Belonging speech free essay sample

Good morning/Afternoon teachers and students today I will be showing you how a sense of belonging or not belonging greatly influences an individual’s identity. A change in identity occurs when belonging is found through meaningful, intimate relationships, with senses of place, community, safety and familiarity. The free verse novel, The Simple Gift, composed by Steven Herrick, the dramatic fairy tale film, Edward Scissor hands, directed and created by Tim Burton and the novel Matilda composed by Roald Dahl, all explore the concepts of belonging and relationships through the strong use of literary techniques; and focus on a changing Identity as a base for belonging. All texts have significantly different perspectives of belonging and identity. Edward yearns to belong and become part of society’s conformity and routine, whereas Billy aspires to a life of solitude and self-reliance and Matilda tries to belong somewhere in her life. Billy is a misfit in high school, having no significant relationships and a heartless abusive father, the ‘old bastard’. We will write a custom essay sample on Belonging speech or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Before he embarks on journey for belonging, it is evident that he lacks a sense of belonging at home and in his community. Billy describes his home house as ‘Deadbeat no hoper shithole lonely downtrodden house in Long lands road, Nowheresville’. This string of informal negative description emphasizes Billy’s emotional isolation and dislocation within his community. His missing sense of belonging gives him the identity of an outcast, which proves belonging or not belonging greatly influences an individuals’ identity. Billy’s escape from his town, Nowheresville to Bendarat coincides with his discovery of relationships, acceptance and nourishment from strangers. Herrick has used the characterization of Billy’s father figures to portray his desire to belong. When Billy first escapes his town, and we first see the weather motif, mirroring Billy’s belonging to place, the rain is personified as Billy describes it as ‘hitting you in the face with the force of a father’s punch’. This metaphor shows why Billy needed to escape from his abusive tyrant father, and his lack of intimate relationships and belonging. Herrick later utilizes the characterization of Ernie and Irene, total strangers who through altruism and kindness offer him refuge and simple gifts. Ernie starkly contrasts Billy’s father, and introduces the motif of gifts, which influences Billy’s selfless nature. Irene, the librarian, offers Billy empathy and doesn’t judge him. The two characters of Ernie and Irene have anagrammatic names, because they were both designed to serve the same purpose -offer the simple gift of kindness and altruism. Billy’s relationship with these characters fosters his change of identity to a much more caring person. Although Billy’s sense of not belonging is evident, he finds places of isolation, safety and familiarity throughout The Simple Gift. His makeshift home, a train carriage becomes his home and provides him with sense of belonging to place. Billy describes the train carriage as a ‘cave’ and ‘a hotel’. He classifies it as a cave because it protects him from the elements and furthermore as a hotel because it is not his permanent residence. His places of belonging and refuge greatly influence his identity. Further on in The Simple Gift, Billy discovers true belonging is found through meaningful, emotionally nourishing relationships. Billy’s relationship with Old Bill is one of the most important, as they give each other purpose, safety and nourishment. Billy explains â€Å"that’s why I help Old Bill, for no reason other than he needs it; this shows Billy’s altruism through the use of simple gift motif. Billy develops another significant relationship with Caitlin, a wealthy girl who is ‘smart enough to realise none of this means anything’, because like Billy, she values a lack of material possessions, and dislikes the identity associated with being wealthy. Billy’s relationship with Caitlin provides him with a sense of belonging to friendships. Edward scissor hands tells us a story about an artificial man, ‘Edward Scissor hands’, who was made by a lonely inventor who lived on top of a hill near a small town. Long after his inventor’s death, Edward is brought into society by Meg, a local resident and encounters many new and interesting things as he attempts to belong in civilisation. This film explores concepts of belonging to groups or communities and a sense of belonging in relationships shown by Edward’s endless struggle to find clarity and purpose. A sense of isolation can come from ones difference to others, whether it is physical mental or spiritual. Edward’s hands made out of sharp scissors are iconic of his separation from the rest of society. They create a physical barrier between him and others which greatly limit the amount of physical contact Edward can have with others and the rest of the world and in turn creates a sense of isolation. This is carefully and noticeably communicated by Burton by the use of colour and contrast, specifically Edward’s initial costume is completely black leather, decorated with metal studs and rings. His hair is jet black and very messy and his face is pale white. This along with Edward’s mansion, a dark place riddled with cobwebs and falling apart, so far away from society, juxtaposes fantastically with the bright and vibrant colours of the town, the houses and the clothes and outfits of the townspeople. He in fact only finds a sense of belonging when he is shown kindness and outreached by Meg. She gives him clothes to wear, which although do not seem to break his theme of darkness and dullness, do still symbolise his inclusion and belonging in their society. She also offers him purpose by letting him use his scissors to trim her garden hedges. The novel Matilda is a clear representation of the concept of belonging the ideas that are conveyed in the film are relevant to belonging by how they are displayed. From the start of the novel you come to realise that Matilda doesn’t