My question was adapted from a 2007 HSC English Paper 1 "journeys" question. You'd have to refer to the prescribed and realted texts. Don't forget the importance of analysing events in novel, song and pem, as well as language techniques wherever necessary.
This question requires an answer of just 250 words, because we are trying to keep the answers short. Therefore this will not be an entire essay that would get you 19/20 in the HSC exam paper. However, it would be a start and is more of a summary than a straight essay.
My answer: Studying belonging this year has expanded my understanding of myself, of individuals and of the world. It is necessary in this day and age of fast paced development, technology and a far removed reality from what life was like for the Aborigines, means that increasingly people feel anxious and isolated. Belonging is a remedy for their feelings of despression and anxiety.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, by Mark Haddon, is a novel focusing on a young (15-year-old) boy's desire to not belong. This boy, who may, perhaps, suffer from autism or another mental disorder feels that if there were no other people in the world but him, life would be perfect. Typically people like to be other people, so this boy's desires are unusual. Studying this text gave me an understanding of the deep and complex challenges others face. Not studying this text would have left in the dark on issues such as animal cruelty (a dog is murdered during the story), violence, lying and intolerance. These themes run deep throughout the novel and are very confronting. Nonetheless, I now understand that some people do not want to belong, do not need to belong, and this is fine. We need not question their beliefs.
When studying The Time Traveller's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger, I was struck by the protagonist Henry insatiable desire; need to belong. Henry, a man who time travelled involuntary due to chromosome impairment, met his wife for the first time when Claire was 20 and him 28. She met him when she was 6 and him 36. Henry loved his wife Claire deeply, passionately, as was expressed in the novel's love scenes and general theme. Henry would give anything to belong. Yet he cannot give up time travelling, he could not, even if he tried.
Studying the aforementioned text greatly expanded and deepened my understanding of myself, of others and of the world. I learnt a lot about how lucky I am, how much some people long to belong and struggle to do so and how the world depends on belonging.