Distinctly Visual - Henry Lawson

Compare how composers use specific language forms and features to create unique images in the readers head.
Composers allow us to explore new ideas and emotions through the use of theme and language, creating a distinct image in the minds of many readers. The use of descriptive language can be capable of capturing the attention of a nation over decades and Henry Lawson was one such composer who did just that, as he spoke a language that travelled everywhere. His short stories ‘The Drover’s Wife’ and ‘The Loaded Dog’ presents us with the negative image and tough conditions of the bush life and the gender inequities of the time. In contrast, Dorothea Mackellar writes about life in the outback portraying a positive image of living in the countryside whilst at the same time suggesting a negative view of living there. Both composers convey the connection to the land, the concept of Australian spirit and also the feeling of loneliness.
Henry Lawson effectively makes the story of the central character in ‘The Drover’s Wife’ symbolic to all Australian women in her position, through the use of a narrator and the avoidance of using the bush woman’s name. Lawson uses visual imagery to describe the bushland surrounding the house and his careful choices of words turns the attention of the audience towards his negativity about the bush, which begins immediately in this story. “Stunted, rotten native apple trees. Nothing to relieve the eye. Bush with no horizon, for the country is flat.” Throughout these sentences Lawson stresses many negative words which illustrates how hard it is to survive in the outback, describes how there are no distinctive features and portrays the bush as an unfriendly place to live. Lawson also creates a negative visual representation of the children through the use of descriptive adverbs such as “four ragged dried up looking children” and the use of the word “urchins” conveyed strong negative connotations to his 19th Century audience, although the...