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GCSE English Paper 2 Poetry

GCSE English Paper 2 Poetry. Revising for Cluster 1? You need to know…. ‘Two Scavengers in a Truck, Two Beautiful People in a Mercedes’ . by Lawrence Ferlinghetti. The Writer…. Lawrence Ferlinghetti is a 1950s American poet.

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GCSE English Paper 2 Poetry

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  1. GCSE English Paper 2 Poetry Revising for Cluster 1? You need to know…

  2. ‘Two Scavengers in a Truck, Two Beautiful People in a Mercedes’ by Lawrence Ferlinghetti

  3. The Writer… • Lawrence Ferlinghetti is a 1950s American poet. • In Two Scavengers... he writes about the differences that he has noticed in society.

  4. What the poem is about… • The poem deals with one moment in time. • It is a snapshot of society taken “at nine a.m. downtown San Francisco”. • The poem takes place in the present and describes what it is that the poet sees.

  5. What the poem is about… continued • The unusual layout of the poem suggests that it follows the poet’s thought processes as he watches the scene before him. • The details build up gradually. • The lack of main verbs and full stops makes it seem as if the poet is just noticing things.

  6. The structure of the poem… • The poem is divided into three sections. • The first sets the scene (lines 1 – 9). • The second adds details (lines 10 – 30). • The final section reflects on what this tells the poet about society as a whole.

  7. The mood of the poem… • It is not an emotional poem; rather it focuses on the details that set the two groups of people apart. • Nothing actually happens during the poem which concentrates on two groups of people.

  8. Similarities and differences between the characters… • There are similarities between the characters (look at how they look). There are strong differences between them. • The garbagemen look “down / as from a great distance” into the Mercedes; the occupants of which seem not to notice. Why do you think they don’t appear to notice the garbage men? • The poet observes that there are differences in class between the garbagemen in their “red plastic blazers” and the “elegant couple” in their luxury car. • The garbage men are “grungy” and “hunched” while the couple in the Mercedes are “coifed” and clearly well off.

  9. The language… • Look closely at the language used in the poem. • Pick out some more examples which observe the social differences. • The language of the poem reflects American culture of the time through the use of words such as “hip” and “grungy”. • There is a clear political message in this poem. Ferlinghetti suggests that “everything is always possible”. However there is a “small gulf / in the high seas / of this democracy”. Who is everything possible for? Is everything possible for the garbage men? • In a democracy, everyone is equal. Is this true in this poem?

  10. You could compare this poem with: • ‘Two Scavenger…’ (politics / unusual presentation ) • ‘Nothing’s Changed’ (politics / change) • ‘Limbo’(unusual presentation) • ‘Vultures’(the nature of evil)

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