Speech

A sense of belonging for an individual is shaped within personal, cultural, historical and social contexts, although often plagued with gateways and barriers. This sense of belonging is represented profoundly in the in the central text, "Swallow the Air" which is a novel written by Tara June Winch, and the related text "Not in India", which is a poem written by Sadi Hussain. Both these texts acquit that an individual's path to belonging is plagued with obstacles, however, overcoming these barriers and obstacles leads to the individual finding their sense of belonging.   Relate to thesis

Obstacles in the path to an individual’s belong restricts them from successfully obtaining their sense of belonging and this is represented in both texts.
In the novel we are introduced to the protagonist of the novel May. Readers can understand that May is going through an extremely arduous time, due to the suicide of her mother representing an extremely hostile family. Tara June Winch uses a variety of textual features in order to emphasize the loss of May's sense of belonging due to the suicide of her mother. A quote that represents this is, "I stopped feeling like I belonged. Anywhere", through the truncated sentence it emphasizes the loss of her mother, and how because of it, it has lead her to feel segregated from her family aswell as her cultural heritage. This forces the reader to empathize with May, and understands her pain. This is reinforced by the quote, "When me and Billy lost our mother, we lost ourselves", which exemplifies the distraught that the loss of her mother has brought to the family. The barriers May faces are further emphasized in the chapter "Bleeding Palms", in which May is referred to as a "little coon" by white Australians. Tara June Winch effectively uses colloquial emotive language to demonstrate the hatred in which these antagonists have towards May, referring to her as a "dumb black bitch". This positions us as readers to empathise with May, and...