The poem that I am doing my reading response on is called Chicago and it was written by Carl Sandburg in 1914. In the poem Carl talks about the streets of Chicago and describes the hardship of the streets. Carl also describes the people who live in Chicago and how they are appreciative, dedicated and sometimes do jobs and other tasks they do not practically enjoy or like just to make a living. Carl uses a lot of dramatic imagery throughout the entire poem that way he can characterize some of the situations in the poem. In the first stanza, Carl describes Chicago and how it is becoming very powerful with the all of the major industries that are around. Carl uses many of the words in the stanza below to describe the city of Chicago. In the second stanza, Carl talks about …show more content…
how someone told him that the city of Chicago is a frightful and scary city and he agreed with that person. Carl describes the city with persuasive imagery, Carl talks about how he has seen prostitutes walking around in the streets of Chicago, attempting to attract out of town boys who do not know any better. In this next section, Carl talks about how he has seen someone kill someone and be released to go do it again.
Carl is also agreeing that the city of Chicago can be a very alarming city. In this next stanza, Carl expresses the cruelty of the city and then goes on to talk about the women and children who starve on the streets of Chicago in this next stanza. In this next section, Carl talks about how people have taunted the city of Chicago, also that he responded with a mocking remark. Carl then answers them with the stanza below: In the next stanza, Carl uses the simile “Fierce as a dog” and “Cunning, as a savage pitted against wilderness… bareheaded…” to describe the city. Carl talks about the city of Chicago as being bold, rough and awake. Carl uses his dramatic imagery to describe the city of Chicago once again in the poem. In the second of the two stanzas, Carl describes some things that partake in the city and talks about that of which the people are doing to Chicago. Carl uses harsh words to describe Chicago, to make it sound tough and strong. In this next section, Carl describes the influence and toughness of his city, Chicago. Carl uses some recurrence of words in the first two
stanzas: In the final stanza of the poem Carl Sandburg talks about the morality of the city. The first and last stanza of the poem are almost identical both talking about the city of Chicago, using the descriptive words such as stormy and husky. In my opinion Carl Sandburg did an excellent job in writing this poem. Carl used very strong imagery throughout the entire poem which made this poem that much better. The poem lacked that of a rhyme scheme, but then again I do not believe that was what Carl was going for when writing this poem.
Buzz Bissinger’s A Prayer for the City discussed many issues that impacted cities around the nation, but more specifically the problems of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Philadelphia has had an illustrious history as an American city- the Declaration of Independence was signed there, it was one of America 's first cities, and currently it has the fifth largest population of any city. When Rendell took office as mayor, he faced a multitude of issues. Some of these issues were “immediate crises” that he believed may go away by some miracle, others would require much more work and seemed to be nearly impossible tasks. Among the problems for Philadelphia were crippling unemployment, crime, and race relations within the
In this passage “The Street” by Ann Petry, Lutie Johnson’s relationship with her urban setting is expressed using figurative language. Lutie allows us to walk with her and experience one cold November night near the streets of seventh and eighth avenue. The relationship between Lutie Johnson and the urban setting is established using personification, imagery, and characterization.
In the nonfiction novel The Devil in the White City, Erik Larson uses imagery, tone, and figurative language to portray the dreamlike qualities of Chicago and the beauty that lies within this city. Larson’s use of imagery causes the reader to picture the beautiful landscape of the fairgrounds before the fair becomes, which might make the reader wish they were apart of this scenery. Larson emphasizes people will see things they “have never seen before”. Like a “broad body of water extending into the horizon” (55) , making the reader feel as if
Something that sticks with the reader is found in the prologue of The Great Inversion. That something is Ehrenhalt’s writing about Chicago and the events of the winter of 1979. What is written is the account of a 22inch snow fall that hit Chicago in 1979 that has a profound effect on government. The snow fall of that was of disastrous quantity and in turn the city’s transportation system failed many of the residents of Chicago’s urban area, and succeeded the rich suburban population. The urban population of mostly black and Hispanics placed blame on the mayor and he lost the democratic primary. Today Chicago is different; the rich majority is living in the city while the poor minority is living outside of the city limits. We are given the 1979 picture of Chicago and its inhabitants and the stark con...
While the poem's situation is simple, its theme is not. Stafford appears to be intimating that life is precious and fragile; however, nothing so clearly discloses these attributes of life as confrontation with death. Furthermore, the very confrontations that engender appreciation of life's delicacies force action-all to frequently callous action.
