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Come one, come all, to witness the English assignment of the millennium. But seriously, this essay outlines the discourses within the text Victor Chang: A Tribute to My Father written by Vanessa Chang. It continues to examine the reader positioning, invited/alternate/resistant readings, values/attitudes/beliefs underpinning the text, along with analysing the intersecting and competing discourses which are foregrounded/silenced within the biography.

This assignment was posted out of sheer boredom while writing it, and the fact that there are many intelligent people in SEA that may wish to examine my work in senior English. I am currently sitting on an A (the best in my class, woop ) for Grade 12 English, and any tips to improve my writing is greatly appreciated. I am looking to study a joint law and psychology degree next year at university, and beginning to improve my writing skills could be rather helpful in the long run. Oh, also - THIS WAS MY LAST HIGH SCHOOL ENGLISH ASSIGNMENT EVARRRRRRRRRRRRRR! Proceed:

TL;DR

If you enjoy English, or would like to mark/assess my work to help my writing improve, feel free to continue and PLEASE COMMENT . Enjoy! (if that's possible)




With a gentle, dextrous stroke, Chang slowly slides his scalpel across the flesh of his patient, exercising an incredible amount of skill and concentration while effortlessly confirming his moniker as the ‘magician’ (2001: xi). ‘Victor Chang: A Tribute to My Father’ examines the successful life of Victor Chang, an internationally acclaimed cardiothoracic surgeon, lecturer, father and medical pioneer. Written in 2001 by his daughter, Vanessa Chang, the biography observes Dr. Chang via the incredible mental, emotional and stressful hardships he endured throughout his life, while also illustrating the remarkable achievements that he accomplished. Through her use of carefully selected text construction, Ms. Chang has fashioned a benevolent representation of her father by silencing the aspects of her father’s death and foregrounding the successes of his life across several areas. Throughout the biography, numerous discourses have been mobilised in order to positively shape and reinforce Chang’s unique personality at individual, group and national levels. The discourses, comprising of medicine, family, teaching, schooling, success, vehicles, war and immigration intersect and compete throughout the biography in a variety of ways, constructing an appropriate representation of possibly the greatest heart surgeon Australia has ever witnessed.

With the initial foregrounding of her father’s schooling life, the author has effectively presented a favourable representation of the man in his adolescent life as he challenged the Australian education system. The author depicted Dr. Chang as a disadvantaged youth that was enrolled at a ‘non academic local school’ (p.40). Furthermore, he understood that he was the ‘top student in his class’ (p.40), mere weeks after relocating to a distinctly dissimilar country. This portrayal invites readers to view Dr. Chang as a diligent student who worked meticulously to achieve his goals and overcome his introduction into a new society. These achievements, coupled with his feeling of being unchallenged in his simplistic school environment, resulted in a request for a more demanding scenario, in which he would study at the Christian Brothers Lewisham, a ‘school known for its academic and sporting achievements’ (p.43). By discussing this information in the text, the author has efficiently utilized an underpinning value of self belief to position readers to view Dr. Chang in a positive light, formulating a construction of the man as a progressive individual who continually sets and achieves goals. Conversely, this representation also exposes readers versed in the art of education to an alternate reading of the text. The portrayal of private schools, in this case, the Christian Brothers Lewisham, as being more academically accomplished than rural schools may evoke disappointment from a certain audience based in the schooling discourse, but this neglects to draw attention away from the intellectual skill of Dr. Chang not only in his youth, but also throughout his life. Within the text, the author has consistently emphasised her father’s determination to succeed with appropriate text construction, again inviting readers to examine his achievements as well-earned. Ms. Chang has cleverly introduced the discourse of immigration, which heavily competes with the discourse of schooling due to racism, homesickness, and a lack of knowledge regarding the English language. By introducing this strongly contrasting discourse, the author has promoted the hardships encountered by her father, and his continual struggle to reach his paramount. Again, this foregrounds the subject’s determination, as he ‘battled with the Australian vernacular’ (p.38), aspiring to discover his place within a new, diverse society. The positive aspects of Dr. Chang’s personality are consistently brought to the forefront of the text, with his composed, gregarious nature composing a positive representation of the man at all stages of his life. This portrayal can be examined towards the beginning of the biography, in which Ms. Chang represents her father’s conflicts with racism, which were virtually non-existent. An everyday conversation resulted in Dr. Chang’s vehement denial of being a victim of racism, ‘I haven’t [been a victim of racist comments] and I refuse to look for them.’ (p.42). The inclusion of this assertion was successfully utilised by the author to continue to shape a positive construction of the subject, inviting readers to view him as a moral individual who assimilated well to the Australian culture, despite having difficulty understanding the dialect. The author’s lack of knowledge regarding racism towards her father is apparent in the text, however, causing the subject’s unwavering image to falter slightly in the eyes of certain readers who choose to show resistance towards this segment of the text. Within the aforementioned discourses, the author has silenced the death of the subject’s mother, which has ultimately resulted in a slightly less favourable construction of Dr. Chang, as one of the most significant emotional hurdles of his life has seemingly ‘disappeared’ from the text. The success of Chang has been continuously exemplified throughout this text, not only in his childhood, but also throughout his career as a heart surgeon.

