“Be Good, Little Migrants” Identity & Belonging Outcome 2

Vocabulary Migrant [noun].- Someone that relocates from one place (country, region) to another. Oppression [noun].- The use of authority in a cruel or unjust manner. Gratitude [noun].- The quality of being thankful. Faithful [adjective].- True to one’s promises; loyal. Leisure [noun].- Freedom from work or duty; when one can rest or enjoy hobbies. Sunday School [noun].- A school were Christianity is taught to children.

Summary 1.-This poem is intended to portray the Australians’ point of view on migrants and how they should behave. 2.-It implies that Australia has saved the migrants from an otherwise terrible destiny and therefore they should be grateful and behave in an ‘appropriate’ way. 3.-It says that migrants must keep their issues and violence within their own culture to avoid ‘bothering’ Australian citizens.

4.- This poems implies that for a migrant to be fully accepted in this western society they must be willing to betray their own culture and their own people. 5.-It also says that migrants can be successful but only eventually and by shaping the next generations in their families into the Australian way of life.

“Be good, little migrants
We’ve saved you from starvation
war, landlessness, oppression
Just display your gratitude
but don’t be heard, don’t be seen” The author is implying that migrants come from a disadvantaged background and that by coming to Australia they have been “saved” and thus they must be grateful and display their gratitude in a way that doesn’t bother the Australian people (“don’t be heard, don’t be seen”).

“…avoid unions, and teach children
respect for institutions Be good, little migrants
You may fight one another, but
attend Sunday School, learn manners
keep violence within your culture…” In this stanza the author is saying that for migrants to be accepted in the Australian community they must adapt to their way of life. It says they must teach their children this way of life. It also says that they must attend to Sunday School, so they can share the Australians’ religion even if this means abandoning their culture, as long as it means becoming an accepted part of the Australian community.

“In time, you’ll reach excellence 
Just waste a few generations.” This quote is implying that immigrants can eventually become an important part of the Australian community; although the generation that first arrives in Australia might not be able to do so. These words also say that if you are an immigrant, you might ‘shape’ your children into the Australian way of life so they may one day become an important part of the country, by abandoning their roots and adapting to the Australian culture.

MIGRATION -The main character (Oliveira) migrates from Buenos Aires, Argentina; to Paris, France. -He becomes very involved in the Parisian way of life. BELONGING -Although he is friends with more Argentinian people, Paris becomes the city he loves and the one in which he belongs. -When he goes back to Buenos Aires, he feels like a foreigner, and doesn’t feel the love for his home country he once felt.

IDENTITY -He realises his identity resides in Paris now, but he’s had many troubles there so he has to stay in Argentina, feeling he doesn’t belong there. Sometimes we might belong somewhere different than our home country.

Identity & Belonging It is important to embrace your culture and not to let society’s pressure make you abandon it. It can be hard migrating to another place where the culture is different to your own, but it is important to find a balance between your way of life and the one from the place you’ve migrated to. Sometimes our culture might have values that are different to the culture in which we live. We must respect other people’s values and other place’s codes of conduct in order to achieve a social harmony.

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