The poem the City Planners Essay Example

The poem the City Planners Paper In the poem the ‘City Planners’ and ‘Where I come from’ by Margaret Atwood and Elizabeth Brewster respectively, the poets use metaphors, imagery and use of negative as well as positive diction to describe the influence of the People over nature and animal kingdom. Atwood uses furious and resented tone and diction to describe the people, ‘city planners’ as selfish people who only care about personal gain. Whereas in ‘Where I come from’, the poet thinks that people are made of places and they behave according to the place they live in and treat nature and their surroundings accordingly. Both poems have themes of ‘organized life of people and nature’, which emphasizes the power of the people forcing it. In the City planners the poet presents the character of the planners as â€Å"political conspirators† that emphasizes their strength. This conveys a sense that everything in the city is controlled by them, even nature. Due to their actions the life in Singapore is like a list and this point is proven by the use of colons after the word ‘sanitary’ in the first stanza. This foreshadows the theme of organized life of people and nature. Sanitary trees, assert Levelness of surface like a rebuke This line gives an effect to the reader that everything is perfect in the city. There is a use of oxymoron to describe the trees, as trees cannot be sanitary. The use of oxymoron suggests that everything that is generally imperfect is the opposite in this city; every thing is perfect; even nature makes sense. This creates a very boring mood in the city as there is nothing very phenomenal and therefore the city isn’t very exciting. We will write a custom essay sample on The poem the City Planners specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The poem the City Planners specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The poem the City Planners specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer It also suggests that nature under control and it isn’t allowed to be insane. Simile is used in this line to compare the asserter of the trees to level the surface, to a rebuke. Here too, the imperfect surface is made level, forcefully by the ‘sane trees’ that were, ironically, forced to be perfect as well. Atwood considers this as a criticism to the surface. Than the rational whine of the power mower cutting a straight swath in the discouraged grass. This line too, suggests the similar idea of nature being controlled. The word ‘cutting’ gives an effect that nature is being made perfect and sane. The use of the diction ‘discouraged’ suggests as if nature does not want to become perfect and sane but it does not have the power to overcome the ‘city planners’. An example of the similar idea is seen when the poet uses the word â€Å"power† in front of the mower. The word power foreshadows the idea of ‘everything in the city having power, except for nature’. The same slant of avoidance to the hot sky. The people also ignore disorganized nature that the city planners cannot change. This can be seen clearly when, â€Å"the same slant of avoidance to the hot sky† is mentioned. In this line the houses avoiding the sun are a metaphor for the people. The poet uses a deeper layer to the meaning by using the houses as a metaphor. The metaphor suggests that the people in Singapore are ‘planned’ to avoid imperfectness. They are planned to avoid insane and irregular nature just like the life of animals and people are planned and organized. When the houses, capsized, will slide obliquely into the clay seas, gradual as glaciers that right now nobody notices. In this stanza, the poet uses enjambment in order to speed up the poem. The lines in this stanza suggest that, even after the city’s perfection it will end in ruins. The use the words, ‘into the clay seas’ give an ironic suggestion that the imperfection shall remain, but not the perfect cities. In the poem ‘Where I come from’, the poet symbolizes her past and uses metaphors to convey her feelings towards nature and the animals. She is of the opinion that people are ‘made’ of places such as forests, mountains etc. This, like the colons in the first poem, is used to foreshadow her opinion towards the people living in different areas and nature. Nature tidily plotted in little squares with a fountain in the center; museum smell, art also tidily plotted with a guidebook; In these lines a similar idea of nature being controlled by people is seen. The use and repetition of the diction ‘tidily plotted’ is used to create an atmosphere of perfection in the city and it is emphasized by the repetition. The word ‘plotted’ suggests that people do not allow nature to grow randomly. They force it to grow in a specific way. The word â€Å"guidebook† is a metaphor for the lives of the people. It conveys a sense of being very organized and precise. It sounds as if the people know what is going to happen in their future as they have a fixed timetable. It also suggests that nature has to follow this timetable too. This idea is also seen in ‘the City Planners’ when the poet uses diction such as ‘same avoidance of the hot sun’. She idealizes her childhood memories of the past. She states that in the countryside the people are very different from those in the city. Here, nature is not considered to be subservient that can be clearly seen when the poet conveys how nature is not controlled, â€Å"blueberry batches in burnt out bush†, â€Å"with yards where hens and chickens circle about, clucking aimlessly; battered schoolhouses behind which violets grow. † . The word â€Å"burnt† is effective because is conveys a sense of not being controlled. This suggests that people in the countryside do not replace nature; they simply give them time for growing once again. The line, â€Å"Battered school houses behind which violets grow† also emphasizes the freedom of nature in the countryside. The use of imagery, â€Å"violets†, growing behind the â€Å"battered† schoolhouses suggests that nature can grow anywhere beautifully and its real beauty is shown when it is allowed to grow randomly. The poets of both the poems think that nature is being controlled by modern society. Atwood blames the city planners as the reason behind this whereas Brewster believes that common people in the city are also blamed for controlling nature and thinks that people behave differently according to the place they live in.

