Year 11 English
Novel Study
How does the novel explore the complexities of navigating multiple cultural identities, and what message does it convey about the importance of cultural heritage and connection?
Looking for Alibrandi is a young adult fiction novel by Australian author Melina Marchetta. The novel gained recognition since its release in 1992 for honestly portraying the challenges that young people face in a multicultural society. The novel centres around Josephine Alibrandi, a 17-year-old girl of Italian descent struggling to find her place in the world amidst the pressures of school, family, and romance. Set in Australia in the 1990s, the novel highlights the challenges of reconciling multiple cultural identities while emphasising
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Josephine’s search for a sense of identity and belonging drives the plot of the novel, as she battles the pressure to conform to societal expectations of what it means to be Italian or Australian. Josephine's statement on page 40, "I’ll run one day. Run for my life. To be free and think for myself. Not as an Australian and not as an Italian and not as an in-between. I’ll run to be emancipated. If my society will let me," emphasises her feelings of being torn between two cultures and her inability to feel entirely accepted in either because she is subjected to Italian cultural expectations and experiences discrimination from her Australian classmates for being an Italian. She wants to be free from the rules and beliefs that other people expect her to follow, which are limiting her. Josephine’s desire to run away and be emancipated from societal expectations is a reflection of the struggle that individuals face when navigating multiple cultural identities. She is acknowledging the impact that cultural identity has on an individual's sense of belonging; as a result, the struggle emphasises the significance of cultural connections and heritage in shaping an individual's …show more content…
Initially, Josephine is resistant to the idea of embracing her Italian roots, as she feels caught between two cultures and struggles to reconcile the expectations of her family with the pressures of Australian society. However, as she starts to explore her family history and bond with her Italian relatives, she begins to recognise the value and intricacy of her cultural heritage. When Josephine first meets her father, Michael Andretti, she is sceptical of his intentions and hesitant to form a relationship with him. However, as she gains more knowledge about his life and experiences, her perspective of him shifts entirely, leading her to a deeper understanding of her identity. Through her journey of self-discovery, Josephine comes to understand that embracing her cultural heritage is not about rejecting her Australian identity, but rather about finding a way to reconcile the two. She achieves this by learning about her family’s history and culture, ultimately recognising the importance of cultural heritage and
Initially, she responds with "none," but in order to better connect with her friend she later mentions her Scottish, English, and Irish ancestry. According to Ehrenreich, her parents emphasized the value of novelty and encouraged her to "think for yourself" and "try new things," which may have been the ideal cultural heritage for a migrant like her. This upbringing made it difficult for her to identify with any ethnic or religious heritage, unlike individuals who are passionate about rediscovering their cultural and traditional
Looking for Alibrandi is a novel about a teenage girl, and as the main character, she has a lot of what she calls ‘problems’ but they more like small speed bumps along the way and is struggling to cope with her teenager existence. Throughout Melina Marchetta’s gripping novel, Looking for Alibrandi, many characters face and retell the issues that make being a teenager just that much more difficult. Seventeen year old, Josephine Alibrandi struggles to cope with her strict Italian mother and grandmother, her family background, the ‘John Barton and the Ivy Lloyd’s of this world, and typical teenage problems like wanting a boyfriend and the pressure of just trying to fit in, until she faces some real issues that not every teen has to face. Including
Throughout the essay, Roman deliberates certain "unacceptable actions. " These certain unacceptable actions included borrowing clothes, sleepovers, and Sunday work, conflict with her mom's traditional Bolivian perspectives. Her mom was stuck in her Bolivian ways unable to accumulate to new customs. She was getting consistent lectures from her mom stating, “We're not American, Andrea.”
In the 1992 novel Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta the plot charts the developing maturity of the protagonist Josie Alibrandi. Her personal growth and quest for freedom is shown through her relationships with Michael Andretti her father, John Barton her best friend and Nonna Katia her grandmother. As Josie states early in the novel “I’ll run one day. Run for my life. To be free and think for myself.
Self is expressed in Frenchie's internal struggle as he faces the harsh realities and challenges of perseverance, and the need to keep persevering to maintain his cultural identity. While Frenchie is struggling to persevere through the hard times, Chi-Boy helps by saying "Sometimes you risk everything for a life worth living, even if you’re not the one that’ll be alive to live it" (Dimaline 137). This gives Frenchie a profound realization that he is not running only for his survival but because his sacrifices may be necessary for a better future, even if he does not personally get to witness this better future. Frenchie's identity as an Indigenous person becomes central to this conflict as he continues on with the burden of preserving his culture and heritage amongst a world determined to exploit it. His lack of perseverance during this critical moment reflects the overwhelming weight of his responsibility and the unknowings of his future.
