3.8 Rainbows End notes PDF

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rainbows end English essay notes...

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Re-visiting the Common Module through Rainbow’s End Jane Sherlock [email protected]

Re-visit the rubric: Ideas generated in the novel about the human experience Emotions involved for the people/characters in those experiences Why/how the characters are motivated to behave as they do How the novel represents the complexities of the family and the community How the novel reveals that being human can be challenging and can involve behaviour, motivations, responses which could be inconsistent, anomalous and/or paradoxical with how we might at first appear The role of storytelling to make sense of the human experience The choice of form and its features in representing perspective, insights, ideas and how the composer has chosen specific language choices both to shape their text, reflect their context and position the responder to share insights

Representation: The way ideas are portrayed and represented in texts, using language devices, forms, features and structures of texts to create specific views about characters, events and ideas. Representation embeds attitudes, beliefs and values and reinforces or challenges existing values and ways of thinking or may attempt to reshape them. Perspective: The way we see the world is shaped by our values, attitudes and assumptions. It is a culturally learnt position that shapes the reader's view of a text. It creates a position of preferred reading.

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Feature from Common Module rubric Representation of human experiences in the text List the different experiences the people have in the text. Indicate which ones are individual and which are collective? What emotions are involved in these experiences?

How the text represents these features The • • • •

value of studying Rainbow’s End in this Module: Australian play by a successful Australian playwright Poignant, moving and funny Social and historical context adds interest It adds to our knowledge and understanding of the challenges and difficulties for many Indigenous Australians and this will aid reconciliation. • Interesting characters • Many authentic examples of human experiences What are the different experiences represented in this play? • • • • • • • • • • • •

Marginalisation Isolation Poverty Prejudice Lack of being value Strength and importance of families Strength of women Government legislation and its impact History as teacher Overcoming adversity Human frailties Acceptance

What are the different emotions and human qualities represented in this play • • • • •

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Fear Intimidation Love Strength Power

• • • • • • •

How are these experiences represented in the text? How is language used to shape these representations? Representing these experiences and emotions is inextricably linked to the text’s form: in this case a play to be performed. How do specific aspects the play’s form invite you into its world and deepen your understanding of human experiences? Consider:  Context  Purpose  Structure  Stylistic features  Form

Context and purpose: What were the key influences and experiences on (composer’s name ) 3

Humiliation Resilience Courage Determination Empowerment Hope Pride

Context is time and place Time and place of composition and time and place within the play Harrison deliberately chose to set her play in a context 50 years earlier than when she wrote it • The setting- both time and place- will become a significant feature of the play’s impact and meaning and how each setting is part of representing the challenges of the human experiences of the various characters the process of discovery as well as representing aspects of discovery • In an interview with The Age newspaper, in 2005 Jane Harrison said she chose the decade of the 1950s and wanted to focus on the ’unsung heroes’. • She said she was interested in the ‘people who were fighting on a different level, against racism in a small country town or simply to put dinner on the tablethose daily struggles.’ The audience is invited into a specific historical context: Rainbow’s End is the story of three Aboriginal women from the same family in the context of 1950’s Australia. The play draws upon historically accurate details: • Aboriginal Housing conditions at Rumbalara • Australian Government’s policy and action towards Indigenous Australians • The Stolen Generations. The context represents the experiences of many Indigenous Australians in 1950’s: • Poverty • Marginalisation •

in composing this text? What is the composer’s purpose and intention?

What does the composer care about? How does the form of (insert your text) contribute to the way the ideas are shaped? How has (your composer) used the elements of narrative /story-telling to position the reader to consider the big ideas of this text ? The title: The opening The ending Style Language : word choice, sentences, imagery, rhetoric, symbolism Structure Narrative perspective Setting Characters and characterisation

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Alienation Disenfranchisement: lack of citizenship Inequity Powerlessness Forcible removal of Indigenous children Dislocation, dispossession and inter-generational trauma of the Stolen generation Living conditions in missions and towns • Outskirts of town: “blackfella housing” (Dolly to Errol) • No electricity • The Flats: Aboriginal settlement is in flood-prone land • Town’s tip is on higher ground • Mice plagues • Only job is fruit picking: “tuppence for ten pounds of fruit” ( and bruised fruit to take home) • Housing Inspector discusses “assimilation” • Irony of the name Rumbalara: “end of the rainbow” In contrast- White Context: • Growing prosperity • Queen of Australia visits • American popular culture • Racism • Values and attitudes What characterised 1950s Australia? • A post war optimism and excitement. • A growing desire for new products and lifestyle. • Conservative government and attitudes • A very “white” and highly monocultural society with post war immigration mainly European not Asian • Still very British-focused but a growing interest and fascination in the USA especially popular culture • • • • • •

The Queen’s visit as an historical and social contextual feature: • Provides an actual historical context for this play: 1956 • The most popular of all royal visits • First tour of a reigning monarch • First royal tour to Australia for twenty years • Immense tour: Queen visited 70 Australian towns.

