Distinctly Visual Essay Example

passing train, using the motif of an artist to depict what the passenger sees. To provide variety, the artist might create a water-colored sketch of a fettler's tent on the line. Lawson consistently employs descriptive language to build vivid images, utilizing the artist motif to convey scenes visually. Overall, "In a Dry Season" adopts a harsh tone but incorporates black humor and paradox to provide breaks in the seriousness. Lawson's statement that "Death is about the only cheerful thing in the bush" aims to soften the harshness of bush life and allow readers to grasp its severity and bleakness through black humor.

Similarly, the painting titled "Down on His Luck" by Frederick McCubbin depicts the hardships of bush life using visual techniques rather than language. In the painting, a man is shown alone in the bush, sitting next to a fire and his swag, gazing down at the ground. The man's sad expression reflects his discontentment and disappointment, as well as the hardships he faces. Additionally, his worn and discoloured clothes highlight the struggles he endures.

The earthy colors of his clothes represent a connection with the land, but the drab trees and plants lacking vivid greens indicate that the flora is alive but struggling to grow, reflecting the man's misfortunes in his land-related work. Lawson characterizes The Drover's Wife as a bleak picture, stating "there is nothing to see and not a soul to meet." The bush wife's experiences mirror the unpleasantness of isolation and living remotely.

This emphasizes the dangers faced by solitary women from unknown men, using the metaphor of "gallows-faced men." The text also depicts the isolated lifestyle of the bush using descriptive language

- "Bush is all around - bush with no horizon, for the country is flat. No ranges in the distance." The repetition of the words "bush" and "no" strengthens the portrayal of abundant bushland and a scarcity of other elements. The imagery of "horizon," "flat," and "distance" suggests a lack of variation in the landscape, creating a sense of monotony.

Lawson's In a Dry Season metaphorically portrays the experience of isolation. According to Lawson, one could reach the edge of eternity in Australia and still encounter a lively swagman who talks about going 'out back'. By using the metaphor of the edge of eternity to represent distance and the metaphor of a mummy to symbolize isolation, Lawson effectively demonstrates how isolated these towns are. Additionally, Lawson's characters use colloquial language in many of his stories to emphasize their connection to Australia and their way of life.

The informal dialect suggests the overall level of education these individuals have obtained, and their limited vocabulary indicates their lack of access to educational resources. "If you want to see the countryside, you need to go out back, young man." The mention of the "out back" and the use of informal language emphasize the feeling of isolation in remote areas. Another example of isolation in In a Dry Season is the monotony described by Lawson; he depicts the "New South Wales Western line" as being surrounded by bush throughout the entire journey.

This suggests an unbrokenness and puts forward the absence of civilization. Additionally, McCubbin's painting Down on His Luck expresses the experience of isolation. The presence of the rolled-up swag suggests that the man depicted in the picture does not have

a town in which he can settle, but instead travels alone through the bush in search of employment. The artwork lacks any form of civilization or cultivated land, but consists solely of plain bush. This, combined with purposely including only one person in the images, reinforces the aspect of isolation in the outback.

The swagman is positioned in the middle ground of the painting, surrounded by a small shrub in the foreground and bush land in the background. This positioning serves to highlight his solitude, reinforcing the theme of isolation. The Australian bush, renowned for its dryness, is portrayed in In a Dry Season through various techniques employed by Lawson. He incorporated the drought experience into his work, capturing the arid nature of the landscape. Anecdotal evidence of the country's dryness on the other side of the Nevertire is relayed within the piece.

"It is," Lawson states, confirming that someone else has described the outback as dry, inland and away from the coast. Furthermore, Lawson expresses his preference for settling near water, indicating his belief that until a comprehensive irrigation system is developed in the West, it remains a stereotypically arid region.

In the concluding part of the story, Lawson mentions camels, stating "At 5. 30 we saw a line of camels moving out across the sunset." This highlights the drought theme, as camels are accustomed to living in arid regions where water is scarce and they can survive with minimal amounts. Furthermore, McCubbin incorporates the drought experience in Down on His Luck. The muted hues and brown shades of the trees and grass, along with the absence of vibrant greens, indicate the scarcity of water and

the resulting inability of plants to thrive.

In The Drover's Wife, Lawson effectively conveys the element of hardship and the man's reliance on the land for prosperity, highlighting the severity of the drought situation. By incorporating imagery and contrasting flashbacks, Lawson continually emphasizes the theme of drought. For example, he describes the landscape as "Nothing to relieve the eye save the darker green sheoaks which are slightly above the narrow, almost waterless creek." This vivid depiction of the creek and the monotonous scenery underscores the complete lack of hydration in the environment.

In the story, the woman has a flashback of a past drought where a bushfire threatened her family. The rain caused the grass to grow, reminding her of when she fought a bushfire alone while her husband was away. The grass was long and dry, putting her at risk of being burnt. The repetition of the "g" sound in "grass grow" emphasizes the growth of the grass. Another flashback contrasts this drought motif as she recalls a time when she fought a flood during her husband's absence. This adds variety to the story. Short stories and images utilize language and visual techniques to depict specific experiences and create a visual image in the viewer's mind. Works by Lawson and McCubbin explore life in the bush during the late nineteenth century. These distinctively visual texts allow readers and viewers to comprehend the text on a visual level.