Free Essay Imaginative journeys

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Imaginative journeys
Imaginative journeys can be taken through the imagination or psyche of an individual as they explore, reflect and fuse together the seemingly intangible with reality. Imaginative journeys may draw on previous experiences and understandings but move beyond these limited perceptions into more speculative or fantastical realms. Another way of viewing an imaginative journey is its capacity to draw responders into a fictional, speculative setting. Imaginative journeys which will be elaborated below are represented in the Board of Studies Booklet Prescribed text-�The Ivory Trail�, the two Coleridge poems �This Lime Tree Bower My Prison� and �Kubla Khan�, the poetic text �Ode on a Grecian Urn� composed by John Keats and the visual text from the �Calendar of 2003� by Michael Leunig. The composers attempt to create a world in which imagination dominates the perceptions and views of the responders, as they are taken on a journey of magic and discovery.

The book cover- �The Ivory Trail� from the stimulus booklet represents that the individual may encounter new horizons by realising the limitless power of the imagination. The text provides an imaginative journey for responders as they are drawn to speculate upon the text and visuals provided. The text type�s purpose is to appeal to readers to purchase/read the book, however the references made to reality challenges responders to question the erratic, mysterious and obscure nature of the journey itself. This is communicated through the ambiguous, photographic montage of the sphinx, face close-up and minarets. An exotic setting is portrayed through the back drop of the eastern minarets and the sphinx�s Egyptian associations. The idea of a rare journey is evoked in the title: �The Ivory Trail�. Ivory is symbolic of the rare material from tusks of elephants and is known for its illegal trade. This exotic and rare allusion also evokes feelings of intrigue and mystery which gives an impression for the responders that this text is an imaginative journey.

The caption: �Not all journeys have an ending� is used by the composer to encourage the actualization responders come to after exploring the possibilities presented to them. It expresses an idea of continuum by suggesting that imagination itself does not have an end and that only through imagination continuum can be achieved. The dominant colours of red, black and orange and the use of shadows depict an atmosphere of fear, passion and threat. Subsequently responders do not reach a resolution or a nirvana in this imaginative journey. Through the use of techniques constructed by the composer there is an acceptance by the responders of the imagination to present infinite possibilities as they encounter this journey.

Coleridge like all romantics was fascinated with the potential of the imagination and the endless possibilities of it. �This Lime Tree Bower My Prison� by Coleridge is a poem which celebrates the beauty of nature and the power of the imagination when it is open to nature�s majesty. This text is a conversation poem where the poet is speaking to the responders in a colloquial and personal way which sets an invitational atmosphere for the responders. The poet goes on an incredible journey of the imagination where he transports himself spiritually, emotionally and mentally from a state of despair to one of joy and new awareness of the world. Coleridge beautifully frames an imaginative journey with his precise details, vivid description and imagery which facilitates the responder�s imaginative engagement and thus allows them to enter the imaginative realm of Coleridge�s journey.
Coleridge�s poetry builds imagery of a physical landscape through which an imaginative journey is made, by appealing to the senses and through the use of poetic devices. He makes specific references to landmarks- �still roaring dell�, the waterfall. A sense of vast landscape is established, �wide wide heaven�. His imagery is created through descriptive simile-�flings arching like a bridge�. There is an aural element, for sound devices such as alliteration �long, lank weeds�, rhythm and oral resonating diction. The poetic construct is Coleridge�s response to being denied to physically make the journey with his friends, �well they are gone and here I must remain�. His imaginative journey is compensation that he can not take the journey in reality. However there is a sense that in the denial of joining his friends in this pleasure, he can more fully appreciate the beauty of the natural world. The poet then allows the responder to realize that the imaginative journey is more superior than reality itself since it has no boundaries or limitations; and because of the advantage of endless opportunities the responder can experience through imagination which in the physical world one�s not able to see.

Kubla Khan is in the form of an ode which has been written in two parts. In the first part the responders hear the poet-as-architect vividly describing the grounds within which Kubla Khan has ordered that a pleasure dome be built. In the second part of the poem the responders hear the poet-as-philosopher struggling with the role of the artist and with the power and limits of human imagination in the creative process.

In Kubla Khan, Coleridge immediately puts the reader in the realm of imagination by putting him or her in a mystical place, �In Xanadu did Kubla Khan a stately pleasure dome decree�. The imaginative journey is further fuelled by sensuous descriptions of the surrounding scenery which is embellished by the use of alliteration as in �five miles of fertile ground with walls and towers girdled round� and assonance in �gardens bright with sinuous rills�. The further descriptions of the �deep romantic chasm�, �a mighty fountain� and �dancing rocks� all appeal to the senses and invite the reader into a languid and sensuous world which is locked within the power of the mind but unobtainable in reality. A whirl wind of sensuous images of nature and the supernatural, a romantic image of a female and the isolated artist muse and sweep the reader into a mysterious and surreal world bounded only by the limits of imagination.

