In “Kitchenette Building”, Brooks uses visual imagery and olfactory imagery to establish and communicate the sense of hopelessness. In the first line it reads, “We are things of dry hours and the involuntary plan…”(1). Involuntary is something that one cannot control, when Brooks says involuntary she may be referring to her life as an involuntary plan, or maybe she is just referring to living in the kitchenette building as the involuntary plan. The first line establishes the mood of the poem and the reader immediately feels a sense of hopelessness. In the second stanza, Brooks focuses on olfactory imagery to communicate the theme of hopelessness. The speaker says, “But could a dream sent up through onion fumes…”(4). When we think about the
