Beverly Hills, Chicago Essay Questions

How does Gwendolyn Brooks use natural imagery to depict the opulence in Beverly Hills, Chicago?

She writes that the "summer ripeness" at Beverly Hills is not "ragged." This means that even decay in Beverly is palatable. The leaves acquiesce to the wishes of residents by falling in neat patterns, and the pines breathe soft breezes down their streets. Brooks observes that even their refuse, their trash and decay, is arranged neatly on the curb. Since the speaker is driving by, everything they see is outside. The lawns and gardens of the residents in Beverly, described as "golden gardens," become a vital part of how the reader perceives the residents.

How does Brooks use personification to highlight the differences between Beverly residents and working-class people?

Brooks describes the dead leaves in Beverly as "dry brown coughing" under the footsteps of the residents. But the residents won't rake the leaves themselves; they call a handyman to do it for them. The dramatic way the leaves are described show that the residents of Beverly are made miserable by the smallest inconveniences. Where one person might find the crunch of leaves in their footsteps to be a pleasant reminder of the seasons changing, the affluent residents of Beverly see them as a sickness, a blight upon their perfectly manicured lawns.

The way that the phonograph is rendered in this poem makes it seem like the Beverly residents lack a real respect or interest in jazz music, and that the music only serves as filler noise, a vague bleating in the background of their leisurely lives. Brooks' use of the word "bleats" likens jazz to a bleating animal, like a goat or sheep, which suggests that the listener might even find the music unpleasant.