St Patricks College

St Patricks College
The College's crest was designed in 1938 and is made up of three
components:
The Shield: a symbol of strength and fortitude.
The Motto: Those who wear the crest pledge fidelity to the College
motto 'Luceat Lux Vestra', Latin for "Let Your Light Shine".
The Star: the College lights the way to
knowledge and to the Heavenly Father.
The school has a strong sporting focus.

Consider: What do school traditions,
values and the motto Christ is my light
mean to you? How will you remember
your school days?
Activity
In the form of a diary entry, record a time when you
felt isolated at school.
Think about who, what, when, where, why and how.
Remember to include an emotional response to the
incident.
How did you overcome the event?
St Patricks College
For eight years
I walked Strathfields paths and streets,
Played chasings up and down
The stations ten ramps
Caught the 414 bus
Like a foreign tourist,
Uncertain of my destination
Every time I got off.

For eight years
I carried the blue, black and gold
Id been privileged to wear:
Learnt my conjugations
And Christian decorums for homework,
Was never too bright at science
But good at spelling
Could say The Lords Prayer
In Latin, all in one breath.

Impressed by the uniforms
Of her employers sons,
Mother enrolled me at St Pats
With never a thought
To fees and expenses wanting only
What was best.

From the roof
Of the secondary school block
Our Lady watched
With outstretched arms,
Her face overshadowed by clouds
Mother crossed herself
As she left me at the office
Said a prayer
For my future intentions.
Under the principals window
I stuck pine needles
Into the motto
On my breast:
Luceat Lux Vestra
I thought was a brand of soap.

My last day there
Mass was offered up
For our departing intentions,
Our Lady still watching
Above, unchanged by eight years
weather.
With closed eyes
I fervently counted
The seventy-eight pages
Of my Venite Adoremus,
Saw equations I never understood
Rubbed off the blackboard,
Voices at bus stops, litanies and
hymns
Taking the right-hand turn
Out of Edgar Street for good;
Prayed that Mother would someday
be pleased
With what she got for her money
That the darkness around me
Wasnt for the best
Before I let my light shine.
St Patricks College analysis
Quote
Technique Effect how it relates to
belonging/not belonging
impressed by the uniforms/Of her
employers sons
First impressions image and appearance.
Hierarchy looking up to people of higher
status, wanting to belong to that group.
with never a thought to fees and
expenses
Dedication to their sons future, sacrificing
their own opportunities.
Already isolated by the need to work hard.
Peter isolated from peer group by financial
issues.
-wanting only what was best
Punctuation
Other peoples opinion of what is best but
not reality.
Not having choice.
From the roof.../Our Lady
watched...her face overshadowed by
clouds
Imagery
Personification?
Symbolism
Our Lady motherly, protective, caring.
Idea of clouds blocking view, she sees
everything but doesnt do anything, no
involvement. Similar to poet? Lack of
understanding of situation.
Similar to his school experience
shadowed and dark, isolated.
Mother crossed herself
Worried about his future, sending him off
with hope and a prayer, sense of
uncertainty
I stuck pine needles/Into the motto
Metaphor
Doesnt understand the significance of this
opportunity, lack of respect for school and
traditions
Luceat Lux Vestra/I thought was a
brand of soap
Irony
Means nothing to him, no understanding.
He is unable to shine.
For eight years/I walked Strathfields
paths and streets
Hyperbole
Repetitive action, dragging out, like a
chore, drudgery, endless walking, school
grounds arent mentioned
St Patricks analysis continued...

