Audrey gregory p.2
Audrey Gregory
Mrs. Kas
Ap Lit, p.2
11/3/18
“Cities” Compare/Contrast essay
There are various forms in which authors can show relationships, but one of the most important relationships established is the relationship between the speaker and the work. Although both Mckay and Clifton portray the relationship between the speaker and the city differently, both authors use similar style elements such as imagery and tone to reveal these relationships.
Despite both speakers having different takes on urban/city life, imagery is utilized in both poems to portray these differences. In the poem titled “In the inner city”, the author used phrases like “silent nights” and “the houses straight as dead men” to reveal how lifeless life in the city was. Using words like “silent” and “dead” allows the reader to create an image of how dull and boring city life was for the speaker. In contrast, the author of “The city’s love” used imagery to show how the speaker felt accepted and loved in the city. The author puts words such as “passion”, “Proud city”, and “strange love” in the poem for the purpose of allowing the readers to envision the love he felt towards the city. Although both speakers have some different takes on city life, both “The city’s love”, and “In the inner city” portray how the city is like home to them, even if it’s not ideal. “In the inner city” it states “Our no place..and in the inner city or like we call it home.” This shows that even though the city for them is a “no place”, it’s still home. Similarly in “The city’s love”, it states “Forgetting that I was an alien guest, ...
