Preview

St Patrick's School Analysis

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
967 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
St Patrick's School Analysis
Belonging extended response

The statement "understanding nourishes belonging...a lack of uderstanding prevents" demonstrates how to truly belong to something you must first have an understanding of what you want to belong to. A sense of belonging is an integral part of the human condition, and intrinsic to the development of identity, in a number of ways. Peter Skryznecki's "St Patrick's College" and "Postcard" illustrates how individual identity is influenced by belonging. Peter Cowan's short story ironically named School uses contrasting techniques and contradictions to show how event though you may belong in one environment you may not in another. These texts emphasize how a sense of belonging can impact in a wide variety of ways on the particular individual.

"St. Patrick's college" explores the persona's disassociation with his school. The connection he feels with the school are solely the superficial feautures of routine and uniform. The poet makes it clear from the beginning how he feels alienated from the school that his mother insists on him going to, after being caught up in the superficial aspects of
…show more content…
At the very start the poet makes clear the persona's alienation as it is his mother's desire to the school taken in by the same superficial features, "impressed by the uniform of her employer's sons". Sckrzynecki makes clear the persona's lack of connection from the very beginning.

The poet uses impersonal, "voices at bus-stops, litanies and hymns," to show emphasis on the distance the persona feels between himself and the school. This delineation is furthered through the technique of a simile, "like a foreign tourist", accentuating not only his sense of exclusion, but also his cultural differences. This is additionally emphasised by the insecurty created by the diction "uncertain" causing the reader to empathise with the alienation experienced by the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    “The view of boarding school life constructed from their words portrays how an institution founded to transform Indian youth was paradoxically given life by the very people whose tribal identities it was committed to erase” (eBook). So therefore, In the late 1800s, Native Americans were abducted from their homes by the government to attend assimilation schools, likewise, the wolf girls from “St. Lucy’s home for girls,” were sent to an assimilation school. Once the Indians and wolf girls came upon the institution, they were forced to adapt; wearing a new wardrobe, new haircuts, new language, and all together a new culture. Throughout the years, the kids struggled primarily to homesickness, it may have been months to years before the kids saw…

    • 766 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Belonging involves triumphing over failure to belong. This is seen in Peter Skrzynecki’s anthology Immigrant Chronicle. The poem St Patricks College explores the persona’s struggle to overcome alienation in his search for belonging. The poem Feliks Skrzynecki explores the persona witnessing his fathers triumph to belong. The picture book The Lost Thing by Shaun Tan explores the things initial failure to belong, which is then overcome.…

    • 1197 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In contrast, not belonging to a Community is demonstrated in Peter Skrzynecki’s poem St. Patricks College, which is a reflective piece that explores his institutional alienation.…

    • 840 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Belonging can be influenced by external forces. This can be seen in the poem St Patricks College where Peter was sent to the school because his mother was impressed by the uniform. For someone to belong to something, they must make their own decisions in life, understand their surroundings and build relationships with those around them. Skrzynecki lacked these qualities in “St Patricks College” and therefore, this resulted in him not belonging. The repetition of the phrase “for eight years” reinforces how long the alienation and detachment lasted for, implying that the feeling of not belonging did not change for eight years. Along with the use of first person throughout the poem gives a lifeless, disconnected tone which emphasises his loneliness. No relationships with students, teachers or anyone else were formed over his time there. Skrzynecki found it hard to belong to St Patricks College because the decision to go to the school was not his own, but rather his mother’s and therefore, belonging can be influenced by external forces.…

    • 1108 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    A perfect related text needs to encapsulate the masses, to inspire the uninspirable, and to expose a true sense of belonging that is neither superficial nor false. Ladies and Gentlemen would you say belonging is fundamental to all human beings, including yourself? Macquarie dictionary defines belonging as ‘happiness felt in a secure relationship’ but in reality, belonging is a precursor to knowing and accepting one’s self. Through comparing different texts I have come to the realisation that a sense of belonging comes from a sense of identity, both cultural and personal. This concept is epitomised within Kate Woods, ‘Looking for Alibrandi’ film and further developed within Peter Skrzynecki’s poems Feliks Skryznecki and St Patricks College.…

    • 1114 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    However, Peter Skryznecki’s poem St Patrick’s College challenges this idea through the depiction of an individual who is disengaged and struggles to develop a sense of connection and find his place within the school community. The reflective mood of the poem is established through the use of past tense; Skrzynecki also uses a rather unenthusiastic tone, short sentences and the repetition of “for eight years” to create a chilling atmosphere and describes the long and monotonous time spent in St Patrick’s College which has played a significant part in his life. This also connects to the TV series One Tree Hill written by Mark Schwahn/ Directed by Bryan Gordon in season One, throughout the season the character Hayley is studious, and always puts maximum effort into her school work never lets anything distract from her studies, but then she started to associate with the popular kids such as the jocks on the basketball team in which she developed a relationship with Nathan the captain of the basketball team, also became friends with the cheerleaders. Hayley was known as tutor girl but once she interacted with the popular kids she started to belong and tutor girl was no longer tutor girl it was just Hayley. The opening lines, “Impressed by the uniforms” demonstrates that the identity’s mother was motivated by “superficial” and values of social status when sending him to the school. It was in all of her intentions to provide him with “What was best”, however, the school had become somewhat of an obstacle and the role questions whether this was “for the best” following all the “darkness” he was forced to endure. Furthermore the idea that uniforms allows individuals to “fit in” and identifies that the individual has an affiliation with the school is contrasted to “stuck pine needles into the motto” which indicates the individual’s anxiety and dismissive…

