The City Planners - Margaret Atwood Flashcards
What are the main themes in The City Planners?
Order and control, environmental destruction, and the illusion of perfection.
How does the structure of the poem reflect its themes?
The stanzas get shorter, showing the breakdown of environmental stability and growing emotional intensity.
What mood is created by the word “cruising”?
A calm, peaceful, and unhurried mood.
What is the effect of the word “Sunday” in the first stanza?
It suggests restfulness and routine, enhancing the calm atmosphere.
What is ironic about the word “pedantic” used to describe the suburbs?
It criticizes the excessive order, implying it’s dull and obsessive rather than impressive.
What does the word “planted” suggest in this stanza one?
A double meaning – trees being placed artificially like spies or informers, lacking natural randomness.
What impression does the speaker give by describing a normal activity?
It makes the setting feel familiar and everyday.
What does the juxtaposition of “offends” and “sanities” suggest?
It shows the speaker’s discomfort with the rigid, mathematical structure of the suburbs.
How does the word “pedantic” show the speaker’s opinion of the suburbs?
It suggests the speaker finds the order excessive and unnecessary.
What are the two meanings of the word “planted”?
It refers to both trees being placed and to spies being secretly positioned.
What does the word “sanitary” suggest about the trees?
That they have been stripped of natural wildness to appear controlled and clean.
How does the word “assert” describe the houses and trees?
It makes them seem aggressive in how they enforce perfect levelness.
What does the dent in the car door represent?
A symbol of imperfection and reality in an overly ordered world.
What is the significance of the silence described in the suburbs?
It shows the lack of life and spontaneity in the environment.
What does the “rational whine” of the mower represent?
It shows even sound is artificial and controlled.
How does the phrase “straight swath in the discouraged grass” reinforce the theme?
It shows nature is repressed and trimmed into submission by human control.
What does the word “But” at the start of stanza 2 suggest?
It shows a shift—things are not as perfect as they seem.
What do the words “neatly” and “even” suggest about the suburbs?
They highlight the unnatural, mathematical order of the houses and driveways.
How does the word “hysteria” show the speaker’s mental state?
It suggests emotional instability beneath the calm surface.
What does “slant of avoidance to the hot sky” imply?
It shows the suburbs try to avoid facing life’s harsh realities.
What is the effect of listing small imperfections after describing order?
It contrasts hidden flaws with surface perfection.
What does the word “sickness” describe in this stanza two?
It shows how the smell of oil feels out of place and unnatural.
What does the simile “splash of paint… as surprising as a bruise” suggest?
The paint is an ugly imperfection, like a bruise on skin—it stands out.
What does the word “vicious” reveal about the plastic hose?
It shows the speaker sees aggression in even harmless, coiled objects.
