Poem 1: The City Planners
by Margaret Atwood
Link to video: https://youtu.be/vTm92Pokmc0
Task:
1. Bullet point a list of literally what you see here.
2. What other words come to mind when looking at this image? Add
these words and phrases to your list.
Task:
1. What do you notice about this image that is similar or different to
the previous image?
2. How does this image differ from the town/city where you live?
Task:
1. How does this image make you feel? Explain your answer to your
neighbour and be ready to share with the class.
2. Are there any implications of planning cities and suburbs like this?
Who is Margaret Atwood?
• Margaret Atwood is a poet,
novelist, story writer, essayist, and
environmental activist.
• Role reversal and new beginnings
are recurrent themes in her
novels.
• She says: “responding to climate
change requires change at every
level - in our technologies,
economic structures, and social
practices.”
• The poem The City Planners is
about our approach to
urbanisation, housing, and
suburban development.
Poem 1: The City Planners by Margaret Atwood
Pre-reading homework/classwork to do before discussing the poem
as a class. Use internet sources to help you answer the questions.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Read the poem a couple of times all the way through.
Stick the poem into your book/portfolio.
What is the the poem about? What happens in it?
Is the poem emotional in any way? What is the tone?
What is the poetic form? Why might this be significant?
In your opinion, what is the main message of Atwood’s poem?
Cruising these residential Sunday
streets in dry August sunlight:
what offends us is
the sanities:
the houses in pedantic rows, the planted
sanitary trees, assert
levelness of surface like a rebuke
to the dent in our car door.
No shouting here, or
shatter of glass; nothing more abrupt
than the rational whine of a power mower
cutting a straight swath in the discouraged grass.
But though the driveways neatly
sidestep hysteria
by being even, the roofs all display
the same slant of avoidance to the hot sky,
certain things:
the smell of spilled oil a faint
sickness lingering in the garages,
a splash of paint on brick surprising as a bruise,
a plastic hose poised in a vicious
coil; even the too-fixed stare of the wide
windows
Poem 1: The City Planners by
Margaret Atwood
give momentary access to
the landscape behind or under
the future cracks in the plaster
when the houses, capsized, will slide
obliquely into the clay seas, gradual as glaciers
that right now nobody notices.
That is where the City Planners
with the insane faces of political conspirators
are scattered over unsurveyed
territories, concealed from each other,
each in his own private blizzard;
guessing directions, they sketch
transitory lines rigid as wooden borders
on a wall in the white vanishing air
tracing the panic of suburb
order in a bland madness of snows
Stanza 1: Make notes and annotations as we discuss the poem.
The speaker is driving with someone (us) through the suburbs on a Sunday in August. She
comments on the things we take for granted as normal and sane, but presents them as
insane, unnatural and without life. This is unusual and eerie for a sunny day in the holidays.
Cruising these residential Sunday
streets in dry August sunlight:
what offends us is
the sanities:
the houses in pedantic rows, the planted
sanitary trees, assert
levelness of surface like a rebuke
to the dent in our car door.
No shouting here, or
shatter of glass; nothing more abrupt
than the rational whine of a power mower
cutting a straight swath in the discouraged grass.
What society thinks of as “sane” is
offensive to the speaker. She is
critical of the way we have carved
up nature to build the suburbs.
Pedantic – attention to detail.
Planted – unnatural/manmade.
Sanitary – overly clean.
The “level” manmade surfaces are
personified as “rebuking” (telling
off) the speaker for having a dent in
her car door.
There is no sign of life. The place is silent and without children playing or
people interacting. The speaker is sarcastic in calling the power mower
“rational”. To her this place is an irrational nightmare where nature is
overwhelmed by crazed human control.
Stanzas 2 and 3: Make notes and annotations as we discuss the poem.
The image of the suburbs starts to reveal its misery and decay. There is a madness just
beneath the surface and evidence is strewn everywhere. We shouldn’t try to be so
controlling because doing so is – ironically – a madness.
