Hotel Room, 12th Floor Annotations

Question 1

title

Hotel Room, 12th Floor

Answer 1

hotel room - away from home

12th floor - high up

Question 2

this morning

Answer 2

sentence structure

sense of time - established immediately

Question 3

a helicopter skirting like a damaged insect

Answer 3

imagery

Simile – size of ESB is suggested by comparing the helicopter with an insect, even from the 12th floor.
Looks/sounds like a bluebottle spraying with insect spray, going round in circles – unpleasant connotations

Question 4

A helicopter skirting like a damaged insect
The empire state building, that
Jumbo size dentist’s drill

Answer 4

Imagery

– these disparaging comparisons reveal the poet’s contempt for what he sees as the American desire to have the biggest of everything

• He is critical of ostentatious symbols of wealth that don’t reflect the realities of what the city is like
• Both images depict/ are connected to suffering. The poem goes on to identify the causes of this suffering and its effects in stanza two.

Question 5

empire state building

Answer 5

real building - credibility

Question 6

jumbo size dentist’s drill

Answer 6

word choice

Negative connotations – pain, suffering and unpleasant experiences

Reflects that this is an unpleasant experience for the poet

Question 7

but now midnight

Answer 7

sentence structure

Signposts turning point
Changes to night and introduces the battle between light and dark –

symbolic of the key THEME good vs evil

Question 8

foreign places

Answer 8

Word choice

– multiracial society – the unknown?

Question 9

uncivillised darkenss

Answer 9

word choice

suggests evil

tone*

‘darkness’ and ‘foreign places’ – reflect the poet’s anxiety he feels society is beyond redemption

theme

The ‘light’ is trying to fight off the ’uncivilised darkness’ – religion is making a vain attempt to counteract the evil. Trying to drown out sound with the light

Question 10

is shot at

Answer 10

imagery

wild west imagery, violence, crime, battle, war.

Question 11

milion lit windows

Answer 11

‘lit’ and ‘darkness’ – contrast

Question 12

a million lit windows, all ups and acrosses

Answer 12

Metaphor

window frames in the form of the cross – reference to Christ suffering, dying to save civilisation

Question 13

but midnight (second stanza)

Answer 13

‘But’ links stanza 1 and 2, suggesting that violence in this society is a product of materialism

Repeats idea of the theme evil

Question 14

so easily defeated

Answer 14

word choice

society is beyond redemption

Question 15

between a radio and a television set

Answer 15

The poet is in bed on the 12th floor, with the TV and Radio on, trying to block out the noise from outside – suggests how loud it is
Technology/wealth (TV etc.) juxtaposed with an impoverished ‘wild west’ society.

Question 16

wildest of warwhoops

Answer 16

wild west’ imagery – the fearsome shrieks of native Americans in ‘cowboy and Indian’ films

shows theme the uncivilised nature of street violence

Question 17

the glittering canyons and gluches

Answer 17

Metaphor
the city streets – with high buildings on both sides – resemble the wild west landscape and the areas used in films for ambushes, suggesting that the streets in the city are just as dangerous. Again symbols of wealth on the landscape amongst the poverty.

Question 18

police cars and ambulances

Answer 18

Police and ambulance sirens are described as ‘the wildest of warwhoops continually ululating’

theme

This shows the isolation and suffering of the poor in the midst of the wealth and show of the city (represented by the ESB)

Question 19

broken bones

Answer 19

theme

Violence on the streets means that the victims require the emergency services

Question 20

harsh screaming

Answer 20

imagery

These examples of SYNECDOCHE, where a part of something is used to refer to the whole thing. In this case, part of the person is used to represent the whole person i.e. ‘broken bones’ for a person who has broken bones, ‘harsh screams’ for the person who is screaming, ‘blood glazed’ for people who have been injured.

theme

victims who have lain unattended – shows suffering

EFFECT OF SYNECDOCHE – focuses on and therefore highlights the people’s pain and suffering and depersonalises their suffering

This continues the idea of suffering introduced by the imagery of stanza 1

Nobody cares – police and paramedics who come to remove victims / break up violence see only ’broken bones’, ‘blood glazed’ and hear only ‘harsh screaming’, they do not acknowledge the individuals who are suffering, showing that they take no interest in the victims of violence

Question 21

coldwater flats

Answer 21

theme

Highlight’s poverty – flats without hot water
- People fight and kill each other on the streets – the poor are suffering, despite being surrounded by wealth

Question 22

stanza 2

Answer 22

Evil is within us – we are no more civilised that ‘cowboys and Indians’ in films
There is a sense of hopelessness and despair

Question 23

the frontier

Answer 23

imagery

Continues extended metaphor of wild west imagery

sentence structure

Strong conclusion – 3 short lines, 2 strong statements, decisive negative words, ‘never’, ‘no’

theme

Represents the uncivilised nature of violence on the streets

Question 24

no stockades

Answer 24

imagery

Continues extended metaphor of wild west imagery

theme

Represents the uncivilised nature of violence on the streets

Question 25

midnight

Answer 25

word choice

Returns to idea of darkness / midnight as symbols of evil

theme

Evil in men’s souls is unseen