Post your responses to the City of Yes poem in this section.
8 comments:
Anonymous
said...
Byron;
1. Examine the poem below, what is the theme of the poem? The theme of the poem is choice and the ability to decide what is right, what is wrong and what you do and do not like. The person described in the poem does not like to live in the City of No because “It’s like a study furnished with dejections” “Neither a bunch of flowers nor even a greeting.” The poet does not wish to live in a place that does not allow you to voice your opinion or allow to be happy “study furnished with dejections” dejections means unhappiness. And because you are not allowed to be happy you cannot experience the simple beauties of life “neither a bunch of flowers” or a simple friendly hello. This is why the poet does not feel contempt with living in the City of No. They poet however, dislikes living in the City of Yes as well because life is to perfect. “and wherever you want to be, you are instantly there, taking any train, or plane, or ship that you like.” When you have the option to do whatever you want and however you want it is all fun for only a time. In the City of Yes the poet is spoiled with happiness. The poet is given only one emotion, happiness. “and wherever you want to be, you are instantly there” The best part of the journey is the path you take their and by going wherever instantaneously you take away that feeling. You cannot live with out pathos and only happiness. A human needs a balance of emotion in their life. This is why the poet does not wish to live in the City of Yes. The poet has chosen to live in between the two cities because that gap between is similar to a person living on earth. “My nerves are strained, like wires” This person enjoys the ability to feel pain and joy all at the same time. By making the choice to live between the blissful and miserable city the poet is then allowed to experience all signs of emotion and experience the ability to strive for something. This is why the poet’s choice is to live running between the two cities.
2. Individually, compose a paragraph that details how the poem can be related to the novel thus far. Be sure to utilize specific reference to both sources This poem is related to the novel thus far because the poem describes how Nick lives his life. Because Nick has family in the richer area of New York, the City of No. They are people who gossip, make up rumors and disrespect women. "a nephew or cousin of Kaiser Wilhelm" (35), this one of the horrible rumors that is sent around the higher class people. Mr. Gatsby is not related to the Kaiser of Germany, nor did he receive any money from him. “the black town of No” The black town of No is the egg shaped peninsula that Nicks relatives live on. However, Nick lives in the City of Yes, “Only to tell the truth, it’s a bit boring, at times,” The people on Nick’s side of the egg are uninteresting and boring. A person cannot live an uninteresting life with out rumor and gossip. This is why Nick has decided to float between the two. We know this when he agrees to go along with Tom and Myrtle to their townhouse and have a party. Nick’s life is currently like the poem.
I believe that the theme of the poem is conflict because he has to choose between the city of yes and the city of no. For example when he says “I am like a train rushing between the cities of yes and no”. When he says this it shows that he has a hard decision to make because keeps on switching back and forth. Conflict is a choice that is hard to make because they both have appealing traits to the person. This guy seems to have a hard choice on his hands. He could like the city of yes because he does not like to have everything given to him and he wants to live a life were he has to work and confront everything. The city of no seams good because everyone is laid back no one lives in fear.
2.In the poem and in the story people are forced to make hard choices. For example Nick is faced with the conflict of choosing between lying to daisy and not telling her about how he hung out with her husband and his mistress this would make him feel guilty and he would be disrespecting a close friend or he could tell her and be thrown out of the group by Tom lose all of his friends on the rich side.
4. Opportunity and inheritance come to mind with this poem “The City of Yes and the City of No”. The author speaks of the limited chances one has to succeed in the “City of No”, because “It’s like a study furnished with dejections.” There is no room for prosperity, and you know right off that you will never get to live the way the people in “yes” live. In the other City, the “City of Yes” everything is handed to you, and there is no room for “no”. You can live out your wildest dreams and, “wherever you want to be, you are instantly there”. Here there is a sense of fulfilling your wildest wants. The people who are stuck “between the city of No and the city of Yes” feel that “Everything is deadly...Everyone frightened” They would represent the people who were born in the “City of No” the ones that tried to use the only opportunities given to be in the “City of Yes” here in the middle “Everything is deadly”, because they no longer fit in either city.
2. Great Gatsby is a slight parallel to the poem, as it shows the struggle of obtaining the American Dream –an idea that shapes this novel-. The “City of No” represents those who are not able to break through, and becomes like the aristocrats who were born into their world of money and social hierarchy. They can not enter the Secret Society, and are not allowed in the “City of Yes”, but there is a glimmer of hope that certain individuals find. Those who are caught in-between both cities feel that “Everything is deadly” This is shown in the novel by the way Gatsby is talked about by the aristocratic society. Although he has gotten his chance to be like the elite, he will never truly fit in. The poem reflects this notion with the line “ticket to leave-Like hell you will!-to leave the black town of No” there is no opportunity to prosper in the rich man’s world when old money will never allow new money to grow.