But though the driveways neatly
sidestep hysteria
by being even, the roofs all display
the same slant of avoidance to the hot sky,
certain things:
the smell of spilled oil a faint
sickness lingering in the garages,
a splash of paint on brick surprising as a bruise,
a plastic hose poised in a vicious
coil; even the too-fixed stare of the wide
windows
give momentary access to
the landscape behind or under
the future cracks in the plaster
A tone of despair for the suburbs starts to
emerge here.
Further personification and sarcasm. The
speaker describes the houses and driveways
as avoiding “hysteria” (madness). The world
is, on the surface, perfectly designed to keep
the population sane and in control. But, this
is exactly what is driving the speaker crazy.
The roofs are cowering from the sun,
sheltering the inhabitants from nature.
Although everything seems perfectly
constructed, there are a few details that
signal to the speaker that humanity can’t be
so easily contained and trained: bruise
simile, snake imagery, transfixed eyes of the
windows. Haunting and eerie.
Stanzas 4 to 7: Make notes and annotations as we discuss the poem.
Here we witness an apocalyptic tumbling of civilisation and the City Planners (the only
human characters in the poem) come out to regain control. It is quite a surreal and
atmospheric ending to the poem.
when the houses, capsized, will slide
obliquely into the clay seas, gradual as glaciers
that right now nobody notices.
That is where the City Planners
with the insane faces of political conspirators
are scattered over unsurveyed
territories, concealed from each other,
each in his own private blizzard;
guessing directions, they sketch
transitory lines rigid as wooden borders
on a wall in the white vanishing air
tracing the panic of suburb
order in a bland madness of snows
Tumble over like boats, suggesting
frailty of this suburban reality.
Conflation of ideas: the madness of
climate change with the madness of the
suburbs. Is there a connection?
These people are presented as evil,
although puppets, as they “are scattered”
by someone else – government?
Perhaps they are competing in the
interests of greed creating urban sprawl
or more boring suburbs.
Oxymoronic ending: “panic of suburb
order” and “bland madness”. We are
asleep to the horror around us.
Technical and Comprehension Questions:
1. Find an example of enjambment and explain why you think it has been used.
2. Find an example of sibilance and explain why you think it has been used.
3. In line 4 the speaker mentions certain “sanities”. What is she referring to?
4. Look at your answer for Q3. Why might this be deemed ironic?
5. Find an example of imagery and explain your understanding of it.
6. In line 11, why do you think the author describes the lawn mower as “whining”?
7. Can you find any connections to climate change in the poem? Explain.
8. Who are the people in the poem and how are they portrayed?
9. How has your understanding of the poem developed after reading and discussing it?
10. What do you think is the central message being conveyed by the author?
Reflection Task:
Watch the opening of the film: Blue Velvet, and be ready for
a quiz afterwards.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwuzI8Y0uW0
Quiz Questions:
1. The white picket fence symbolises...
2. Which two images represent safety in
the clip?
3. In the background to the scene with the
man watering his lawn, what is featured
that is a mirror image of him?
4. Which is the significance of the lamp
and the toy behind the woman drinking
tea, in your opinion?
5. Why the slow motion dog, do you think?
6. Why the bugs, do you think?
7. What is the overall meaning, and how
does it relate to Atwood’s poem, The
City Planners?
List of Memorable Language/Technical Features and Their Effects
Lines 1 and 2: “Sunday streets” – enjambment and sibilance – mirroring the movement of
the winding car around the smooth roads.
Line 2: “dry August sunlight” – imagery and time – creates a suburban 50s image to set the
scene.
Line 4: “the sanities” – irony – the things most people view as sane are, in fact, insane.
Lines 5 and 6: “houses in pedantic rows, the planted sanitary trees” – personification and
conflation of nature and the manmade world. Image of control.
Lines 9 and 10: “no shouting here, or shatter…nothing abrupt” – imagery – complete silence;
a world sedated and controlled.
Line 11: “rational whine of the mower” – personification and irony – an eerie and haunting
image is created here.
Line 12: “straight swath in the discouraged grass” – personification of the sinister and
relentless abuse of nature.
Stanza 1: enjambment, sibilance, imagery, irony, personification, and conflation.
List of Memorable Language/Technical Features and Their Effects
Line 13: “but though…” – contrasting conjunction to start the reveal; the reveal of the
dankness lurking beneath the surface of suburban control.
