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Analysing the Two Poems of: Island Man and Two Scavengers in a Truck, Two Beautiful People in a Mercedes and How the Poet Creates Conflict

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Analysing the two poems of: Island man and Two Scavengers in a Truck, Two Beautiful People in a Mercedes and how the poet creates conflict

Firstly, we began to read Island Man as a class in lessons. This is written by Grace Nichols and is published in a book titled “Anthology”. The surface meaning of the poem is based on a man who used to live on a Caribbean island and still dreams of this place even now when he lives in London. At a first glace of the poem, it comes across as short and sharp, for example, the first line of the poem consists of the word “Morning”. This may look as though a far from exciting way for a poem to begin, but from this, the author is starting to create an image in the readers head and this is setting the …show more content…

An echoing technique is used with the repetition of the line “groggily groggily” when the next stanza begins with “muffling muffling” emphasizing that the character can’t get the city noises out of his head. These sounds give the feeling of being enclosed somewhere, which is portraying his feelings towards London city.
The lack of punctuation in the poem lets it run freely, again, this could reflect on the characters feelings of wanting to be free and live naturally on an island. The irregular lengths and placing of lines is to form a visual pattern resembling the shore and tide. ‘Island Man’ is just nineteen lines in length but the writer seems to capture his feelings well and makes you feel sympathy for the character. However the conflict is shown within the two places and how the man feels about these places. He obviously strongly dislikes the dullness of London and city life, and wishes he was living on an island where he imagines himself to be. The poet shows this by creating two completely different images in the readers head, one being described as a beautiful and warming place, and the other a dull, noisy and polluted place.

Lawrence Ferlinghetti writes ‘Two Scavengers In a Truck, Two Beautiful People in a Mercedes’. The poem’s surface meaning is the writer recalling a moment in a life when a garbage truck and a Mercedes were both stopped at traffic lights. It is built

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