I denne study guide kan du få hjælp til at analysere novellen "Pretty Bird, Why You So Sad?" af Geraldine Mills, som blev brugt til skriftlig eksamen i engelsk på STX B den 31. maj 2018. Udover analysehjælpen kan du finde et summary af novellen, samt inspiration til fortolkning og perspektivering.
Eksamensspørgsmål
Write an analytical essay (700-1000 words) in which you analyse and interpret Geraldine Mills’ short story “Pretty Bird, Why You So Sad?”. Your essay must include the following points:
- a characterisation of Li
- the main theme
- the relationship between the narrator and Li
- the title
Præsentation af teksten
Titel: “Pretty Bird, Why You So Sad?” (2013)
Forfatter: Geraldine Mills
Genre: Short story
Geraldine Mills er en irsk forfatter, som er kendt for både sine noveller og sine digte. Ved siden af sit forfatterskab underviser hun i Create Writing og fungerer som mentor på the National University of Ireland i Galway.
Uddrag
Nedenfor kan du se et kort uddrag fra vores study guide til novellen:
Title
Your exam question asks you to focus on the title. The title of the short story “Pretty Bird, Why You So Sad?” by Geraldine Mills does not immediately indicate what the story is about. Its meaning is both literal and symbolic.
The literal meaning of the title refers to the bird that Li buys and then returns to the narrator. The bird’s behaviour suggests that it was stressed and uncomfortable in its new home:
The gist of it was that the bird never settled; as soon as she took it home it started to fret, barely took a bite, flying around and around, bashing itself against the wire sides trying to get out. I could see it was in a sorry state. Its feathers were dull, dishevelled looking with a bald patch on its chest where it was stress-preening as Greg calls it. (ll. 120 -123)
Note that the question in the title is not asked in the story, or literally answered – we are not told why the bird was so stressed that it started stress-preening. This suggests that Li does not understand the bird’s reaction to its new environment.
