It is now week 5 of your first term of the HSC. Hasn’t it flown by? You’ve been ruminating on what it truly means to belong (and, indeed, not belong) for all of this time. At my school we have started reading and evaluating the poems of Emily Dickinson. You can read the list of poems set for study here.
Hopefully by now you would have been introduced to your prescribed text, and may have begun looking at a variety of possible related texts. The HSC Syllabus outline suggests that when you consider your text in relation to the concept ‘belonging’, that you should consider
… the possibilities presented by a sense of belonging to, or exclusion from the text and the world it represents.
This is my focus question for you: In what ways you do feel a sense of belonging to, or exclusion from your prescribed text (or your related text if you prefer) and the world it represents? Take note of the question carefully. Embedded within it is the assumption that in your answer you will discuss:
- the world that your text represents
- your feelings of belonging to, or exclusion from, this world
- the possibilities that this connection or disconnection generates.
Please be sure to include the name of the text and the composer in your reply. I’d love it if you could include a couple of quotes from your text in your answer (or even evaluation of its form and features!) to help your reader better appreciate your argument. (If you’re wondering just what an argument is, you might be interested in this blog post here.)
Perceptions of Belonging 