Analysis of "in the inner city" by Lucille Clifton

1. in the inner city
by Lucille Clifton
Lindsey Nestor

2. Poem
1 in the inner city
or
like we call it
home
5 we think a lot about uptown
and the silent nights
and the houses straight as
dead men
and the pastel lights
10 and we hang on to our no place
happy to be alive
and in the inner city
or
like we call it
15 home

3. Repetition
• The phrase “in the inner city/or/like we call
it/home” begins and ends the poem (1-4, 12-15).
• This solidifies the idea that despite all negative
connotations the phrase “inner city” has, the
inner city is a home for many people who have
no other place to go. “Home” evokes an emotion
much more positive than “inner city,”
insinuating that the inner city has some
redeeming qualities to make it a home.

4. Structure
• Seemingly random length of lines
• No rhyme scheme
• The disorganization of the poem’s structure
parallels the chaos that outsiders often associate
with the inner city.

5. Capitalization and Punctuation
• No capitalization and punctuation whatsoever is
present in the poem
• This is a reflection of the assumption that inner-
city dwellers are uneducated and unintelligent.

6. Imagery
• Clifton creates a vividly negative image of the
wealthier “uptown” part of the city (5).
• She begins by thinking about the “silent nights”
of the uptown.
• This description is her reflection on the lack of
life and vibrancy in the boring wealthier areas.

7. Imagery
• Next, the uptown houses are said to be “straight as/dead
men” (7-8).
• This lines has multiple meanings. First, it alludes to the
violence that is present in the inner city, which is a
reason many who aren’t native to those parts of the city
are scared to go there. However, the speaker notes that
the uptown houses are straight as dead men, using those
words not in connection with the inner city. This
comparison again shows the lifelessness of the uptown
areas. The speaker feels that he or she would rather deal
with physical lifelessness due to violence in the inner city
than with the unoriginal, monotonous, dull sort of
lifelessness of the people uptown.

8. Imagery
• The speaker finishes the description of uptown
by describing its “pastel lights” (9).
• The people uptown are often assumed to be
brighter and better from those in the inner city,
however, from the speaker’s point of view, the
lights of uptown are dim and faded, suggesting
that the speaker believes the assumption that
uptown people are better is false.

9. Diction
• Clifton uses contrasting diction to present the
idea that the way outsiders view the inner city is
not the way its inhabitants see it.
▫ “Inner city,” “dead men,” “silent nights” (1, 8 ,6)
 VS
▫ “Home,” “happy,” “alive” (4, 9)

10. Diction
• The speaker also uses the term “no place” to
describe the inner city, playing off of the
outsider’s point of view that inner city people are
unhappy and without a home or purpose.
• However, the people in the inner city don’t have
such negative feelings toward their home, and
actually enjoy it.

11. Definition of Poetry
• "Poetry should be great & unobtrusive, a thing
which enters into one's soul, and does not startle it
or amaze it with itself but with its subject“ (Keats).
• “in the inner city” can be seen as great poetry,
because the poem itself is brief and, on the surface,
seemingly simple, but its subject forces the reader to
view a commonly held opinion in a different light,
from the perspective of the people being viewed
negatively.