...Title: Immigrants at Central Station Composer: Peter Skrzynecki Source: Poem Date: 1975 The poem composed by Australian poet Peter Skrzynecki, Immigrants at Central Station, explores the various journeys of a family who arrives in Sydney from a migrant camp during 1951. Throughout the poem, a combination of sensory and visual imagery recreate the scene Skrzynecki’s family undertook during their immigration to Australia, describing their emotions and current environment. The purpose of this poem was to portray the mental challenges of immigrants back in 1951 and the challenges that would impose each of them personally as well as time and one’s future. This poem firmly supports the generalisation of a physical journey leading to unexpected encounters and destinations. It is most evident with the use of visual imagery in the line ‘Like a guillotine/ Cutting us off from the space of eyesight’ that suggests the intensity and uncertainty of the final destination and expectations of the persona in this poem. Skrynecki uses this line to emphasise on another generalisation of a journey encompassing sudden changes as this line illustrates the swiftness of the alteration of their journey, as well as the use of juxtaposition of that event to that of “along glistening tracks of steel’ symbolising hope and freedom. This creates a powerful effect through the sudden contrast of two intensely different situations. Immigrants at Central station also portray the notion of inner journeys...
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...Immigrants at Central Station, 1951 The first poem in Peter Skrzynecki’s Immigrant Chronicle is set in Sydney’s main railway station. As it is dated “1951” it is some years after the arrival of the Skrzyneckis here in Australia and also provides us with the context of the poem. The first lines of the poem, “It was sad to hear the train’s whistle this morning...” induces sadness whereas it usually induces joy. This tell us that the Skrzyneckis were sad almost certainly due to the fact that they were about to travel into the unknown. The imagery in the first stanza is a depressing one, “All night it had rained.” The poems tone here is mournful. As the poem goes on it says, “But we ate it all...” This is used metaphorically for positiveness. No matter how gloomy, they enjoy it. In the first line of the second stanza it says “Time waited anxiously with us...” The technique of personification is used to emphasise that the immigrants waited although they did not exactly know what they waited for. “And spaced hemmed us...” depicts the crowded station on that fateful night. Skrzynecki and his family are crowded together, “Like cattle bought for slaughter.” This is a very strong simile in which Skrzynecki is illustrating the appalling and crowded conditions in which the immigrants are experiencing. In the second stanza, it says that the immigrants stood with their families, “Watching pigeons that watched them.” This portrays an image that the immigrants are fascinated by the native...
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...understanding of yourself, of individual, and of the world? Peter Skrzynecki’s Immigrant Chronicle, Gail Tsukiyama’s Night of Many Dreams and the website www.migrationheritage.nsw.gov.au broaden the understanding of individuals and of the world through exploring the notion of time, experience and change in differing perspectives. This is evident through the way language techniques and visual features are manipulated to create meanings. The presentation of time as a fundamental component of a physical journey has greatly extended the perception of individuals and the world. In Immigrants at Central Station, 1951, time predetermines an individual’s fate and future. “While time ran ahead along glistening tracks of steel” supports this idea. “Tracks of steel” is a metaphor for the journey that the immigrants are about to undertake. Time is personified and because it is ahead of the immigrants, they have no control over their future journey, and are forced to follow the tracks. In Crossing the Red Sea, Skrzynecki uses different time periods of the day to contrast the monotonous reality of the immigrants’ dreams. “The day break took away the magic of dreams” depicts this idea through different language techniques. “The magic of dreams” implies their wonderful hopes which appear in their unreal visions at night. “Daybreak” is a metonymy for reality and it is personified to create an imagery of the immigrants’ dreams being snatched away by veracity and daylight. In the genuine world,...
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...Using a scaffold for extended writing to compare texts A scaffold is a framework or structure from which you can build something. If you prepare a scaffold before you write, you have a solid base to begin further planning of your response. This scaffold shows the stages and organisation of a typical comparison response. Each box represents a paragraph. What new insights about a sense of belonging are shown in The China Coin and one other text? How has the composer conveyed these new insights to the responder? Put some ideas in each box to help you plan. The notes on the right are not complete. They provide some examples for you to see how to present your argument. The words in bold are linking words. |Introduction |A sense of belonging can emerge from relationships with people and places. When | |Mention aspect(s) of belonging |people experience a strong cultural connection to a place, their sense of | |Make a statement about how this aspect is |belonging is strengthened. This can change over time. The novel The China Coin | |represented in the set text and one other |and poem ‘We are going’ both have strong cultural images and personal statements.| | |These are revealed through the composers’ use of flashback, narrative voice and | | |descriptive language. ...
