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Two Scavengers in a Truck, Two
Beautiful People in a Mercedes
Lawrence Ferlinghetti
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Objectives
By the end of todays lesson you will be able to:
Understand how to analysemetaphors;
Explore the language and
structural features ofTwoScavengers in a Truck, TwoBeautiful People in a Mercedes.
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CULTURE
America:
Rich, powerful Westernnation;
Many rich people but alsogrowing underclass of
poverty stricken people.
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SURFACE MEANING
While waiting at the traffic
lights, two bin men on theback of a bin wagon look
across at the two
passengers of an expensivecar.
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At the stoplight waiting for the light
nine a.m. downtown San Francisco
a bright yellow garbage truck
with two garbagemen in red plastic blazers
standing on the back stoop
one on each side hanging on
and looking down into
an elegant open Mercedes
with an elegant couple in it
The man
in a hip three-piece linen suit
with shoulder-length blond hair & sunglasses
The young blond woman so casually coifedwith a short skirt and colored stockings
on the way to his architect's office
Two scavengers in a truck,
Two beautiful people in a Mercedes
Your eyes switch
from one line,
and one vehicle,
to the other
Use of capital
letters but no
punctuation These
colours often
indicate
danger
These phrases
have two
meanings
Written in
free verse
The beautiful people
look bland in
comparison
Harsh alliteration
reflects negative
feeling toward theelegant couple
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And the two scavengers up since four a.m.
grungy from their route
on the way home
The older of the two with grey iron hair
and hunched back
looking down like somegargoyle Quasimodo
And the younger of the two
also with sunglasses & long hair
about the same age as the Mercedes driver
And both scavengers gazing down
as from a great distanceat the cool couple
as if they were watching some odorless TV ad
in which everything is always possible
And the very red light for an instant
holding all four close together
as if anything at all were possiblebetween them
across that small gulf
in the high seas
of this democracy
Links by
repetitionComplete contrast
with the elegant
couple
Some
similarities
between the
two
Suggests
vultures
The opposite of
theirbin lorry
They share thesame hopes and
dreams in this
freeze frameA political point
about opportunity
and liberty in
America
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LANGUAGE
Unusual (American) words
Simile
Repetition
AlliterationPersonification
Metaphor
STRUCTURE
Stanza/sentence
length/shape.
Stanza content (storyline).
Viewpoint.
THEME
What is it talking about?
Tone/emotion of piece.
PERSONAL RESPONSEWhat point/s do you think the
poem is making?
What connotations, thoughts,
images, feelings, etc does the
piece make you think/feel?
How effective do you think
the poem is in achieving itsgoals?
