>Date: Mon, 02 Jun 2003 12:23:55 +1000
>To: Majordomo@list.schools.nsw.edu.au
>From: Peter Skrzynecki <p.skrzynecki@uws.edu.au>
>Subject: Re: Majordomo results
>
>Good morning, thank you for your introductions and questions.
>
>In response to NSIT, ESL
>
>Quest. 1
>Chronic Ward was written in response to Ken Kesey's One Flew OIver the
>Cuckoo's Nest. The poem is about attempted suicides. Why it was set on the
>HSC, I do not know. You can see it as another group of marginalised people -
>as are the imiigrants - and/or you can see the poem as a metaphor for
>suffering. "At the state's expense, ..." etc.. In the novel there are 2
>groups of patients - those whom their families have put into the hospital,
>and those who have admitted themselves...and this 2nd group can leave at any
>time ...The poem has nothing whatsoever to do with the Catholic Church or
>any church...Yes, the subject matter is very different from the other poems
>but you must realise that it also demonstrates a changing persectives in
>the way society dealt with people who were mentally sick -then - and how it
>does today. Today, we no longer perform lobotomies - they are illegal. We
>treat people with love and compassion (refs. to Christ and Buddha....)
>Mental illnesses are talked about today - e.g. depression...You may compare
>it to other social matters where there has also been a change in
>perspective, e.g. domestic violence and sexual abuse.
>
>Quest. 2 Yes, Feliks is portrayed as a man of flesh and blood - a working
>class man. Kornelia...is more of a spirit - she belongs to nature...She is
>all about earth, wind, fire and rain...Please note that all the images of
>her are elemental images. She is not meant to be negative but remember this:
>she was a single Mum during the war - I was born just before World War II
>ended and she had a very hard life. Put yourself in her shoes. She had to be
>tough to survive; but she was grateful for the child she had - note her
>saying at the end. If she lost me, her world becomes a world of total
>darkness. She is really saying that her child is the light in her life...
>That is how I wanted to portray her.
>I don't choose a style. I write instinctively but the images of nature are
>images that illustrate what a hard life she had...Rememer:she was Ukrainian,
>but was in Germany when the war broke out and she got caught up in
>world/European events that controlled her life...She had a very hard life
>until she met Feliks when I was three years old and they married...She had
>to be "hard", "tough", in order to survive...
>
>Quest. 3 Poetry IS open to all sorts of interpreations. I am not
>prescriptive on how you choose to "answer" a poem...Indeed, it is sometimes
>asked, why study poetry. Well, I ask, why not ? For me, it is my way of
>coming to terms with what happens in my life. Others compose music or paint
>pictures. My answer to your last part is: Keep an open mind. Be receptive to
>what poetry has to offer. In the end, you will learn about the poem but,
>more importantly, you will learn about yourself
>Best wishes. I hope this is of some help.
>Peter Skrzynecki.At 11:32 AM 26/05/03 +1000, you wrote:
>>--
>>
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