Peter Skrzynecki

|Hello my name is David Hummingbird and I am going to talk about belonging |
|and how it is a common theme in many different texts. The “immigrant |
|chronicles” by Peter Skrzynecki is a collection of poems that explores |
|belonging to place, relationships and community and the pain |
|uncertainty of not belonging. Belonging is a way of having acceptance, |
|security and fulfilment whether it’s belonging to a group of friends, |
|family, race or culture, In the movie “Freedom Writers” the audience |
|witnesses change; the change is in the young peoples’ thoughts and |
|identity. Initially the students belonged to a certain gang or group |
|with ingrained perceptions of belong to one thing, which changed to |
|belonging to an English class. |
|A family photo showing and suggesting “belonging” and “not belonging” |
|within the family. |

|In “Post card” Skrzynecki explores the pull of the city he has never |
|been to but feels a sense of b belonging and obligation due to his |
|heritage. In “Migrant Hostel” skrzynecki describes his family as ‘birds|
|of passage’ as he questions whether his family will ever find a place |
|to belong again. Skrzynecki also examines how people perceive belonging|
|differently in “St Patrick’s Collage”. |
|The “Family Portrait”, represented in the visual representation, the |
|family composes a circle bond, which creates and represents the concept|
|of belonging. The family in this photograph are all looking in the one |
|direction. This creates a sense of belonging by showing that they look |
|forward together. The mother is placing her arms around her children s |
|they lean back into her. This is a powerful image of a strong bond |
|between the two girls and the mother. |
|The concept of not belonging is shown