relate or isn’t able to connect to her family. This is demonstrated in the quotes â€Å"Are you in this family? † â€Å"Mmmm†¦.. Hello are you in this family† â€Å"I’m fed up with all this reading! You’re a wormwood, you start acting like one! Now sit up and look at the TV† this quotes tells us that Matilda loves reading but her family love watching television so the father questions her belonging to the family. Matilda finds a sense of familial belonging with Miss Honey. When Matilda first enters her classroom she gets as strong sense of belonging with her teacher because she is drawn by her warm, kind hearted nature. These three texts have all shown a sense of belonging or not belonging greatly influences an individual’s identity. Throughout all these texts the use of literary techniques and all focus on changing identity. Thank you for listening. Belonging Speech free essay sample To me belonging is a sense of enlightenment felt when an individual gains an understanding of themselves in relation to others and the wider world. To actually feel as if we belong, we must first accept ourselves and be accepted by others. A real sense of belonging can be determined by self-acceptance and acceptance by a group. However, when difficult situations are experienced, an individual may gain a sense of belonging through self-acceptance alone. This is clearly represented in the novel, ‘The Passage’, written by Justin Cronin, the poem, ‘St. Patricks College’, composed by Peter Skrzynecki and the film, ‘The Perks Of Being A Wallflower’ directed by Stephen Chbosky. These three texts clearly reflect how one would belong through self-acceptance. ‘The Passage’ is a post-apocalyptic thriller about an ancient vampiric disease that destroys society and leaves only a handful of people alive including Amy, the protagonist, who incidentally holds the key to the survival of the human race. We will write a custom essay sample on Belonging Speech or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The main protagonist, Amy, with specific reference to chapter 23, is travelling the apocalyptic landscape of America where she gains a certain self-acceptance due to the difficult situation that she is dealing with. The difficult situation being that Amy is scientifically immortal and has kept to living on her own and ultimately, surviving on her own. Cronin reveals â€Å"It was summer again and she was alone. Alone with no one but the voices she heard, everywhere and all around. † To us, it reveals how alone Amy really is and ultimately how she has come to accept herself for what she is. This revelation of Amy’s has come from the situation she has had to deal with and in a way, grown up with. The situation being that the world has ended, she is immortal and she has no one to belong with. Due to the difficult situation that Amy is in she has had to draw her own sense of belonging from herself as opposed to feeling as if she belongs with other people. For Skrzynecki in ‘St. Patricks College’ he has had to accept himself, like Amy, though a difficult situation is faced he has still been able to feel a sense of belonging with himself. Skrzynecki feels â€Å"Like a foreign tourist,† whenever he attends St. Patricks College or whenever he is among others who attend St. Patricks College. This highlights the feelings of Skrzynecki and how he as an individual feels as though he does not belong with them. Skrzynecki even reveals that he is â€Å"Uncertain of† his â€Å"destination†. This yet again implies how much Skrzynecki does not belong at St. Patricks College or in that case with any other student who attends St. Patricks College. Obviously, this situation has forced Skrzynecki to adapt to his surroundings of the College and learn to accept himself to feel the sense of belonging that isn’t really expressed within the text. The Perks Of Being A Wallflower’ is a film set in the early 1990’s and addresses the problems that Charlie, the main character, faces while attending high school after his best friend from middle school had committed suicide only months before hand. For anybody, being a semi-depressed teenager is a difficult situation to be in; Char lie faces this during the entire film all the way up to the very last moments. At the beginning of the film while we hear Charlie’s voice over of him writing his first letter to his â€Å"friend† he talks of alienation from his ex-middle school friends such as Susan. Charlie writes â€Å"I thought maybe my old friend Susan would want to have lunch with me† but because of Charlie’s extremely difficult situation that he is dealing with Susan â€Å"doesn’t like to say hi† to Charlie anymore. The use of voice over in this scene creates a connection between the audience and Charlie and provides sufficient evidence of how alienated Charlie is among his peers. Charlie even admits â€Å"If my English teacher is the only friend I make today, that would be sort of depressing. † This emphasises how alienated Charlie is and how much he doesn’t fit in. Due to this being a difficult circumstance for Charlie he has learnt to belong with himself even though he feels he does not belong with anyone else. In ‘The Passage’, Amy faces her situation head on which in Chapter 23 reveals that, in a way, Amy has been forced to see belonging as an unimportant aspect of her life. This has pushed Amy to accept herself and disregard the need for others. We learn this when Amy is thinking to herself when she thinks â€Å"Are we the all? For I have seen no one, no man or woman, in all the years and years. Is there no I but I? During this moment Amy is feeling a negative connection with the Virals, the vampires, she concludes her thoughts where Cronin writes â€Å"Go now, she thought, and closed her eyes; and when she opened them again she found she was alone. † Cronin pieces together Chapter 23 with finesse and understanding of Amy. He was able to show us two things: the first is that Amy did not want to belong with anyone as she feared for their safety and the second was that even though we must be accepted by others to belong, we are able to belong if we are to accept ourselves if we are involved with a difficult situation. For