I Hear America Singing Comparison Essay

The Visions In the song “America” Waylon Jennings sang, “It don’t matter where I may roam / Tell you people that it’s home sweet home / America, America” (Jennings 1984). When other countries hear people like Waylon sing or talk about how great America is, it makes people in these other countries think that America is a place full of happiness. Has that always been the experience for all Americans? Walt Whitman and Langston Hughes describe their views of Americans in their poetry. Walt Whitman, in “I Hear America Singing,” describes America as a place with diverse opportunities and freedoms; in Langston Hughes’s poem “I, Too” he describes how America is divided; however, he is hopeful for a better America. In “I Hear America Singing”, Whitman describes America as harmonious, beautiful, and full of hardworking people. America

Hughes provides an image of America that is a divided household. While white people are given the utmost luxury of the dining room for dinner, Hughes states, “ I am the darker brother/ They send me to eat in the kitchen” (Hughes 2-3). Hughes is tired of all the disrespect that has been received to the African American society. He believes that someday the white society will regret all of the racism. While the white man eats his dinner in the dining room, Hughes says, “But I laugh,/ And eat well,/ And grow strong” (Hughes 5-7). Hughes is not just describing himself growing strong, instead he is describing the entire African American community. They are all growing strong to rise up against the racist ways of the white man. While Hughes and the rest of the African American community are gaining strength, Hughes shows his theme of hope when he dreams “Tomorrow,/ I’ll be at the table”(Hughes 8-9). This hope really helps him be able to believe that the African American community can convince the white community to change their