She thought this was the feeling of freedom and finding out her new identity. To continue and amplify this feeling, the thought of nullifying her mother, who represents the hardship of keeping a distinct cultural background seemed like the way to go. This is when she travels to Wildwood to suppress the idea that she will remain a “slave” to a lifestyle that she does not belong
This embarrassment is exemplified to the audience as Josie’s facial and body language show no interest in celebrating and she leaves halfway through to head off to Bondi Beach. This action along with Josie stating through a voiceover that “This might be where I come from, but do I really belong here?”, displays her non-acceptance of her culture as she attempts to uptake a typical Australian activity instead of a cultural celebration. Conversely, the final scene of the film displays another Tomato Day, the same time next year and we are shown an amazing character development of Josie. Through the long grieving process of her biological Dad reentering her life plus the discovery of Josies Grandfather not being the biological Father of her Mum, Josie learns to accept that family is one of the most important aspects of her life, and she states this by announcing to the audience “I’m Christina and Michael’s daughter and I’m Katia’s granddaughter. And we’re not cursed, we’re blessed.”
This shows the narrator's desire to be independent and powerful, but also realizing how difficult it can be to do so in a society that doesn't often respect such traits in women. This metaphor highlights the struggle between the narrator's desire to establish her identity and strength and the obligations put on her by her parents and
Looking for Alibrandi is about a 17 year old girl, Josephine Alibrandi. She enters her final year of schooling at St Martha’s, in Sydney, Australia, along with her 3 best friends, Sera, Lee and Anna. She must try to overcome racial comments, family issues and dealing with complicated relationships. Although Josie has lived without a father for her whole life, it had allowed her
However, sentimentally, author Judith Ortiz Cofer set main characters through non-territorial eyes to prove an American story allows to also be told by an immigrant. The story develops the point of view of one who receives unfair treatment and faces day to day challenges because of where Elena came to life. After reading the title, readers shall understand the characters set story explains are not considered equally. For example, the quote “The other girls picked up on the “pork chop” and made it into a refrain,” (Cofer 1) clarifies Elena became teased daily for her looks. There later became more than just bullying, for ones crush's mom disapproved of her living spaces either.
The search for identity can be quite an intricate task, especially when the main protagonist involved is a year 12 girl who feels like she doesn’t fit with the world. In Melina Marchetta’s young adult fiction novel, “Looking for Alibrandi”, the theme of identity search takes centre stage. Through the use of language features, characterization, and settings, Marchetta explores this theme in various ways. By employing these literary devices, the author dives deeper into the idea of identity search and provides a richer and more nuanced perspective for the reader.
To have the opportunity to be in this community and get to know its people and learn new stories of this world continues to be the goal of studying abroad through the historical memories of its people. As a hopeless American who still believes humans can be good, I find myself continuously moved by Ann Franks story. The transformation of this young girl changed the world, in my eyes, through her diary. She treasured so much, and learned life was not about commodities but what destruction these commodities produced around the world. The intense energy in the historical site makes the research, the reading, and getting to better understand the situation through her eyes, deeply moving and still impacts my way of thinking and treating other
They feel and become left out when they are with their community’s group of friends. In addition, some older children who came to the United States have a hard time learning a new culture because it was a culture shock to them. There are two major things that become problems in their journey to adopt a new culture; barrier to language and living their lifestyle. While adapting new culture, they have a difficult journey because of the bully, discrimination, and racism that they encounter. Some of these situations that Chin refugees face can be related to how Faith faces her problems with cultures and
Self-identity is defined as the recognition of one's potential and qualities as an individual, especially in relation to social context. In other words, self-understanding. Finding self-identity is more more difficult for some people than others. In the autobiography Black, White, and Jewish: Autobiography of a Shifting Self by Rebecca Walker, the author reflects on her identity as a mixed raced individual which is illustrated through Walker’s reflections. People define themselves in many different ways.
While identity focuses on uniqueness such as how an individual is different from and similar to others, diversity focuses on the range of the difference and uniqueness such as race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, age, physical abilities, religious beliefs, political beliefs, among others. Diversity should be seen as source of strength. However, it can also be a source of violence, oftentimes by those who fear or dislike difference. In the best light diversity is foundation for peacebuilding – since it enables us to draw strength and be respectful of difference. Identity and diversity are linked.