Q3 of 18 Page 107

Answer the following question:

What do the words 'sanities' and 'hysteria' have in common? And how are they different?


The word “sanities” mean the state of having a healthy mind and not being mentally ill and the word “hysteria” means an old-fashioned term for a psychological disorder characterized by conversion of psychological stress into physical symptoms or a change in self-awareness.The word ‘sanities’ implies towards the unnatural behaviour of things and people around. Secondly, it symbolises the boring and uncreative minds of the people which have been shaped this way by the city planners. Everything in the suburbs seemed too unnatural to be real. Hysteria is ignored as everything seems logical and robotic like mathematical units. There is no scope of creativity or spontaneity. Also, the pin-drop silence highlights inactivity.


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2

Fill in the blanks to complete the summary of the poem

The title ‘The City Planners' suggests that the poem is about___________. The first line 'cruising these residential Sunday/ streets in dry August sunlight' gives us the impression thatthe poet is __________it is a _________ in August. 'Sunday streets' implies________ . The next line 'what offends us is the sanities' comes as a shock and the rest of the poem is Attwood's criticism of __________. 'Pedantic rows' and 'sanitary trees' expresses the poet's thoughts about suburbia which she feels is__________. She then provides a simile by comparing the 'levelness of surface' or rather the height of the trees as a 'rebuke' to the 'dent in our car door'. This suggests that _________________. She supports this lifeless and drab imagery of suburbia by saying that there is 'no shouting here, or shatter of glass' which provides us with a positive image of life in a residential area. This line suggests that ____________. However in the next line the calm and peace is disrupted by the ___________ .


Stanza two continues the mess that confront suburbia in a way by pointing out flaws. The description of the monotony of roof tiling -'all display the same slant of avoidance to the hot sky'-forces us to think that ___________. These is also the offensive smell of oil which smells faintly like vomit and a splash of paint is compared to a bruise. She says that the paint is as 'surprising' as a bruise because __________. The 'a plastic hose poised in a vicious coil' gives us the same impression. The hose is followed by a comma to reinforce the list of things she finds offensive about suburbia, mentioning the 'too-fixed stare of the wide windows.


In Stanza three is the end of complaints and shows the consequences of ___________. It also shows the reality of the real estate agency. Stanza 4 gives the real estate agents a sense of power or authority to them saying they_________. They claim to act in the best interest of only one party that being the buyer or seller but the reality is they safeguard ________.


In the end the tone shifts from a list of suburban ills to what might happen in the future. Attwood's pessimism is revealed when she says that _____________________________ . She later says that even the 'clay seas' will become contested territories and the City Planners of the future will still map out another city.


3

Answer the following question:

The houses in pedantic rows, the planted/ sanitary trees" Atwood sees suburbia as dull and pedantic. She paints it not as the comfortable, safe existence that 'normal people' think it is, but like a boring, colorless situation. What other images that she uses to convey the soulless atmosphere of the suburb?


3

Answer the following question:

In stanza 4 to 6, which of the following adjectives in relation to the planners' actions: misguided, ignorant, futile. Which of these adjectives best describes the planners here? Give reasons.


3

Answer the following question:

The last two stanzas of the poem have the same message; that in the end, the creations of the city planners will eventually amount to nothing. How does the poet convey that?