Summative Entry

SUMMATIVE

This unit has enabled me to reflect on the similarities and differences between human experience in the 19th and 21st centuries.

During the classes on William and Dorothy Wordsworth, I love how they wrote about the same things but in different ways. The Leech Gather is an example. Dorothy wrote journals on what she saw and described every detail. William wrote a beautiful poem using his imagination, Resolution and Independence. My favourite poem, by William, was Tintern Abbey. This poem made me feel peaceful by describing sitting under a Sycamore tree, looking down at the Abbey. He was able to take time looking and writing about nature, not like today, where everyone is in a rush and not stopping to smell the roses.

The other class I enjoyed was Great Expectations. I enjoyed reading this book. Looking back on the story, I can see how it relates to today society. In today’s society, many people will put much expectation on themselves. They need the bigger and better things in life than anybody else, even if this means going into debt, with most falling and crashing. When Pip joins the Finch Club, he watches how people dressed and acted and wanted to be just like them—causing the loss of his family. It would be best if you never forgot where you have come from. Pip found out it was the family who was there for him when he crashed. Just like families will do today.

Overall the whole twelve weeks have been great. I never thought I would get through it. I have learnt so much. I was looking through the stanzas for the meaning and listening for the rhythms the authors used. I have never done this until now. Even though we did this class over zoom, it has been a great experience, and the classmates have been great. In the play, The Cherry Orchard, we all had so much fun. The part I played was Ranyevskaya, the mother. I have never had a speaking part before and never would have spoken in front of others.

My Days in the Mountains

You are stuck in a snow storm (or a sand storm), or you are lost in the bush. Describe your last moments. How will you react?

I took a drive by myself to the mountains. When I got there, I decided to go for a bushwalk to clear my head. I went off the track to see a beautiful view from here but lost my way back. I have been lost for hours now; the sun is beginning to set, which indicates that I have been out here alone all day. Soft pink and orange light dance across the Australian terrain. When the sun was hung high in the sky, I had walked to find the way back to my car. As the daylight burned out, the hope of being found out here in the bush fading. Now the blue glow of the moon blankets the earth. I am frozen with fear as the cool breeze makes me shiver. My anxiety is stopping me from continuing my search for help. I feel a panic attack gripping a hold of the last of my courage. My breath is quickening; my hands begin to tremble. I wrap my arms tight around myself, crouching in a ball on the due damp grass. The temperature has not dropped dramatically, but my body is shaking from within. Thoughts of never seeing my family again fall like heavy stones on my heart, weighing me down even further into the ground. Oh dear god, will I ever see my family again?

PEER REVIEW 3

Hello Alexander

Just like women today still talk to their friends about what is going wrong in their marriage. Ivans wife was a depressed woman and despised her husband. When she had to help, she would put on a show for everyone to see how good she looked after him. Overall you did very well. I enjoyed reading your blog. I have found some mistakes just like. I’ll – I will, I’m – I am and there’s – there is.

Thank Heather

Alexander Licata’s Blog – Exploring literature over time (wordpress.com)

PEER REVIEW 2

Hi Chloe

I love how you have described a lower-class Victorian woman. You can see you put your imagination into the writing. You have captured the way they lived in the 19^th century in London. It was tough for the poor back then. The living conditions were not good, very dark damp from the cold. I think you are right when you say that poor people are so grateful for every little thing they have, like food and clothing. Yes, the poor value family over their belongings. 21^st-century people complain about how hard it is today. They should think of how hard it was back then. Putting the photo into it made it more real great job.

Heather

https://chloedixon487573735.wordpress.com

Victorian Woman

A HIGHER CLASS VICTORICA WOMEN

* Imagine you are a Victorian woman. Describe the things you value most in life.

My name is Lucinda Godwin; I am a devoted wife and mother. My husband, Henry, owns the railways in London. I have two children: Henry Jnr, four, and Anne is two; they have a nanny called Emily that looks after them. This leaves me to enjoy the finer things in life. I love to get my dresses and my hats imported from Europe. I feel so pretty showing off my new outfits at the grand social parties. I love to dance. Once mouth on a Sunday after church, I put a tea party on just for ladies. We sit around talking while we drink tea and eat cake; it is always in my beautiful yard. My husband Henry takes me to dinner, and then we go to the theatre, which we both enjoy. Every night after we have dinner, Henry goes to the office while I go to the sitting room with the children to have quiet time with Henry Jnr and Anne, then Nanny Emily take them off to bed. I sit and read before I call it a night.