Line 14: “hysteria” – connotations of sudden emotional outbursts and madness.
Line 16: “same slant of avoidance to the hot sky” – an allusion to climate change; perhaps
people here are made ignorant by their controlled living conditions.
Line 18: “the smell of spilled oil a faint sickness” – a further allusion to our obsession with
fossil fuels, making the world ill.
Line 20: “a splash of paint on brick surprising as a bruise” – simile to enhance our
understanding of a damaged or abused world.
Line 21: “a plastic hose poised in a vicious coil” – image of a sinister snake to perhaps
symbolise our wasteful attitude to water.
Line 22 and 23: “the too-fixed stare of the wide windows give momentary access to
the landscape behind” – contrast of manmade world and nature once more.
Stanzas 2 and 3: contrast, connotation, allusion, simile, and imagery.
List of Memorable Language/Technical Features and Their Effects
Line 25: “the future cracks” – ambiguous onomatopoeia – could again be a reference to
climate change and the dangers of our current systems on the future. Ominous tone.
Line 26: “when the houses, capsized, will slide” – assonance – mirrors the tumbling sensation
of the prophesised doom of ecological meltdown and disaster.
Line 27: “gradual as glaciers that right now nobody notices” – simile – we are blind to climate
change just as we are blind to the unsustainability of our current relationship with nature.
Lines 29 and 30: “the City Planners with the insane faces” – imagery/irony – the author’s
perspective is fully realised; she holds the creators of these suburbs as responsible, and
describes their efforts as “insane”. It is ironic that this insane bunch and making such
organised streets.
Line 31: “political conspirators are scattered” – sibilance – again, mirrors the sinister action
that Atwood is accusing politicians and city planners of committing.
Line 33: “each in his own private blizzard” – metaphor – conveys the competitive nature of a
highly individualised society with no sense of collective responsibility or community.
Stanzas 4 and 5: ambiguity, onomatopoeia, assonance, simile, irony, sibilance, and
metaphor.
List of Memorable Language/Technical Features and Their Effects
Line 36: “a wall in the white vanishing air” – imagery – surreal fading image of a vanishing
world.
Lines 37 and 38: “tracing the panic of suburb order in a bland madness of snows” – haunting
imagery – could be read as a final warning about our efforts to urbanise nature and the
detriment caused by such endeavours.
Stanzas 6 and 7: imagery.
Task: Answer these questions in your book/portfolio.
These four questions are essential knowledge for each and every
poem we study.
1.
2.
3.
4.
What is the the poem about? What happens in it?
Is the poem emotional in any way? What is the tone?
What is the poetic form? Why might this be significant?
In your opinion, what is the main message of Atwood’s poem?
Choose one question and write 3 PEE paragraphs answering it.
Essay Questions:
1. How does Atwood express her perspective on human nature in
the poem, City Planners?
2. How does Atwood criticise modern living in her poem, City
Planners?
3. How does Atwood use imagery in City Planners to effectively
convey her ideas to the reader?
Example Essay
How does Atwood criticise modern living in her poem, City Planners?
Introduction:
Margaret Atwood uses poetry as a means by which to express her
concerns and criticism of modern living. She conveys the idea that
the way we live is bland and overly controlled, and is having a
detrimental effect on our environment. She wants reform when it
comes to urban planning and has hopes of humanity living more
harmoniously with nature. She expresses her ideas through a range
of metaphorical ideas and imagery, conveying a haunting image of
the suburbs. We leave the poem with a renewed sense of awareness
of the problems of urbanisation. The poem might be read as a
method of enlightenment, but also as a warning to us all about our
destructive relationship with nature.
Example Essay
How does Atwood criticise modern living in her poem, City Planners?
