Ryan+Chew

Chosen Topic: Australians at War - World War 2

Poem: Beach Burial – Kenneth Slessor //Softly and humbly to the Gulf of Arabs// //The convoys of dead sailors come;// //At night they sway and wander in the waters far under,// //But morning rolls them in the foam.// //Between the sob and clubbing of gunfire// //Someone, it seems, has time for this,// //To pluck them from the shallows and bury them in burrows// //And tread the sand upon their nakedness;// //And each cross, the driven stake of tidewood,// //Bears the last signature of men,// //Written with such perplexity, with such bewildered pity,// //The words choke as they begin -// //‘Unknown seaman’ – the ghostly pencil// //Wavers and fades, the purple drips,// //The breath of wet season has washed their inscriptions// //As blue as drowned men’s lips,// //Dead seamen, gone in search of the same landfall,// //Whether as enemies they fought,// //Or fought with us, or neither; the sand joins them together,// //Enlisted on the other front.//

__Poem Commentary__ The poem, “Beach Burial” which was written and published by Kenneth Slessor in 1944 during the aftermath of the Battle of El Alamein where Kenneth Slessor was working as a war correspondent. The somber poem was meant as a tribute to all of the Australian soldiers that had died during the war. The poem beings with a line of dead sailors floating in the Persian Gulf, by the time that morning has come, they’ve been dragged by the current and stranded on a beach. Meanwhile, the battle has raged on throughout the night but despite the unending clutter of gunfire someone has managed to spare some time to remove them from the beach, and bury them in graves. The gravedigger also gathered tidewood to use as an improvised tombstone, and upon it has etched the words, “Unknown seaman”. The poem closes with the author contemplating who the unknown sailors were, and ends with the author noting that the soldiers are soldiers and they remain so even through passing. Kenneth Slessor is very effective in describing the sailors being buried in the sand; the opening lines set the setting of the poem, and provides powerful imagery of the line of dead bodies floating into the beach with the line, “Softly and humbly… the convoys of dead sailors come.” The line uses two adjectives: Softly and humbly, to give the reader a sense of the sway and motion of the dead sailors as they are slowly pushed towards the shore by the current, furthermore the line also sets the mood of the poem as a very somber one, with undertones of respect and mourning for the dead. The next section of the poem, describes how the sailors were brought to the beach with the lines, “They sway and wander in waters… but morning rolls them in foam.” This line further demon straits the futility of the dead bodies as they sway in the ocean and are dragged along the water like a puppet to its puppeteer. The line then ends with the soldiers eventually being stranded on the beach by the incoming morning tide and left there like cloths to dry. The line further reinforces the mood of sadness with the death and uselessness of the bodies. Following this the line, is the line “Pluck them from shallows… bury them in burrows… tread the sand upon their nakedness.” This line gives a feeling a hastiness yet a sense of respect for the dead, firstly through using the word pluck, which gives the sense of quick urgency that would be warranted considering that it was a battlefield, as well as using the word “burrows” to describe the graves of the soldiers, a burrow would generally seem to be too small and shallow to be a grave and as such is shows the urgency in which the burial was conducted. However, using the line “tread the sand upon their nakedness” denotes that the graves of the soldiers were all covered up properly and given a respectful burial. This signifies that even during a tense tight, such as during a battle, the Australians still possess respect for their fellow countrymen who have sacrificed themselves and will risk their lives to provide them honour past death through a proper burial. After this line comes several lines that provide a further build up to the mood and meaning of the pass line. “Each cross… last signature… Unknown seaman” These sentences provide insight into the Australian cultural kinship with their countrymen and the respect for them that they possess, firstly with the line, “And each cross, the driven stake of tidewood” This line describes how whoever buried the soldiers used tidewood to create an improvised tombstone for each of the buried soldiers, this demonstrates the respect for the dead by showing the effort that the soldier went through to create a proper grave for the dead sailors, going from digging graves while still in a warzone, to scrounging up tidewood to create tombstones for each of them. The line “Written with such perplexity, with such bewildered pity” also provides insight into the Australian humour as well as the how incredulous the author felt it was to see the tombstones. The line lightens up the sad overall mood of the poem with the words bewildered pity, which will lighting up the mood, also serves as a reminder to the setting and context to the burial of the sailors, seeing as they were buried in a battlefield. The poem closes quite nicely with the line, “Whether as enemies they fought, or fought with us, or neither, the sand joins them together.’ This line contemplates on the identities of the dead sailors, wondering if they could have been enemies, allies or even innocent civilians. The line marginalizes the identities of the dead sailors, not caring who they were and who they fought for and shows the respect that the Australians have for other people, including their enemies, as all of the dead were all given a proper, if urgent, burial. Throughout the poem, there was very little mention of the actual battle, showing that the battle and all the living have been marginalized in comparison to the burial of the dead in this poem, furthermore this poem breaks the usual stereotype of media coverage of the war, where rather than glorifying and embellishing the victories and the heroics made by the living soldiers, it delivers a realistic and somber reminder to the sacrifice that comes along with the war.

