Belonging St. Patricks College

Belonging; St. Patricks College

'The subject of the poem is the poet's school experience. It presents the school as a place where he never feels he truly belongs,

Do you agree? Identify the techniques used to present the perspective of belonging and support your response with extensive textual detail

The poem St. Patricks College presents feelings of regret, disdain, and sarcasm all which provide the exposition of not belonging to the catholic ethos and generally school's ambience. Peter Skrzynecki in writing this poem uses irony, tone, sarcasm and motifs to convey the idea that he did not truly belong to St Patricks or benefit from the school, even though it was seen as "what was best".

"That darkness around me wasn't "for the best" before I let my light shine out" Skrzynecki uses multiple layers of irony referring to his mothers comment in stanza one "Wanting only "what was best".", as well as the school motto " Luceat Lux Vestra" or 'let your light shine'. The strategic use of this layering creates an emphasised meaning, and referring to his schooling as darkness, shows that in fact he felt oppressed by his school, rather than privileged as common view would tell him. The disdained tone in the recount shows that he felt no connection to his school and that he felt as though he never truly belonged.

Secondly Skrzynecki used sarcasm in the line "I carried the blue, black and gold I'd been privileged to wear:" to highlight the forced sense of belonging that Peter feels. This sarcasm also emphasises the fact as though he sees the school as a burden, and he is not particularly proud to wear his school colours. Another example of sarcasm is in the lines "Prayed that Mother would someday be pleased with what she'd got for her money" The sarcasm in this refers to reality that he got nothing out of his schooling at St Pats, even after the sacrifices his mother made financially for "what was best". This quote also provides us with the a double meaning of the word 'Mother' referring back to the motif of Mother Mary and the religious ethos that had no affect on peter as well as personify his own mother to near the status of a saint. The clever use of sarcasm and the motif of Mary present the perspective that the sense of belonging was forced upon him and that he never really actually felt as though he truly belonged to Catholicism or mainly to the school in general.

Ultimately, it is apparent that in the poem St. Patricks College the poet feels a false sense of belonging, that causes him from truly feeling accepted and as though he truly belonged to the community. Peter Skrzynecki uses numerous poetic techniques to present