Peter Skrzynecki

	Analysis	Supporting evidence	Connections to other texts
Purpose
Audience
Situation
Structural features of texts	Analysis	Supporting evidence	Connections to other texts
Reproduction of old leather bound book	Initiates the reader into an experience that involves the past and things that are valued, like books and photographs and memories.	Cover of the book: back and front Cracked and worn leather binding. Wear on the edges of the book. Worn lettering. Crease in the 'photo'
Frontispiece and end piece: multiplicity of multicultural faces/portraits	Tan’s story can equally apply to any migrant experience. As a frontispiece it makes that point before reading the book.
Movement from old country to new country		Symbolised in the 'photo' on the front cover: the central character bows to the 'alien' creature. He acknowledges his new home.
Use of multiple snapshots on a page; full page illustration; occasional double page illustration	Tan uses a number of ways to move the story forward: a number of small images can focus on details within a bigger picture; smaller images can lead to the larger image the larger image can show great detail All the images are like photos and postcards, the representations of a journey.		Post card "A postcard sent by a friend Haunts me ... He requests I show it To my parents." Post card "I stare At the photograph And refuse to answer The voices Of red gables And a cloudless sky"
Division into sections - 6
‘alien’ environments ‘alien’ creatures	The creatures and physical environment represent the new and alien people, their culture and the environment where everything is unknown and therefore strange.	The birds flying over the ship The creature who befriends the father	Post card 'Warsaw, Old Town, I never knew you Except in the third person - ... "We will meet Before you die."'
Visual language features of texts	Analysis	Supporting evidence	Connections to other texts
Detailed pencil drawings	Pencil give a softness to the image which is engaging; gives control over the range of tones within the chosen colour of an image; allows control over light and dark within the image	Chap I page 2: notice the way the background is dark allowing an emphasis on the hands and what they are doing Chap II pages 3-4: notice the variations from frame to frame in colour and tone and in the shapes of the clouds Chap II page 2-3: ship moves from relative light (the known) into a darker world (the unknown)
Sepia tones	A brownish tonal quality to old photos. Typical of aged photos	Most pages.	Colour is significant in Crossing the Red Sea
Occasional use of other colours in illustrations	Variation of colour on the page of clouds as father sails to the new country – lighter, darker, blue/gray – represent the variations in the weather and the sky on the journey and therefore also the passing of time.	Chap II pages 3-4 Chap II pages 1 and 2 Chap II page 7 and 9 Chap V pages 4-5; 6-7; 8-9
Reproduction of crinkled paper, creased edges	Gives a sense of being aged as in worn by time and use.	Cover of the book Title and imprint pages Section VI family reunited – notice bottom edge of the image
Lettering/font Calligraphic borders	Use of old style typeface and cursive font on the title page reinforce the sense of the ‘old’	See title page.
References to known images	By using existing images as a source, Tan can create his own worlds that draw on elements of the known worlds. Creates universality about his characters’ experiences and his representation of migration.
Use of film like framing of images to tell the story	Title page: close up of head turned away but looking ahead (a new future?). Viewer is looking down on the figure (high angle) reducing the power of the figure and suggesting the unknown. Chapter 1 Page 1 Close ups of 8 items from different angles: origami bird; clock; hat and cloth; dish and spoon; child’s drawing; steaming teapot; cup and tickets; packed suitcase – images of home and of imminent departure Mid shot at eye level of family group. Page 2 9 Close ups of the packing process – family shot from the previous page; use of hands shows the portrait is significant Page 3 Long shot developed from last image on previous page. Wife’s hand over husband’s suggests her reassurance. Other items in the image are from the first page. Page 4 Introduces the daughter and preparations to depart. Last image is low angle from chills perspective. Page 5 High angle long shot, putting family in perspective: urban setting; undistinguished; shadow of a dragon like tail suggests a need to leave. Page 6 Double page spread puts previous image in context: high angle again; old, urban environment; probably European from the architecture; industrial; multiple dragons tails weave through the streets; family appear small against their environment – bottom left hand page		Crossing The Red Sea "But the gestures Of darkness and starlight Kept our minds Away from the finalities Of surrender - As they beckoned towards A blood-rimmed horizon Beyond whose waters The Equator was still to be crossed." Immigrants at Central Station "Families stood With blankets and packed cases ..." Post card "... Great city That bombs destroyed, It people massacred Or exiled ... Feliks Skrzynecki “… Five years of forced labour in Germany Did not dull the softness of his blue eyes.”
	Chapter II Page 1: Father diminishes in size in each image as his context becomes apparent. Suggests isolation and loneliness. Page 7: taken from images of migrants. Page 8: Origami bird refers back to earlier images at home. Page 9: alien birds flying overhead symbolize the new (and alien) land. Prelude to … Pages 10-11: Reader views to destination from the perspective of the migrants. Harbour has a vague resemblance to New York skyline. Migrants look towards a large representation of greeting. Page 13-18: a selection of images showing disembarkation and the impersonality of the process Page 19: the new world; has a circus quality; foreign symbols – represents the experience for the father Page 20-21: the new world is urban and highly developed; dominant image of bird like creature nursing an egg – symbolic of a new life Pages 24 – 25: Postcard like images (largely long shots/full figure) like snapshots of the initial experience in the new city. Last image is the father; puzzled; with suitcase. Pages 32-33: Opening the suitcase is a reminder of home; importance of the family portrait. Juxtaposed against diminishing image of the father in the context of the vast building, of which his room is one.		Crossing the Red Sea “Many slept on deck Because of the day’s heat Or to watch a sunset They would never see again …” Migrant Hostel “For over two years We lived like birds of passage … Unaware of the season Whose track we would follow …” Immigrants at Central Station Feliks Skrzynecki “… Did your father ever attempt to learn English?” Immigrants at Central Station "... And space hemmed us Against each other Like cattle bought for slaughter" Migrant Hostel “Nationalities sought each other out instinctively – Like a homing pigeon Circling to get its bearings; Years and place names Recognised by accents … Feliks Skrzynecki “… Talked, they reminisced …”
	Chapter III
	Chapter IV
	Chapter V Pages 8-9: recurring images – the portrait and the origami bird Pages 10-11: father’s family arrives
	Chapter VI Page 1: origami and portrait with subtle changes Page 2: Repeats aspects of the image in Chapter 1 on Page 3 with changes due to new context. Pages 5-6: daughter represents their assimilation into their new world