Year 11 Changing Perspectives Essay ('Looking for Alibrandi' and 'Breath' by Tim Winton)
Personal Growth Practise Essay
“The process of changing perspectives inevitably contributes to personal growth.”
Analyse how this idea has been represented in your prescribed text, “Looking for Alibrandi”, and one related text of your choosing.
As individuals, when faced with gruelling or traumatic experiences, we are often compelled to feel a sense of loneliness and seclusion. However, it is precisely these times of isolation, through reflection and a willingness to embrace the situation that can force us to reconsider the original outlooks we hold, often resulting in a greater appreciation for life and a deeper understanding of who we truly are. This idea is clearly communicated in the feature film ‘Looking for Alibrandi’ (1999) directed by Kate Woods, and the bildungsroman print novel ‘Breath’ (2008) by Tim Winton; both texts exploring the various life-enhancing outcomes of adversity and how such seeming setbacks can often eventually contribute to personal enrichment.
Looking for Alibrandi immerses the audience into a year of the life of main protagonist Josie Alibrandi, a 17 year old, third generation Italian Australian teenager whose initial identity is predominantly based around her seemingly adamant social ambitions. Woods’ clever use of a sepia filtered lens at the beginning of the establishing scene, used in conjunction with a voiceover, “I have got to get out of here,” clearly identifies Josie’s original dismissive attitude in relation to her family and cultural heritage and evidently portrays their anachronistic irrelevance to her. Josie, submerged in her own future self-identity and longing for cultural freedom, is initially oblivious to the importance of family and the other key aspects of life.
In contrast, in Tim Winton’s novel Breath, protagonist Bruce ‘Pikelet’ Pike narrates the story of his youth, reflecting on certain significant events of his past. The novel particularly focuses on the various risk-taking exploits he partakes in order to
“The process of changing perspectives inevitably contributes to personal growth.”
Analyse how this idea has been represented in your prescribed text, “Looking for Alibrandi”, and one related text of your choosing.
As individuals, when faced with gruelling or traumatic experiences, we are often compelled to feel a sense of loneliness and seclusion. However, it is precisely these times of isolation, through reflection and a willingness to embrace the situation that can force us to reconsider the original outlooks we hold, often resulting in a greater appreciation for life and a deeper understanding of who we truly are. This idea is clearly communicated in the feature film ‘Looking for Alibrandi’ (1999) directed by Kate Woods, and the bildungsroman print novel ‘Breath’ (2008) by Tim Winton; both texts exploring the various life-enhancing outcomes of adversity and how such seeming setbacks can often eventually contribute to personal enrichment.
Looking for Alibrandi immerses the audience into a year of the life of main protagonist Josie Alibrandi, a 17 year old, third generation Italian Australian teenager whose initial identity is predominantly based around her seemingly adamant social ambitions. Woods’ clever use of a sepia filtered lens at the beginning of the establishing scene, used in conjunction with a voiceover, “I have got to get out of here,” clearly identifies Josie’s original dismissive attitude in relation to her family and cultural heritage and evidently portrays their anachronistic irrelevance to her. Josie, submerged in her own future self-identity and longing for cultural freedom, is initially oblivious to the importance of family and the other key aspects of life.
In contrast, in Tim Winton’s novel Breath, protagonist Bruce ‘Pikelet’ Pike narrates the story of his youth, reflecting on certain significant events of his past. The novel particularly focuses on the various risk-taking exploits he partakes in order to