City Planners Essay

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The City Planners by Margaret Atwood is a poem which explores man’s undying urge for perfection. Through the poem Atwood brings forth the perfect suburbs in her hometown Canada. The poem views modern life as empty and artificial. The poem opens with the word “cruising” which gives the readers the impact of a easygoing or laidback feeling. This word is accompanied with “Sunday” which further adds to the laidback feeling. The author also makes a reference to her hometown in the very second line of the poem through “dry august sunlight” referring to the dry heat in Canada. “Dry” further emphasises on the setting of the poem to be in Canada. As the poem continues the noun “sanities” surfaces which brings out the poets perception on suburbia which is a prim, proper place, which is over constructed. The repetition of the noun here is also ironic as it shows us that the planners have lost the sanity of their own minds chasing after this so called perfection. In the 6th and 7th line of the poem Atwood uses visual imagery to bring forth the perfection of even the trees which resembles a car dent. A simile has also been used by Atwood in “like a rebuke” which further shows the uniformity of trees. The use of the word “our” in these lines makes the imagery more personal. “No shouting here” used in the 9th line describes how the suburbs is a good place to live in. The capital used here suggests the importance of this line and perhaps a change of idea. Oxymoron is then used in the 11th line in “rational whine”, whine could bring forth a baby crying or fussing but when placed with the word rational it makes sense. Personification is used in the very next line in “discouraged grass” signifies that the grass is upset by how often it is cut and it wants the will to grow however it pleases. Grass is also a symbol of hope but here it seems as though even the grass has lost hope.

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