4. The theme of this poem is decision making in life. The wrong decisions someone would make are considered to be in the “city of no”. This would be a “city” because there are many people in a city who would see you this way, which is “no”, being not a positive outlook on yourself. Wrong decisions are in this “city of no” because, “every portrait looks out suspiciously”. “Every portrait” represents people in society, saying that their perception of you would be a “suspicious” one for your wrong doings in the world around you. However, in the “city of yes” you would have made positive decisions, juxtaposed to decisions in the “city of no”. “This town’s without walls- just like a nest”, saying that if you make right decisions your life will be “without walls”, other wise free, and will be comfortable “like a nest”. This is how the poem has the theme of making decisions in life.
5. The poem relates to the novel because the main character Nick is like the narrator in the poem. “Rushing for many years now, between the city of Yes and the city of No”, saying that the narrator is “rushing” between right decisions representing “Yes”, and wrong decisions representing “No”. The character Nick in “The Great Gatsby” in being pushed into the “city of No” and the “city of Yes” with his friend Tom. Apathetically Tom is cheats on his wife and rubs it in Nick’s nose. “I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life”, Nick thinks to himself at the dinner party. This “variety of life” is when husbands cheat on their wives and vice versa. Nick, like the narrator in the poem, is “rushing” through having to make the right decision. Going along with this “variety of life” would lead Nick to “the city of No” being the wrong decision to accept people cheating on their loved ones, or entering “the city of Yes” which would lead Nick away from Tom and Daisy’s prosperous lifestyle which he has come to appreciate. This is how Nick and the narrator of the poem are both in the same situation in terms of the decisions they make.
1.)The Theme of the poem “The City of Yes and the City of No” by Y. Yevtushenko is about traveling in life between being shot down and getting everything in life given to you. This idea is shown with the lines “like hell you will!” and “Ah- all that nonsense”. From these lines it shows that there is either no chance in “hell” that you will get what you want or everything that should stop you from getting it is “nonsense”.
2.)This poem can be related to the novel with Tom and his mistress Myrtle. Myrtle, in the novel sometimes she gets to begin to feel like she is really part of becoming the secret society by being around Tom and every now and then Tom needs to bring her back in a sense like the city of no saying “like hell you will!” The example from the novel is at the party when Tom strikes Myrtle shown with “nose with his open hand”(39) which is like saying “hell” no you are not apart of this.
4) In the Poem “The City of Yes,” there is a theme of conflict that is displayed. The narrator has to make a decision between going to the city of yes and going to the city of no. “I am like a train rushing between the cities of yes and no.” He cannot choose between going to the city of yes or the city of no. The city of yes is appealing to him because he has the freedom to do his own thing and be more independent. The City of No is also appealing to him because everyone is relaxed and have no fears. In between these two cities is where life is really terrible and the narrator cannot stay there for long.
5) In our novel Nick is facing a similar conflict as the person in the poem, “The City of Yes.” He looks at two different kinds of places that both have their positive aspects and their negetive aspects. He likes the high class society because of the power that they have and good lives that they live. On the other hand though these people are full of themselves and are not that happy. Then there is also the lower class life that live in west egg, but they have no power and live less prestige lives. On the positive side though they live honestly and are happy.
1) The theme of the poem The City of Yes and the City of No is to be in your element, and your place of choice. This person is searching through the two different cities trying to discover the right place for him. There are pros and cons of each place, but in the end he figures that to be completely in danger or to be giving everything that you wish is not where he wants to be. He decides to come between the two cities to where he is given some things, but challenge by others. This decision is presented when he states,"let me be tossed around, to the end of my days." He has come to realize that is not good to be scared in the place that you call home, but it's also not okay to be given everything that you ask or wish for.
