The Third Dumpster

I denne study guide kan du få hjælp til at analysere novellen "The Third Dumpster" af Gish Jen, som har været brugt til skriftlig eksamen i Engelsk A på STX den 29. maj 2015. Udover anlaysehjælpen kan du finde et summary af teksten samt idéer til fortolkning og perspektivering.

Eksamensspørgsmål

Write an analytical essay (900-1200 words) in which you analyse and interpret Gish Jen's short story "The Third Dumpster".

Part of your essay must focus on the style of writing and on the use of contrasts.

Præsentation af teksten

Titel: “The Third Dumpster” (2013)
Forfatter: Gish Jen
Genre: Short story

Gish Jen (b. 1959) er en amerikansk forfatter, som nedstammer fra kinesiske indvandrere. Hendes novelle “The Third Dumpster” er udgivet i antologien The Best American Short Stories fra 2013.

Uddrag

Nedenfor kan du læse et kort uddrag fra vores study guide til novellen:

Title

The title of the short story “The Third Dumpster” by Gish Jen has both a literal and a symbolic meaning.

In a literal sense, the title is a direct reference to the dumpster the brothers want to use to dispose of the debris from the renovation. Goodwin and Morehouse do not have enough money to hire their own dumpster, so instead they decide to use one in the neighbourhood: “Sure it was illegal to use other people’s dumpsters, but it was going to save him and Goodwin eight hundred dollars” (ll. 41-42). Goodwin is sent to scout for a suitable dumpster. The first dumpster he finds is too close to their house and people might suspect them of using it (ll. 51-53). The second one is farther away but it is too small to fit all the debris and its proximity to a number of houses might cause the brothers to be spotted while disposing of the debris (ll. 53-55). The third dumpster proves to be the ideal one: “fresh and empty, apparently brand-new. Bright mailbox-blue, it looked so much more like the Platonic ideal of a dumpster than the real-world item itself that Goodwin found it strangely heartening” (ll. 61-63).