By mobilising a discourse of medicine, Ms. Chang portrays a compelling illustration of her intelligent father. Initially in the text Dr. Chang’s early encounters with medicine, and ultimately his mother’s untimely death after her struggle against cancer, were foregrounded, with him ‘climb[ing] onto her bed to administer medicine... witnessing her agony with no one coming to her aid’ (p.33). His fascination with medicine, coupled with the heartbreaking loss of his mother at such a young age not only severely impacted on his future, but also empowered him with a dynamism and strength of will. From this, the author has invited the audience to view him as being of ‘a mind inquisitive of the way things worked’ (p.35), a skill that was essential for his future profession. Further along in the text, the discourses of medicine and success intersect flawlessly, as continual emphasis is placed on Dr. Chang’s appearance in the national and international media. The author has used appropriate text selection to position readers to view her father as a modest man who claimed all of his achievements to be earned with the help of his fellow surgeons and nurses. This belief in teamwork is emphasised, as the author draws attention to her father’s humble nature, ‘when he received an award, he would insist that it was a team effort ... and therefore it belonged to the team’ (p. 146). In an alternative reading, the audience could examine the media negatively based on their short-sighted acknowledgement of medical successes. In a world lined with fame, success and endless work, sacrifices must be made. In the case of Dr. Chang, the time he spent with his family was minimal, and he often suffered from this painful choice. The subject’s family life was partially examined in the text, providing readers with a brief insight into Dr. Chang’s emotions, ‘he ... had insecurities about his role within the family’ (p. 135). This statement is the extent of the negative portrayal of her father, as the author has again utilised silencing within the text to construct the most positive representation of her father possible. Ms. Chang has achieved this by neglecting to incorporate her father’s inability to spend time with his family within the text. The author has included a widely accepted value of family within the text, which has inadvertently invited her audience to view her father as self consumed and inappropriately focused on his occupational goals rather than his family life. The competing discourses of family and medicine have given the audience an opportunity to resist the positive representation of her father, and instead fill in the gaps within the text to observe a negative portrayal of Dr. Chang and his mediocre family life. In almost every work situation, the ability to improve depends on the ability to teach and learn from others. In the case of Dr. Chang it is no different, and his successes as a teacher have been exemplified throughout the biography.

To further aid in the favourable construction of her father, the author has observed Dr. Chang’s success as a scholar within the medical discipline, both nationally and internationally. By foregrounding his positive attitude towards discipline, the author has constructed a solemn, well educated representation of her father. Ms. Chang effectively exposes this construction of her father, asserting that he ‘never stopped educating himself and [that] he wanted the same for his staff, trainees, family and patients’ (p. 145). This portrayal of the subject again positions readers to view him in a positive light, respecting his enthusiasm for bettering the skills of himself and others. The discourses of teaching and success intersect ideally, resulting in an adequate representation of her father’s attitudes towards his fellow surgeons. The text emphasises that ‘he (Dr. Chang) would have had the same effect on those who would have come to him in the future, to learn, or to be healed by his skills’ (p. 148). By utilising these intersecting discourses efficiently, Ms. Chang has furthered her initial portrayal of her father, presenting his character as one of the most successful and mature heart surgeon the world has witnessed. The reader has been invited to view the author’s father in a positive light throughout this discourse’s appearance, however an alternate reading would suggest a hint of bias in the selection of quotes and information used within the text. This bias has resulted in a clear portrayal of the most favourable representation of Dr. Chang, however the accuracy behind this interpretation should be questioned and investigated by enthusiastic readers for a more precise history of the famous surgeon. Within the text, the discourse of race competes starkly with the discourse of teaching. In the eyes of Asians, ‘Australia wants to be an outpost of Europe,’ however the Dr. Chang has had to argue truth behind these absurd accusations, stating that the politicians of Australia ‘[have] always said that we are a part of Asia... want to play a major role in Asia and we can” (p. 162). The competing discourses of race and teaching have clearly been used to present to the audience a further hardship that was encountered by the subject. The text has foregrounded Dr. Chang’s ability to overcome this problem as he discussed his case with the Asian nations in an effort to gain the authority to teach across all of Asia. The author has exploited gaps and silencing through her brief examination of racism within the text, allowing the audience to fill the gaps and ultimately view her father as someone who has overcome the trials of racism to attain his position as one of the most innovative medical pioneers in the world. Through her effective and consistent use of discourses throughout her biography, Ms. Chang has successfully portrayed a dominant representation of her father as a devoted, humble, and overall well received surgeon to her audience on an individual, group and international level.

‘Victor Chang: A Tribute to My Father’, was written effectively by the author, successfully conveying Dr. Chang in a positive light. The biography was composed as an outstanding memoir in celebration of the life and achievements of an internationally acclaimed heart surgeon. By representing Chang’s character as a son, doctor and a teacher, Ms. Chang has presented an intimate and touching portrait of her father, along with giving a detailed analysis of his upbringing in China and Australia, his credible career and his enthusiasm for the progression of heart surgery in Australia. Ms. Chang has effectively utilised numerous discourses throughout her touching biography, shaping a positive, favourable identity of her beloved father at an individual, group and national level. This eloquent portrayal of her father has effectively represented the identity of one of the most famous faces of medicine witnessed by Australia.



Finally, if any writing positions become available (whether it be for writing articles on SEA, or another website that is e-sports related) and you feel my skills are appropriate for the task, please feel free to PM me or add me on Skype (nickmcguffin).
TY SEA

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