    • 1293 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ap English Prompt Writing

    • 451 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Without any transition, Seamus Deane juxtaposed his other example of an essay written by a farm boy. Deane thought it to be too mediocre and incomparable to his own, with its lack of large word choice and extended story line. With the essay being so simple, he could recall every detail that occurred, and following the novel, the essay seemed rather mundane and nothing out of the ordinary. Being able to remember the story of the boy and mother waiting for the father to arrive home after a long day’s work, it was thought uncomplicated. Deane does not need to come right out and say how he feels, because the details and tone give a good picture of his thoughts. Which would be better than if he tried to list each emotion and explain, for it would lose some meaning if he did so.…

    • 451 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    State School Of 1812 Essay

    • 1149 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The facial expression of the character gives the viewer a sense that the character him/her self is forced to be at school and is reluctant to attend. An expression full of solemn, tells the viewer to sympathize over his involuntary attendance at the school and to give help to such an unfortunate person who loathes such a place.…

    • 1149 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    High School is a very important step in our life. It is one more step closer to becoming a young adult. If we did not have high schools, we would not be able to fully mature and have the knowledge to become a student in a university or a college. Of course, there are many high schools to choose from. The high schools we have chosen today is Guerin College Preparatory and Northside College Preparatory. Guerin College Preparatory is a private school, and Northside College Preparatory is public. Our prefered high school is Guerin College Preparatory.…

    • 571 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The poem ‘In Mrs. Tilscher's Class' written by Carol Ann Duffy, is written in free verses and includes four stanzas. The poem illustrates the perspective of a carefree, innocent and happy young girl going through the first stages of life, primary to high school. The poem examines the rites of passage and the change that is taken place between childhood and adolescence. This essay will outline the areas in which Duffy uses different literary terms to define the theme of growing up.…

    • 812 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Half A day

    • 2004 Words
    • 6 Pages

    As Mahfouz shows the contrast between the Narrator and his father at the “early morning” of the former’s life, the father is ironically oblivious to the son’s potential as a unique individual (58). The self-absorbed adult, who wishes the young boy to emulate his “father and brothers,” calls school a metaphorical “factory” where “boys” mature into “useful men” (55). But as Mahfouz uses dramatic irony, school as “factory” is suggestive of the production of repetitive and mechanical copies, and hence of a restrictive environment which stifles individual expressions. And this is exactly what happens once the child enters the school premises:…

    • 2004 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Superman and Me

    • 360 Words
    • 2 Pages

    He recognizes that reading is non-discriminative. Everything contains words that can form ideas, sentences, opinions, and etc. It was a relief from understanding that words can be a source of pleasure and an escape from hatred. He determines that the love of literature had a purpose on his life, to try to save his life. He paints a picture of himself speaking to kids who remind him of the struggle to be Indian in the non-Indian environment. He points out the different peers of that class that strive for distinction or fade into the shadows that culture created for them.…

    • 360 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    'School' By Peter Cowan

    • 942 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The text information in Peter Cowan's short story School, has been constructed in a way that we as the reader can interpret it in countless more ways than what it may mean on a surface level. Cowan limits the information of the text to allow the reader to form their own meaning. The text does not provide complete information about the boy in the story; it merely implies that he is feeling alienated and depressed. There is no text information that unambiguously explains that the boy is feeling alienated and excluded. In the last paragraph, the boy's difficulty is described by, 'He looked at the symbols on the paper and they blurred and made no pattern.' In this sentence, we assume that he does not understand the work, but this is only inferred. This text can be analysed as being limited in text information; to interpret it, the reader has to make assumptions of the omitted information.…

    • 942 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The diction in this poems fits in with the identity of the persona. The poet uses “cool” (1.6) and “gangsters” (1.10) to fit in with the language used by teenagers and to create the persona the speaker wishes to show.. She also mimics their speech pattern, like “Syn/co/pa/ted” (1.4) which shows the beat teenagers talk in. “Strut and slide” impersonates how they walk, showing how arrogant these teenagers are. The appearance of the sixteen-year-old girls is reveal by the vivid description of the “nylons sassy black heels” (1.12) and “two inch zippered boots” (1.13). The poet uses the simile “paint our eyes like gangsters” to express how adolescent girls put on heavy make up so that they would be unidentifiable. “Never to be mistaken for white” conveys the idea how the wish to be seen as something they are not, something they…

    • 482 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The school is poorly equipped with donations such as Shakespeare’s portrait that decorates on the “sour cream walls.” The picture of “cloudless at dawn, civilized dome riding all cities” is in sharp contrast to the dusty sky and shabby building of elementary school in reality. The kids’ future is painted with a fog under a “lead sky.” The depiction of turbid sky created an atmosphere of despair and hopelessness. Not only the children’s future is foggy and blurred, but also their lives are monotonous and insipid, “far far from rivers, capes, and the stars of words.”…

    • 613 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics