Chowdhury 1
Omar Chowdhury
Professor: Elizabeth Guthrie
ENG 1101, D376
9 February 2016
Outline for poem, “New York Subway” by Hilda Morley(textual analysis essay)
Topic: Beautiful People
I. Introduction
(A) Opener: Lailah Gifty Akita once said, “We are amazing individuals.” This quotation
explains how there are amazing people in this world. There are different people who are
beautiful based on their appearance. Even if the person is not very beautiful based on their looks,
they are amazing people who have a heart inside them. Those people are very sweet and they are
like as if they can be trusted.
(B) Thesis Statement: Hilda Morley’s poem, “New York Subway” addresses the idea of
beauties of people in the subway such as High-School boys, Office Girls, and a disable Puerto
Rican.
II. Body
(A) High-School Boys: As these boys enter the train, they start to joke around with each
other because they all treat each other as if they were brothers. These boys were felt like they are
glad that they’ve met each other. In a friendship, there is always loyalty to people that they care
about so much. For Example, on page 356 lines 6-9, Hilda Morley once stated, “…the highschool boys from Queens, boasting, joking together proudly in their expectations and power…”
It is hard to make friends at first but when you get to know someone, you know how kind these
people are. Loyalty is very important in a friendship and especially a relationship.
Chowdhury 2
(B) Office Girls: These girls are on their way home from work. As Hilda Morley saw
them on the train, Hilda Morley thought about their appearance. These office girls were so
beautiful based on their appearance. When you see someone as they appear, it makes you think
about how a person can possibly describe this person or what words you want to use to describe
that person. For Example, on page 356 lines 11-13, Morley states, “…the three office-girls each
strangely beautiful, the Indian with dark skin and the girl with her haircut very short and
fringed…” If you are thinking that you don’t look beautiful, you are beautiful inside and outside
no matter what. People shouldn’t be judged based on their appearance but they definitely should
be judged on who they are in the inside not the outside.
(C) Disable Puerto Rican: When Hilda Morley was on the train, she saw a disabled kind
man who wasn’t able to get up properly. People are disabled because of the pain they have
suffered from their body. Hilda helped the man because he couldn’t get up and she offered him a
seat on the train. For Example, on page 356 lines 19-27, Morley said, “…the Puerto Rican
holding the door for more than 3 minutes for the feeble, crippled, hunched little man who could
not raise his head, whose held I held, to help him into the subway car – so we were joined in
helping him and someone, seeing us, gives up his seat, learning from us what we had learned
from each other…” As people are helping others, they get to not only know others but they also
learned from them so they can be good people like them. People are kind based on who they are
and whether they are disabled or not, they are still respectful to others.
III. Conclusion