The Surfer

1.     Where in Australia do you think this person is from? Explain your reasoning.

Byron Bay, Bondi.

2.     How does the author represent the Australian sea? Explain the words or phrases that led you to this conclusion.

During the day it is nice, and green with foam peaking the waves. But during the night it is grey and loud, it has lots of currents and is dangerous.

“For on the sand the grey-wolf sea lies, snarling,”

“How his brown strength drove through the hollow and coil of green-through weirs of water”

3.     What type of person do you think this poem was written about?

I think this was written about someone who goes for a surf after a long day at work and just throws himself into the water. It is his way of relaxing. I think this because of the line “He 

thrust his joy against the weight of the sea;” Like he was overjoyed to be in the water.

4.     How is the representation in The Surfer either similar or different to those texts that we have already discussed in class? Use at least one other text to compare/contrast.

It is similar to the article “Be a proud Aussie Quietly” in the representation it gives of the beach.

Larrikin has had his day...

Larrikinism	Mateship
"Boisterous often badly behaved men"... among our ranks. In other words we want to do as we please- larrikins forever- and bend the rules when it suits us. and I'll take them over the "Bad behaviour" of a larrikin any day.	Who cares if you drive a Holden or a Hyundai, or you prefer rice to pasta? What matters is that you commit to the principals of a fair go, pulling your weight and helping your mates. Why not forget larrikinism and an aversion to authority and focus instead on preserving ideals of a fair go, mateship and hard work?

I am not sure if I agree with this representation of Australia. The Author of this article makes it out as if most of us are larrikins and we need to take up the ideals of the rest of the populations mateship, when in reality, Australia is not split like that. I highly doubt that we would still be surviving as a nation if the majority of us were Larrikins. Also, I think that even if we were tog I've up our larrikinism then we definitely would not magically turn into mates where everyone is happy with everyone else. That is a very far fetched idea, yes Australians are polite, and we do like to treat everyone as our mates, but truth is that not everyone is. If we were to give up the idea of larrikinism then I think that we would find it hard to co-exist properly. I think that the idea of larrikinism is part of what makes Australia Australia and so to take it away would not be good.

Fosters Ad

The Fosters ad seeks out to put to rest some of the typical Australian stereotypes, thus changing the Australian Identity. They present Australians as normal people instead of insane crocodile hunters. The ad points out things like we do not have pet kangaroos, and we don't wrestle crocodiles. The ad also sets out to show Australia as a multicultural nation. The text sets out to create a good view of Australia. By having positive representations in there. The advertisement creates a good representation of the typical Australian person, and does not just focus on the bogans. The international community would get a positive representation of Australians through watching this ad. 

Australia

1.     Do you think that this is an accurate representation of Australia? Explain your reasons

No, I don't think that this is an accurate representation of Australia. Just because a lot of these things done exist, like man eating koalas. Also some of the things are drawing off one time things, like Deranged Gunmen.

2.     Who do you think may have drawn up this map? What do you think their knowledge of Australia is like?

I think that an Australian drew this map up, and just wanted to either do it as a joke or to show the different stereotypes of the different areas. I think that they have a very good knowledge of Australia, but they also have a very good knowledge of the stereotypes of Australia.

3.     As an Australian with an inside knowledge of the country select three areas (e.g. Sharks, Steve Irwin and Man eating koalas) and change them to a more accurate representation.

Man Eating Koalas- Cuddly Koalas

Backpacker Murderers- Backpackers Paradise

Deranged Gunmen- Port Arthur

Prejudice Map Questions

›  To what extent do you agree with the representations on the map? (give an example)

A lot of the things on this map are relatively positive. They are just generalizations. So I agree with some of the things, like if the country says that it is polite, then I will agree with that. But it is the offensive things that are wrong.

›  Do you find this amusing, helpful or outrageous? (Give reasons for your response)\

I find it amusing. Just because of some of the things they say, like for France they say that they spoil their dogs, or for Australia that we are obsessed with sport. I don't think that this could be considered helpful, unless you were planning on going to a country and only expecting the stereotypes. I also don't think that it could be considered outrageous because they mostly say positive things on it.

›  What do you think about the comments about Australia? If you were asked to provide evidence of this what would you say?

I would say that we aren’t really no-nonsense. We can take a joke and poke fun at things (ESPECIALLY our politicians). Some people are obsessed with sport, but not all the people in Australia will be so upset that they missed the footy game that they cant function properly. We are reasonably direct, so I wouldn't really disagree with that, but it isn’t so direct that you feel offended. And we are very friendly.

›  How accurate is the title ‘Prejudice Map’? Or should it be called ‘ Stereotypes Map’? What is the difference between these two words?

I think that it should be called the Stereotypes map instead of Prejudice map. I don't think that it is the objective of this map to discriminate against a certain nation, it is just there to present the different stereotypes from the various nations.