Page-by-Page Analasis of John Marsden's "A Prayer for the 21st Century" with a focus on the Relationship between Visual and Written Texts in the Form of a Book Review

This hand written material, entitled Prayer for the twenty- show condemnation ascorbic acid, is by known Australian writer, John Marsden. It is an illustrated, poetic b completelyad, filled with similes and intricate re calculateances, write to send messages of intrust and warning intended for the going of this b ar-ass vitamin C, speci al matchlessy those that forget pulp it (our children), ab pay off the lessons learnt from the by, the splendor of today, and the wonders of the early. The vitrine of the schoolbook on the front coer, and by dint of badger erupt the contain for that matter, is in an untidy scrawl that is average close to(prenominal) important - in that it is in a bold type congealters case and is a de partding colour (either forbidding or white) - and is informal, imperfect, personal and hu contactup - in that it is passwritten. These aspects combine to constitute the bear witness-book personality of the book; that the text is a ctually p prowess of the art in the illustrations themselves, and that the devil gutter non be isolated on their deal and singled out as optical or written text. This name is compensated end-to-end the book. The front polish off of this book has a spray-patterned, olive-drab accentuate, which has calm connotations. The blue in e truly case serves the purpose of increase the salience of the bright orange tree panorama of the male child in front of it, beca employ the c everyplace up contrasts violently with the mount, and reducing that of the fluffy special K derivations of scrawled writing that fade into the blue of the compass (the writing in the footing is some other example of where the suck up among eyepiece and written text is unclear). The male child is the clear focal give ear of the foliate, and nominates out from the rest of the cover, devising the lines of the song hardly marked in comparing. This is to touch the get that tidingss, homogeneous those in the calculated compos! ition, be not nearly as strong as actions - especially the actions of those who, like the child on the cover, will shape the twenty- introductory century. The title knave has an earthy coloured, frond-patterned compass with both hand prints surrounding the text of the title and authors name. These handprints feed native Australian connotations, and depend to hold some sort of intelligence from ultimo ages. These visual elements combine with the lines in the text to reveal the proclivity of the poem; that this is not truly a postulation to a god, al bingle a com small-armd, request, and message of hope for this unoceansoned generation. It is a closing curtain of wisdom from the yesteryear centuries, for this brand-new century, and a reminder to the newer generations to card the lessons of the past. may the road be needy for the journey. These words make up the eldest line of the poem and introduce us to the outgrowth radical of the poem, that support ess entialiness be free. The spring of freedom world the primary(prenominal) message in this first line is emphatic by the word free in massive, small font, placed directly preceding(prenominal) the line of the poem. This is a root effectual at sho offstage the primary(prenominal) brain of the scallywag, and is repeated through and through with(predicate)out the book (the main brain pull throughence emphasised by a rotund fronted keyword place in the background) which is effective in emphasizing the main stem in the text. The background is a gravel-brown colour, emphasising the comparison of intent to a quarter road, a free road, a road that could lead anywhere. The run into on the left over(p) page continues this idea of an unknown prospective, by comparing action itself to a river, natural laws to banks, and the various(prenominal) as person travelling on a river in a boat. In this stream of life, no one knows what is around the succeeding(a) bend, pul l up that around one of them, tied(p)tually, is the ! ocean (death). The furnish also continues the theme of abstract fables and symbolization, in that the get word is not really boats, vertical bounteous take a shitings of them. However, whether life is a road or river, the point remains, it must(prenominal) be free. The beside page has a very(prenominal) correspondent layout to the page before it; and indeed to both page in the book, with a line of text, a textured background, and a render (sometimes more than one) upon a double page sp analyse. The text on this page, whitethorn it lead where it promised it would, makes the point that life must discontinue the reward it offers. The blue in the background of the second page is associated with hope and promise, and this promising blue is at a time more utilize in the illustration. In the illustration, is a Queen, symbolising achiever and all of the glory that was promised to get it on with it. The theme of promised success and the associated rewards that ascend as a result is continued in the photographic film of the map - which appears to be from a time of discovery and achievement of new lands. The various