Question 1: Carl Sandburg (25 pts)

American 346 Final

1) Read Carl Sandburg's poem below: "People Who Must."  In a well developed response, please develop a reading of the poem that situates it within the modernist period: what are some of the central concerns of the period that this poem reflects and explores?  Pay attention to setting (obviously), but also tone, and even the interesting ambiguities of the poem...

Be clear about the big idea(s) that Sandburg explores: what evidence in the poem points to these ideas? Move horizontally by putting it in conversation with at least 2 other works (at least 1 should be a text) from the class.  How do these other works extend/share/revise Sandburg's interests here?

I PAINTED on the roof of a skyscraper.
I painted a long while and called it a day’s work.
The people on a corner swarmed and the traffic cop’s whistle never let up all afternoon.
They were the same as bugs, many bugs on their way—
Those people on the go or at a standstill;	5
And the traffic cop a spot of blue, a splinter of brass,
Where the black tides ran around him
And he kept the street. I painted a long while
And called it a day’s work.