Some people don’t have freedom. Some do but all they do is work for the government. They work and they don’t get enough money for the things that rich people might wear or what they might need, but sometimes all these people need is to not give up on who they really are.“I Too am America” is a poem written by Chris McMahon. “I Too am America,” is about an immigrant who has arrived to USA to get a better life, but once he/she gets a job all they do is work and they don’t get paid fairly! In this poem “I Too am America,” Chris McMahon, the author, conveys the theme that it is important to never give up on who you are through his use of the speaker, figurative language, and attitude/tone. One way that McMahon demonstrates the theme that never giving up on who you are is through his use of the speaker, because the speaker allows the author to give the reader a more powerful way of connecting with the reader. Which allows the reader to be more engaged in the poem. For example, when the reader starts reading the poem you can feel that the reader has had a very rough life by just reading the poem. For example in lines 26-28 where it says, “I will beat you with my words/and not your violence/I too am America” (McMahon 26-28). In this part of the poem, the speaker says that instead of beating a person with violence he/she would beat them with their …show more content…
Throughout the poem, there were lots of pieces of figurative language, but more specifically there were lots of metaphors. For example, “I am the bodies that take the pesticides all day/but still no pay” (McMahon 14-15). In this piece of evidence you can tell that the speaker is comparing his body to all of the bodies that take pesticides all day without any pay. Figurative language allows the speaker to add creative additions to the poem allowing the reader to identify the theme
(Hughes 13). This shows how he believes that he will be included. The idea of believing in a dream is also expressed in “America and I.” This story is about an immigrant coming to America who has has a rough time starting her new life. “And I could not tear it out of me, the feeling that America must be somewhere, somehow…”
America is a land of immigrants. People come from all parts of the world to experience the American dream. These two pieces of literature are focused on Japanese Americans and Mexican Americans. In the Poem which resembles a letter, In Response to Executive Order 9066 by Dwight Okita. The author is writing about a fourteen year old Japanese girl.
The poem “I, Too, Sing America” by Langston Hughes is an argument for racial equality that describes the struggle of an African American individual being included in American patriotism. In the poem, the speaker describes that he is sent to eat in the kitchen when guests arrive; he eats well, though, so that tomorrow he may join the others at the table. In the last few lines Hughes describes that “they” in the poem will eventually see the speaker’s beauty and feel embarrassed, because he, “too, is America.” My initial problem in analyzing the poem was that I assumed that the images in the work had to represent something else metaphorically, specifically when considering the second and third stanzas of the poem, which contain a juxtaposition
The tone of “I, Too, Sing America” is resistant and determined .This poem is written from the point of view of a darker man. The poet 's attitude towards America is self-assured. He may not be white, but he is confident in himself that he is just as great and equal to any other race out there. The poet says, “They send me to the kitchen, when company comes.
Finally, one of the most memorable lines of the poem is “It occurs to me that I am America” (48). Ginsberg connects, with several simple words, himself as an individual to the country as a whole. Often, one of the most emphasized parts of American culture is individualism, yet people picturing the country will visualize a multitude of very different people. The result is a gap that exists in defining what is an American
The poems “Tableau” by Countee Cullen and “Now and Then America” by Pat Mora display a common theme of following one’s own unique path. A person should not allow society and its standards to influence one’s individual beliefs. Figurative language, diction, and the poem’s structure are used to to demonstrate the theme of following one’s unique path. The poem “Tableau” uses figurative language through the use of simile “Now and Then America” uses figurative language through the form of personification. In “Tableau”, Cullen writes “That lightning brilliant as a sword/ Should blaze through the path of thunder” (819, 11-12).
I don’t feel good don’t bother me” (Ginsberg). At the first stanza’s end, however, the poem’s perspective changes. The speaker declares “It occurs to me that I am America. / I am talking to myself again,” (Ginsberg) and the second stanza begins from the perspective of America, making complaints such as “Asia is rising against me” (Ginsberg). Through this change of perspective, Ginsberg’s satirical personification of America is able to convey his criticisms of America in a manner that is much more compelling to readers.
The speaker displays his connection to the black heritage by stating that “They’ll see how beautiful I am” (line 16), and the last line of the poem “I, too, sing America” repeats the first line, but this time with more insistent tone. The speaker is stating the fact
In the two poems, “I Hear America Singing,” and, “I, Too,” there are many similarities and differences that show us that know matter what is happening you have to stand up for yourself and do what you love. We see this in the two poems, “I Hear America Singing,” and, “I, Too” when the authors, Walt Whitman and Langston Hughes, both talk about what America was a like in the 1900s, and how people were doing jobs that they had liked to do. We can see how a African American man would stand up for himself and we see this in the poem “I, Too” because we are able to see how he was able to stand up to everyone else and prove he was able to be treated like anyone else.
Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine is a hybrid and communal text constructed out of varying poetic form accompanied by contrasting imagery, and historical events. Rankine, although the author of this text is not necessarily its narrator. She plays with prospective, switching the fundamental meaning of “you” and pulls from the personal experiences of her friends, colleagues, and surrounding community. Rankine is able to incorporate “an emphasis on impressionism and subjectivity in [her] writing”, blur the line between various genres, and “[reject] … elaborate formal aesthetics in favor of minimalist design”, which are the pillars of postmodern works (Klages). She utilizes historical and modern events such as the Jim Crow laws, affirmative
America has always been known for its famous reputation as being the land of opportunity. As it may seem like a welcoming statement, it contradicts itself by restricting immigrants like Claude McKay to certain opportunities. The poem America by Claude McKay lets his readers envision the life of being an immigrant. Although it may seem interesting that McKay never mentions the name America in his poem, he refers to it as being a female individual by using the terms “she” and “her”. Another pattern that he includes is the play of language through the use of similes and metaphors, to express his feelings about living in a foreign country.
"I Hear America Singing" focuses on the glories of America, showcasing the happiness and joy that is present on a daily basis. This is clearly evidenced in one of the lines from Whitman's poem: "Singing with open mouths their strong melodious songs." However, "I, Too, Sing America highlights the darker side of American life during this era. Unlike Whitman, Hughes' poem takes a much more serious tone, that forces the reader to consider the other side of the coin. This is poignately illustrated in the line, "And be ashamed -" which points to the "they" that will be ashamed in the future for how "they" treated the African American
The second speaker also reshapes the first two lines of the entire poem into a plea to the majority. Beforehand, the first speaker uses those lines as a call for the old American spirit to be revived: “Let America be America again / Let it be the dream it used to be” (1-2). Both speakers change the meaning of the lines to express their thoughts on America. As a result, the poem expresses the desire for everyone to be treated equally in the land of freedom. The readers can relate to the speaker because they wish that everyone has equal rights in the country that proclaims itself to be the symbol of freedom.
When the six major powers of Europe get in war, it is not like any other war. Early in 1914, France, Britain and Russia formed the Triple Entente, and declared war against the Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy), which was later known as the World War I. The Cultural Impact of World War 1 during the war and immediately after it, was more significant than any other war. The Horrific and senseless World War I reported around 37,468,904 casualties (Encyclopedia Britannica), this seriously influenced talented artists, writers and musicians around the world who had answered their nations' call to join the Army, or suffered directly from war terrors at their hometowns. The Wave of Patriotism in Poetry
The first one that stands out to me is irony, used in the whole poem. For the whole poem every other line has one statement then another line that completely contradicts the first statement. Like the lines, “You can fall in love with anyone/ As long as it is who we chose.” The second one I noticed was an idiom in the line, “We will tear you down.” The society will not actually tear you down, they will just make you feel worthless, and like you are at the absolute bottom of the school.