Skrzynecki in ‘St. Patricks College’ he also finds belonging an unimportant aspect of his life while he attends the College. This might not be as bad as Amy’s situation but to Skrzynecki it is still daunting. Skrzynecki â€Å"†¦ stuck pine needles Into the motto On my breast. † This shows the lack of caring for the motto and in turn the College. As Skrzynecki doesn’t really care for the College belonging obviously does not matter as much as Charlie from ‘The Perks Of Being A Wallflower’ wants to belong. For Skrzynecki saying, â€Å"The Lord’s Prayer In Latin, all in one breath† was a feat clearly showing his disregard for the significance of The Lord’s Prayer. The Lord’s Prayer is clearly connected to the College for religious reasons and because Skrzynecki misses the significance of the prayer it proves that Skrzynecki didn’t want to necessarily belong. Due to Skrzynecki being alone and feeling excluded from the college he has had to rely on his own self-acceptance to feel his own sense of belonging. ‘The Perks Of Being A Wallflower’ is a film where the main theme is belonging. Charlie reflects just that and begins to accept the fact that he is a â€Å"wallflower† and feels a sense of belonging with himself. Aside from this, Charlie wants to feel included, he wants to belong and eventually he feels that with Sam and Patrick. At Charlie’s first party Patrick makes a toast to Charlie of which Charlie questions with â€Å"what did I do? † where Patrick responds â€Å"you didn’t do anything, we just wanted to toast our new friend† this conveys a sense of belonging among the audience as well as Charlie and the other characters. This is different from Amy in ‘The Passage’ and Skrzynecki in ‘St. Patricks College’ because they do not want to belong or don’t feel the need to whereas Charlie wants to belong and wants to fit in. Accompanying this is the use of camera angles. When the camera is facing Charlie it is in a high angle position showing Charlies vulnerability and when it points at Patrick it’s a low angle position demonstrating the importance of Patrick. This is a clear representation of how one would feel a sense of belonging when they are accepted by others as well as how one would feel a sense of belonging when they accept themselves. To feel as if you belong, you must accept yourself and be accepted by others but when dealing with difficult situations you can rely on self-acceptance to feel as if you belong. This is without a doubt clearly represented in ‘The Passage’, ‘St. Patricks College’ and ‘The Perks Of Being A Wallflower’. These three very similar texts all show how a sense of belonging can be determined by self-acceptance and acceptance by a group. However, when difficult situations are experienced, an individual may gain a sense of belonging through self-acceptance alone. Belonging speech free essay sample Belonging is the perceptions held by individuals, which enables them to be inherently connected and to develop an affinity with themselves as well as an intimate bond with place. I believe I have learnt that belonging is the most basic human desire, a part of the human condition. In order to achieve true belonging, however, many feel the need to belong to a particular place. In Peter Skrzynecki’s poem Migrant Hostel, and in a feature article in the Sydney Morning Herald titled All at sea in a leaky boat, the concept of belonging to self as a human desire is explored through displacement. Displacement is a fundamental aspect of not belonging but it is a human desire to try to belong and have a connection with place. The title of Migrant Hostel shows the context of Skrzynecki’s own experience in Parkes Migrant Hostel in NSW from 1949-51. Time and place are established in the poem expressing the values and attitudes in this contextual time period. We will write a custom essay sample on Belonging speech or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page â€Å"Comings and goings/†¦newcomers/†¦busloads/†¦sudden departures/†¦who would be coming next. † This list of phrases is associated with the transitionary environments, which thousands of migrants experienced after WWII. This technique creates the sense of dislocation felt by the migrants through the use of words describing the uncertainty they felt in their lives. â€Å"Comings and goings† juxtaposing each other and creating a paradox that suggests there is no permanence or belonging to this place. All at sea in a leaky boat reinforces the displacement experienced by the lack of emotional connection to place. Published in 2008, the text allows for a continuity of a similar theme of displacement over time, therefore expressing the similar attitudes and supporting the thesis for the human condition to desire a sense of belonging to place. The text reads â€Å"†¦will remain imprinted forever†¦ the scent of hope and stench of despair. † This juxtaposition felt by displaced immigrants separates their â€Å"hope† for a sense of belonging and their â€Å"despair† as an effect of displacement. The audience understands that displacement creates the feeling of not belong and in doing so prevents the most common human desire to be at peace with Oneself and with ones surrounding, in fact, to belong. The article is backed up by statistics to further enhance the point. â€Å"20,000 people made the perilous attempt†¦spending weeks, months, years†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The high modality in this extract reflects the persuasive motive of the author. The use of emotive language in this highly subjective form enhances the effect, shown through repetitive connotations to provoke the senses: â€Å"†¦acrid smell/†¦urine and exhaustion/†¦sucked dry/†¦the deep drone of boat engines. † Both texts are highly emotive, creating a sense of displacement and describing the difficulty of individuals not being able to belong not only to place but to community and most importantly to themselves. As Simon Sinek explained â€Å"The most basic human desire is to feel like you belong. † Though these texts and the close area study of ‘belonging’ I have learnt that to be basically human is to have a desire to belong, to place and therefore to oneself.