In your answer, refer to your TWO prescribed texts, ONE text from the prescribed stimulus booklet, Journeys, and at least ONE other related text of your own choosing.
A word ‘travel’ suggests adventure and excitement. However, if one considers the origin of the word ‘travel’ – from the French word ‘travail’ which means work, there is an implication of effort and challenge involved in the act of travelling or journeying. In our literary world, the composers of different types of texts explore a variety of challenges throughout their characters in order to affect audience’s perceptions of such experiences. A journey can be understood as a movement from one place to another. This challenge does not necessarily have to be by physical means but could be a challengeable journey from one point of understanding to another. For that reason one can also say that a journey is of the mind and the spirit. The texts studied this year contain several different challenges of the protagonists of the story. For instance, Ken Harrison in a Brian Clark’s play “Whose Life Is It Anyway?” goes on an inner challenge as he tries to convince the hospital authorities to allow him to leave the hospital and die with dignity. Likewise, three young Aboriginal girls in Phillip Noyce’s film, “Rabbit-Proof Fence”, not only undergo a tough physical challenge in order to achieve their ultimate destination – their home!, but also learn about their inner selves throughout that challengeable journey. Similarly, the persona of Margaret Atwood’s poem, “Journey to the Interior” attempts to discover the inner self by challenging the metaphysical journey. Furthermore, Judy Minkove depicts an image of a determined and optimistic tetraplegic physician, Dr. Lee who coped with many different challenges in a feature article, “Superman, M.D.”