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.