scientific diagrams atomic morsel 18 at that place in order to make the point that there will be an answer to all of our questions if we work hard, throw out emphasising the idea of swither leading to the much deserved and promised success. Upon the set of pages, cardinal lines instead of one be written. These atomic number 18; whitethorn the stars that gave ancient bearings Be grabn, still be understood. These lines urge pack to mobilise the knowl jar against of the past, and be able to understand it. The visualize itself is easy to tangency to the line (it is a picture of stars) however, due to the accompaniment that it is make in the old style, the pictures full nub toiletnot be understood, except by someone whom knows how to interpret and understand the ancient symbolism of Aboriginal art. This introduces the i dea that, for the knowledge of the past to be in ful! l realised, it must be understood. The succeeding(a) page now returns to the idea of life as a journey, by claiming the unmarried a traveller, introducing the mentation that life should be true(p) for all, and that the safe good deal must point out those whom grant been alienated, and cooperate those whom have been forgotten. It does this in the lines, may all(prenominal) aircraft fly sheet safely, whitethorn every traveller be found, The concept of condom in life is emphasised by the colour of the background; a calm, finespun green. In the illustration, the audience is placed in the point of count on of someone inside of a safe aircraft, who is looking out of the window. Directly outside of the window, the slant is a serene blue; precisely around the windows red, orange, and yellow - colours with danger connotations - edges, another scene forms. A sole(a) traveller, who could be anyone due to its enigmatical colour and unknown gender, stands scattered and alone , unsafe and helpless upon the aircrafts wing; sur go by a muddied sky with the solely hope of help being from the person in the plane, who is the knockout of the picture. This calls upon the dish, as a traveller of life safely within the walls of the aircraft, to help the lost person, to find the traveller; and puts the viewer in the spot wild, reservation the point that; if you wont, who will?Upon the next page, the two lines read; May straw hats in crossing the ocean Not examine the cries of the drowned. The same layout as before is used, except on this page, two pictures instead of one, argon used. The background is blue, which has links to tears (cries), tactual property blue, the ocean, and the uniform of a sailor. The first picture appears to be a symbolic representation of someone battling once once against lifes troubles (i.e. a sailor crossing the ocean), fish call from the sea as strong drink of the drowned, the unknown sea thrashes and churns, maculation the yellow sky swirls above a obliterate in the mou! th boat riding the crest of a wave. In the next picture, one of lifes travellers has heard the cries of the drowned, and joined them. However, in the background of this picture, there is land, showing that even at the smite times, there is still hope. In both of these, the idea of the hu valet de chambre race-to-man travelling the ocean or river of life, in a boat, is reintroduced. The main point made by the last two lines of this stanza, and their retain illustrations, is that life has ups and downs, and not to succumb and relinquish ones self to heartsickness at ones lowest points, because, as was stated on the first page, is restated on this page, and is stated again on the last page, no one stomach know what the future holds. May gardens be wild, like jungles, May spirit neer be tamed, ar the first lines in the next stanza of the poem. The pages have a yellow, earthy-brown, palm-frond-patterned background, which connotates record and jungles. The picture, with its complete absence of straight lines, and blurred movement, makes the point that nature is never rigid and constrained, only free to do some(prenominal) it wishes. This point is reinforced in the bank less waterfalls, and the rounded bead faces. The flock in the picture inhabit to draw guardianship to the relationship between nature and deal, and says that the people of the twenty-first century, like those in the picture whom argon neither move to split or control nature, must harmoniously co- outlive with it nature, and not travail to tame it, plainly to acknowledge its freedom, and grasp the fact that nature is not for man to control, provided is untameable, it is wild and free. May dangers take of us heroes, reads the next line. The background of this page is a splattered, cameo green, which, on with the mateship displayed in the picture, connotates war. However not all heroes be born(p) of violence, as is shown in the midshot (inviting the viewer into the scene) picture of a boy jumping off the exonerate of a hay! stack, and his friends jolly him on. The sear and white photography, setting, and attire of the people in the picture appear to be from an old time, a time of simpletonton values, and simple heroics. At first glance, it appears that the boy in the picture is a hero because he did something that was dangerous, but this is not the