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• • • • How • •

The Queen was much loved and very popular at this time. Her visit represents the power of the monarchy and the lack of acknowledgement of the traditional land owners Concrete symbol to highlight the hypocrisy of the day e.g. makeshift homes at Rumbalara were covered by hessian to protect the young Queen from the ‘eyesore’ of the Aboriginal homes. Gladys and Dolly are very excited about the queen’s visit where Nan is much more cynical: “She’s not my Queen’. (p. 128) does this contextual feature represent human experiences? Acts as an ironic commentary: paradox of whose country the Queen was visiting Provides a stepping off point for Gladys whose adulation and adoration of the Queen moves from naïve idealism to a sobering reality

Social and historical context is also represented by agrowing American cultural influences for those who can access it: • Australia was starting to enjoy American culture especially by 1956 when television came to Australia. • American singers, actors, films, inventions, clothes, television shows quickly became desirable What was Harrison’s intention in representing key human experiences during a specific time and place in Australia? Re-read Harrison’s Introduction Choose 1-3 phrases to include in your response. In what ways does Harrison: • Explore a part of Australia’s history • Raise awareness about the difficulties and challenges of Indigenous people. • Celebrate the courage, strength and resilience of Indigenous people • Celebrate the strength of Indigenous women • Provide an insight into past attitudes and events • Question our own attitudes • Promote healing through our own understanding and acknowledgment • Promote understanding and acceptance • Recognise the value of Indigenous connections to place and people • Celebrate the power of an individual person to both challenge us and enrich us. • Recognise the importance of keeping families together. How do specific aspects of the play invite you into its world and deepen your understanding of human experiences?

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• Form • Structure • Stylistic features Play’s structure: How does this shape the representation of the human experiences of the Dear family? In your responses be sure to choose the scenes which provide the best, most detailed and relevant textual detail for the question • • • •

Two Acts with 14 scenes in Act I and 7 in Act II Short scenes quickly and efficiently drive the narrative forward Each scene has its own dramatic impact. Each scene represents a range of human experiences over 8 different locations: • Interior and outside humpy, • Town tip, • Bank manager’s office, • Shepparton ball, • Riverside, • Outside the new Rumbalara housing, • Council hall.

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The two Acts are symbolically divided by the dramatic event of the flood with Act I building up to this climax. Scene i opens with Nan and Gladys who are ’rebuilding after a flood has devastated their home. Everything below three feet is sodden and mudsplattered.’ (P 123) We see Nan covering the walls with hessian and then overlaying this with pages from a magazine. The experience of being flooded is a recurring reality for the Dear family and many Indigenous people who were marginalized to the outskirts of towns. Represents the experiences of marginalised areas of their settlements, displacement from traditional lands, Represents human qualities of resilience, stoicism, love, commitment The closing scene of Act I sees two catastrophes: their home is again flooded ruining all their belongings including the yet to be paid for encyclopedias and Dolly is raped. This Act closes with the heart wrenching sounds of Dolly who ‘wails like a banshee”. Symbolically this is followed by “rain, thunder, darkness. Time passes. The waters rise.” (p175)

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Act 2: the water has drained away but ‘the devastation has been wrought. Everything is saturated and muddy” and Dolly is ‘shell-shocked”(p.176). This Act explores the aftermath of the flood and its impact and a number of the key elements of the story are resolved with a sense of hope and optimism at the end.

Act II There are seven short scenes in Act 2: • After the Flood • The Move to Rumbalara • The Broadcast • The Contract • Pay the Rent • Errol Spills the Beans • The Petition Scene 1 is a short but powerful scene which takes place after the flood and devastation that has been wrought. The prized encyclopedias have been ruined and this adds to the pathos of the family’s situation. Consider this symbolism and how the encyclopedias provide Gladys with a framework for her growing knowledge and wisdom as she starts to discover her own strength and resilience Gladys is defiant in her words: “They’re only possessions. And what do they matter? People is what matters.” To add to their despair Dolly has been abused and the women blame Errol. Specific scenes: Act I, scene 10:The Bank vs Mrs Banks In some scenes the setting is given specific details to establish a sense of place and also mood. For example, when Gladys is trying desperately to convince the bank manager that Dolly is a most suitable contender for a job in the bank, the mood is brittle and tense. This is reinforced by the attention to detail in the setting that “on the BANK MANAGER’s desk is a tray with two china cups of tea, milk jug and sugar bowl. He pours a cup for himself, but doesn’t offer one to Gladys”. (p.163) At the same time the final bars of the song “catch a falling Star” can be heard as Dolly stands behind the gauze “picking fruit in an orchard”. The cheerful and romanticised lyrics of the Perry Como song clash with the reality that for Aboriginal people in the 1950s it was extremely difficult to gain white collar employment in places like the bank and by ‘catching a falling star” and “save it for a rainy day” will not help you very much.

