The Imaginative Landscape

What is a landscape?

Landscape is the physical environment we see around us everyday and everywhere we go. All landscapes are unique, from the quiet countryside to the hustle and bustle of the city. This individuality stems from their geographical location to their scenic backdrop – some consisting of buildings, vegetation, rivers and more. It is through our perspective of the landscape that allows us to appreciate what is before us.

List 5 landscapes not already mentioned

Using your senses

While you may not notice it, when you look at a picture or painting of the ocean, your mind absorbs more information than what you simply see. You subconsciously imagine the warmth of the sun, the breeze of the ocean and the salty smell of the sea lingering around you. Thus, it is our 5 senses that help us understand and appreciate different landscapes.

Using one of the landscapes you have listed, write a brief description using all five of your senses.

What does ‘landscape’ mean?

After a long winter aren’t we all waiting for the chance to get back to the beach and feel the sun on our bodies and just relax? Singer Jack Johnson knows that feeling well:

“When this world is too much/It will be/Only the ocean and me/ When my sails go up/Mountains fade away/Stars come out/I’m finally free/Now it’s only the ocean and me.” 

The ‘Place’

There is something about the beach and the way it can give us a sense of peace. For others it may be the bush; the smell of the eucalypts and the sound of flies as they buzz about. Others may find their ‘place’ is something less obvious – a department store, a gym class or a spot on the school oval. 

For each of the following landscapes describe how it makes you feel. Remember to use all your senses. Does it make you feel peaceful?

The countryside

The city streets

The city lights

The beach

Where is your place?

It is not just our senses that help us connect with our chosen landscape, but also our emotions and experiences. Consider the feelings that have emerged when thinking about your place. How has it made you feel? These feelings are important in how we perceive particular landscapes. The emotions are linked with our experiences.

In a few sentences describe your ideal landscape and list 5 elements that make your place a sanctuary for you.

Types of Landscapes

There are many types of landscapes. When differentiating between the physical elements of a landscape, the major ones include: 

Cityscape

Countryside – plains, agriculture, fields.

Deserts

Mountains

Forests

Water bodies – sea, ocean, beach, valley, waterfall, river, lakes, ponds.

Transitory elements

Transitory elements also make up a part of the landscape. These include:

Weather – storms, precipitation (rain or snow), wind, clouds,

Natural disasters – cyclone, hurricane, bushfire,

Lighting – day/night, sunset, sunrise, twilight, dawn,

Seasons – summer, autumn, winter, spring.

Back to your ‘place’

Looking at your description of your sanctuary, is there any transitory element you would change or add to it?

It can be said that while physical landscapes are the canvas, we apply the artistic touches to demonstrate how we see a landscape. 

What is an Imagined Landscape?

An imagined landscape is the meaning we add to a physical landscape. Our perspective of landscape is not as simple as it may first appear. Since it is through our view that we see a landscape, the natural world around us is not viewed through an objective lens – rather, it is subjective as our thoughts and feelings influence what we see.

Describe an overcast rainy day using all the senses.

Share descriptions

Many personal factors influence our subjective view of landscape. These include:

Culture Emotions

Tradition Attitude

Values Experiences

Morals Choices

Beliefs Career

Religion Lifestyle

This is Dorothy’s imagined landscape, the one she prefers to the world of Kansas. Dorothy’s journey to this landscape occurs because she thinks she is missing something in her real landscape. Her landscape affects her ‘inner landscape’ and her sense of ‘contentment and security’. 

Consider:

*Dorothy does not have parents – her sense of home and family is affected. 

*Dorothy imagines that happiness will be achieved if she enters the colourful world of Oz and follows the yellow brick road. 

*Dorothy soon realises that Oz is not all it’s cracked up to be and wants to return home. 

*She goes back to her ‘black and white’ world of Kansas having learnt it can be beautiful and be a place where she is loved and feel safe. 

Whose Landscape? Every person sees landscape differently. A factor that

influences the way we perceive landscape is other people around us. Through our family, friends, and associates’ experiences and beliefs, we come to view a landscape in a different ways.

For example, you may drive past an intersection on the way to school or work. For you, this landscape may be insignificant, as it is just a part of the urban landscape that you pass through on a daily basis. However, a friend may share that she knew someone close who had a car accident in that intersection, and consequently passed away.

From that day onwards, you might now see the landscape differently. Instead of just another intersection that has little influence in your day, your thoughts may flicker to that car accident tragedy every now and then, leaving you to feel a sense of sadness for your friend. Hence, while landscapes are static, they are perceived differently for each individual.

The Writing Process

Effective Context Writing is about you having something YOU want to communicate to an audience. You have to think like an author. As part of that study you need to work out:

Purpose – why am I writing? What point do I want to make about the prompt on the ‘Imaginative Landscape’?

Audience – who am I writing for? 

Form – knowing the best way to communicate my message to my audience. 

Structure – what ‘tools’ do I need to communicate it? 

Prompts

As part of the planning of your response, you need to break down the prompt and ask questions of it.

What do you think about this prompt?

 Do you agree with its proposition?

 Is your position dependent on how you’ve interpreted some of the key words, such as ‘fundamental’ and ‘contentment’?

 What are the factors that may influence our sense of contentment?

 Can we be content without having a ‘place’ as opposed to a ‘sense of place’?

Imaginative Landscape Prompts

Perception: We can never understand another's perception of a landscape until we experience it ourselves.

Memories: Memories are designed to suppress the hostility of natural landscapes.

Imagination: The physical elements of landscape provide a foundation for our imagination.

People: A change in the natural world leads us to feel a sense of loss and isolation.

Some quotes

"Life is like a landscape. You live in the midst of it but can describe it only from the vantage point of distance." – Charles Lindbergh

"Any landscape is a condition of the spirit." – Henri Federic Amiel 

"The landscape you grow up in speaks to you in a way that nowhere else does." – Molly Parker

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime

For the rest of this lesson your task is to gather resources, quotes, thoughts about the landscape of Christopher’s world.

How does he see it? How does his father and the other characters see it.

Describe it from Christopher’s perspective using emotion and all 5 senses.