Compare And Contrast American Pie And Casey At Bat

“A long, long time ago,” Americans aspired to achieve the American Dream. But, what happens when the dream that so many longed for begins to change? This original yearning for success and individual freedom was something that bound this country together. Two of the main aspects that added to this unity was baseball, labeled as the national pastime, and music, which was seen as universal. Poet, Earnest Lawrence Thayer, and songwriter, Don McLean, illustrate these two activities and how all things eventually evolve over time. Looking at what baseball and music is now, it can be easily argued that music and baseball died and how the dreams of the country’s future began to fade. “Casey at Bat” and “American Pie” both symbolize the loss of the American Dream while still maintaining their own, unique style of writing. “Casey at Bat” symbolizes what the original perception of the American Dream was. Casey, the star of Mudville’s baseball team, is suppose to be up at bat and win the game for the team. Baseball, which was coined as the national pastime, was a way for everyone across the country to get excited and bond together. It was a relaxing yet thrilling event, watching

“Casey at Bat” is written as a poem, however the subtitle to the poem is “A Ballad of the Republic sung in 1888.” This poem is written with an AABB repetition and it has 13 quatrains. It has an ease about it that makes it very simple to read and understand. Overall, it does have an upbeat tone and mood, almost over exaggerated, despite the loss at the end. “Casey at Bat” has great imagery that can easily illustrate a story. For example, the poem reads, “Like the beating of the storm-waves on a stern and distant shore” (Thayer 34). This is told from the third person perspective. Overall, I believe that the purpose of this poem was to tell a timeless story of something that almost every American can relate to: