“The City Planners” by Margaret Atwood (copy)

What is “The City Planners” about

• explores the relationship between humanity and the environment, delving into the profound impacts humans have on nature.

How is metaphor used in “The City Planners”?

• The poem uses metaphors to convey deeper meanings.

• The “smell of spilled oil [is] a faint / sickness lingering in the garages,” suggesting something unhealthy beneath the suburb’s surface.

• This metaphor may allude to environmental destruction.

• Another metaphor describes houses sliding “obliquely into the clay seas,” implying their inevitable decay.

• The extended metaphor of the “City Planners” caught in their “own private blizzard” illustrates their isolation and frenzied competition.

• This metaphor continues to describe their profit-driven actions as a “bland madness of snows,” highlighting the irrationality of their control.

How is personification used in the poem?

• Personification imbues the suburban setting with a sense of human agency and underscores the power of the natural world.

• The poem subtly personifies houses and trees, suggesting that their “levelness of surface” actively rebukes the speaker for having a “dent[ed]” car door.

• This personification reflects the residents’ disdain for anything imperfect.

• The grass is described as “discouraged,” indicating that human inventions like “power mower[s]” suppress natural growth. Driveways “neatly sidestep hysteria,” implying that the suburb’s orderliness attempts to ward off irrationality.

• Lastly, windows are given a “too-fixed stare,” suggesting the suburb is constantly judging its inhabitants.

• This creates an eerie, judgmental atmosphere.

How is alliteration used in the poem?

• The poem’s first four lines contain numerous /s/ sounds, evoking the stillness of the suburb.

• This sibilance continues throughout the stanza with words like “sanitary,” “surface,” and “straight swath,” creating a sense of tension and dread.

• Sharp /p/ sounds in “pedantic” and “planted” highlight the suburb’s precise organization, while heavy /d/ alliteration in “dent” and “door” makes imperfections more noticeable.

• The pounding /b/ sounds in “brick” and “bruise” emphasize the unexpectedness of the bruise.

How is consonance used in the poem?

• Consonance fills the poem with music and emphasizes certain images and ideas.

• Crisp /t/ sounds in “pedantic rows, the planted / sanitary trees, assert” convey neatness.

• Much consonance is sibilance, with /s/, /z/, and /sh/ sounds evoking the suburb’s smooth, quiet perfection.

• The poem’s final lines mix hissing /s/, liquid /l/, nasal /n/, and guttural /g/ consonance to draw attention to the suburb’s veneer of perfection and the oozing “spilled oil.”

• Consonance helps the poem’s language come alive and highlights moments of disorder.

How is assonance used in the poem?

• Assonance intensifies certain ideas and images, often working alongside alliteration and consonance to create strong rhythms.

• For example, in “the houses in pedantic rows, the planted / sanitary trees,” the long /a/ sounds draw attention to the rigidity of the houses and trees.

• Assonance also enhances the imagery of “the smell of spilled oil a faint / sickness lingering in the garages,” making the image of lurking illness more vivid.

• The poem uses assonance to reinforce its themes and create a cohesive soundscape.

How is imagery used in the poem?

• The poem is driven by vivid imagery that paints a picture of a sterile, homogeneous world.

• The speaker describes “the houses in pedantic rows” and “the planted / sanitary trees,” using words like “pedantic” and “sanitary” to convey artificiality and orderliness.

• Imagery highlights the suburb’s lack of excitement and uniqueness.

• The speaker contrasts this order with moments of disorder, such as a “splash of paint on brick surprising as a bruise,” emphasizing the tension between perfection and imperfection.

• The poem’s ending uses chaotic imagery to depict nature’s eventual triumph over human attempts at control.

How is the tone of the poem like?

Satirical Tone.

• Atwood’s satire is sharp when she describes the “City Planners” with “the insane faces of political conspirators.”

• This ironic portrayal mocks the planners’ attempts to impose order and control, suggesting their efforts are misguided and ultimately futile.

• The phrase “sidestep hysteria” satirizes the suburb’s attempt to avoid chaos, implying that this very effort is a form of panic and irrationality, thus subverting the notion of suburban tranquility

How is the structure of the poem?

• “The City Planners” is structured as a free verse poem, which allows Atwood the flexibility to explore her themes without the constraints of a fixed rhyme scheme or meter. This structure reflects the poem’s critique of the rigid and controlled suburban environment.

• The lack of a fixed structure contrasts with the controlled and uniform suburban setting described in the poem. This juxtaposition reinforces the poem’s critique of the artificial order imposed on nature and human life.

• The poem’s free verse form mirrors the natural fluidity and unpredictability that Atwood suggests is missing from the suburban landscape.

Now, Give an overview about everything in the poem.

• In “The City Planners,” Margaret Atwood sharply critiques suburban conformity using a critical tone and vivid imagery.

• Through her structured yet free verse form, she highlights the artificiality and suffocation of suburban life, contrasting it with the unpredictable and organic nature it attempts to suppress.

• By employing literary devices like personification and metaphor, Atwood challenges the notion of control over nature, urging readers to question the cost of uniformity and the value of individuality.