2) Individuality is strongly presented in this poem through the man decided that he doesn't want to be like one of the other, but to be himself by being between the City of Yes and the City of No. He sees that the City of Yes is not a true place by saying, "only to tell the truth, it's a bit boring, at times, to be given so much." This also relates to the novel, The Great Gatsby, as Nick faces the same conflict when he steps into the new life with Daisy and Tom, and Gatsby, with all the money and rumors that are presented to him. As he is trying to start over his life to become a wealthy person, he finds himself astonished by the situation that each of his accantinces are in, not to mention his cousin Daisy. He feels uncomfortable with all of the cheating and lying that goes on and on. Nick shows this as he says, "Daisy was not a Catholic, and I was a little shocked at the elaborateness of the lie." It seems as Nick is almost hurt by the comment made by the mistress' sister because he knows for a fact that that was not the case, and how someone could come up with such a lie. At this point he sees this wealth filled money in true light for the first time, he realizes that it is not the glorious place that he had thought it to be. Therefore, relating to the poem in the sense of conflict and decision to be in the place that best fits you as a person.
4. The theme of the poem is the difference between good and bad. This is shown by the two different cities of “yes” and “no”. This quotation shows the good side of the city of “yes”, ““and in no one is there even a trace of suspicion”. In this city everything is honest, and simple. In this city all your needs are met, and if you were to choose this path you would lead a life of bliss and righteousness. The only problem with living in a utopia is at times it gets boring, there is no adventure and that is why the city of no is so appealing to some. In the city of no, it is full of adventure’s and good times. “every portrait looks out suspiciously” This city juxtaposes the city of yes because nothing is honest and every choice you make it can easily turn around on you. If you chose this city it would be a life of dangerous, exciting choices but also heartbreak and possibly a despondent life. The author of this poem cannot decide where he wants to go, like many of us. We are stuck between what is right and what is exciting. You can see the difference between the right and the wrong but they both have there appeals.
5. The poem can be easily related to the novel “the great Gatsby” by the different types of people in it. The poem there is the city of yes, which is like the people in the poem who are honest to themselves. There is no one who is truly honest but there are those that are more compared to those in the novel. A good example of a person in the city of yes, the honest city, would be Nick who believes he is a “honest man”. Then there is multiple people in the city of no, the city of deceit. All those people at Gatsby’s party are living in the city of no. None of them have a true personality, or any “good advice”. The author is trapped being trapped between the city of no and yes is that like Gatsby who cannot decide whether he wants a life of deceit like all those around him, or to live a boring life of honesty in the city of yes.
8 comments:
Byron;
1. Examine the poem below, what is the theme of the poem?
The theme of the poem is choice and the ability to decide what is right, what is wrong and what you do and do not like. The person described in the poem does not like to live in the City of No because “It’s like a study furnished with dejections” “Neither a bunch of flowers nor even a greeting.” The poet does not wish to live in a place that does not allow you to voice your opinion or allow to be happy “study furnished with dejections” dejections means unhappiness. And because you are not allowed to be happy you cannot experience the simple beauties of life “neither a bunch of flowers” or a simple friendly hello. This is why the poet does not feel contempt with living in the City of No. They poet however, dislikes living in the City of Yes as well because life is to perfect. “and wherever you want to be, you are instantly there, taking any train, or plane, or ship that you like.” When you have the option to do whatever you want and however you want it is all fun for only a time. In the City of Yes the poet is spoiled with happiness. The poet is given only one emotion, happiness. “and wherever you want to be, you are instantly there” The best part of the journey is the path you take their and by going wherever instantaneously you take away that feeling. You cannot live with out pathos and only happiness. A human needs a balance of emotion in their life. This is why the poet does not wish to live in the City of Yes. The poet has chosen to live in between the two cities because that gap between is similar to a person living on earth. “My nerves are strained, like wires” This person enjoys the ability to feel pain and joy all at the same time. By making the choice to live between the blissful and miserable city the poet is then allowed to experience all signs of emotion and experience the ability to strive for something. This is why the poet’s choice is to live running between the two cities.
2. Individually, compose a paragraph that details how the poem can be related to the novel thus far. Be sure to utilize specific reference to both sources
This poem is related to the novel thus far because the poem describes how Nick lives his life. Because Nick has family in the richer area of New York, the City of No. They are people who gossip, make up rumors and disrespect women. "a nephew or cousin of Kaiser Wilhelm" (35), this one of the horrible rumors that is sent around the higher class people. Mr. Gatsby is not related to the Kaiser of Germany, nor did he receive any money from him. “the black town of No” The black town of No is the egg shaped peninsula that Nicks relatives live on. However, Nick lives in the City of Yes, “Only to tell the truth, it’s a bit boring, at times,” The people on Nick’s side of the egg are uninteresting and boring. A person cannot live an uninteresting life with out rumor and gossip. This is why Nick has decided to float between the two. We know this when he agrees to go along with Tom and Myrtle to their townhouse and have a party. Nick’s life is currently like the poem.