Image result for 19th century virtorian era women

Peer Review 1

Hi Andrew

I thoroughly enjoyed reading your blog. Your experience in New Zealand must have been challenging for you. Choosing to leave home for twelve months is hard enough, let alone going 3000 km in a different country, and you must miss your family so much. What a great way to describe the beach view. At first, you were not happy there, then at the end of the day, you felt comfortable within yourself, but what an experience with youth you must have had. You must be so proud of yourself.

Thanks, Heather

ART GALLERY

Walking through the Art Gallery, I enjoyed all the paintings. One stood out more, as it was different to the rest. I noticed that during the enlightenment era, the portraits were stiff and lifeless. The artist John Hoppner had made a change with the full-length portrait of Madame Marie-Louise Hilligsberg in 1791. In this portrait, the background is dark, but Marie-Louise is in eye-catching colours, and your eyes are drawn straight to her. Hoppner can bring the Romantic Era into his work. The painting shimmers of white and gold in the dress. This gives a transparent artistic movement to the painting. These qualities capture the life of the Romantic era. The light reflects on the dress. There is an illusion of the dress moving, and she is dancing. Marie-Louise became a ballet dancer in Paris. She travelled to London in 1787 and joined the King’s Theatre. In December of that year, her first performance was in the Noverre’s ballet. After the 1802-1803 season, she retired and moved back to France with her husband. Her retirement was a brief one as she died in January 1804, Probably from “extreme exertion. I love the way Hoppner made the painting come alive and caught her the story through with her posture and expression.

TINTERN ABBEY- William Wordsworth

Image result for tintern abbey images from the top of the hill

Find out some more about the monastery Tintern Abbey and its location and describe why and how you think Wordsworth was so inspired by the place.

Tintern Abbey is a wonderfully romantic place, lying on the Welsh side of the River Wye winding valley between Chepstow and Monmouth. Over many years, the Abbey was home to hundreds of monks until King Henry VIII closed it in 1536. Tintern Abbey has a very spiritual history. Wordsworth’s love for Tintern Abbey started five years before. Back then, he saw the beauty of the place, making him feel like a young boy running around the fields. At that time, the peace and quiet of the place also allowed him to reflect on his life. He brings some of that experience with him now as he revisits the Abbey five years later. The countryside inspired William Wordsworth to write a deeply personal poem about his feelings while sitting up on the cliffside under a sycamore tree, looking down on Tintern Abbey and being surrounded by nature. While the warmth of the sunlight shines on him, he also smells the forest and feels a soft summer breeze, you can see in his poem the love that he has for Tintern Abbey. In July 1798, Wordsworth brought his sister Dorothy along to share the love he has for the Abbey and the beauty it holds within. The description he gives of the landscape around the Abbey also shows how nature has taken the Abbey back into itself.

sycamore tree – Bing images

Who is Francis Webb?

Francis Webb was born on 8th February 1925 in Ross Park Adelaide. His full name is Francis Charles Webb-Wagg, through his career he shortens it to Francis Webb. At the age of two, his mother passed away, and his father admitted himself into a mental hospital. Webb and his three sisters moved in with the grandparents, in Sydney. At seven he wrote his first poem it was a birthday present to his grandmother.

After school, Webb got a scholarship to Sydney University, but he deferred due to WWII. He enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force in 1943. Webb trained as a wireless air gunner in Australia and Canada, though never saw any action. After the war, he went to do his university course, which he never finished. He worked for Angus & Robertson for a time. In 1949 he travelled to Britain but was put in an asylum for a suicide attempt. This was the first of many times. When he returned to Australia, he was admitted to a mental hospital and diagnosed with schizophrenia. He spent most of his life in and out of the hospital and wrote many of his poems while there. Sadly he died on 23rd November 1973 at Rydalmere Psychiatric Hospital.

The Tapestry

When I look at the tapestry there are several well known icons of Sydney in it . The tapestry reminds me of a postcard of Sydney. It has the Harbour Bridge in the background of the picture and the Opera House positioned on the left. It has Luna Park under the bridge. There are flames of fire around Luna Park acknowledging the accident that happened on the 9th June 1979 that sadly killed 6 children and 1 adult.

The tapestry attracts your vision with its use of bright colours. It invites you to look harder at the little details in the picture like the landing of the first ship “The Endevour” which landed at Botany Bay in 1770. It subsequently went on to navigate around Australia later on that year. The main feature is the Southern Cross depicted as fireworks over Sydney Harbour on New Year’s Eve. There are also pictures on the tapestry acknowledging the first Australian with picture of Uluru, a dingo, a hand print, birds and fish.

Martin Sharp designed this artwork on the poem “Australia” by Bernard O’Dowd which is on the frame around the tapestry. The tapestry was donated to the NSW State Library in 1988 where it hangs on the wall, it is 3 metres wide and 6 metres long.