Preview

Craig Ashby

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
543 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Craig Ashby
Individuals seeking new worlds have to overcome obstacles and challenges but there are rewards for venturing into the world. How true is this of Craig Ashby’s experiences?
Craig Ashby’s speech titled ‘A Getting of Wisdom’ demonstrates aspects of overcoming obstacles and challenges in new worlds, and how new influences can change the way we perceive the world. Published in the Sydney Morning Herald 2007 Ashby illuminates positive and negative personal aspects of growing up in poverty, as he reveals this through his changing worlds and how he transforms from an insecure lost boy into a respectable proud aboriginal man.
Ashby’s metaphorical introduction “I was born out of the black dust of Walgett” demonstrates literal reference to the country side of Walgett, but also theoretical reference to his black heritage and up brining. The alliteration developed in this quote injects
…show more content…
The anecdote of the time he spent in Dubbo was significant as he explains to the audience “I learnt a lot that year. I learnt to drink and the correct way to smoke pot. I hung around in a gang and we taught one another.” This was a low point for Ashby, the use of the word ‘gang’ demonstrates his need for a place to fit in, there is little direction in his life at this point. Lacking education and not being able to read or write Ashby is placed into the 8th grade. “I was a rough kid trying to live in a rough world” the repetition of “rough” displays seclusion and a lack of guidance from fellow aboriginal teenagers. Ashby need support and exhibits lack of control and a sense of isolation, “My way of life had me headed towards Bathurst jail”. The use of first person perspective used through the speech interspersed with definitive statements demonstrates Ashby’s engaging tone, developing the audience’s perception on the hardship and danger he

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    Tom Brennan

    • 3738 Words
    • 15 Pages

    - Suggests that the movement into new worlds is sometimes unavoidable, and not always easy. Obstacles must be faced in order to experience and become a part of this new world. There may be significant rewards if one persists and overcome these challenges…

    • 3738 Words
    • 15 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Bruce Dawe is one of the most inspirational and truthful poets of our time. Born in 1930, in Geelong, most of Dawe’s poetry concerns the common person – his poems are a recollection on the world and issues around him. The statement ‘The poet’s role is to challenge the world they see around them.’ Is very true for Bruce Dawe, as his main purpose in his poetry was to depict the unspoken social issues concerning the common Australian suburban resident. His genuine concern for these issues is evident through his mocking approach to the issues he presents in two of his longer poems, ‘Enter without so much as Knocking’ and ‘Life-cycle’.…

    • 2213 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    An individual’s discoveries and their process of discovering can vary according to personal, cultural, historical and social contexts and values. Discoveries may be questioned or challenged when viewed from different perspectives and their worth may be reassessed over time. The six participants Raye, Raquel, Adam, Glenny, Darren and Roderick in the documentary “Go Back to Where You Came From” found their discoveries very confronting and provocative. It lead them to new worlds and values, stimulate new ideas and has enabled them to speculate about future possibilities. The six Australians undertake a journey to discover the life of a refugee. Their discoveries offered them a new understanding and reviewed their perceptions of refugees. Therefore, their process of discovery had made them to question their view of the world.…

    • 3601 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The ‘Australian Voice’ is a distinct concept which incorporates the ideas, values and perspectives that are unique to Australian individuals. A ‘voice’ is a representation of one’s experiences which shape their identity, culture, history and beliefs. Carmel Bird’s non-fiction text Stolen Generation: Their Stories effectively portrays the members of the Stolen Generation whose experiences are illustrated through personal narratives as well as objective reports. The stories about racial discrimination, forced separation, indignity and humiliation, and the loss of cultural identity are emotionally revealed by the Aboriginal people whose ‘voices’ are upheld by the composer of the text. The text upholds a range of Australian values which include compassion, understanding, forgiveness, egalitarianism, and ultimately, the desire for reconciliation, which is the main message voiced by the text.…

    • 812 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Q: Individuals venturing into new experiences may encounter obstacles, but may also gain significant rewards.…

    • 362 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the story of Tom Brennan many individulas venture into new experiences but coming across new experices you may have to encounter obstacles. In the end its all worth it because you may also gain significant rewards.…

    • 648 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Jasper Jones Moral Speech

    • 602 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Craig Silvey engages us with Jasper Jones in order to convey a certain moral message in hope to make us stop and think. No one in this novel is truly accepted into the community, which tells me as the responder, that in order for this society to succeed differences need to be tossed aside. Jasper Jones is a credible recollection of the injustice, racism and social exclusion that exists in the Australian society. It also tackles growing up, first love, family unity, and a sense of belonging in a community.…

    • 602 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Racism In The Sapphires

    • 310 Words
    • 1 Page

    The strong presence of racism among Australian communities as depicted in the film caused such events, namely the Stolen Generation, to occur. This significant event was a period in late 1800s-1960s where children from both Indigenous, and non-Indigenous (i.e. ‘white’) origins were forcefully taken away from their families as a result of official Australian Government policy. In relation to the film, Gail’s recall of a bitter memory associated with Kay particularly sheds light upon this key historical event.…

