Part one: Discursive writing

Is it possible to have a crush on a novel? Reading this play I found myself become
truly encapsulated by a feeling of love and connection with the text. This book
sanctioned me to optically canvas through divergent perspectives. A Beautiful life is
a stout-hearted and emotional piece written in 1998 By Michael Futcher and Helen
Howard as it works to wire up your inner emotions taking you on a breath-taking
journey. One particular theme that drew my attention was justice. Justice is built
within our society, it is the matter of equity and fairness that holds our societies
together. I believe if there was no justice the world would be a corrupt and unfair
place. In my opinion this play explores the injustice and prejudice faced by the
Australian regime towards a Iranian family. Additionally, it outlines how the Iranian
culture had a large impact on their persecution in Australia.

The family’s Iranian cultural heritage has a significant impact and even jeopardizes
their settlement in Australia. From my point of view the prejudice and racism towards
refugees in Australia is conveyed through the character Brendan (lawyer of Hamid)
as he exemplifies Australia’s racist and uneducated point of view. “BRENDAN: It’s a
pity we don’t speak Arab -JHILA: We are Iranian, Is Farsi- BRENDAN: Same
difference” (Pg.21-22, A1, S5). This quote portrays the discrimination and
antagonism which is present in the Australian nation. Along with the widespread
ignorance of several individuals in Australia with regards to the plight of immigrants. I
believe that their Iranian heritage straight away lead to their persecution due to the
racism and nescience of individuals. Furthermore, we can understand that their
cultural background leads to their hardships and persecution in Australia.

In my opinion the Australian government pressures refugees into learning the

western values and requisites. Hamid’s court battle in Australia depicts him as a
terrorist as he addresses; HAMID: In Western World, as you know, a lot of court
judgements affected by media.” (Act 1, scene 4). Moreover, it is my firm belief that
this quote demonstrates the violence and the media image of ‘terrorism’ in Muslim
countries like Iran and how it definitely has a major impact on the government’s
decision. Therefore, due to the image of the Iranian region the Australian regime
endeavours to transmute the values and culture of the individuals in order for them
to not be the ‘terrorists’ they envision of them to be. The media’s strong impact is
additionally expressed through his imprisonment in the Australian jail. In opposition
of Malcom X’s quote the book A Beautiful life emphasizes that the truth doesn’t
matter unless the person stating is an honest and legitimate individual.

The Judgemental factor has a major impact on the injustice which occurs throughout
the play .“BRENDAN: A bunch of Muslim fanatics wrecking a building and ranting
bloody slogans to Allah. Would you bail them.” In my view this quote emphasizes the
level of judgment in society and worldwide and how the perception of a specific
group can lead to discrimination. These assumptions made by Brendan further
expresses the injustice in which the family faces.

On the other hand, there is a range of different perspectives I would relish to

perceive for instance the Australian government is only attempting to maintain a
tranquil and harmonious environment for all individuals in the nation. It is known that
the Australian government does everything for the best of everyone meaning that
they would get the so called ‘terrorists’ out of the country and create a peaceful
environment for all. In Australia, this is a commonly held view, Moreover I personally
believe that this is just racism and discrimination towards Iranians and Muslims.

Justice is a vital aspect globally as it is the pillar that holds together communities. In
the play A Beautiful life we explore the justice and the prejudice towards the
miserable family. In my opinion, I believe that Malcolm X has said a very strong and
influential quote. This quote allowed me to have a greater appreciation for the play
as I looked at it from a better perspective. I personally felt connected to the idea of
justice as my family has gone through injustice due to our Kurdish Race. Throughout
my whole life, I felt the injustice deep inside me as us Kurds don’t have a country.
We are oppressed and don’t have our essential rights as an ethnic group. I indeed
have an emotional attachment towards this play. To conclude I firmly believe that
justice has significantly enhanced A Beautiful life as it was a major and essential
factor in the play.

Part 2-Rationale

The discursive text was a different task to complete as I had never completed one
before. In spite of this I now have a better idea of a discursive text and its overall
process. The process I found very efficient and used to complete my discursive
includes of the steps below:
1. Brainstorming
2. Research
3. Plan arguments
4. Find evidence
5. Complete a draft
6. Write it out
7. Edit and finalize
These steps wore very easy to use and allowed my final product to be further
successful. The theme I used for my discursive was Justice, the reason I chose
justice was because justice links and overviews most of the events in the book.
Moreover, in the play justice plays a big role in shaping the play. I connected with the
play in a high level as I have immigrant parents and having a just legal system
makes such a big difference.

The literary feature I chose was The Nick Cave Song That Changed My Life, The
New Yorker. I chose this specific feature as it had a great context. The love and
connection I had with A Beautiful life was also expressed in the nick cave song as
the author also had a connection with the song. This play allowed me to take a
deeper appreciation to Michael Futcher and Helen Howard as they have created this
amazing masterpiece from a real story. The way I included this feature into my
discursive text was in the beginning of my introduction. I made my introduction the
same perspective of the literary feature; As in the Nick cave song... it states in the
start: ‘s it possible to have a crush on a song? The way that I listen when I’m truly
enthralled by a particular piece of music certainly feels like a crush’. The way I added
this sector was different as mine was about a play not a song. I wrote/stated; ‘Is it
possible to have a crush on a novel? Reading this play I found myself become truly
encapsulated by a feeling of love and connection with the text.’ In summary both the
theme and feature I specially picked added great depth and meaning into the
discursive text. These factors contributed and allowed me to further understand and
complete the discursive text with joy.