Supercalifragilisticexpiali-guilty?

Reflection

Hi there - thanks for your interest in my work.

I actually wrote this piece as a part of an HSC Major Work for Extension 2 English (A Year 12 course in Australia) and am looking forward to getting feedback on it as although it was marked as a part of my HSC - I (like everyone else) never got feedback for it. So I really want to know if you, my readers, like it or not.

I've uploaded the pdf (which contains original formatting and pictures) of it at the 'external link button' paired with this story if you wish to read it how it was originally presented (altogether). Also, as an author, I was able to create a reflection statement in which I get to explain and analyse my own story - this will be posted in the final part of this story. I have a feeling transferring it to here will throw out the formatting a bit - please see the pdf.

Thanks again and keen to get your feedback! (Literally - I want to know if you like it!)

-Desterman

Reflection Statement

Supercalifragilisticexpiali-guilty?

‘Mary Poppins arrives with the wind, and intervenes in the lives of ordinary humans, making magic, but never admitting that it has taken place.’1 Originally created by P.L. Travers within Mary Poppins2, this character has no given history and is one of the most paradoxical characters of classical literature. For this reason, my short story investigates the possibilities of Mary’s background, upbringing and opinions regarding society. I also aim to highlight the alienation of children from their parents when the nuclear family is broken through the introduction of an outsider. These issues involve estrangement of children from their parents and childhood neglect as parental responsibilities become those of said outsider. Such insight comes from personal observation of neighbourhood Au Pair interactions and artistic interpretation of the issue through The Nanny Diaries3 which explores similar complications of introducing strangers into the home. Supercalifragilisticexpiali-guilty? acts as an appropriation of a conical text in the style of how Wicked4 skilfully manipulates characters and themes which appropriates The Wizard of Oz5 for modern audiences. My appropriation uses allusions to the original texts so that the authenticity of my characters is maintained and the original charm of Mary Poppins is not lost on contemporary audiences.

Supercalifragilisticexpiali-guilty? is aimed towards 18-19 year old females who can easily, emotively connect with themes of family disassociation. At this stage in an individual’s life, they remember their childhood memories as they value their upbringing before moving into a new stage in life, centred on adult responsibility. Hence not only do the childhood references of Mary Poppins appeal to this audience, they are also able to comprehend complex issues of infantile murder and the disintegration of families when strangers are introduced. This is targeted at a time before they themselves start a family and hence my purpose will inform them of the issues regarding nannies before they commit to planning a family around the presence of a stranger. Nostalgia regarding childhood imagination is created by the comic plot of the story through a highly unorthodox trial and humorous insights into ‘Poppins adventures’ which encourages responders to remember their own childish imaginings. Hence unexplainable, magical events occur within Supercalifragilisticexpiali-guilty? such as ‘As the ring settled down, the glare disappeared... they were no longer in England’6 so that the values of the original texts by P. L. Travers are not undermined by logical, ‘adult’ explanations and that childhood fantasy experiences may be re-lived by responders to emphasise nostalgia.

Throughout the piece, challenging the impact a stranger has on a family has been realised through technical aspects of narrative composition. For example, a newspaper report7 directly addresses the purpose through formal language and a factual tone regarding the problems associated with nannies as it gives the impression of conveying fact. Also character development has created hostile tension between the Banks parents and the nanny, Mary Poppins. This symbolises the family tension and distance which forms between parents and their children when they are neglected. The creation of a realistic setting with unrealistic events, as is needed with Mary Poppins narratives, was challenging to achieve in the length of a short story. Through analysing the language of Australian vernacular in ‘The Gumleaf War’8 short story I learned that a realistic setting can be maintained amidst unlikely happenings efficiently in regards to length through ensuring dialogue and language is appropriate for context. Hence I specifically use Edwardian English vernacular to enforce contextual reality of 1911 England. Shifts between second and third person allows the narrative to have a cyclical structure inspired by Snow Falling on Cedars9 which enables past events to be revealed alongside present events in which the responder is encouraged to be a part of through second person. ‘Trial for Murder’10 also taught me about manipulating a Jury setting within a short story and how the narrative may be broken into specific sections appropriate for organising the thoughts of responders, similar to the way an epigraphy does. Hence, this epigraphy style is reinforced through the presentation of Supercalifragilisticexpiali-guilty? as a court file in which images are included in each part’s division. These depict events and characters from the narrative and are drawn in pencil to mimic the contextual feature of hand-drawn court portraits.