TRIALS - Henry Lawson

Question 1

TDW - Thesis 1 - Idea

Answer 1

Feminist Critique - Isolation

Question 2

TDW - Thesis 1

Answer 2

Through Lawson’s utilisation of imagistic style and dialogic, he allows responders to recognise the isolation and withholding of women during the modernist era. This allows the reader to understand the truths of an isolated life and the societal inequalities given to women in the modernist era.

Question 3

TDW - Thesis 2 - Idea

Answer 3

Colonisation - Aboriginal People being dispossessed and being treated as secondary citizens.

Question 4

TDW - Thesis 2

Answer 4

Lawson utilises his realist writing style, with his use of imagistic style and motifs provoking the reader to give a deeper insight into how Aboriginals were portrayed and dispossessed during his time, allowing viewers to gain a stronger understanding of the modern-day Aboriginal struggles.

Question 5

TDW - T1 Quote 1

Answer 5

“Nineteen miles to the nearest signs of civilisation - a shanty on the main road.”

Question 6

TDW - T1 Quote 1 T/E

Answer 6

Visual Imagery - Reveals isolation, the requirement for one to be self-sufficient and mentally fit, help only rarely comes by. The composer’s use of imagery allows responders to recognise the isolation experienced by women during the modernist era.

Question 7

TDW - T1 Quote 2

Answer 7

“There are things that a bush woman cannot do.”

Question 8

TDW - T1 Quote 2 T/E

Answer 8

Sexism - Metaphor for a constant fight, resulting in being overworked and overwhelmed. This reaffirms the requirement for a male influence in life, some male is needed to live happily.

Question 9

TDW - T1 Quote 3

Answer 9

“But this bushwoman is used to the loneliness of it. As a girl-wife, she would have hated it, but now she would feel strange away from it.”

Question 10

TDW - T1 Quote 3 T/E

Answer 10

Anomaly with the context of the period, juxtaposes past and present life. Word use evokes complex emotions and imagery of loneliness, ‘hated’ and ‘strange’ show she is content with her life but nothing more or less.

Question 11

TDW - T2 Quote 1

Answer 11

“She went to take up the baby and struggled convulsively, thinking it was a ‘blackman.’”

Question 12

TDW - T2 Quote 1 T/E

Answer 12

The baby symbolises innocence and vulnerability, while the ‘blackman’ is associated with Indigenous People and has racial connotations. It suggests the fear of black people, highlighting tensions and prejudices.

Question 13

TDW - T2 Quote 2

Answer 13

“God sent King Jimmy first, and he sent the Black Mary. He put his black face round the door post, took in the situation at a glance.”

Question 14

TDW - T2 Quote 2 T/E

Answer 14

Colloquial language presents Indigenous people as uneducated, and therefore to white people as ‘unserious.’ This establishes their different skin colour and negative image through the metaphor name ‘Black Mary.’

Question 15

TDW - T2 Quote 3

Answer 15

“She bargained with a stray blackfellow to get some wood”

Question 16

TDW - T2 Quote 3 T/E

Answer 16

Stray black fellow a metaphor for Indigenous/Aboriginal people. The act of ‘bargaining’ sets out that aboriginal people are difficult to work for, and do not like taking instruction however will take full reward. This is reaffirmed when the Aboriginal comes back with a hollow wood pile that looks full and gets rewarded as if so. Lawson portrays Aboriginal people as ‘untrustworthy’ or even frauds.

Question 17

UBID - Thesis 1 - Idea

Answer 17

Loss of individual identity - Modernist Era (industrialisation, capitalism)

Question 18

UBID - Thesis 1

Answer 18

Through the composer’s utilisation of colloquial language, dialogue allows to explore the Nihlistic values that are explored in modernism. Responders are highlighted by the loss of individuality and identity within the modernist era, encouraging a deeper understanding of the reasons behind individual loss.

Question 19

UBID - Thesis 2 - Idea

Answer 19

Abnormality of Culture – Satire to represent historic British culture

Question 20

UBID - Thesis 2

Answer 20

Through Lawson’s utilisation of satirical and imagistic style, he extrapolates the abnormalities of British culture in Outback Australia, and how past cultural appreciation doesn’t fit in a modernist society.

Question 21

UBID - T1 Quote 1

Answer 21

“I didn’t take any notice of him, he said something didn’t he?”

Question 22

UBID - T1 Quote 1 T/E

Answer 22

Dialogue - Colloquial. Showcases the lack of connection between the dead’s identity and individuality. Reveals how outside of a social circle, everyone is alienated and has no meaning, revealing a lack of individual interest and identity.

Question 23

UBID T1 Quote 2

Answer 23

“Why! Didn’t you know that before… No; but I knew he was a union man”

Question 24

UBID T1 Quote 2 T/E

Answer 24

Dialogue - The man’s original identity is replaced with the collective ‘union’ identity. To have him known collectively as a ‘union’ is all that matters, original identity has no meaning in a modernist society.

Question 25

UBID - T1 Quote 3

Answer 25

“Perhaps not one of the fourteen possessed a soul any more than the corpse did.”

Question 26

UBID - T1 Quote 3 T/E

Answer 26

The narrator showcases a Nihilistic view of life, the comparison of the others acting with disinterest leads to a conclusion alluding to the lack of soul and complete drainage of identity.