Marc
1.What is the theme of the poem?
I believe that the theme of the poem is conflict because he has to choose between the city of yes and the city of no. For example when he says “I am like a train rushing between the cities of yes and no”. When he says this it shows that he has a hard decision to make because keeps on switching back and forth. Conflict is a choice that is hard to make because they both have appealing traits to the person. This guy seems to have a hard choice on his hands. He could like the city of yes because he does not like to have everything given to him and he wants to live a life were he has to work and confront everything. The city of no seams good because everyone is laid back no one lives in fear.
2.In the poem and in the story people are forced to make hard choices. For example Nick is faced with the conflict of choosing between lying to daisy and not telling her about how he hung out with her husband and his mistress this would make him feel guilty and he would be disrespecting a close friend or he could tell her and be thrown out of the group by Tom lose all of his friends on the rich side.
The Newly Uploaded version of awesomness
4. Opportunity and inheritance come to mind with this poem “The City of Yes and the City of No”. The author speaks of the limited chances one has to succeed in the “City of No”, because “It’s like a study furnished with dejections.” There is no room for prosperity, and you know right off that you will never get to live the way the people in “yes” live. In the other City, the “City of Yes” everything is handed to you, and there is no room for “no”. You can live out your wildest dreams and, “wherever you want to be, you are instantly there”. Here there is a sense of fulfilling your wildest wants. The people who are stuck “between the city of No and the city of Yes” feel that “Everything is deadly...Everyone frightened” They would represent the people who were born in the “City of No” the ones that tried to use the only opportunities given to be in the “City of Yes” here in the middle “Everything is deadly”, because they no longer fit in either city.
2. Great Gatsby is a slight parallel to the poem, as it shows the struggle of obtaining the American Dream –an idea that shapes this novel-. The “City of No” represents those who are not able to break through, and becomes like the aristocrats who were born into their world of money and social hierarchy. They can not enter the Secret Society, and are not allowed in the “City of Yes”, but there is a glimmer of hope that certain individuals find. Those who are caught in-between both cities feel that “Everything is deadly” This is shown in the novel by the way Gatsby is talked about by the aristocratic society. Although he has gotten his chance to be like the elite, he will never truly fit in. The poem reflects this notion with the line “ticket to leave-Like hell you will!-to leave the black town of No” there is no opportunity to prosper in the rich man’s world when old money will never allow new money to grow.
~Caitlin~
4. The theme of this poem is decision making in life. The wrong decisions someone would make are considered to be in the “city of no”. This would be a “city” because there are many people in a city who would see you this way, which is “no”, being not a positive outlook on yourself. Wrong decisions are in this “city of no” because, “every portrait looks out suspiciously”. “Every portrait” represents people in society, saying that their perception of you would be a “suspicious” one for your wrong doings in the world around you. However, in the “city of yes” you would have made positive decisions, juxtaposed to decisions in the “city of no”. “This town’s without walls- just like a nest”, saying that if you make right decisions your life will be “without walls”, other wise free, and will be comfortable “like a nest”. This is how the poem has the theme of making decisions in life.
5. The poem relates to the novel because the main character Nick is like the narrator in the poem. “Rushing for many years now, between the city of Yes and the city of No”, saying that the narrator is “rushing” between right decisions representing “Yes”, and wrong decisions representing “No”. The character Nick in “The Great Gatsby” in being pushed into the “city of No” and the “city of Yes” with his friend Tom. Apathetically Tom is cheats on his wife and rubs it in Nick’s nose. “I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life”, Nick thinks to himself at the dinner party. This “variety of life” is when husbands cheat on their wives and vice versa. Nick, like the narrator in the poem, is “rushing” through having to make the right decision. Going along with this “variety of life” would lead Nick to “the city of No” being the wrong decision to accept people cheating on their loved ones, or entering “the city of Yes” which would lead Nick away from Tom and Daisy’s prosperous lifestyle which he has come to appreciate. This is how Nick and the narrator of the poem are both in the same situation in terms of the decisions they make.
-Pierre F
1.)The Theme of the poem “The City of Yes and the City of No” by Y. Yevtushenko is about traveling in life between being shot down and getting everything in life given to you. This idea is shown with the lines “like hell you will!” and “Ah- all that nonsense”. From these lines it shows that there is either no chance in “hell” that you will get what you want or everything that should stop you from getting it is “nonsense”.
