Hotel Room 12th Floor

• "ululating"?

  • Word Choice

  "ululating" has connotations of a constant and repetitive sound which suggests the sirens of emergency services can be heard throughout the night and they are much in demand.
• "Racing"?

  • Word Choice

  "Racing" has connotations of extreme speed which suggests the emergency services are having to rush around the city trying to deal with all the crime and violence taking place.
• "coldwater"?

  • Word choice

  "coldwater" has connotations of poverty and lacking basic services which suggests that although there are rich and beautiful parts of NYC many people still struggle and have very little.
• "Glazed"?

  • Word Choice

  "Glazed" has connotations of pottery and sealing in a pattern which suggest the violence and crime in the city happens so often it has caused a permanent stain.
• "A helicopter skirting ilke a damaged insect"?

  • Imagery

  Helicopter -> Damaged insect

  Just as an insect with a broken wing would fly in circles so does the helicopter circle as it comes to land. This suggests the speaker is critical of the scene, that the helicopter is a symbol of capitalism he believes is damaged.
• "that jumbo sized dentist's drill"?

  • Imagery

  Empire State Building -> a dentist's drill

  Just as a dentists drill is used to fix rotten teeth so is the Empire State Building a symbol of capitalism that needs fixing. This suggests the speaker feels there is something sinister about the building and that its creation caused pain and distress for the people in poverty that could've used the money.
• "but now midnight has come in from foreign places"?

  • Imagery

  Midnight -> an unwelcome intruder

  Just as an unwelcome intruder brings trouble so does midnight allow darkness and crime in the city to escalate. This suggests midnight brings danger and makes the city more unsafe.
• "I lie in bed, between a radio and a television set, and hear"?

  • Parenthesis

  The use of a parenthesis adds extra information about the modern technology in the hotel room. This is important because, despite it being there, it doesn't drown out the sirens and street noises that go on all night long.
• "broken bones, the harsh screaming"?

  • Synecdoche

  The use of a synecdoche dehumanises the victims of crime as the emergency services are so busy that they can only deal with the immediate injuries they encounter, rather than taking time to see the victim as a whole person who could be mentally damaged.
• "The frontier is never/ somewhere else"?

  • Enjambment

  The use of an enjambment highlights the word choice of 'never' which helps emphasise the idea of permanence and that it is something that cannot be fixed.