Harbour Dusk

Question 1

Assumption

Answer 1

Robert Gray, ‘Harbour Dusk’(1984), underpins the inherent nature of a place and how it can cause immense emotional disconnection and isolation.

Question 2

topic sentence

Answer 2

This sense of emotional isolation is made apparent in the beginning stanzas of the novel where despite two individuals accompanying one another in a park, are emotionally secluded whilst viewing the inherent beauty of Sydney Harbour.

Question 3

forehsadowing
rhyming couplet

Answer 3

“park” and “dark”

• the empty park at night mirrors the personas internal despondency, despite their physical connection, the confining and limited nature of the urban landscape had led to feelings of isolation and detachment from the natural environment.

Question 4

extended metaphor
juxtaposition

Answer 4

Moreover, the yachts within Sydney harbour serve as an extended metaphor for the personas collective experience of isolation

The companions presence is juxtaposed to any “empty park” and “Oily aubergine dark of the harbour” that expresses that despite physical presence of other people within a highly populated harbour, it is specifically through transcendental connections with nature that physical connections endure.

Question 5

personifies….

Answer 5

“stone parapet fading life”

with the fading nature of the protective wall, further serving as a metaphor to invite responders to understand the negative ramifications urban living imposes upon its inhabitants as it is leading to the degradation of their sense of happiness and connection to their environment.

Question 6

the darkness of the harbour and bush is juxtaposed, through the metaphor….

Answer 6

“fruit shop bright”

to the artificial lights of the city, emphasising the exaggerated and artificial nature of the luminescence stemming from the confines of the city, ultimately forcing inhabitants sense of isolation from one another.