Here Is New York

White claims that “in New York smolders every race problem there is, but the noticeable thing is not the problem but the inviolate truce” (47). Using historical evidence from the 1940s and 1950s, discuss the ways in which racial tensions in New York in that period could—or could not be—described as a “truce.”

In the foreword, White writes of “the swing of the pendulum” (17). What does this metaphorical pendulum represent, and why does White employ it in the text? Use evidence from Here Is New York to support your argument.

White writes that “New York will bestow the gift of loneliness” (19). Using evidence from the text, discuss why White describes loneliness as a gift.

White claims that people come to New York because of both “some excess of spirit” as well as “a deficiency of spirit” (25). Discuss how both of these things might be true, and why White suggests this to be the case.

What are the “roughly three New Yorks” that White describes (25)? How do these components contribute to the city as a whole?

White suggests that “it is a miracle New York works at all” (31). Why does he make this claim? Using evidence from the text, describe how this phenomenon unfolds.

White writes that New York can be a difficult place for visitors, “a series of small embarrassments and discomforts and disappointments” (33). Find evidence in the text that explains why White claims this to be the case.

White describes New York as “a spectacle that is continuing” (38). How does White render this “spectacle” in the text, using particular literary devices, points of view, and/or other storytelling techniques?