“Dear even more random street people”, p. 79
Olivia challenges people’s assumptions towards people with a disability.
She wants people to realise that people with a disability might feel tired and grumpy after a difficult day and may be blunt or snappy. Just as people without a disability struggle with being polite all the time, so too does Olivia.
She may respond in personal and idiosyncratic ways – she may not want a seat on public transport, or she may request a seat because of the crowded conditions. One cannot make singular and automatic assumptions.
Olivia resists the stereotypes of people with disabilities.
Oliva includes a series of imperative sentences – “don’t grab my cane”; “don’t pat my dog”; “don’t just ignore me”; “don’t touch me without permission” – to appeal to members of the public to respect her personal space and to treat her with as an individual with similar needs, wants and feelings.
Page 79
In her letter to “dear teachers of music”, Olivia criticises the compulsion to make things “compulsory” and necessary. By implying that music was her “only option”, it became a burden – a source of pain — rather than a source of delight.
She blames teachers for twisting her passion – “you took something I loved and twisted it into something compulsory” – thereby robbing her of the simple pleasure of music.
She also believes that the assumptions made by others meant that she did not pursue alternative pathways that may have been more suitable to her talents.
Olivia explains that she buckled under the weight of others’ expectations – “it was a huge struggle to wiggle my way out from underneath them”.
In Olivia’s final letter to “Dear Mum”, she pays tribute to her mother’s fighting spirit. She extols her mother’s many virtues – and most importantly to her fighting spirit.
Her mother taught her to “demand what she deserves”. Her mother put “fire and steel into my head and heart” and helped her to take charge of her life.
Above all her mother taught her to fight against prejudice and resist the numerous labels that one invariably attaches to someone with a disability.
Compare Olivia’s letters and Dylan’s speech. Include quotes from Dylan’s speech.
Sentence structures – See Grammar book
- Include tripling devices – see p. 36-38
- Use different ways of quoting: dashes to embed the clause – 41-44
- Use where possible some nominals – underline the noun phrase – see p. 34
See An Australian Anthology: a snapshot of literary landscapes