case. He is a hero because he made people intelligent by facing the danger. This goes on to show the true meaning of the line. That we must evermore have people that go out of their way, or face danger, to help others whom be in need. The boy symbolises that anyone can be a hero. That anyone, and everyone, must help those in need. May fears incessantly have names reads the next line of the poem. The keyword in the background (fear) is hidden among tendrils of paint, first introducing the concept that, even though the name of the fear may be hidden, it unendingly exists, fears always have names. The illustration is dark, with soft, runny brushstrokes that depend to throw true meaning. At first, it appears to be a picture of fears, peeping between the trunks and branches of trees, but upon pixilatedr watchfulness, it is revealed that the fears are not fears at all, but people, experiencing that which we fear. The people in the picture are in agony, some cry at the side of a dead love one, others meet cry out in pure pain. Then, last(a)ly, the viewer notices a horseman in between the trees and realises two things. The first is the reference to the Myall Creek Massacre and the next was that the fears were created by people, the fears have names, and their name is the evil of humankind. It asks us to think back our evil, and asks the people of this new century not to repeat the evils past committed, or else, like the symbolic dove upon the pictures left, peace will run away the world. The next page, and its two lines, May the mountains stand to remind us Of what it meat to be young, now berate about the impermanence of ju venility, and the importance of the wise. There are a! gain two pictures. In the first picture - a faithful seamed photograph - great mountains, symbolizing the vast importance, knowledge, wisdom and consider of the old, stand in the background with rays of clean-living dropping upon them; while in the foreground, a vast plane of rocks, younger, little versions of the mountains that shade them in comparison, stand to show the true importance of the memories of the old, in comparison to the inexperience of the young. The second picture is a soft lined painting (symbolizing the impermanence of being young) of two youths embracing and in love. They are shown next to a shell, which puts them on a symbolic scale. It makes the point that, if these two youths are dwarfed by a shell, and a shell will be dwarfed by a rock, such as those seen in the picture on the gelid page, how tiny they are, how fleeting their time as youth if they are to sustain into the giant mountains, how petty their memories and experiences in comparison to the mo untains. It is through this symbolic scale that the illustrations remind us of what it means to be young. The nett lines of this stanza reads; May we be outlived by our daughters, May we be outlived by our sons. This line is different from the rest of the poem in that its meaning is transparent and obvious, and that this line is actually a prayer for the long and happy lives of our children. The pictures add to the text, in that they are pictures of people from different ethnic groups, and that they join united at the edge of each picture, showing that it refers to the entire people of the twenty-first century, they are not our children in a literal sense, but are the children of humanity. It prays that, even though there will be hardships in life, as is mentioned many an(prenominal) times before and is symbolised by the dismal and white colour scheme of the older children, the new generation, as with the generations before them, must live through them, and continue - as is symb olised in yellow colour of the background of the page! - to illumination on like the sun, outliving those before us. Historys importance is again brought up in the final stanza, with the opening line being: May the bombs rust away in the bunkers, May the eschaton clock not be rewound, The lines ask the new century not to use mankinds evil, even though they do and always will exist; they then ask humanity not to repeat past mistakes, even though we will always have the electromotive force difference to. The background is patterned by gears, and the emphasised keyword this time is rewound, displaying that the main idea of these lines is to make the point that we must never repeat our past mistakes. The gears are also straggle of the crack of doom clock, which is simply referring to time and chronicle itself. The picture shows text from what appears to be newspaper articles, which refer to injustices throughout history to the natural peoples of Australia, which hold some of the greatest evils of this countrys history. The many pic tures at the top of the image show the faces of the many sufferers of evil, from a small child, to a grown man. The theme of war is again brought up with the word bombs in the first line, and the image of a man from Picassos Guernica, a painting about the suffering of innocents as bombs dropped on their city. For many people, that day was their doomsday. It once again brings up the issue that humankind itself is what causes people the most pain and suffering. Overall, the pages ask the people of the 21st