**//__Source 2__//** Propaganda Poster

This visual text is the "Together for Victory" propaganda poster which was used during the later years World War 2 (1941 - 1945) as a recruitment poster for the army. The poster capitalizes upon the public mentality of distrust towards Japanese and the strong fears of a Japanese invasion onto Australian soil. The poster also foregrounds the British heritage and connection that the Australians want to maintain. The stereotyping in the poster reveals the obvious tensions and hostilities between the Australian and the Japanese people, as well as the relationship with the British that the Australians want to maintain.

Firstly, the stereotyping used in the poster provides insight into Australian culture as it demonstrates the fear a Japanese invasion and the distrust for the Japanese people that the Australians held, and the slight imperialist feelings of the Australians in wanting to be part of the British Empire. The Australians are depicted as a kangaroo, wearing a typical Boonie hat. Both of these things are objects that Australians are stereotypically portrayed as having, as the Kangaroo is a unique animal that is only found in Australia and the Boonie hat being a hat that is synonymously associated with Australians, the Briton in this poster is portrayed as a British Bulldog wearing a British army helmet, both of these are objects that are stereotypically associated with the British. The Japanese in this picture are portrayed as an ugly yellow soldier who was holding a pistol. This reflects the common Australian stereotype of the Japanese for that time that the Japanese would invade Australia.

Secondly, the poster demonstrates the connection with the British that the Australians want to maintain. This is shown with the Australian Kangaroo teaming up with the British Bulldog in attacking the Japanese soldier in the middle of the poster symbolizing the Australians and the British working together with a common goal of defeating the Japanese, furthermore the captions, "Together for Victory" at the bottom of the poster reinforces the cooperation between the two countries. These two provide insight into the popular Australian feeling that the Australians must be linked to the British empire since it was once a colony of the empire.

Next, the colours in this poster are uplifting and positive colours that are appropriate to this poster as it is a propaganda poster that is depicting the heroics of Australia and Britain working together to defeat Japan. The bright blue background creates a positive, happy emotion in the viewer, making the viewer optimistic about Australia and Britain uniting themselves to fight the Japanese. The colour also takes advantage of the common feelings in Australia that Japan would invade to try and recruit people into the army.

Finally, the positioning of the three characters of the poster further reflects on the common distrust of Japanese throughout Australia. The Japanese soldier is positioned in the middle of the poster, making it one of the main of the poster, however the Japanese is in a contorted body shape, with his head being pushed down by the Kangaroo's fist, and his leg flinching away from the Bulldog's bite, this puts the Japanese in a position of weakness which acts as a confirmation to reinforces the distrust for the Japanese that was common in Australia. The Australian kangaroo is foregrounded within the poster as it is of a larger size than the other characters, it is simultaneously jumping and punching the Japanese soldier and appears to be smiling as well. This shows the distrust for the Japanese through the willingness to happily attack it. The British bulldog is the smallest character out of all of them, making it one of the lesser important figures in the poster. It is biting the Japanese soldier in it's leg and wagging it's tail at the same time, this further reinforces the common Australian distrust of the Japanese, and shows the common goals and unity that the British and Australians possess.

In conclusion, the poster addresses two common feelings in Australia of the time, the distrust for the Japanese and the want for unity with the British. It does it with heavy stereotyping, the colours in the poster, the positioning of the characters and the similarities in the actions of the British and Australians.

Source 3



'Journey's End for a mother' Lieutenant Kieu Matsuo was the commander of the midget submarine from 'the mother sub', I-22. He and his crewman had shot themselves to avoid capture. Their bodies and those of two other submariners were recovered from the submarines and cremated with full naval honours and their ashes were returned to Japan. The Japanese Ambassador, Mr Tatsuo Kawai, and his staff, who had been trapped in Canberra since the outbreak of the war, were offered their return passage to Japan in an exchange of Allied and Japanese diplomats. Ambassador Kawai carried the submariners' ashes back to Japan. In 1968 Mrs Matsuo travelled to Australia to see where her son had died. During her visit she presented a number of gifts, including this handwritten poem, to the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.

I nurtured my son just as I grew precious flowers So that he could dedicate himself to the Emperor. Now that the storm has passed And all the cherry blossoms have blown away, The garden looks very deserted.

Lieutenant Matsuo's mother wrote this poem to commemorate her son's death in the midget submarine attack on Sydney Harbour on 31 May/ 1 June 1942. [This translation was provided by the Australia-Japan Research Project at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra]

This source is an article from an Australian government World War 2 commemoration website, it is about the Japanese submarine attack on the Sydney harbour, and a poem that was written by one of the soldiers mother in memorial of the attack. The attack occurred on the 31st and the 1st of June, 1942, and the poem was written in 1968. The article provides insight into the feelings of the Japanese and of the Australians after the war, it shows that the popular Australian feelings during the war of the hatred and distrust of the Japanese has changed in the aftermath of the war to a mutual respect.

