Feliks Skrzynecki

 Poem that celebrates his father’s life  Explores the relationship between father and son and the sacrifices his father made Issues and themes;  Belonging  Connection  Families  Migrant journey  Identity  Resilience

Close Analysis: Fin the following language techniques in the poem:

Stanza 1 Cliché to show that Feliks wasn’t influenced by the way other people ran their lives: ______

______

Simile to show how much Feliks loved his garden and also connection back to the poet:

______

Hyperbole to show that Feliks enjoys simple pleasures in life and this builds connection to the garden:

______

Adjectives to describe Feliks’ personality:

______

Hyperbole to show how meticulous Feliks was in the care of his garden:

______

______Stanza Two:

Simile that explores Feliks’ life as a working man:

______

Use of first person to emphasise son’s voice with childhood anecdotes about Felix:

______

Hyperbole that shows how much Feliks’ work ethic influenced his son:

______

Stanza Three:

Change of perspective from garden to father’s social life where Feliks has created a sense of Polish community:

First person empathising reflective nature of poem:

______

Ellipses(…) of third line is used as a pause which emphasises the next words:

______

Use of italics to stress the formal manner of his father’s Polish friends

______

Alliteration, harsh explosive ‘f’ sounds to convey harsh conditions during the war that his father endured:

______

Adjectives to suggest that theses harsh conditions did not change Feliks’ true nature, he was still resilient and retained a strong sense of humanity:

______

Contrast to show that even though Feliks endured harsh conditions, it did not change his true nature:

______

Stanza Four:

Descriptive words and phrases to show how resilient Felix was:

______

Use of comma in second line emphasises the fact that the son very much admires the father:

______

Verb to show the intrusive nature of the cancer that required deep surgery:

______

Dialogue (Felix’s voice) to show his resilience, stoicism and how optimistic he was:

______

Dialogue to show that he was a man with a wry, deprecating sense of humour:

______

Stanza Five:

As the poet grows up, his ideas about his father change. He remembers words of

Polish and how they spoke Polish in public. It set them apart and caused people to make unfair judgements about them. This is the son’s perception. Language symbolises the past and the son can never forget where he belongs. To acquire a language is one way of belonging to a group or place. It seems that Feliks is trying to encourage his son to nurture and develop his Polish identity.

Metaphor to show the son’s perspective that the Skrzyneckis are different and caused people to comment and say unkind things:

______

Lines conveying the stereotypical, uncaring official:

______

Metaphor showing the clerk to be mechanical, trained and lacking in humanity:

______

Dialogue to show how condescending the official/clerk was:

______

Stanza Six

Back to the Garden, to the place of security and belonging for Feliks” Symbols of new life and new opportunities, symbol of loyalty and a constant presence in his life:

______

Contrast of feelings between the son and Feliks:

______

Son recognises that his father has found a sense of Belonging through connection to nature:

______

Tone of regret suggesting that Skrzynecki cannot share his father’s contentment:

______

Stanza Seven:

There is a growing sense of alienation evident in this stanza. This is the beginning of adolescence which is a time that children rebel. The father and son are losing connection through language and shared experiences. Many young people start to do things differently from their parents and experience a world apart from family life.

Phrase that means the poet is struggling with learning at school in Latin:

______

______Phrase to show that his father is helping him with Latin but he can’t help him with

Polish language because the son is reluctant:

______

Biblical allusion that shows his father recognises that his son will move away from him but he is unable do anything about it. He realises that it is the natural process of adolescence:

______

Irony in the last two lines that shows how his education will take him away from home and change the way he belongs to his family.

______

Metaphor of Hadrian’s Wall to show that Skyrznecki is moving away from darkness represented by Scotland and towards the enlightenment of centres of education and learning as represented by the universities of Oxford and Cambridge in south of

England. This could also mean that the son is moving towards Australian Culture and education and away from the Polish language and culture of his father.

This demonstrates the challenge that the ways young people belong to family will inevitably change as they grow up.