Connection Essay
Daniel O’Brien
Connections Essay 2013
A.S. 3.7
‘Making Connections Across Texts’
Daniel O’Brien
‘Connections Across Texts’
For my connections essay I will be connecting ideas across four texts. The four texts, a mix of self-selected and studied in class, are ‘The Grapes of Wrath’ written by John Steinbeck, ‘Sad Joke on a Marae’ written by Apirana Taylor, ‘Once Were Warriors’ directed by Lee Tamahori and ‘Australia’ directed by Baz Luhrman. I will be linking two ideas throughout my essay. My first connection statement is ‘The loss of Culture and Homeland causes a change in character’ and the second is ‘People in the margins of society are sometimes able to beat the odds when their backs are against the wall.
Set in 1939, the visual text ‘Australia’ promotes the idea that ‘The loss of culture and homeland causes a change in character’ significantly throughout. The key figure of this idea is Lady Sarah Ashley (Nicole Kidman). Forced to move to Australia to attend the funeral of her murdered husband, Lady Ashley was a pompous and snobby English woman who had not done a day of real work in her life. On arriving to Australia she discovered the corruption within the community and the plan to take over ‘Faraway Downs’ by King Carnie of ‘Carnie Cattle’ in order to create a monopoly of the cattle industry in the Northern Territory of Australia. Faced with this, and after witnessing Fletcher (David Wenham) beating the wee aboriginal boy Nullah, and also discovering it was him that murdered her husband, Lady Ashley ‘Dismissed’ him and his men from the farm. Now faced with the mighty challenge, Lady Ashley enlists the help of Drover (Hugh Jackman) to lead her and her make-shift team on their drove to Darwin. With this mighty effort ahead, we witness the beginning of the change in character of Lady Ashley. She begins to listen to somebody else for once in her life. The key moment for this point occurs twice in the film. The first, on the way to
Connections Essay 2013
A.S. 3.7
‘Making Connections Across Texts’
Daniel O’Brien
‘Connections Across Texts’
For my connections essay I will be connecting ideas across four texts. The four texts, a mix of self-selected and studied in class, are ‘The Grapes of Wrath’ written by John Steinbeck, ‘Sad Joke on a Marae’ written by Apirana Taylor, ‘Once Were Warriors’ directed by Lee Tamahori and ‘Australia’ directed by Baz Luhrman. I will be linking two ideas throughout my essay. My first connection statement is ‘The loss of Culture and Homeland causes a change in character’ and the second is ‘People in the margins of society are sometimes able to beat the odds when their backs are against the wall.
Set in 1939, the visual text ‘Australia’ promotes the idea that ‘The loss of culture and homeland causes a change in character’ significantly throughout. The key figure of this idea is Lady Sarah Ashley (Nicole Kidman). Forced to move to Australia to attend the funeral of her murdered husband, Lady Ashley was a pompous and snobby English woman who had not done a day of real work in her life. On arriving to Australia she discovered the corruption within the community and the plan to take over ‘Faraway Downs’ by King Carnie of ‘Carnie Cattle’ in order to create a monopoly of the cattle industry in the Northern Territory of Australia. Faced with this, and after witnessing Fletcher (David Wenham) beating the wee aboriginal boy Nullah, and also discovering it was him that murdered her husband, Lady Ashley ‘Dismissed’ him and his men from the farm. Now faced with the mighty challenge, Lady Ashley enlists the help of Drover (Hugh Jackman) to lead her and her make-shift team on their drove to Darwin. With this mighty effort ahead, we witness the beginning of the change in character of Lady Ashley. She begins to listen to somebody else for once in her life. The key moment for this point occurs twice in the film. The first, on the way to