    • 310 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Fiftieth Gate

    • 1002 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The motivation for the story emanates from Baker’s quest to find the thread that might weave the fragmented narrative of his parents’ largely unspoken pasts in which his childhood and adolescent Jewish identity were clothed. The environments that propelled Baker to this quest festered in an urban social context of dislocation: the absurdity of his parents’ Holocaust pain muted in the suburban isolation and material complacency of his home in Melbourne: “And there was the pain of displaced identification. I invented a biography for myself and elements of my parents’ lives, characters more valorous than any protagonist found in fiction. As a child, I even gave myself a number, imagining myself as a ghetto fighter … What was I doing? I now ask myself. Was it Australia I wished to escape, its suburban dross and culture of leisure? In the absence of a Holocaust, I was compelled to create my own.”…

    • 1002 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Module B Speeches

    • 1177 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In his speech, Noel Pearson addresses the need to acknowledge the past mistreatment of Australian Aboriginals. As an Indigenous Australian politician, Pearson gave his speech at the Chancellor’s Club Dinner in the University of Western Sydney to advance equality of Aborigines. Pearson quickly introduces his purpose, “our popular understanding of the colonial past is central to the moral and political turbulence we are still grappling with as Australians”. The illustrative use of turbulence is used to highlight the prevalence of past disharmonies and he uses the inclusive pronoun “we” as a synecdoche for all Australians to unify the audience. By directly quoting authorities such as John Howard and Bill Stanner, Pearson supplements his ethos and strengthens his case by evaluating both sides of the situation. The metaphor, “cult of forgetfulness” has negative connotations in order to challenge the common social mindset regarding the recognition of the past and induce a desire for change. Pearson effectively uses a cumulative list, “You have taken from us not just our land and not just all of the icons of Indigenous Australia…” to illustrate past injustices. The diction is divisive between Indigenous and European Australians, but deliberate emphasis is placed on the past tense to suggest hope for the future. Thus Pearson…

    • 1177 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    ‘Stolen’ demonstrates the extent to which aboriginal people were victimised by white society, and how some were able to overcome these experiences. This is represented by the stories of five aboriginal children that were forcible removed from their families due to the white Australian policy. Each character is made a victim and as a result suffers, however some are able to move on from these experiences and live a somewhat normal life.…

    • 670 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Do's family were delighted with their new country, grateful for its kindness and undreamed of opportunities. In a sequence of anecdotes that are both funny and sad, Do shares his family's triumphs and failures as they make Australia their home. It is impossible not to admire his family's 'can do' attitude, their willingness to work hard even with dim chance of success, their love for family and respect for education and desire to learn. One of the main things that particularly stands out about his attitude towards life is how unconditionally grateful he is to have experienced everything, even the bad. Today, the issue of ‘boat people’ is a political vocal point in Australia; Do's story puts a face on those nameless distressed souls who risk everything to cross the vast ocean in hope of achieving the likes of the Do family. My personal opinion of ‘boat people’ has changed drastically after reading Do’s memoir. Living in a country where freedom is a right, we take for granted the small things like the decision the move freely if we feel it necessary. These people, ‘boat people’, don’t have a lot of choice, continue to live in a war-torn country or gamble everything for the slightest chance of succeeding in gaining refugee and starting fresh in a new place. I now have a better understanding of why they choose to flee in search of a new…

    • 1209 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    We Look After Our Own

    • 1134 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Some stories are meant for entertainment, others to educate but Kath Walker’s, We Look After Our Own is written to draw change and develop an understanding of a darker side of life in Australia. Written in a time when change was dawing and aborignal rights was touchy subject, Kath Walker gave an insight into the life of an aboriginal through the story. She showed the battles they faced to gain minimum services and how they were treated like second class citizens. Kath Walker shows the difficulities of being aboriginal through this story. Kath Walkers story embraces some of the topics that people ran away from in the 1950s and talks about them openly and truthfully and this is what makes the story so rivoting.…

    • 1134 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mabo

    • 813 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The setting of the pub where Eddie visits is a typical example showing how Aborigines are considered as “second-class” in the 1950s’ Australia. Eddie has experience of being taken to the back door for a beer and refused to serve him. At first Eddie accepts this injustice, however, later in the story, he refuses to leave until he is offered the service by protest against the unfair treatment to the barman. This indicates that the social level…

    • 813 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The physical attributes of a person generally create the initial response in a society. The colour of your skin or the clothes that one wears generally sparks off judgments about that certain person. Western society has constructed a generalisation that Aborigines commit crime and are considered as common trouble makers. Johnny has become trapped in this type of Western society, being considered an outcast. He is self-contained, powerless and oppressed in the city of Perth. He creates an imbalance of power in this society. "This is what he had come to Perth for. Enjoy yourself, then go home. But he can't go home now. Restless, uneasy and bitter, like the city that has adopted him." (Pg 93) This shows that Aborigines are stripped of their identity and culture in the city. It is an objective accomplished by the whites in hope to promote their authority and to obtain power, thus controlling it.…

    • 779 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays