

people as

(Hint – the representation is not ‘the land’s first born.)

4. The land is given maternal feelings. What device is does Jack Davis use here?

5. Explain how this helps to convey the strong bond between the Aboriginal people and their land.

6. What effect does this have on the reader?

Complete this sentence: is effectively used to represent

Aboriginal people as

7. What device is used in line four of the poem when the land asks why “the light of [the Aboriginal
people’s] being [is] barely aglow”?
52
8. What is being compared to a light? What does it mean that this is “barely aglow”?

9. What does this analogy help the reader to understand? How does it make them feel?

Complete this sentence: is effectively used to represent Aboriginal

people as

10. The land commands the reader in the line “Tell me what happened, you whom I bore after.” What
effect does directly addressing the reader as ‘you’ have in this sentence? How is the reader made to
feel?

THEME / ISSUE YOUR POEM ADDRESSES (be specific here – e.g. dispossession, loss of cultural
identity, disrespect for Aboriginal land, marginalisation, assimilation)

THE ONGOING CONVERSATION (what is the contemporary topic that your poem connects
with?)

53
THE POEM’S PERSPECTIVE (this is what the poet offers to the conversation – the invited
reading of the poem)

54
 SUMMARY TABLE OF POEMS FOR ESSAY FOR A PUBLIC AUDIENCE
POEM/ POET The experiences described/ or The issues raised Contemporary Conversation
implied
‘Two Worlds’ Jack Davis

‘We Are Going’

Oodgeroo Noonuccal

POEM/ POET The experiences described/ or The issues raised Contemporary Conversation
implied
‘Municipal Gum’
Oodgeroo Noonuccal

‘First Born’ Jack Davis

POEM/ POET The experiences described/ or The issues raised Contemporary Conversation
implied
‘Spirit Song of the
Aborigine’ Hyllus Marris

56
‘Say My Name’ Meleika
Gesa-Fatafehi

57
Extension/Homework Activity

 Collect at least seven images that illustrate what each poem is about in your view. You should
have some images that focus on Aboriginal people as victims of racist attitudes, but others could
capture the changing attitudes of contemporary Australians and celebrate the achievements of
Aboriginal people. Keep them in a file.

 For each image, write a couple of sentences justifying why you chose the image and how it
reveals your personal response to each of the poems and Aboriginal Australian identity.

 Try to come up with a non-literal caption for each image to provoke a response or invite a
conversation with the reader.
59
Optional Extension: Writing your own poem
You have looked at poems written by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander poets that
explore themes and issues that are of importance in Australia today.

Write a poem that explores a topic that you feel passionate about that reflects
contemporary conversations today.
Briefly explain what your poem will be about:

1. Once you have decided what your poem will be about, carefully choose the poetic
devices you will use, and consider the effects you would like them to have.
 Your poem does not have to rhyme (in fact it probably shouldn’t).
 Include at least 4 poetic devices

Poetic device Its intended effect:

Punctuation and Poetry1

1
Adapted from http://www.explorewriting.co.uk/punctuationandpoetry.html, 26/05/2010
You can improve your poetry by experimenting with punctuation. A well-placed comma (or, conversely, a
glaringly absent full stop), can change the meaning and intonation of your poem in a heartbeat. Fiddling around
with punctuation can also make the act of writing poetry more wondrous than you had ever imagined as your
simple words transform into new images and thoughts.

For example, say you are writing about a cat sitting in the garden.
Your first attempt might look a little like this very straightforward two-line poem:

Posing pussy in the grass,

Chases butterflies for breakfast.

It's a pretty clear picture of a feline as a typical princess and huntress.

But what if you play around with the punctuation a bit, as below?

Posing pussy in the grass

Chases butterflies… for breakfast?

Though you haven't changed the words, you've changed the meaning of the poem by adding a hint of humour
through the use of an ellipsis and the removal of capital letters and the comma that separated the first and second
line. You have also actively engaged the reader to interpret the cat's actions by agreeing or disagreeing with your
suggestion that the feline might be hunting bugs in order to eat them for her first meal of the day.

Let's try another variation on the poem:

"Posing Pussy"
In the grass.
Chases butterflies
For breakfast!

Now, you have turned one sentence into two. You've also given the cat a moniker 2 rather than simply describing
her ("Posing Pussy" versus posing pussy.) With the insertion of the exclamation mark at the end of the poem, you
share your surprise at her silly antics with the poem's audience and encourage them to take part in the delightful
scene. Every poem you write has the possibility of being a new poem with the addition (or deletion) of just a few
punctuation marks. Remember - poetry should be enjoyable and interesting for both the poet and the reader. By
mixing up the punctuation, you can ensure that you'll keep your reader rapt from beginning to end.

Perfecting your poem

Read your poem and carefully check:

1. Vocabulary choices:
 Underline any words that could be more specific.
2
A nickname

61
  Have you effectively used adjectives and adverbs? If you think these are lacking – indicate where
with a ^.

2. Have you used a wide variety of poetic devices: metaphor; simile; personification, alliteration, assonance,
onomatopoeia, repetition, imagery, etc.?

3. The punctuation used in the poem.

 Does it create particular effects?
 How could it be improved?

Next edit and improve your poem.

Click ‘Save as’ and create a final version of the poem.

62