MOD 1: Hopkins Collection

Bibliographic Data and ISBN

Hopkins, Lee Bennett, and Marcellus Hall. 2009. City I Love. New York: Abrams Books for Young Readers in association with the Field Museum. ISBN: 9780810983274

Summary

Lee Bennett Hopkins collected selections of his poems that value the city. Marcellus Hall complements his work with messages of global diversity and appreciation of city life all over the world.

Critical Analysis

Poetic Elements:

The purpose of Hopkins collection of poetry is to glorify city life. Each poem positively supports his persuasive testament, whether it is the city’s version of nature in City or the song of the city in Sing a Song of Cities. Hopkins takes frequently criticized aspects of the city and puts a peaceful and loving spin on them. He affirms, yes, the city is loud and busy, but it is so good. The emotional impact is lighthearted, but also eye opening to the diverse world we live in.

Many poems feature onomatopoeic and rhythmic language, the most exemplary being Kite with the line flitters, twirls, tumbles, twitters. This type of language not only facilitates the sight of a moving kite in the wind, but we can also hear the sounds it would make.

Other imagery appears like the particularly emotional, yet concise Merry Go Round Horse that portrays a spring rain as tears on inanimate horse. What is especially powerful about the examples of imagery is that they are often not a still moment, but one that takes place over an amount of time.

Metaphor is example of figurative language that Hopkins employs several times in this collection. City equates the city environment to a summer day, Subway whoosh- my summer breeze. Hydrant uses simile to compare a Venetian gondola to a Popsicle boat.

Layout:

The book does not include a table of contents or index. However the arrangement is more artistic. The illustrator, Marcellus Hall, sorts the poetry into chronological order, by having the illustration of the first poem take place at daybreak, then slowly progress through to the night. The content of the poetry has no indication of the time of day; it is purely visual.

Marcellus Hall’s illustrations are watercolors with dark brush strokes outlines. His style is similar to a vintage style, simplistic, a mix of geometric and organic shapes, and two-dimensional. His subjects are locales and people all over the world: Mexico, the Middle East, and Japan. The inside jacket art is a whimsical map of the world.

Appeal:

Many of my listed examples use familiar childhood experiences to create imagery and analogies: a Popsicle stick boat, a summer breeze, etc. Hall’s illustrations feature children in many of the pages. In those same illustrations we follow an anthropomorphic dog that is surely endearing to children who love dogs and grow up with one.

The language Hopkins uses many sight words. An ATOS level analyzer indicates about a second grade reading level for the first poem, Sing a Song of Cities. When read aloud, audiences of all ages would enjoy this book. The first poem begins with a familiar poetic format of a rhyming scheme. Many poems make use of onomatopoeia gives poetic images a sound. Hall’s illustrations also display meaning for younger audiences, but also gives additional messages for more observant readers, messages about diversity.

Featured Poem

Subways Are People

Subways are people-

People standing

People sitting

People swaying to and fro

Some in suits

Some in tatters

People I will never know.

Subways are people-

Some with glasses

Some without

Boy with smile

Girl with frown

People dashing

Steel flashing

Up and down and round the town.

Subways are people-

People old

People new

People always on the go

Racing, running, rushing people

People I will never know.

Poem Connections

Hopkins employs repetition in several ways in this poem. The word, people, occurs twelve times in twenty-one lines, which comprises over half the lines. The title phrase, Subways are People occurs three times. Four lines start with the word some. The line, People I will never know, occurs twice. The high frequency of repetition gives this poem a rhythmic quality, great for reading aloud. Repetition also draws readers’ attention to the repeated words. We are coerced to ponder them. One line that would create an interesting conversation is People I will never know. What does this say about riding a subway? Do the students like that about the subway? Should we try to change by talking to one another? Is there beauty in coexisting in silence? What other activities are pleasant and silent?

The phrase, Subways are People, is a metaphor. Readers are to entertain the idea of the subways identity lies in the people who ride it. The characteristics of the people are different. The poem tells us that they wear different clothes, are different ages, have different emotions. However the poem tells us how they are all the same. They are all the subway. We may not know them individually, but we know that they are going somewhere. We know that each person is their own person; they are individuals with their own story.

One example of alliteration transposes- Racing, running, rushing people. They all start with the letter R. In my opinion the R sound is similar to the whirring we would hear on the subway. It is like we can actually hear ourselves riding on it.

This poem talks about the city experience of riding the subway. A good way to introduce this poem is to talk about ways people travel through the city- walking, driving a car, riding the bus, etc. The instructor can call upon a student to recall how they ride the subway or they can recall their own experience. After reading the poem aloud twice the group can role-play being on the subway. Let them select their parts by pulling lines written on paper out of a hat. Call upon students to guess what line each student is acting out.