Change is perspective comes from family, culture, society and outside influences like the media, peers and environment. All these things shape the individual.

The cause of a change in perspective often comes from a particular experience, crisis, trauma, the making of discoveries, the influence of others, historical and cultural changes and many other reasons.

My personal interpretation of 'change' has been extended, as an outcome of undertaking the unit of study, 'Changing Perspective.' It has been made evident through the prescribed text, 'Looking for Alibrandi,' by Melina Marchetta, 'The Door,' by Miroslav Holub, also, it was made evident in song lyrics, 'At Seventeen,' by Janis Ian and in a poem, '10 Mary Street,' by Peter Skrzynecki. All these texts show that change is ambivalent and therefore can be either positive or negative. The way people perceive things also changes from one person to another depending on their personal beliefs.

Janis Ian's song, "At Seventeen," is referred in the novel Looking for Alibrandi in reference to the ways the heroine's life is changing and how her perspectives are changing along with it. Janis Ian is a protest singer who challenges many social beliefs and attitude. In this famous song, she addresses the social roles that we play and the stereotypes that we respond to. These song lyrics are evocative and address social issues that most females can respond to. They are written from the perspective of an adult looking back on an earlier stage of her life but they recapture that age so realistically that adolescents can empathise with the emotions portrayed. Large issues of acceptance and identity are dealt with and that's how this text relates to Looking for Alibrandi. Josie is also one who is in search for acceptance and of her identity.

By the end of the novel Josie is able to recognize her Nonna's full worth and she cries and realises, "I'm loved by two of the strongest women I'd ever meet in a life time."

Melina Marchetta's poem illustrates the opportunity for external and internal change to happen, where as 10 Mary Street shows the internal change in one's internal cultural perspective. Both Alibrandi and 'At Seventeen,' show external change through acceptable, and internal change through search for identity. Therefore, all these texts convey that change is caused by both internal and external activities.

This poem relates to Alibrandi because this poem involves the fear of change. Josie had the fear of when her father Michael Andretti showed up. Josie didn't want anything to change. The opening of the door resembles the Carly Bishop scene, where Josie calls upon her Father for support. This suggests that whether or not change occurs depends on the person and if he/she is willing to take the risk of experiencing new things.

M

Some common words found in the essay are:
Miroslav Holub, Changing Perspective, John School, Alibrandi Catholic, Janis Ian, Carly Bishop, Peter Skrzynecki, Mary Street, Marcus Sanford, John Barton's, internal change, internal external, allows reader, reader josie's, 'looking alibrandi', changing perspective, allows reader josie's, change perspective, prescribed text 'looking, journal style, janis ian, external causes change, peter skrzynecki, text 'looking alibrandi', narrative allows reader,
Approximate Word count = 1250
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)