Up in Michigan

Test Literatura Engleza

 Date: 05/05/2020

1. I  chose the poem:   UP IN MICHIGAN

The three men are back from hunting

Now cheering, drinking

She is sitting on a kitchen chair

Waiting him

The one she fell in love with

He approaches and kisses her

Strokes her breasts, says:

“Come on out for a walk”

Down on the point at the bay

She says no to him

But without avail

Heavy his body upon hers

Shortly after

He fell asleep

When she freed herself

From the burden

She takes care

Covers his body

With her coat

Tears in her eyes

Even the veil of innocence

Is torn apart

Her love does not stop

She tries to wake him

Wants to talk

Then going away

A cod mist

Comes up from the bay

This short poem revolves around a girl and her ''lover'' and the events leading up to the two having sex, more precisely it seems as the man is raping her, as she ''She says no to him''.  The author style is minimalist, using words sparingly and leaving many elements of his stories up to reader interpretation.  The girl is a servant in a restaurant, working for some richer family; she is a naive, innocent woman who believes in romantic love but her lover does not seem to share same sentiments.

 She seems shy, she would like to talk after the two had been together(the rape) but does not dare to wake him up, instead she is kind caring and covers him up with her coat, even after the rape.  She shows how much she possesses in spirit.

The action begins around a  restaurant where she works and waits for him, and continues in a bay where the two characters end having sex.

The languange of this part of the poem is narration only, author presenting and introducing characters and some of their feelings and actions.

The main themes of this poem “Up in Michigan'' are disillusionment and love. The girl obsesses over her lover and builds up naive hopes about him, ''Tears in her eyes'', and ''The one she fell in love with''.

The story is told by a third person narrator.

2. Representations of the American Dream in THE GREAT GATSBY  by F. Scott Fitzgerald and PIANO MAN by Billy Joel

In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald uses a variety of literary devices to portray the American Dream. One example is the green light symbolizing  Gatsby’s hopes and dreams for a life with Daisy. Another symbol is the Valley of the Ashes, representing the ugly consequences of America’s obsession with wealth.

eg: He stretched out his arms toward the dark  . . I . . distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far way. . When I looked once more for Gatsby he had vanished. . . .. Gatsby is stretching his arms toward the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock. For Gatsby, this light represents Daisy, his lost love; in the wider context of the American Dream, the green light can be seen as symbolizing money, success, and the past. The inaccessibility of the green light is an element of its symbolism.

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