Alexander+Suhochev

Creative Writing
The void around me is both constricting and vast. I've been lost for 3 years, 11 months, 30 days, 23 hours and 53 minutes. I close my eyes (well at least I think I do) and again I see the two bright stars hurtling toward me, hear the crunch of metal and the snap of bone, and feel the blackness descend upon me. I'm not dead, I know that. The constant sterile smell reminding me I am still rooted to this earth. The frequent whispers, barely legible to my ears. I strain, trying to make out the words, but I only heard wisps of wind in a gale. "….. How long…….Pull the plug…...Deciding today." The whispers fade, and the monotonous beep fills the dead silence. I count the seconds going past and the beeps of the machine, the only thing that has kept me sane for this eternal nothingness. A new scent fills the room, cheap perfume with a hint of rosemary. A wave of nostalgia sweeps through my body and I shudder with emotion. As always I try to use all of my will power to talk, to tell my mother I love her and I won't be waking up from this sleep. But nothing moves, my mouth remains still and my body floating weightlessly in the void. I go back to listening. "….. -day is the day……Promised him…..Ready?" I then hear muffled sobs, and through what feels to be a brick wall, I feel a slight warmth around my hand, entwining between my fingers. Then everything is still. I count the beeps knowing that this small amount of comfort will not last. But then, through the fog, I hear 2 words, as clearly as I've ever heard any words spoken in my sleep. "Do it." Could this be the moment I have been longing for? I listen to the beeps, and sure enough they get staggered and slow. A gentle warmth spreads over my body and a golden light fills the void, like the sun breaking through the cloud cover. I drift towards the light, getting closer as the beeps get softer and less defined. Goodbye mum I think. However, unlike the million previous times, a feel the movement of my lips, the tightening of my throat. "…….STOOOOP!........tried to speak……..-aw him!" A single click broke through the noise, and the golden light faded, like a sunset bringing forth the night. The now surging warmth flowed out of my body being replaced by the icy cold water that constantly flowed through my veins. The void returned, and the beeping resumed it's repetitive pace. I tried to speak again but my lips were frozen. Silence for a few seconds, followed by a heart wrenching sob. I knew her tears were on me, even though I could barely feel them. The tears slowly ran down my arm, collecting on my hanging fingertips. Then they fell, disappearing, much like my hope of finding a peaceful release.

Paragraph Thingo
I think that Act 1 Scene 3 is an excellent scene, as the whole concept of the play is based on the fulfillment of the prophecy. Instead of doing the cliché and choosing Macbeth to analyze, I think that Banquo would be very interesting to audition as. This is because I find that Banquo is very similar to Macbeth, except that Banquo does not have any of Macbeth's flaws. There is a slight sense of jealousy in the dialogue, but that is great to analyze as we can see how Banquo reacts to this. I think my prop is going to be be something organic e.g. a small plant.

Short Story:

 * Untitled:**

The smell of decay hung in the air. All was quiet except for the faint clicking noise coming from a watch. Slowly the man came to, shaking his head and brushing off the bits of asphalt stuck to his legs. He looked around at the unfamiliar surroundings and took a glance at his fake ‘Rorex’ watch, the glass broken in the top right corner. He sighed, this wasn’t the strangest place he’s ever woken up but he was surely going to have a hard time making his way back home.

Out of the corner of his eye a raven circled and came to a rest on a misshapen heap of clothing lying next to him. Curiously the man went to inspect to clothes and reached out to touch the silk tie in front of him. He has recoiled as it came in contact with a cold sticky substance covering the entire pile. He brought his hand close to his face, his eyes adjusting to the darkness. A crimson drop welled up on the base of his palm and slowly ran down his forearm. The man looked at the heap of clothing, and saw the shape of a mangled arm and a bone protruding from what looked like a leg. Now he knew where the smell was coming from. He let out a blood curling scream, shot up from his sitting position and sprinted into the night.