Firstly, the respect that was given to the enemy gives a counter-perspective in relation to the "Together for Victory". The four Japanese marines participating in the attack on Sydney Harbour were given full naval honours with cremation and were returned to Japan along with some staff from the Japanese embassy, this shows that the Australians were not going to kill every Japanese that they found, but rather that they were going to treat their enemy with dignity and civility. This is a direct opposite of the mentality of distrust and hatred that was expressed in the source 2 poster.

Secondly, the poem in the article shows how the anger and tension between the Japanese and Australian is gone, and how in hindsight is pointless. The poem begins with "I nurtured my son... dedicate himself to the Emperor", this references that she raised her son with as much love, compassion and patience as one would when nurturing flowers. This demonstrates the large amount of effort that she put into raising her son. Further more this line also provides insight into the Japanese culture of being honourable and dedicating oneself to the emperor. The line, "Now that the storm has passed." Simply references the fact that now the war is over, indicating that the poem was written awhile after the war. The lines, "And all the cherry blossoms... garden looks very deserted." Is the focal line of the poem, the meaning behind the line is that all of the soldiers, the Japanese sons have all been killed in the war, and the garden, being a metaphor for Japan, and that it is empty in the aftermath of the war. This line expresses the regret over the slaughter of the soldiers throughout the war, and is a strong contrast to the opinions that were common during the war.

Thirdly, the poetic devices used in the poem are effective in conveying the message while still making the poem gentle. The main device used in the poem are metaphors, this could be because the other poetic devices were lost in the translations.

__Creative Writing Piece__

The smells wafts itself into her nose. Bread freshly baked, shoes freshly shined, hair recently trimmed and the smell of cleanliness. Always so clean. But she is just another brick in the wall. She is nothing. Nobody. A tiresome body left in the middle. That is what she is. She wishes that she could disappear, just meld into the shadows, but that will not happen. So she just kneels there. Alone.

The sounds of heels clicking into the ground surround her. They are feral beasts, tormenting her, encircling her, remorseless torturer. They hone in on her, two seem to get closer. Get louder. Her head is tucked into her body. Protectively? Helplessly? By now the sounds are next to her. It bellows into her ear, unnaturally deep. It is a guttural scream. “Are you lost buddy?” Another sound joins in, a scream. A high pitched, ear wrenching attack. The girl struggles to identify the source of the scream. Her throat feels hoarse, and then she realizes it is her own. It is then that she bolts. The scream stops, and the sounds morph into another one. The wind rushing past her ears. Or is she rushing past the wind? Her legs are shaking. She takes in another breath. The bread, the shoes, the cleanliness, they are all gone. There are no smells. There are no people. Only blurs vague shadows dancing past her. She crawls into the shadows and curls up.

It is there that she finds the painting. In those shadows, those cracks, and crevasses. Lying there in the corner abandoned atop a pair of molded shoes. She slinks silently towards the corner. The first thing that hits her is the smell. It is strong… pungent… powerful… The scent of decay pervades her nose; it is a boxer assaulting her senses. The closer she gets, the stronger he becomes. Yet still, she battles on. She must lay her eyes on the painting. It is her driving goal; her only ambition. Determined, she flings away the shoes with a swipe of her leg, they bounce along the floor, rolling slightly before coming to rest alongside a dumpster. The painting has been disturbed. Framing and all, it totters slightly before impacting with the ground, rending itself into half in the process. Several ugly wounds tear into the painting’s side and glass sprays everywhere. It is ruined.

The smell of decay is still there. Lingering. Much weaker, but it is still present. She senses it festering about the broken painting. She slowly pads over to it, moving in a curved line around it, and she takes her glance. It is of a human, he is standing infront of a wall, yet he is not there. She realizes that he has smartly hidden himself in plain sight, painting his cloths into the wall and standing still. It is surreal. It has been her goal to disappear, and here this man has stood here in plain sight. A sharp pain flashes in her side, it is then she notices the wounds on her body. Glass has torn across her side, cruelly rending flesh. Sleep begins to overwhelm her. Just for a moment she can sleep. It will only be for 5 minutes, and an eternity. Her eyes close, and she lays herself onto the ground. No one will notice the dog in the corner.

Macbeth Speech

Act 1, Scene 7, Lines 1 - 28.

This soliloquy is justified as my choice for the speech assessment because this is the soliloquy in which Macbeth debates the murder of Duncan, this soliloquy shows off Macbeth's personality through the argument where he makes multiple points on different areas onto why he shouldn't kill Duncan, then brushes them all aside with his statement about his ambition. This soliloquy will allow for much analysis on the language that Shakespeare used, ranging from the religious language to the points on psychology from Macbeth's ambition.