How Has Australian Identity Changed With Time

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Poetry and other forms of literature have played a large role in human society for as long as we as a species could talk. Throughout the years as we evolved our literature has evolved with us, from simple story telling into many other more complex texts such as poetry and novels. Poetry in particular is often used as a tool to examine how things were in the past as they tend to accurately represent the views and ideologies of both the time period and the region in which they were written. As such, poetry can be studied to give us an idea of how the Australian Identity has changed with time. In 1914 the First World War broke out in Europe. Australians everywhere were eager to join the fight for their newly formed nation and hordes of young men rushed to enlist. The attitude of war being a necessary and courageous part of life, shared by the vast majority of Australians of the time can be seen in poetry such as John Le Gay Brereton’s ‘ANZAC’.…show more content…
Brereton puts to use an AABB rhyme pattern and a rhythm of 8 syllables per line that remains throughout the entirety of the poem. This draws the audience in with the steady rhythmic pace and helps the audience to understand and predict the following words before they are read. The use of alliteration within the first 4 lines mostly works to keep the steady flowing pace of the poem however the dissonance of the alliterated phrase “Vast Vulgarity” draws attention to and separates itself from the rest of the poem through the use of sharp, discordant

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