Hotel Room, 12th Floor Flashcards
(15 cards)
Helicopter skirting like a damaged insect
Simile compares a helicopter to a broken insect, which suggests the fragility and chaos in New York
Jumbo size dentist’s drill
Metaphor mocks the building’s size and design which suggests human achievement is ugly and aggressive
Midnight has come in
Personification suggests midnight has become an invading force and darkness represents danger so now we are not safe
Uncivilised (darkness)
Word choice suggests darkness brings out primitive and violent instincts
Shot at by a million lit windows
Metaphor suggests the city’s lights are weapons trying (and failing) to keep the darkness out
Between a radio and a television set
Juxtaposition - surrounded by noise and distraction which emphasises modern life’s artificiality and isolation
Warwhoops
Word choice suggests violent, Native American war cry’s which emphasises the primitive chaos in the streets
Glittering canyons and gulches
Metaphor compares the landscape of New York to the wildwest. This suggests the lawless nature and uncontrolled violence of the city
Racing
Word choice suggests constant emergency, chaos and danger in the city
Blood glazed on sidewalks
Metaphor suggests the brutal violence and suffering, despite the city’s wealth
The frontier is never somewhere else
Symbolism - the frontier represents violence and (barbarism) brutality. This suggests danger is close and it is in modern society
No stockades can keep the midnight out
Metaphor suggests humans can’t build barriers against primal darkness and violence
Midnight
Symbolic repetition. “Midnight” symbolises fear, violence and evil returning again and again
Coldwater (flats)
Word choice suggests poverty, hardship and inequality in the rich city
Foreign (places)
Word choice suggests unfamiliarity and fear of the unknown within the city