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...Ellis Island was the first immigration quarantaine station to operate in the United States. Being located on the atlantic ocean coast of the United States, Ellis Island was a common and frequent destination for Europeans. In Ellis Island the immigrant demographic ranged from western,eastern, southern, and northern European. Typically, the immigrant who was white, able bodied, and had at least a middle socio-economic class was favored to become American citizen candidates. In Galusca’s scholarly research paper, she explains this by, “Health, economic status, and race were central to anti-immigration discourses that labeled immigration as either “poor” or “good,” with the evident implication that immigrants of poor health, poor economic status,...
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...film titled Victoria Para Chino, a film about a group of immigrants who died in a refrigerated trailer when immigrating to America; The inspiration behind Sin Nombre came from that short film. In his first major production, Fukunaga continued his interest in the topic of immigration, and came up with the creation of Sin Nombre. The film follows both a young gangster of the Mara Salvatrucha gang, Casper, and young girl from Honduras, Sayra, on their difficult journey to America. Fukunaga’s overall reason for the film was to express the hardships Central American people face on their journey to America, in hopes that people could see immigration from a different light. The film is directed mainly towards citizens of America, Central America, and Mexico although it can spread to any area with controversial opinions of immigration. The constraints of the film include time, as the film lasted just 96 minutes, rating, the limited budget of an independent film, the dangerous filming locations in Central America and Mexico, and language— the film is spoken completely in spanish with english subtitles. These constraints were overcome, and the film went on to be nominated for 22 awards, winning 12 of those including multiple awards at the Sundance Film Festival in 2009, perhaps the most prestigious awards in the independent film world. Fukunaga bravely delivers the powerful and eye-opening story of the journey experienced by Central Americans immigrating to America: One that has previously...
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...area around the mouth of "Göta Älv", the river, had been an important trading center since the 12th century. The city was built according to Dutch patterns, with streets and manmade canals in a strictly-designed system and a large square, the current Gustaf Adolfs Torg, next to the Large Canal. A torchlight procession is planned to march from central Gothenburg’s Gustaf Adolf’s square at 7:00pm and continue up to Backaplan near where the tragedy took place, and where the permanent memorial will stand. The memorial, designed by artist Claes Hake, will be unveiled by young people from an association created for relatives of the fire victims, Brandoffrens anhöriga (BOA). The major cause of fire The building belonged to a Macedonian immigrant organization. The organizers of the evening’s club had told the site’s tenants that they were planning on having a “birthday party” for fewer than 50 people. In reality, however, party planners had plastered surrounding neighborhoods with poster and flyers advertising the event and had even sold tickets in advance. On the night of the party, nearly 400 guests, predominantly teenagers with immigrant backgrounds had arrived to dance and mingle in a room on the building’s fourth floor which was meant to hold no more than 150 people. The process of the fire Shortly before midnight, smoke began pouring into the room from the emergency stairwell behind the stage where a DJ was performing. Panic erupted...
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...history, marked by rapid industrialization, urbanization, and economic expansion. Central to this dynamic period was the massive influx of immigrants who arrived on American shores in search of better opportunities. These immigrants played a pivotal role in shaping the economic landscape of the United States, contributing significantly to its growth and development. They provided the labor force essential for the burgeoning industries, fueled innovation and entrepreneurship, and enriched the...
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...is a neighborhood located in the central part of Brooklyn. To the west of Crown Heights is Washington Avenue, Atlantic Avenue is on the north, Ralph Avenue to the east, and East New York Avenue to the south. The main passageway in the neighborhood is Eastern Parkway. Crown Heights is considered to be demographically unique. West Indian and African Americans live there as well as a large number of Hasidic Jews. Often times in New York City, neighborhoods are usually associated with the racial, ethnic and religious people that live there. For example, Bedford-Stuyvesant and Harlem are associated with the black people while immigrants are linked with neighborhoods such as China Town or the Lower East Side. Furthermore, African Americans and Hasidic Jews are associated with the Crown Heights...
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...Guatemala is a country located in Central America. It has a population of about 15.47 million and the size of 42,043 square miles. Guatemala has many economic and social challenges. Its problems continue to grow. They have the fifth highest murder rate of any country in the world, and seventy five percent of its population are living below the poverty line. Children that are raised in Guatemala are accustomed to the idea that guns are normal, whether it is for protection or violence. “The number of serious crimes that go on, causes people to be afraid and to deem it necessary to carry weapons, like guns. For example, at local gas stations a security guard carrying a gun at the entrance to protect against the theft and crime that goes on (Elbein 1). Children may be getting accustomed to this, but they do not desire to live like this. Many of these children want to have a job that they can earn more than minimum wage. Unfortunately, for the majority of the children that is an unobtainable goal. This is why many children choose to leave the country. They want to live in a country where they are not struggling for every dollar, and they are not in constant danger. The consequences of the next generation of children emigrating could turn into a serious issue, as a result the population of...
