Human Experiences Multimodal Transcript PDF

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human experiences...

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Hey Year 12, welcome to texts and human experiences! The complexities of the human experience can be closely linked to the personal struggles individuals face when dealing with change and pursuing self-identity within our society. As we walk “In forward footsteps, chance assault” which in “This way the map of living lies”, we either accept or resist change both affecting our lives and those around us. Both Rosemary Dobson’s poetry ‘Young Girl at a Window’, ‘Summer’s End’ and Scott Fitzgerald’s ‘The Ice Palace’ provide insight into individual’s desire and acceptance of change and changing interpersonal relationships. In these texts, the inconsistencies and anomalies within our paradoxical reactions to change are portrayed to assert how the experience of negotiating between progress and the retention of personal values creates a better opportunity to understand how we construct our individual identities within collective society. Dobson’s epigrammatic poem “Young Girl at a Window” serves as a metaphor for the transition between girlhood and teenage hood as it captures the importance of experiences of change in the construction of self-identity. The persona’s struggle to accept change heavily impacts growth and perspective. In Dobson’s metaphor of “map of living lies”, she represents the possibilities of widened perspective within a multitude of paths. However, these realizations are only possible through the progress of growth, symbolised in “forward footsteps”. Despite its necessity, a conflict within the persona is metaphorically connoted by “Crossing a threshold” as growth is portrayed as a difficult and permanent transition wherein the innocence of youth is lost. This is further emphasized in the focus on change as an intrinsic aspect of self-identity. The personification of “Time” in “Time was killed” and “Time was lost” reinforces the connotation of loss as the transition from adolescence to adulthood is portrayed as catastrophically destabilising. However, the paradox of change is revealed in the final natural and seasonal imagery within the metaphoric tricolon “grass and sheaves and lastly, snow”. Dobson binds the transition of youth to a deeply collective experience, giving it a comforting quality through a sense of individual belonging and self-actualization. “Summers End” extends on this cyclical representation as it details the permanence and inevitability of change within individuals. The natural tactile imagery in the first line, “Cleansing of waters the first wave of winter” metaphorically continues the suggestion that new experiences as a result of change have a transformative impact on individuals. Dobson juxtaposes the fragility of human autonomy, symbolised by “the tramline” and the ironically “dignified bus”, with the violent alliteration of “a curl and a crash”, undercutting assumptions of choice in our negotiation of progress and identity. She suggests that despite our efforts to resist change in the hope of preserving a past identity, the altering of our perspective as a result of destabilizing experiences is inescapable. This unavoidable impact on human perspective is often painful, as the poem concludes with a subversion of the mythological symbol of a mermaid as it “weeps at the ends of the water”. She uses the liminal space between the two worlds to represents the need to accept change. The final simile ‘where the sand is like knives to her feet’ serves to warn us against futile attachment to our past selves in its depiction of suffering. Through her poetic distinction of transition between past and present, Dobson reveals how we must ultimately accept disruptive transitional experiences in order to embrace our identities. Similarly, Fitzgerald’s short story “The Ice Palace” deconstructs contemporary ideals. But unlike Dobson, he emphasises how experiences of change can threaten one’s identity rather than benefit it. The juxtaposing geographies of South and North are expressed in the Summer-y characterization of the South and the Winter of the North description of Sally’s life in the South, “sunlight dripped over the house like golden paint over an art jar…”, uses simile to create a luxurious atmosphere, intimately linking a simple appreciation of existence to Sally’s comfort and sense of belonging. However, Sally’s is captivated by the ideals of progress represented by the North, captured in the metaphoric turbulence of “powdery wraith of loose snow”. This leads to her rejection of the South as complacent and stagnant, suggested by the idiomatic line “I want to live where things happen on a big scale”. The North is characterized by ideals of progress, personified by Harry and Sally’s engagement to him. Sally’s misconceived romantisation of her experience of change is further represented by the symbolic fairytale imagery of “the magic of the great crystal walls” . The corrosive impact of this ideal is metaphorically captured in Sally’s experience lost in the Ice Palace. In “sank down into a cold little heap on the ice”, Fitzgerald juxtaposes her fragility with the threatening entrapment of the ice, creating a feeling of disempowerment and helplessness that undercuts any notion of progress and fulfilment. Finally, the narrative ends with a parallel scene “…resting her chin on her arm, and her arm on an old window-seat, gazed sleepily down”. The story’s cyclical nature redefines her experience of the status quo as her identity is reassured in this familiar location, evoking newfound feelings of belonging and self-acceptance. By portraying Sally’s traumatic experience in the North and her disillusionment with her ideals of progress, Fitzgerald marks Sally’s experience as an allegory revealing how the values within social environments can challenge or reaffirm our own. This interaction can lead to corrosive or reaffirming experiences that influence our sense of identity through belonging. Dobson and Fitzgerald utilise storytelling to represent the human experience. By examining their representations of the inevitability of change and the anomalies and paradoxes within our attitudes towards progress, we are able to gain deep insight into the significance of our own personal experiences as we reevaluate how our value and acceptance of change impacts both our individual and social identities....