Interpretation of the Topic: Difference

[Difference n. The state or relation of being different; dissimilarity.]
Diversity; asymmetry; deviation; non-conformity; antithesis; dissemblance; aberration; divergence.
Difference.
It both unites and divides us.
It’s what makes some people special and others “freaks”.
It causes wars and yet creates life itself.

Throughout this folio I have explored difference in an array of different forms. From difference within relationships in the heart-wrenching Go Ask Alice to social and political contrasts and changes in the film Hair, a fun yet passionate film set in the time of the conscription to Vietnam; and the article Women the Life of the Party about Julia Gillard and the rising number of other women in politics who are pushing the “glass ceiling” higher and higher. This theme of “breaking the glass ceiling” is echoed in Role Model Leona to Teach Kids Hope.

The untitled poem by an unknown author will resonate as one of the most powerful piece of writing I will ever read and highlights the difference between the innocent world of infancy and the corrupting world of adolescence and eventual adulthood.

My composing task forced me to think about and discuss my personal feelings of difference; this time in regard to my relocation from the city to The Hunter six years ago; an experience I found difficult to say the least.

I originally felt this assignment would be simple; merely a collage of racism, sexism and general prejudice. As it happens, while this discrimination is based on difference, there is much more to the subject area. This assignment has helped me to see some of the more positive differences in our world.

This said, it also illuminated some even darker differences. The untitled poem brings to light the disillusionment of adolescence and the pain of growing up in contrast to the innocence of childhood. Meanwhile, young girl is isolated and lost in a world she doesn’t understand; abandoned through her parents’ ignorance in Go Ask Alice because of the dissimilarity between a new generation and their elders.

Concluding, although too often the negative differences in our lives far out way the positive; human life requires difference. Without difference we are not all the same; we do not exist. Without difference there is no evolution, no growth; without difference there is nothing.
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