Coleridge uses the juxtaposition of opposites to conjecture on the possibilities of perfection. Through the use of opposites the responders begin to question the poem�s context in relation to reality. The responders begin to fuse the seemingly intangible with reality through their use of imagination; which one cannot accomplish in the real, physical world. The responders are able to do this since the poet employs evocative and imagery established through a high level of abstraction. The poet cleverly uses the River Alph not only to serve as a stream of consciousness winding its way through his delirium but also as a perpetual metaphor for the human experience and the imaginative, creative process. The river leads the responders into the world of imagination. Coleridge portrays for the responders that perfection is not possible and that whilst imagination is celebrated, it is flawed as a way of surpassing the imperfections of mortal existence.

The poetic text Ode on a Grecian Urn composed by John Keats is a journey of empathy through the process of inspired aesthetic appreciation of various images of eternal stasis featured on an urn. Keats employs the imagery of the lovers �fair youth, beneath the trees� to evoke the notion of an interminable love marked by a burning passion vacant of cynicism or pretence, �for ever painting, and for ever young�. The responder is drawn through descriptive language and imagery to contemplate through the imagination, issues of mortality beyond physical limitation, as in �This Lime-Tree Bower�, where the imaginative power of the mind is similarly engaged, enabling the responder to also gain a deeper appreciation of life and nature. The proverb �beauty is truth, truth is beauty� emphasises the true splendour of the immortality of the urn which is presented and understood only through the power of imagination, ingraining the notion that the imaginative is more potent than the physical.

Michael Leunig, in his calendar of 2003, represents the journeys that most people experience in every day life. He explores the ups and downs of life, and depicts how ordinary people can perform extraordinary tasks through the utilization of their imagination, and a willingness to believe that each and every day has the potential to open up new possibilities and opportunities.
The journey in the cartoon is represented through a series of vignettes. Five of the vignettes begin with �The journey�, while the sixth begins with �And so the various journeys continue�. This allows for the narrative structure, which includes relatively long and highly descriptive sentences to develop and therefore clearly define the journey being undertaken.
Leunig creates the idea of the journey through a day in the life of his signature character �Mr Curly�. In the first vignette, the bed in the visual is symbolic of the safety and security of his home. Once this security has been removed, Mr Curly must embark on the journey of life. He goes on the serious and erratic journey from the dog to the desk. The desk is representative of the real world and issues such as responsibility and employment.
It is in vignette four, where Mr Curly chooses to opt out of the confines of real life, and escape to a world that is limited only by his capacity to imagine. His daydream is pleasant, winding and mysterious and can potentially take him along with the responders to any place he desires. The �finale� vignette is the �triumphant� coda of the journey and is representative of all imaginative journeys. Mr Curly can return home to the security of his bed, and can dream of better places and better times.
Leunig uses visual techniques such as facial expressions, colour and unsophisticated font to represent the journey in the cartoon.
The facial expressions allow the responder to imagine how Mr Curly is feeling as he moves through his day. Thus the facial features are much like a portal for the responders into the imaginative journey of Mr Curly. He looks concerned and unsure in the beginning, and goes through feelings of hope and pleasure, worry and frustration, delight, puzzlement and finally contentment. These feelings are clearly represented by Leunig through the detailed facial expressions and gestures of his character. The questionable nature of the colours in the cartoon represents the uncertainties of life. Mr Curly�s facial colour is obviously darker as he faces the difficult, serious and erratic task of his day at the office.
The unsophisticated and childlike font displayed in the text of the cartoon is typical of the Leunig cartoons. It is his signature font that reinforces that he is a normal person living in the same society as the responder. This allows the audience to relate to the messages in the cartoon. The font is also used as a contrast to the highly sophisticated language in the text. Leunig uses the words such as erratic, dispiriting and triumphant in order to distinguish between normal life experiences and places where dreams and imagination are captured and embraced.
The heroic journey that Mr Curly experiences in this cartoon was created by Leunig to demonstrate the need and the thrill of the power of imagination. Leunig explores that through the imagination the prospects of daily life which is a physical situation can be transformed to one which is only bound by the limits of one�s imagination. Through the various techniques employed in the text, his purpose of entertaining and encouraging the responder to realise the potential of imagination is successfully achieved. Leunig examines the journey of one�s life and exhibits the demand of new expectations and experiences which arise only as a consequence of one encountering an imaginative journey.

The Ivory Trail is comparable to Kubla Khan in that they are representatives of the imagination being a vehicle to express ideas based in reality.
The Ivory Trail and the cartoon by Michael Leunig are interconnected as they are both visual texts, which incorporate language and visual techniques to portray that an imaginative journey is only limited by ones capacity to imagine and that through imagination one can experience infinite possibilities. The two Coleridge poems are similar since the poet in both cases employs conversational language in order to allow the responders to engage and enter the imaginative realm of his journey. The two Coleridge poems and the poetic text Ode on a Grecian urn extensively use imagery in their quest to allow the responder to engage in the journey. Through the use of imagination the responder is able to grasp the central message of the poem whether being on the issues of mortality, nature or perfection.

Through the use of language techniques, visual techniques and rich layered imagery all the various composers quoted revealed that the power of imagination can transport their readers into new worlds where their imagination is their only limit. The texts take on new horizons with each reader who brings with him or her a different outlook and energy with which to continue the imaginative journeys which have been crafted by the composers but completed by the readers. Imaginative journeys are constructs of the mind. The facets of the mind are the vehicle by which imaginative journeys are made including memory, the imagination, dreams, fantasy and hallucinations.