Lake Within a Lake Flashcards
Topic sentence: Lake Within a Lake
Intercultural experiences can initiate a sense of spiritual and cultural connectedness. This catalysing effect is explored in the drive for cultural renewal in Oodgeroo Noonuccal’s poem “Lake Within a Lake”.
BP1: Lake Within a Lake
The use of topographic enjambment in the poem’s opening lines “At West Lake there is a Lake / Within a lake.”, to describe the setting constructs a paradoxical idea that the lake represents the larger environment and nature, correlating with Noonuccal’s experiences in which she finds her own culture and spirituality in the foreign environment of China.
BP2: Lake Within a Lake
The tranquil visual imagery of the “lotus plants” that “cover the calm waters” symbolise wisdom and resilience, linking to Noonuccal’s spirituality, which reflects nature’s ability to establish a spiritual setting that allows us to reflect on our inner beliefs and values.
BP3: Lake Within a Lake
The use of spiritual motifs provide an inextricable link between nature and spirituality in “The bridge across the island Zig-zags its way” highlighting the motif of nature as a ruling and guiding force of Aboriginal spirituality, in which the land – as a maternal figure, protects humanity - as presented through the rainbow serpent in ‘China…Woman’.
BP4: Lake Within a Lake
The polysyndeton used to convey Noonuccal’s perspective and her emotional connection “The boat carries us away, From the peace, The harmony, And tranquillity,” challenges the reader to find beauty in an urban landscape, reflecting the interdependent capacity of the external environment and internal spirituality to influence one another.
BP5: Lake Within a Lake
The circular structure of the poem, concluding with “That is West Lake”, reinforces important Indigenous values such as the appreciation for landscapes and the inextricable link between nature and spirituality, highlighting the author’s connectedness with the external environment through her spirituality.