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...to understand how illegal immigration truly affects the United States, one must understand what an illegal immigrant is, how illegal immigration began, and the difference between legal and illegal immigration. By definition, an illegal or undocumented immigrant is “a foreigner who enters the U.S. without an entry or immigrant visa, especially a person who crosses the border by avoiding inspection or who overstays the period of time allowed as a visitor, tourist, or business person” (“Illegal Alien”). While illegal immigration dates back to the seventeenth...
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...In the year 10,000 BCE two Native American tribes settled in what is now called Manhattan. Following that, in 1524, French explorers discovered New York State and allowed the Dutch colonies to retrieve the area in 1609. In 1664 England purchased the island of Manhattan and transformed it into a major trading port for the 13 original colonies. New York City then became an area of great population and diversity. In the early 18th century, New York City was still owned by the British, but immigrants from the Netherlands, England, France, and Germany all took residence there as well as African slaves who were typically all indentured servants at the time. By 1740 approximately 500 out of 2,500 residents of New York were slaves. The people whom were not slaves feared that African Americans were plotting to burn down the city. Subsequently, in 1765 Parliament passed the Stamp Act, which was considered to be the first organized act of resistant towards British authority. Although George Washington’s Continental Army was based in Brooklyn and Harlem Heights, New York City, Manhattan was given to the British and used as a British military base until 1783 (“New York City”). During the time that the British controlled New York City, the area was greatly damaged twice by fires. These fires were believed to have started by the British military role and the British began to keep American prisoners of war in prisons across from the East River in Brooklyn. In these prisons, more Americans lost...
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...in the US, aimed a major campaign at the Asian market. The attractive Asian consumer segment, comprised of such diverse groups a Chinese, Koreans, Japanese, Vietnamese, Cambodians, and Filipinos was large growing faster and had higher incomes than any other ethnic group. However, many Asian immigrants were unfamiliar with American financial institutions and avoided them. Bank of America ran translated ads in Asian language news papers in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and the Central valley because research showed that most Asians – particularly new arrivals speak their native language them. The bank first converted its English language ads into Chinese vernacular and aimed them at Chinese immigrants who had well established urban communities numerous media available, and high incomes. Messages were also tailored to the needs of various Asian segments. For recent refugees firm southeast Asia who are generally less sophisticated about financial institutions and distrusted banks ads simply urged readers to “Come See Us” and listed the bank’s retail services. Bank of America also used TV cautiously. It dubbed or added subtitles to English language spots and ran them on Asian language TV stations. Bank of America also increased its involvement in Asian community activities – such as running a special promotion during the Chinese New year celebrations in its Chinatown branches and in civic groups such as the Chinese Newcomers Service Center or Asian women’s Resource Center. The result...
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...believe that America relies on both legal and illegal immigrants to boost our economy and help our nation become more universal. My research presents the other side of this argument, by showing how illegal immigration has actually threatened our nation’s economy and culture more so than anything else. I originally agreed with Anna Quindlen, after reading her essay; all of her points describing the economic benefits America receives by employing undocumented workers seemed reasonable and accurate. Her plea states that they are just regular people in search of work, trying to make a better life for themselves and their families. I’m sure this is true in a lot of cases but unfortunately, there are more repercussions for allowing illegal immigrants to stay in our country than what meets the eye. Yes, it is true that these Mexican workers will take jobs that Americans turn down and yes, they will do them for cheaper. So in that sense, yes, illegal workers do benefit our economy, “but what is good for corporate America is not necessarily what is good for Middle America (Buchanan 49).” Simply paying taxes and filling lower income jobs such as farmhands, construction workers, and maids does not outweigh the drainage that the illegal immigrants put on our healthcare, welfare, schools, prisons, etc. The National Bureau of Economic Research put the cost of immigration at $80 billion in 1995, and matters have only gotten worse. Immigrants’ use of food stamps, Supplemental Security Incomes...
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...for 60 guilders in trade goods such as tools, farming equipment, cloth and wampum (shell beads). Fewer than 300 people lived in New Amsterdam when the settlement moved to Manhattan. But it grew quickly, and in 1760 the city (now called New York City; population 18,000) surpassed Boston to become the second-largest city in the American colonies. Fifty years later, with a population 202,589, it became the largest city in the Western hemisphere. Today, more than 8 million people live in the city’s five boroughs. New York City in the 18th Century In 1664, the British seized New Amsterdam from the Dutch and gave it a new name: New York City. For the next century, the population of New York City grew larger and more diverse: It included immigrants from the Netherlands, England, France and Germany; indentured servants; and African slaves. During the 1760s and 1770s, the city was a center of anti-British activity--for instance, after the British Parliament passed the Stamp Act in 1765, New Yorkers closed their businesses in protest and burned the royal governor in effigy. However, the city was also strategically important, and the British tried to seize it almost as soon as the...
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