How does the poet use personification to describe Chicago? What effect do you think the author is trying to create for the reader?

"Chicago" is full of personification. If I'm honest, at times the personification might not feel/look like personification because of how frequently Sandburg uses it in the poem. In general, the city of Chicago is personified as a man. The personification sometimes shifts to making Chicago a specific type of worker, but overall, the poem likens Chicago to a man. The thing to keep in mind is that more often than not, when the narrator talks about something or someone laughing or having shoulders, the narrator is actually describing Chicago. If you need a good example of the poem's personification, I would look to lines that are found near the end.

Bragging and laughing that under his wrist is the pulse, and under his ribs the heart of the people,
Laughing!

Notice how the city of Chicago can brag and laugh. It also has a pulse and ribs. I think the reason that Sandburg does personify the city so much is to make the city feel human. That's important because readers are human, so the comparison is immediately accessible. Plus, a reader is likely to innately know that humans are both beautiful and flawed at the same time. This is how the narrator portrays the city, too. Yes, it has its problems, but it is also a wonderful place.