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Act I, scene 11: The Ball • In this scene Dolly Banks’s realisations about people like Nancy Woolthorpe are painful and confronting. • Dolly experiences a devastating scene of shame embarrassment as represented through Nancy’s callous comments: “Love your dress Dolly. Love the Fabric… When it was our sunroom curtains.” • Nancy’s sarcasm highlights her spite and its impact on Dolly. • The effective use of stage directions throughout Nancy’s comment such as: “with a giggle” assists in emphasising the impact of this painful remark. • Racism and cruelty is also highlighted in the instant rejection when the Bank Manager sees a photograph of Dolly’s face. After seeing the photograph, his defensive dialogue recognised in “I don’t think so…” and “What I’m wondering is how she’d fit in” expressing his doubts that Dolly would conform in white society. • His representations of paternalism expose the rejection felt by Aboriginal people. Both racist examples of Nancy and the Bank Manager have a significant impact on the way Dolly sees herself and humanity. Specific stylistic features deliberately chosen by Harrison to represent human experiences: -music -symbols including the play’s title -dream sequences Songs are used to: • Represent the social context through songs by pop stars of the time: Doris Day, Cliff Richard and Perry Como • Enrich the play in performance • Represent contrast with the realities of Indigenous life and thus the anomalies of the human experience Doris Day’s songs are used to: • Establish the historical and social context • Que Sera Sera and Somewhere Over the Rainbow represent the contrast between the idealised experiences represented by her lyrics and the realities of the experiences of Dolly, Nan and Gladys. • Que Sera Sera: This song opens the Act: sweet idealism contrasts with the visual features of their physical environment. • Powerful choice at the end of Act I: stricken Dolly after the horrifying rape. Soundscape is the second verse of Que Sera Sera which begins with “ Then I grew up and fell in love’. For Dolly the brutal attack has nothing to do with the love and romance in Doris Day Hollywood movies.

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“Whatever will be” is acceptable if your future is white and prosperous Gladys’s speech and petition has been received with tumultuous applause Nan has given her blessing for Errol and Dolly to marry Papa Dear has returned Harrison returns to this song in the closing moments This time there is more optimism Song and dream sequence represent the important human qualities of hope and change. Catch a Falling Star by Perry Como Sung by Dolly when fruit picking while her mother tries to persuade the bank manager to give Dolly a job His comments about Dolly “fitting in” and if she is “reliable” reveal he has prejudged Dolly according to his own stereotypes: reinforces the paradox of reality. Other popular culture references: Why does Harrison include them? How do they enhance the representations of human qualities and emotions? How do they enrich the story and ideas? • • • • • • •

Radio quiz show: BP Pick a Box-commercialism and prosperity • This was a very popular radio quiz program sponsored by the oil company, British Petroleum and hosted by the American Bob Dyer and his wife Dolly. Nan calls him the ‘flash yank’. • Nan is cynical but realistic when she says “A black contestant. I’d like to see that!”: • The program was known for its signature lines like “Howdy, customers” and “ the money or the box” which became catch-cries of the 1950s. • Represents an ironic contrast to the deprivations and despair of many Indigenous communities of the same time. • The thought of winning extravagant prizes such as ‘a sewing machine that does everything under the sun’ (p.130) contrasts with the reality of no electricity. • Winning a ‘mink stole from the House of Biba’ seems absurd for life at Rumbalara. Britannica Encyclopedias • References to the Encyclopedia Britannica recur in Rainbow’s End. • It was common in the 1950s and 1960s for door to door salesman to sell a range of household products including these encyclopedias • These were seen as symbols of prestige and disposable income • Consider the intention of Harrison in integrating this reference in her play?

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Great excitement when each Volume arrives The encyclopedias are a concrete symbol of Dolly’s determination to learn more about the world in an attempt to improve her employment opportunities • But the bank manager quickly dispels her hopes. • They also become concrete symbols of the devastation of the floods …and they still had to pay for them! Dream Sequences: • Count how many dream sequences • Where do they occur? • Consider them as a vehicle for representing the anomaly between ideals and reality Characters and characterisation The characters represent a range of human experiences and human emotions and qualities In a play there are a number of ways in which the characters are presented to us and this is what we call characterisation. The success of a play in engaging our hearts and allowing us to empathize and be moved is often a result of the playwright’s skills at characterisation. A play may have a powerful message and confronting themes and issues but unless we, the audience, engage with the characters and feel their humanity, the play will not be as successful. • The main characters in this play are Nan Dear, Gladys Banks, Dolly Banks and Errol Fisher. • Their characters have been more fully developed • They have the majority of the dialogue • They are the main vehicles for the action and the development of themes. • Other characters are secondary and are more like representations of different community groups rather than substantial characters. • These include the bank manager, the housing inspector, the rent collector, a policeman, Papa Dear and various offstage voices including the radio commentary of the Queen’s visit and the quiz program. • •

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Think about what each main character cares about? What do they value as humans? What makes them happy? What motivates them? Are their actions consistent? How do they see their own experiences?

Literature has resonance and longevity when it explores and exposes themes and ideas about humanity which are universal across time and place. What are the themes and ideas of Past the Shallows which have universal resonance?

What are five key examples from the text which you think best represent human experiences? Try to choose your evidence from throughout the text.

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What qualities does each character embody? What emotions do they experience?

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Triumph over adversity Cruelty of humanity Resilience of families Relationships Innocence and experience The inequity of suffering Understanding the past Racism, prejudice and discrimination Intergenerational trauma Oppression of colonialism Finding one’s voice Understanding and acceptance Reconciliation through understanding...