Change - Looking For Alibrandi + Stimulus + Texts of own choosing
Uploaded by cainen on Mar 15, 2002
“How have the texts you have studied this year effectively shaped your understanding of the meaning of ‘change’?In your answer you should refer to Looking for Alibrandi, ONE text from the prescribed stimulus booklet, Changing, and two to three texts of your own choosing.
Through a number of texts we can see the concept of change and changing perspective clearly demonstrated. Texts including Looking for Alibrandi, Sky High, a Michael Leunig cartoon and various newspaper and magazine articles all have themes and underlying meanings relating to change. Through these texts, the composers shape our understanding of change by demonstrating how it can be gradual, how it is natural and how our perspectives can change. They also show why change occurs and the different sorts of change, most of which deal with changing perspectives.
In Looking for Alibrandi, the author, Melina Marchetta demonstrates the concept of change not only through the chief protagonist, Josephine, but also some other more minor characters such as Michael Andretti, Christina and Nonna, though the majority is shown through Josephine. A key event in the novel that changes Josephine Alibrandi’s perspective and helps shape our understanding of the concept is the meeting of her father, Michael Andretti. Initially, before Josephine has never even met Michael, she resents him. She feels that he abandoned her mother while she was pregnant. When she first meets him however she gets the impression that he is intelligent and a decent human being, though she doesn’t make it known to him. After Josephine gets into a fight at school with Carly Bishop, Carly’s father threatens legal action. In the spur of the moment, Josephine says her father is a lawyer and he is called up and asked to come to the school. Unexpectedly, he arrives and the issue is resolved. As Josephine is walking along side her father, it is at this moment when she has a change of perspective. She likes the feeling of having a father figure. Marchetta has demonstrated that change can be triggered by singular events.
Also in Looking for Alibrandi is a similar change of perspective, but this time shown through a different character, Michael Andretti. When Michael first discovers that Josephine is his daughter he says, “I do not want to see her. I do not want to love her. I...