Paragraph 1:
Atwood conveys an image of desolation and vapidity in her depiction of a modern suburban
landscape as she takes us for a ride around the neighbourhood. She write that “what
offends” her are the “sanities”, by which she is referring to identical rows of houses and
gardens. Her use of psychological language is notable, and we may interpret her point as
ironic: she is referring to what we regularly deem a sane way of living, and subverting this
to present it as madness. She criticises the man-made world, referring to houses as
“pedantic”, and “planted” trees as “sanitary”. She is offended by the way we have carved up
the natural landscape for our own individual gain. This is further reinforced through her use
of imagery as she creates an eerie and haunting tone: there is, “no shouting here, or
shatter…nothing abrupt” suggesting we have created a deluded version of normality, one
that is individualistic and lacking in community spirit. The only noise is the “rational whine”
of a lawn mower. Again she uses the language of sanity, personifying the machinery that is
used to control the growing grass, which is “discouraged” from growing. Overall, the
opening stanza paints a picture of emptiness. The planned world we have created in
suburban living is not one of progress, but one of delusion that forgets our inherent
connection with nature. Atwood makes us question our plans for future housing
developments in this opening scene.
Example Essay
How does Atwood criticise modern living in her poem, City Planners?
Paragraph 2:
Atwood later uses symbolism to expresses her opinion that, due to the harm inflicted upon
the Earth, living in this way is unsustainable, and even encourages ignorance. The second
stanza starts with a contrasting conjunction in “but though…” as Atwood begins to notice
cracks in the “sanities” around the suburban landscape. The sensory imagery in the “smell
of spilled oil – a sickness” could allude to our obsession with burning fossil fuels, and the
simile in the “splash of paint surprising as a bruise” acts as a flash of imperfection in this
controlled world. Later she goes on to describe this decay as being “gradual as glaciers that
right now nobody notices”. There is a sense of inevitability in the impermanence of this
place as she states that “the houses will capsize and slide” suggestive of destruction and
chaos. The image of the “plastic” hose pipe “coiled and vicious” suggests a snake, perhaps
an allusion to evil. Atwood’s message seems clear: plastic, petrol and toxic chemicals have
helped build this world, but they will also accelerate our global ecological doom if we are
not careful. The most important line, for me, is that the houses have “the same slant in
avoidance of the hot sky”, perhaps symbolic of our willingness to shelter, ignore and hide
from the reality of our acts upon the world, even when the rising temperatures are plain to
see and feel. We would rather cower in our homes and turn our backs. The tone here shifts
to one of despair, and Atwood then takes aim at the culprits of these crimes.
Example Essay
How does Atwood criticise modern living in her poem, City Planners?
Paragraph 3:
Atwood blames the eponymous City Planners, and therefore government, for the cause of
suburban development. Her perspective is fully conveyed, describing the designers of this
land as “insane.” The City Planners are presented as objects, being “scattered” by their local
governments to carve up new land when old lands fall apart or become uninhabitable. The
poem at this stage becomes much more dispersed and less organised, which mirrors the
content of Atwood’s message. There is also a sense of blindness that is conveyed as the City
Planners act in “their own private blizzard”. They are not working together for the sake of
the community and land, but competing against one another to get contracts signed and
make profit, so this could be read as a criticism of our individualistic, and capitalist, lifestyle.
The “blizzard” metaphor is continued into the final lines of building “a wall in the white
vanishing air” which, again, alludes to our blinkered approach to developing spaces for
humans to live in. The oxymoron at the end of the poem where Atwood describes the
builders “tracing the panic of suburb order in the bland madness of snows” is, for me, quite
surreal and ominous. There is a “panic” to rebuild the “madness” of “suburb order” which
really conveys the whole poem’s message – will we wake up to our actions’ detrimental
effects on the environment, even if ecological meltdown materialises? Probably not,
Atwood pessimistically suggests.
Example Essay
How does Atwood criticise modern living in her poem, City Planners?
Conclusion:
Although quite a despairing end to the poem, we might interpret
Atwood’s message as one of guidance. A lot needs to change in
order for us to combat the impending ecological meltdown that so
many scientists have proven is on the horizon. One such thing is the
way we use land – cities, suburbs and rural spaces. In Atwood’s view,
and I think I agree with her, the suburban, individualistic, carving-upof-nature-for-profit method that governments and private
developers have been harnessing since the 50s to build suburban
towns does more to encourage ignorance and separation than build
sustainable communities with shared common goals. Atwood
concisely uses her art to contribute to the global debate surrounding
climate change, enlightening us to the dangers of mad city planning.