century never to use humankinds evil again. The next page continues the theme of war, with a reference to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the scrap World War. The line reads May the solitary scientist working, take to be the holes in the ground and the single, hand drawn illustration, is of a large and powerful solitary scientist in his own solitary world, admiring and overawed of his solitary discovery; while behind him his discoveries explode over a desolate plain on which the only survivors are a small, helpless man an! d woman, silhouetted against the bleak white illuminance(a) thrown across a vast landscape, and upon them from evil inventions that exist to destroy. It asks the people that will shape this new century to commend that every single action has consequences, and that knowledge can just as easily be used for the evil of bombs, as it can be used for the good of curing cancer. It tells people to look into the past, in order to shape the new centurys future for the better. May the knife remain in the holder, May the clout nail stay in the gasoline, These penultimate lines continue the theme give tongue to in the first stanza, that even though we have the potentiality and the means to carry out evil, the people of the 21st ascorbic acid must never do so. The page is extremely unbiased in relation to the pictures - the bullet is being put into the flatulence and must remain there and the skeleton has been skinned with a knife - however, in the skeleton picture, the body is made up of many different cut up body parts, making the new point that we should not use evil upon anyone, unperceptive of who they are, or what they believe in. The final lines of this prayer are as follows: May those that live in the shadows Be seen by those in the sun. Upon the pages surrounding these lines, are two pictures, one of footsteps on a beach with a mans shadow crossing their passage; the other of a silhouetted man lead along a beach with a beam of sunlight floating on the waves of the sea. Both pictures are in black and white, emphasising the ideas of shadows and sun. The blue background is the same textured blue as at the very first page of the poem, and is sea-spray like in appearance. The theme of these final two pages, is very simple, to help others, and this idea can be seen throughout the illustrations. The picture of the footprints, reminds of the Christian story of how Jesus carried the man over the sand, and through lifes shadows. This makes the point that, som etimes, others need to be carried through hard times.! The shadow crossing the path of the footsteps represents a dark time in the life of the person that made them but this shadowed part is only a mere subdivision of the whole, a symbolic representation that life does have deep darkness, but for the most part, it is light. The next picture across, the one of the runner, continues this idea; and also adds to it. This time, the sea is used s a metaphor for life, and, as first mentioned on the page about sailors, the sea can be in many states. The repetition of the motif of both light and shadows making up life is displayed on the surface of the sea, where the thick beam of light shines and glistens, while at the edges, shadows and darkness can be seen. However, and again, there is more light in the picture than there is shadow. The illustration of the silhouetted man running along the beach, making his own path in the sand, appears - at first glance - to show that he himself is in a shadowed stage in life. However, on close inspec tion something appears to be in his arms, if you look very closely, you can see that he is carrying something. This man is not the Christian messiah; this man is an ordinary person, showing simple, yet powerful heroics as mentioned antecedent in this book. He further demonstrates that we all can be heroes, even without obvious physical dangers, just by constituent someone. This final line is a hope. It is a hope that maybe, just maybe, in the 21st Century; we can all stand and walk together, in the light of the future. This simple yet dependable poem of hope and fear effectively reached out to, and appealed to me, the localise audience and a child of the 21st Century. It was mysterious and labyrinthian in some places, yet simple luxuriant to be understood by the intended reader. It is a thought exhilarating read to be understood more and more with wisdom and experience. Now it is just a question, first comprise in the photograph of the boy on the front cover - one side of his face in darkness, the other in light - as to whe! ther this generation of young rocks will grow up, come back the past, not repeat its mistakes, and one day be grandiloquent mountains. Then we will write a new prayer, for a new century. By George Harris. Bibliography:http://www.johnmarsden.com.au/home.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Marsden_(writer)http://www.judyoz.com/ccp0-display/john-marsden-books-tomorrow-ellie-novels-australian-fiction.htmlhttp://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/m/john-marsden/ If you penury to get a full essay, order it on our website: OrderEssay.net

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