Paper Summary:

This paper analyzes the contents and meaning of Williams' poem. It includes considering how the narrator feels about his observations of the town, the importance of the fact that a hurricane forced him to travel through the town, the suggestions that are made about the role of media in society, the significance of the title, and the meaning of the phrase "strange commonplace."

From the Paper:

"The narrator of the poem refers to an experience driving through the towns of New Jersey. He passes through what he calls "extraordinary places." His experience of the towns suggests that the viewing of this world is part of the process of him overcoming his jadedness. He constantly refers to the sights of this world in positive ways. He refers to the places as "extraordinary places, as vivid as any I ever saw." He also refers to "long, deserted avenues / with unrecognized names at the corners and / drunken looking people with completely foreign manners." While this last description is not necessarily a positive one, the poem has a mood of excitement about it. The impression is that these sights have opened the narrator's eyes and allowed him to really consider what he is seeing. In short, he is finding interest in what he sees. He also states that "a large body of water / startled me with an acre or more of hot / jets spouting up asymmetrically about it." "

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