HSC English (Standard) - Holiday Homework



Composers create distinctive voices for different pare the ways distinctive voices are created for distinctive purposes in your prescribed text and ONE other related text of your own posers, through their didactic texts and the distinctive voices they create, can invite audiences to question powerful issues and provoke thought. The musical drama, “One Night the Moon” (2001), by Rachel Perkins and her collaborative team articulates an interpretation of cultural difference, gender subjugation and spirituality as an expression of the relationship between black and white. Their texts provoke thought of the subjugation of the natural spirituality of women, the unspoken fear felt by the early white settlers and the Aboriginal “knowing” of the land. Perkin’s overarching purpose to explore the aforementioned notions is presented through image and sound and its representations of spiritual, gendered and cultural distinctive voices. The related text, Malala Yousafzai’s autobiographical novel I am Malala (2014), although diverse in context, also delivers, quite powerfully, its purpose through imagery, language and the distinctive voices of its characters. “One Night the Moon”, a film whose sweeping cinematography captures the magnificent and ominous Flinders Rangers is based on the age-old Australian motif of ‘the lost child’. The protagonists, the Ryan family, which consist of father, mother and daughter are positioned as newcomers, whose unawareness of the land and the desire to civilise and possess it, is greatly thwarted by their own ignorance. The land is made central to the film and frames the unfolding human drama. Perkins effectively articulates distinctive voices in unique ways to evoke the different cultural perspectives of the land. For example, in the opening scene, Jim Ryan is shot from overhead and through a leeched palette sits at the kitchen table with his head in his hands, framed by the now desolate kitchen . Ironically, the kitchen table is symbolic of family unity The mise en scene with its leeched palette and the prop of the kitchen table can be seen to have connotations to ‘the last supper’. Jim Ryan’s voice is one of confusion, disillusionment, regret and defeat. His song takes in those cultural values and belief systems that should have sustained a man who lived by the Christian principles of hard work and ‘knowing what was wrong and right’; who ‘earned his bread’ and ‘loved his own’. Yet the next phrase of ‘helped your neighbour’ rings sadly hollow in light of his rejection of Albert’s knowledge and the subsequent loss of his daughter. A loss that could have been avoided had his interpretations of those Christian ‘commands’ of his faith, been demonstrated.His confusion is heard through the lyrics: ‘Once I knew how the world worked…Now I don’t know anything anymore/God was good/Black was never white…’ The single guitar instrumentation and the lowered pitch of Kelly’s voice in this opening song heightens the poignancy of his failure and regret. His reflective anguish is reinforced and confirmed in a close-up shot of a single rifle bullet in Jim’s hand. In the same way that Rachel Perkins uses her own voice and that of her characters to evoke diverse cultural perspectives, Malala Yousafzai, through her own voice and the distinctive voices in her text has the purpose of positioning the responder to comprehend the tragic cultural effects of the Taliban’s actions upon the Swat Valley community in Pakistan. Her metaphorical statement, “The Taliban bulldozed both our Pashtun values and the values of Islam” presents, in a lucid and emotive way, the cultural injustices involved. The modus operandi of the Taliban include the following of Sharia Law, which affects women’s rights towards their role in society, for example, women are not allowed to be educated and must not be seen in public without a male relative acting as chaperone. Malala Yousafzai’s voice was one of defiance. She refused to be silenced and fought for her right to an education. Consequently, Yousafzai was shot in the head while riding the bus home from school and few expected her to survive. “One girl felt my neck for a pulse. ‘She’s alive!’ she shouted. The impassioned plea ‘We must get her to hospital. Leave us alone and catch the man who did this!” emphasises the solidarity of her female friends. In contrast to this female forthrightness, Rose, in the film, ‘One Night the Moon’, can be seen as a protagonist who represents a silenced voice. Perkins presents her as a silent yet fervent character. She adheres to her role as the submissive partner in a male dominated relationship, one that was contextually common in the 1930’s setting of the film. Yet her silence spoke of volumes, especially at the failure of her husband to conduct the search of her daughter in an appropriate way. When Jim breaks the oppressive silence as he throws his plate across the room and exclaims in high modal language, “I know what you’re thinking”.The vehemence of Jim Ryan’s prejudices against the Indigenous people ultimately results in the suppression of Rose’s opinions and the loss of his daughter, Emily. Jim’s pejorative language “I don’t want no darkie on my land” when referring to Albert the ‘black tracker’ reinforces the notion that Perkins wishes to highlight Jim’s xenophobic nature, one that was commonly shared with many European settlers in the 19th and 20th centuries. Perkins’ overarching creative voice enunciates her concern for those failed moments in Non Indigenous and Indigenous history when new understandings could have been forged. The film offers a perspective on the potential for women to be mediators in navigating those contentious areas that divide black and white. Yousafzai also overtly explores gender subjugation through the use of distinctive voices. The statement “I was a girl in a land where rifles are fired in celebration of a son, while daughters are hidden away behind a curtain, their role in life simply to prepare food and give birth to children” offers contrast to the roles of males and women. Thus, the comparison enlightens the audience to comprehend such subjugation. “I know my mother didn’t like the awards because she feared I would become a target as I was becoming more well-known. She is a very traditional woman and this is our centuries old culture” distinguishes the oppressed voice of a female who is entrenched in the values and beliefs of her culture. Similarities can be drawn with Rose in her role as wife; hers was that silent voice suppressed in accordance with her husband’s belief systems. Yet in contrast to Malala’s mother and Rose Ryan, Malala Yousafzai’s voice was one to be heard. At sixteen, she became a global symbol of peaceful protest and the youngest nominee ever for the Nobel Peace Prize. I am Malala is the remarkable narrative of a family uprooted by global terrorism, of the fight for girls' education, of a father who encouraged his daughter to write and attend school, and of brave parents who have a fierce love for their daughter in a society that prizes sons. This fierce love for daughters, although in a different context, is also central concern in Perkin’s film. It is this innate bond that mothers share with their children that finally shattered the boundaries that the gendered roles had set up for Rose Ryan. Her maternal intuition and spiritual connection with her daughter encouraged her to pursue Albert to assist her in finding her daughter. She understands and silently acknowledges his knowledge of the land.Perkins has given the land a spiritual entity as it embodies the distinctive voices of the ancient spirits.; its uneasy presence in the psyche of the white settlers is conveyed through Jim’s opening song, the repeated framing of the family in the landscape and Rose’s oft sighted shawl of protection. The utilisation of pathetic fallacy in presenting the rolling storm clouds foreshadows the tragedy to follow. The Ryan family’s faith rests in a different God and in a different set of values. Their spirituality is voiced by Jim’s rejection of Albert and by the ironic voiceover of the priest’s sombre voice exclaiming how Christians love and respect no matter the circumstance. Perkins motive of exposing Jim Ryan’s failed adherence to the spirituality differs to Malala Yousafzai’s purpose of highlighting her father’s faith and how it allowed him to cope with the Taliban’s adverse belief systems. “My father was so worried that for the whole time he repeated a verse of the Holy Quran over and over and over”. The repetition of ‘over’ accentuates the fear instilled by the Taliban and the faith present. In contrast to this unfailing faith, Perkins highlights Jim Ryan’s loss of faith through the past tense in the lyrics “…God was good”...Rachel Perkin’s film “One Night the Moon” and Malala Yousafzai’s autobiographical novel I am Malala each present cultural, gendered and spiritual voices for diverse purposes. Both texts position the responder to consider the messages delivered through the distinctive voices of the characters and the composer to gain a deeper understanding of people, places and events. ................
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