St Patricks College Analysis
continued.... Quote
Technique Effect how it relates to
belonging/not belonging
Like a foreign tourist/Uncertain of my
destination.
Simile
Juxtaposition
Sees himself as an outsider, someone
who doesnt belong, alienated and
displaced.
Repeated action that doesnt lead to
familiarity.
For eight years/I carried the blue, black
and gold
Hyperbole
Emotive
Sensory Language
Repetitious; things he has to do; no real
sense of achievement; not much to show
for 8 yrs
Carried weight/burden
Blue, black and gold uniform,
responsibility
Id been privileged to wear
Irony
Contradicting the public idea of his
personal idea of his education.
Appreciation of his parents, but resentful
of his actual experience.
Could say the Lords Prayer/In Latin, all
in one breath
Metaphor

His biggest achievement; one thing he
could remember not a real achievement.
Limited thought and meaning going into
his education (mind-set).
Learnt to imitate and comply
Our Lady still watching... Unchanged by
eight years weather
Personification
Symbolism
Motif
Extended/double
metaphor
Repetition of Our Lady represents how
nothing has changed and how he hasnt
changed either; no impact on the school
like he never went to school.
Didnt try to belong; Didnt enrich or
challenge the community in any way.
With closed eyes.. Rubbed off the black
board
Descriptive
language
Irony

Venite Adormus: O come let us adore
Him extended prayer
He wants the service to be over and by
closing his eyes, he pretends to pray and
pretends to comply
Out of Edgar street for good;
Graduation; sense of relief; doesnt
mention the school/people
Prayed that someday Mother would be
pleased
Motif

Sense of failure and disappointment;
letting parents down; his prayers are for
his mothers sake
The darkness around me/Wasnt for
the best
Pun?
Contradiction
Unclear conclusion; the school never
really helped him; never belonged to the
group; contradiction between the schools
intention and his experience light and
dark.
Before I let my light shine Referencing school motto
St Patricks College Analysis

A reflective appraisal with the benefit of hindsight and experience.
Overall tone is condemnatory, hints at institutional alienation rather than
imbuing school spirit or inclusion
No reference to positive growth or learning.
Catholicism referenced by statues, prayers, ethos and Mass but no real
affinity inferred by such decorums.
Large part of childhood spent there (repetition of 8 years) but no reference to
period being enjoyable.
Anonymity dominates symbolises few meaningful connections poet has
made.
Overall perception is drudgery and uniformity a penance to be endured.
Conformity to strict educational codes has appeared to stultify poets
individuality.
Mothers notion of What was best was not for the best
Note irony in last sentence before I let my light shine
Further Activities for St Patricks College:
How has the poet achieved a sense of belonging and
isolation?
Use textual evidence to support your answer.
What do the mothers reasons for sending her son to St
Patricks College suggest about her desire to assimilate?
Technique Example Effect

Imagery and Symbolism
- That the darkness
around me wasnt for
the best Before I let my
light shine




- Our lady watched with
outstretched arms





- Contrasts the colour of
light and dark to form an
imagery of his thoughts on
the school (negative, ironic)
and how he approaches it.
light = full potential,
individuality

- Personification of the
statue on the school
grounds, suggests
warmness and a nice
atmosphere where people
are welcomed. A positive
image of the school.

Sensory and Emotive
Language
For eight years/I carried
the blue, black and gold



Stuck pine needle into the
motto





Impressed by the uniform of
the employers son






wanting only/What was
best





voices at bus stops, litanies
and hymns



That the darkness around
me/Wasnt for the
best/Before I let my light
shine
Feels exhausted, things he
has to do, no real sense of
achievement, carried-
(weight, burden,
responsibilities)
Stuck in a place that he
doesnt really want to be.
Lack of respect for the
school and doesn't
understand the significance
of the school and the
motto.

This conveys the mother is
looking up to the employers
son as someone with a
higher status. this shows
that she wants her son to
belong to the group

Sarcastic tone of this implies
this idea was wrong and
shows how he feels in the
present towards his
experience at school

The voices merge to
become one, the school
becomes a whole white
noise to him

Never belonged to the
group that was allowed to
shine
A sense of bitterness
Contradiction about the
schools intentions and his
experience

Similes and Metaphors
Other Poetic Devices
(alliteration, assonance,
consonance, caesura,
enjambment)