Hotel Room, 12th floor
This morning I watched from here
a helicopter skirting like a damaged
insect the Empire State Building, that
jumbo size dentist's drill, and landing
on the roof of the Pan Am skyscraper.
But now midnight has come in
from foreign places.
Its uncivilised darkness is shot at by
a million lit windows,
all ups and acrosses.
But midnight is not
so easily defeated. I lie in bed, between
a radio and a television set, and hear
the wildest of warwhoops continually
ululating through the
glittering canyons and gulches
police cars and ambulances racing
to the broken bones, the harsh screaming
from coldwater flats, the blood
glazed on sidewalks.
The frontier is never
somewhere else. And no stockades can
keep the midnight out.
Norman MacCaig
In this poem, written in 1968, the poet
spends a night in a New York hotel room.
One or two words or ideas you might not
be familiar with are explained below.
Empire State Building - At the time the
poem was written, the tallest building in
the world.
PanAm - The national airline of U.S.A. at
this time (went bust in the 80s)
Warwhoop –A cry uttered on going into
battle.
Ululating - Howling or walling in an
undulating way.
Gulches - An American name for a ravine
or narrow rocky valley.
Flats - Among the several meanings
of this word are: apartments (rooms
that people live in) and, low lying
plains or tracts of land covered by
shallow water typical of certain areas
of south and west U.S.A.
Stockades - A barrier of stakes
erected as a defence against attack.
Hotel Room, 12th floor
This morning I watched from here
a helicopter skirting like a damaged
insect the Empire State Building, that
jumbo size dentist's drill, and landing
on the roof of the Pan Am skyscraper.
But now midnight has come in
from foreign places. Its uncivilised
darkness is shot
at by a million lit windows,
all ups and acrosses.
But midnight is not
so easily defeated. I lie in bed,
between
a radio and a television set, and hear
the wildest of warwhoops
continually ululating through the
glittering canyons and gulches
police cars and ambulances racing
to the broken bones, the harsh
screaming from coldwater flats, the
blood glazed on sidewalks.
The frontier is never
somewhere else. And no stockades
can keep the midnight out.
Read this poem through carefully then
write a short paragraph saying what
you think it is about. (about 5/6 lines)
The poet wrote this on his first visit to
New York. He spent much of his life in
the North of Scotland. Say what you
think his attitude is to New York and
how this might be influenced by his
background.
There is a simile in the first two lines.
Write down what two things are being
compared. Say why it is appropriate to
compare them.
"that jumbo sized dentist drill".
What figure of speech is this?
What two things are being compared?
In what way are the two similar?
How goes this phrase give us a hint of
how he feels about New York
"shot at" and "defeated".
Where would you normally expect to
find these words used?
What are they describing here?
Find another word from stanza two
which continues this idea
In the second stanza MacCaig watches
TV and then describes the scene outside
his window. What similarities does he
see?
(Difficult one this !) MacCaig talks about
New York by day and contrasts it with
NY at night.
What connotations do we have when
we talk about light and dark?
In the last stanza he talks about the
'frontier’ ( which usually means the
border between two sides) What battle
does he mean when talking about New
York?
Hotel Room, 12th floor
This morning I watched from here
a helicopter skirting like a damaged
insect the Empire State Building, that
jumbo size dentist's drill, and landing
on the roof of the Pan Am skyscraper.
But now midnight has come in
from foreign places. Its uncivilised
darkness is shot
at by a million lit windows,
all ups and acrosses.
But midnight is not
so easily defeated. I lie in bed,
between
a radio and a television set, and hear
the wildest of warwhoops
continually ululating through the
glittering canyons and gulches
police cars and ambulances racing
to the broken bones, the harsh
screaming from coldwater flats, the
blood glazed on sidewalks.
The frontier is never
somewhere else. And no stockades
can keep the midnight out.
CRITICAL ESSAY — HOTEL ROOM 12TH
FLOOR
"This poem describes a scene but also makes
the reader think about something else. Show
the ways in which the poet has been
successful in doing both."
Paragraph 1
Title of text, author and reference to the
question. Include reference to the fact that:
1. this poem describes New York by day and
night
2. It makes the reader think about violence
and the battle between good and evil
Paragraph 2 onwards:
POINT — what the writer is trying to do
or show.
EVIDENCE — quotes to support your
point.
EXPLAIN — identify techniques used
and say why effective.
Conclusion: Round off with reference to
the question and personal comment
(such as concluding with the visual
metaphor of turning the poem sideways
to reveal a word picture of New York
skyscrapers). Give your viewpoint!
IDEAS
Strong, confident picture of civilisation/
technology
Protecting us from what we fear
Darkness seen as threatening/alien
An enemy to be fought with technology
How difficult it is to get away from what we
fear
Even using technology
How the violence in the city is like the wild
west
TECHNIQUES
"This morning"
skyscrapers/helicopter/dentist's drill
"But"
"Midnight has come in from foreign places" –
meta “shot at by a million lit windows" - meta
"But" - contrast
"between a radio and a television set"
"wildest of warwhoops" -allit/meta
"glittering canyons and gulches" - meta
Again we look to civilisation/technology to
defend us
But it is struggling to do so
"police cars and ambulances"
"broken bones" – allit
"coldwater flats" - double meaning
Violence/decay/all the things we fear, are part "frontier" - meta for line between civ/non-civ
of us
values
We cannot protect ourselves completely from "stockades" - meta for protection against
them
fear"midnight" - meta for fear – violence /decay
Example only! Don’t copy!
A poem which at first seemed simple and straightforward to
me was "Hotel Room, 12th Floor” by Norman MacCaig. This
seemed to be about the poet observing New York during the
day from his hotel room and then noting the change in the
city when night fell. However, on closer study I realised it
was dealing with a more complex idea - the nature of
violence in society and how it is a basic part of mankind.
MacCaig uses the change from daylight to darkness to show
what happens when civilising influences are removed and
man’s more primitive side emerges.