10 Mary Street Belonging

**FIRST SENTENCE ANSWERS QUESTION** Just as experiences of belonging may foster a sense of self-fulfilment and security, so too may experiences contribute to moments of isolation and alienation. Such notions are confirmed through Bhatt’s poem, ‘The One That Goes Away’, Peter Skrzynecki’s poem, ’10 Mary Street’ and Imran Ahmad’s 2007 memoir Unimagined. Although each text is anchored by different contextual influences, each suggests that particular experiences are important in shaping a sense of belonging, or isolation. This contributes to a sense of human worth and self-identity, therefore **LINK TO Q*

Sujata Bhatt’s poem ‘The One Who Goes Away’ explores how physical dislocation can contribute towards one’s sense of belonging or alienation. Reflecting on her personal migration experience from India to America, Bhatt conveys her persona as a perpetual traveller conditioned to continual change through her use of anaphora, “I am the …show more content…
’10 Mary Street’ provides in inhabitants with a distinct identity aided through the use of metaphor, “we became citizens of the soil.” This sense of belonging, which is anchored by physical location, hinders the family’s ability to assimilate into Australian life. Skrzynecki’s choices of plant species residing within the persona’s garden are all foreign to Australian soil. His use of “roses and camellias” and “potatoes… and sweet corn” provokes certain irony concerning the persona’s struggling to belong, as the garden full of non-native plants flourish in the Australian soil. It is evident that despite their initial attempt to belong to society “Naturalised more than a decade ago”, this family cling to their sense of identity “founded in pre-war Europe” and struggle to belong to Australian society, suggesting that the experience of migration has fostered alienation from greater society LINK TO