2.)This poem can be related to the novel with Tom and his mistress Myrtle. Myrtle, in the novel sometimes she gets to begin to feel like she is really part of becoming the secret society by being around Tom and every now and then Tom needs to bring her back in a sense like the city of no saying “like hell you will!” The example from the novel is at the party when Tom strikes Myrtle shown with “nose with his open hand”(39) which is like saying “hell” no you are not apart of this.
Jack
Sam Coutu
4) In the Poem “The City of Yes,” there is a theme of conflict that is displayed. The narrator has to make a decision between going to the city of yes and going to the city of no. “I am like a train rushing between the cities of yes and no.” He cannot choose between going to the city of yes or the city of no. The city of yes is appealing to him because he has the freedom to do his own thing and be more independent. The City of No is also appealing to him because everyone is relaxed and have no fears. In between these two cities is where life is really terrible and the narrator cannot stay there for long.
5) In our novel Nick is facing a similar conflict as the person in the poem, “The City of Yes.” He looks at two different kinds of places that both have their positive aspects and their negetive aspects. He likes the high class society because of the power that they have and good lives that they live. On the other hand though these people are full of themselves and are not that happy. Then there is also the lower class life that live in west egg, but they have no power and live less prestige lives. On the positive side though they live honestly and are happy.
Morgan:
1)
The theme of the poem The City of Yes and the City of No is to be in your element, and your place of choice. This person is searching through the two different cities trying to discover the right place for him. There are pros and cons of each place, but in the end he figures that to be completely in danger or to be giving everything that you wish is not where he wants to be. He decides to come between the two cities to where he is given some things, but challenge by others. This decision is presented when he states,"let me be tossed around, to the end of my days." He has come to realize that is not good to be scared in the place that you call home, but it's also not okay to be given everything that you ask or wish for.
2)
Individuality is strongly presented in this poem through the man decided that he doesn't want to be like one of the other, but to be himself by being between the City of Yes and the City of No. He sees that the City of Yes is not a true place by saying, "only to tell the truth, it's a bit boring, at times, to be given so much." This also relates to the novel, The Great Gatsby, as Nick faces the same conflict when he steps into the new life with Daisy and Tom, and Gatsby, with all the money and rumors that are presented to him. As he is trying to start over his life to become a wealthy person, he finds himself astonished by the situation that each of his accantinces are in, not to mention his cousin Daisy. He feels uncomfortable with all of the cheating and lying that goes on and on. Nick shows this as he says, "Daisy was not a Catholic, and I was a little shocked at the elaborateness of the lie." It seems as Nick is almost hurt by the comment made by the mistress' sister because he knows for a fact that that was not the case, and how someone could come up with such a lie. At this point he sees this wealth filled money in true light for the first time, he realizes that it is not the glorious place that he had thought it to be. Therefore, relating to the poem in the sense of conflict and decision to be in the place that best fits you as a person.
Sheena
4. The theme of the poem is the difference between good and bad. This is shown by the two different cities of “yes” and “no”. This quotation shows the good side of the city of “yes”, ““and in no one is there even a trace of suspicion”. In this city everything is honest, and simple. In this city all your needs are met, and if you were to choose this path you would lead a life of bliss and righteousness. The only problem with living in a utopia is at times it gets boring, there is no adventure and that is why the city of no is so appealing to some. In the city of no, it is full of adventure’s and good times. “every portrait looks out suspiciously” This city juxtaposes the city of yes because nothing is honest and every choice you make it can easily turn around on you. If you chose this city it would be a life of dangerous, exciting choices but also heartbreak and possibly a despondent life. The author of this poem cannot decide where he wants to go, like many of us. We are stuck between what is right and what is exciting. You can see the difference between the right and the wrong but they both have there appeals.
5. The poem can be easily related to the novel “the great Gatsby” by the different types of people in it. The poem there is the city of yes, which is like the people in the poem who are honest to themselves. There is no one who is truly honest but there are those that are more compared to those in the novel. A good example of a person in the city of yes, the honest city, would be Nick who believes he is a “honest man”. Then there is multiple people in the city of no, the city of deceit. All those people at Gatsby’s party are living in the city of no. None of them have a true personality, or any “good advice”. The author is trapped being trapped between the city of no and yes is that like Gatsby who cannot decide whether he wants a life of deceit like all those around him, or to live a boring life of honesty in the city of yes.
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