He didn’t know when the road became pavement but he was thankful the rising sun seemed to be melting the icy cold fear he felt that morning. The questions rattled in his head, refusing to settle. Why could he not remember the past few days? Who was the man next to him? Why did he wake up there? He did not see the woman until it was too late. She tripped over as she passed and tumbled to the sidewalk. The man apologized hastily about tripping her and offered a hand to the woman. The woman did not seem angry; more confused as she looked around and blushed. She blatantly ignored the outstretched hand and collected her scattered items walking away without a word. The man called out an apology but the woman did not take notice and faded into the distance. He walked away, not noticing the dip in the pavement that caused the woman to fall.

‘What a cow.’ the man thought. ‘The least she could have done was accept my apology.’ He slouched with his head bowed, unsettled with his contact with the woman. He came to rest next to bin, a few minutes away from where he woke up. He heard heavy footsteps behind him and turned to see an obese police officer running towards him, a coffee in one hand and a radio pressed to his ear in the other. As the police officer passed the man he threw his coffee at the bin, the cup flipping through the air. The coffee did not reach the bin however, and the scalding liquid covered the man’s shirt. The man screamed a curse but the police man ignored him and continued running. The man took off his ruined shirt and sprinted after the police officer.

He found the police officer amongst a ring of people, shouting orders to stay away and stop taking pictures. With a shock the man realized this was the place he woke up. The man pushed through the crowd to the police man and threw a punch at him. His hand passed clean through his body, the police man not even noticing. He then saw the body, the sunlight making it look even more grotesque. But the sunlight also revealed other things. A shirt covered in blood, but also with a very large coffee stain, and a watch, a fake Rorex watch around the dead man’s wrist, broken in the top right corner.

*How the White colonization of Australia changed the Aboriginal community

 * Source 1 Painting by Lawry Love:**



Phoebe and I firstly chose urban Australia as our topic. Even though this was a good topic, the information about it wasn't very rich or exciting. This is when we chose to study Aboriginal Australia as our area of focus. Not only does this topic have lots of valuable primary and secondary sources, but the topic is very interesting. As shown by both of the visual texts, there are 2 very different perspectives of the British colonization. There is the left hand picture, in which 3 frail Aboriginal men are chained by their necks. This perspective is the primarily negative viewpoint, in which the Aboriginals were mistreated and treated like the fauna of Australia. The second picture depicts a positive viewpoint of 3 healthy and ripped Aboriginal men in the bush. This perspective shows that even though the British colonized Australia, the Aboriginals are still free and believe in their culture.


 * Source 2 Poem:**

An Unhappy Race-Kath Walker

White fellow, you are the unhappy race.  You alone have left nature and made civilised laws.  You have enslaved yourselves as you enslaved the horse and other wild things.  Why, white man?  Your police lock up your tribe in houses with bars,  We see poor women scrubbing floors of richer women.  Why, white man, why?  You laugh at ‘poor blackfellow’, you say we must be like you,  You say we must leave the old freedom and leisure,  We must be civilised and work for you.  Why, white fellow?  Leave us alone, we don’t want your collars and ties,  We don’t need your routines and compulsions.  We want the old freedom and joy that all things have but you,  Poor white man of the unhappy race.

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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">‘The Unhappy Race’ is an aboriginal poem by Kath Walker that was published in 1970. I think that the primary audience for this poem is the white community, but the Aboriginal community I think is also considered in this poem. The purpose of the text is not only to =====

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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The main focal point and dominant reading of this poem is taking pity on the white race rather than the Aboriginals. This is supported by the main fact that the 'white' way of living is complex and complicated, a big contrast to the simple and leisurely life of the Aboriginal race.This gives a positive perspective on the aboriginals, as they are cultural and spiritual beings that can live more modestly. The reason this is anti-stereotypical, as it gives a negative perspective on the white race from an Aboriginal perspective.This poem rather calls attention to all the flaws of white culture. To the white reader, this may make them question their own lifestyle and become more aware about the lifestyle of the Aboriginal community. Not only does this poem object the white perspective of the 'poor black-fellow' myth, but it also contradicts the perspective of the Aboriginal race. The common stereotype of the Aboriginal race being a poor and weak community does not apply to this poem, as it shows that the Aboriginal race is not only freer and more leisurely but more superior to the white race. =====