The History of Fire Fighting

The History of Fire Fighting Free Online Research Papers Firefighting is the use techniques and equipment to extinguish fires and limit the damage caused by them. It seems logical that since the creation of fire, or shortly thereafter that there would be a need for the development of firefighting. In order to fully understand the direction of this essential profession we must gain an understanding and appreciation for its history. In 24 BC, the Roman emperor Augustus is credited with instituting the first fire â€Å"department† consisting of fire-fighting vigiles or watchmen (www.firehistoryus.org). With the creation of the first organized group of people dedicated to fighting fires also came the first regulations for checking and preventing fires. Additionally, fire alarms were first used at this time to alert other firefighters and civilians of the impending fire. The principal piece of fire-fighting equipment used at this time in ancient Rome through to early modern times was the bucket (www.windsorfire.com). The bucket was passed from hand to hand to deliver water to the fire, with the empty bucket being returned to the start of the line. This method was used by the early fire departments of the United States. After a major fire in Boston in 1631, the first fire regulations in America were established and the first service formally began in about 1680. This was when the first paid fire department wa s established (www.infoplease.com). It is important to note that Volunteer fire departments began with Benjamin Franklin in Philadelphia in 1735 (www.windsorfire.com). Many people are surprised that the same Ben Franklin that assisted in the creation of the United States Declaration of Independence and invented bifocals and the lightening rod had such an impact on the implementation of fire departments. Equally surprising to Benjamin Franklin’s contribution to the history of firefighting is the fact that George Washington imported the first fire engine from England in about 1765. This engine was a hand-pumper, requiring men to move the engine to the fire and operate the pumps with levers to direct water through the hoses. The engine was given to the Alexandria, Virginia fire company, where Washington was a volunteer firefighter himself. (www.winsorfire.com). The next revolutionary advancement in the realm of fire apparatus came when the steam engine was developed in England in the early 1800’s (www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_apparatus). When these steam engines were first widely used in the United States the firefighters had to physically pull the trucks to the fire. By the mid 1850’s horses were used to pull these steam pumpers. This is where we see the emergence of the Dalmatian dogs association with firefighters. Dalmatians were trained to escort the horse dra wn engines to the fire scene and keep away other animals from interfering (www.firefightercentral.com). For the most part the firefighters of today are bound by a highly structured chain of command and have specific responsibilities and duties on the scene of a fire. This was something that was evident to early fire departments – centralized command was needed. In New York in 1761, Jacobus Stoutenburgh became the head or Chief Engineer of the volunteer fire department. It is believed that this is the where the traditional Fire Chief evolved from (www.firefightercentral.com). Modern firefighting has come a long way from these early beginnings. However these traditions of service to the community and the spirit of being a part of a structured team are as much a part of today`s fire departments as they always have been. Many modern fire departments spend a decreasing amount of overall activity in fighting fires. Instead, fire fighters typically respond to all kinds of emergencies. For example, in the U.S. approximately 70 percent of all emergency medical calls are handled by the f ire service. The same is true in many other countries (www.emergencydispatch.org). Some departments have dually trained firefighters – those trained in both fire and emergency medical response. This need was identified due to a decrease in fire related calls and an increase in medical calls. Additionally, firefighters are heavily involved in fire prevention and education, building design and construction as well as enforcement of fire standards. The enormous increase in transportation of hazardous materials or dangerous goods has resulted in intensified training for fire fighters, and their departments often provide them with chemical protective clothing and monitoring equipment (www.emergencydispatch.org). Most fire departments also prepare and equip their members to handle emergencies that result from earthquakes, plane crashes, and violent storms. In addition, fire fighters handle incidents that require extricating trapped people from fallen structures, from cave-ins, an d from other situations as well as perform search and rescues (www.emergencydispatch.org). Modern fire departments are experiencing firsthand the advancements in fire technology. New nozzles and monitors, extinguishing agents, fire sensors, protective clothing, portable radio communication devices and thermal imaging cameras are to name a few. Those entering this historic profession today are sure to see many innovating and exciting advancements in the years to come. References A Brief History of Fire, Retrieved February 27, 2009, www.windsorfire.com The History of Fire, (2003) Retrieved February 27, 2009 , www.firehistoryus.org Fire Apparatus, (2006) Retrieved February 26, 2009 www.infoplease.com Firefighting. In Wikipedia. Retrieved February 26, 2009, www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_apparatus Firefighting History, Retrieved February 28, 2009 www.firefightercentral.com Fire History, Retrieved February 27, 2009 www.emergencydispatch.org Research Papers on The History of Fire FightingAssess the importance of Nationalism 1815-1850 EuropeBook Review on The Autobiography of Malcolm XNever Been Kicked Out of a Place This NiceCanaanite Influence on the Early Israelite ReligionWhere Wild and West MeetThe Effects of Illegal ImmigrationPETSTEL analysis of IndiaAnalysis of Ebay Expanding into AsiaArguments for Physician-Assisted Suicide (PAS)Quebec and Canada