He uses personifications specifically in this poem to write about what is going on and to describe things. “It's a hard life where the sun looks”(19)...”And its black strip of highway, big eyed/with rabbits that won’t get across ”(2)...”A pot bangs and water runs in the kitchen” (13) None of these are really human body parts on things such as the sun, a pot, or a highway, but they help describe what something does or what something looks like. In the first instance, the sun cannot actually look at something, but it could mean that the sun is visible to the humans, and if humans are out for a long time in the sun, they can get hot and exhausted. For the second line, the big-eyed highway could mean that the highway has many cars with bright headlights that are dangerous for the rabbits, the immigrants, to get across. For the third and final line, pots are not able to bang things on their own, and it could have possibly been a human who made the pot bang, preparing the meal of beans and brown soup that they survive on. There is also a simile in this poem, “Papa's field that wavered like a mirage” (24). This simile could suggest that the wind is moving the grass or crops on his father’s field and looked like an optical illusion. According to Gale Virtual Reference Library, the literary device, “tone” is used to convey the significant change of the author’s feeling in the poem. In the beginning lines, the tone is happy. The poem talks about nostalgia of when he was little, “They leap barefoot to the store. Sweetness on their tongues, red stain of laughter (5-6). (GVRL) These lines illustrate the nostalgia and happy times of Gary Soto’s life when he was probably a child. However, after line 11, the tone becomes more of a negative one. Soto later talks about Farm Laborers and how the job was not a great one. After line 19, a brighter
Wolfe really makes you look at the differences your environment can make and how it affects its citizens. One with no knowledge of city life would probably be disgusted of it after reading this article. If they were looking to move to New York City, they would most probably think it through again. Who would want to live in filth with animals? What Wolfe doesn’t mention in his article are all of the good things about New York City....
The writer of this poem is Gil Scott-Heron. He was born in Chicago, but spent his childhood in Jackson, Tennessee. Scott-Hereon went to Lincoln University in Pennsylvania because two of the people whom he admired went there. However, he taken a year off to write a novel. The audience for this poem is every person, but the specific audience is the media and the government. This poem is written to the media and the government because of how they did not want to portray African Americans, even though they had a big movement going on. Also, the government was corrupt and treated African Americans as they did not even existed.
From analyzing the text it’s obvious to the reader that the narrator is dissatisfied with where he’s at in life. The first stanza is an insight into the atmosphere of his high school, and the word choice and imagery play a role in depicting his disgruntled
Royko’s representation of Richard J. Daley provides his readers an impartial glimpse into the obscure life of a true political power. Daley’s genius in gaining control as mayor of Chicago and then sustaining it from 1955 to 1976 characterizes his tenacity as politician. His explicit understanding of machine politics and use of patronage centralized the power of his administration. On one hand his constituents admire him for his contribution toward urban expansion, influence on the Democratic Party, and patronage of friends and family. On the other hand he is resented for his destruction of homes in the name of progress, corruption of local government, and absolute rule over his city. Royko concludes his colorful story on Richard Daley in quoting Alderman Paddy Bauler in his statement after Daley was first elected in 1995 as saying ” Chicago ain’t ready for reform yet, “(214). Royko completes Bauler’s statement as saying " And in 1970, ready or not, it wasn’t getting any.”(214)!
“Nebraska” uses a persona that is best described as classic “American”, which describes the voice as being a young Midwestern male that typically seems detached and rebellious. In the second stanza of “Nebraska,” the author clarifies the persona used by writing, “From the town of Lincoln, Nebraska, with a sawed-off ...
An epidemic of water born diseases in Chicago was rampant in the early 1880s. In order to stop the spread the diseases, Chicago exercised their right to reverse the flow of the once stagnant river, thus saving the lives of Chicago residents.
...ite City should be put in consideration primarily. Very often people might see on the news that crime happens every day and violence and corruption are part of it. To promote a better society to future generations these serious issues should be taken into action adequately to minimize numerous deaths in the city of Chicago.
Choosing the first person form in the first and fourth stanza, the poet reflects his personal experiences with the city of London. He adheres to a strict form of four stanzas with each four lines and an ABAB rhyme. The tone of the poem changes from a contemplative lyric quality in the first to a dramatic sharp finale in the last stanza. The tone in the first stanza is set by regular accents, iambic meter and long vowel sounds in the words "wander", "chartered", "flow" and "woe", producing a grave and somber mood.
Since this is a lyric poem, it is known that David Axelrod is the speaker. As an American living in 1976 the press must have been a vital means of receiving information, which at times could be more than deplorable. Axelrod makes good use of synecdoche by refereeing to the media’s bombarding of information with “Over and over again the papers print” diminishing the magnitude of what provides the information (Axelrod 1). He also does well in relating himself with his audience, realizing that he too experienced the numbing of senses with lines like “to toughen / us, teach us to ignore”, “reminding us only that we are not so hungry”(Axelrod 6-7,12). The usage of first person plural establishes a deeper connection between poet and audience.