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The structure of the poem is interesting, because even though there are not a lot of structural techniques used, Kath Walker managed to incorporate her perspective into the structure. I think that because Walker is arguing that the Aboriginal lifestyle is ideal because of it's simplicity, she made the poems structure very simple but still dense with meaning. Rather than list all the reasons why the Aboriginal lifestyle is better than the white lifestyle, a more subtle technique is used in which the negative aspects of white culture are compared to Aboriginal culture. Because Aboriginal culture is very morally based the negative aspects of white culture are made to sound worse. For example, putting someone in jail is translated to: 'Your police lock up your tribe in houses with bars'. This would make the white community in Australia question their own society as well as the Aboriginal society.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I think that this poem give Australia a very negative perspective, as it shows that Australia in not unified, but in 2 very distinct groups. However this poem does follow the overall stereotype of white colonisation having a negative impact on Aboriginal Australia. I'm not sure if this poem's purpose was to defend the Aboriginal perspective or to question white culture but I think that it is a very powerful poem with strong but subtle persuasion.


 * Source 3 Song:**

As you can see, with the lyrics, they are about the changing times for the indigenous Aboriginals. Lyrics such as 'the winds of change are blowing down the line' and 'Wasn't long before they felt the sting, white man, white law, white gun' show that this was a negative representation of change. However, none of the band members are actually Aboriginal, meaning that this source may be slightly inaccurate. The lyrics: 'Were running from the heart of darkness, Searching for the hear o' light' implies that racism and white supremacy was brought to Australia following the arrival of the British.

The song starts off as a Didgeridoo solo, until the drums come in, morphing the song into a rock song. I think this represents the fusion of Aboriginal and Western culture which Australia has come to accept. I also believe that because a white Australian male and female are singing lyrics such as 'Wasn't long before they felt the sting, white man, white law, white gun', this song is partially an apology to Aboriginal community by the white community. The song is also in a Minor key, also suggesting a slightly sad apology. I think the strong steady beat represents gives a progressive movement type of feel, which is appropriate as Aboriginal Australia is changing everyday.

The music video includes Aboriginal cave paintings coming to life, such as a Goanna and stick figures. Also, the handprints on the cave wall transform into waving hands at what seems to be an urban landscape. At first I interpreted this as slightly disrespectful, but on a second watching of the video I discovered the moving paintings and hands in an urban environement, much like the lyrics, is rather a peaceful combination of Aboriginal and Western culture. This is supported by the following imagery of 2 holding hands forming Uluru, which is a very passive and loving gesture.

This song is a secondary source as none of the members are Aboriginal or were present dring the arrival of the first fleet, meaning this is not a first hand experience of how Aboriginals feel about British colonization. However, I think this is a good source as during the 1980's racism in Australia was prevalent and this shows the 'white' side of Aboriginal Australia.

There is an interesting story behind the writing of this piece by the lead singer Shane Howard, the lead singer of Goanna. He had a spiritual awakening while on a 10 day camping trip to Uluru which brought to his attention the injustice the Aboriginal community had to endure. This quote by Shane Howard sums up the context of the song.

"I realised that this country that I grew up in, that I thought was my country, it wasn't. I had to reassess my whole relationship with the land and the landscape, and understand that we had come from somewhere else, and we had dis-empowered a whole race of people when we arrived." —Shane Howard

Source 4:



====<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Tucker is a very interesting book, as the presence of the white people is quite subtle throughout the book, but you can plainly see the progression of white power as the book moves on. I think this book is very stereotypical on white domination, but the perspective is from an Aboriginal child and how he obtains his food. ====


 * Dear Suho of the Chef**

<span style="display: block; font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 1em; margin-top: 0px; padding-left: 2em; text-align: left;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 1em; margin-top: 0px; padding-left: 2em; text-align: left;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 1em; margin-top: 0px; padding-left: 2em; text-align: left;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 1em; margin-top: 0px; padding-left: 2em; text-align: left;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 1em; margin-top: 0px; padding-left: 2em; text-align: left;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 1em; margin-top: 0px; padding-left: 2em; text-align: left;">
 * Your page analyses the statement beautifully**