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I Hear America Singing Figurative Language

619 Words3 Pages

Evie Bedrick
Ms. Leininger
Language Arts Period 7
2 February 2018
Poetry Assessment
For many people the American dream is to pursue happiness. Something that has been in the country for decades. It gives people the hope and an optimistic attitude toward the brighter future. In “I Hear America Singing” by Walt Whitman and “I, Too, Sing America” by Langston Hughes, both explore the theme of the American dream. Both poets use literary devices such as allusion, extended metaphor, symbolism, and repetition to display that America is a song in which where the people have an important part to sing. Both authors use figurative language however Walt Whitman praises the situation of individual efforts of Americans whereas Langston Hugh focuses on the collective struggle by African Americans. …show more content…

He establishes this through metaphor in the first line when he says, “varied carols” which represents the different voices of people singing in America. When Whitman writes about the carpenter singing “as he measures his plank or beam or the mason, boatman, the shoe maker, the wood cutter, the mother are all singing as they work throughout the day. By writing this he illustrates that each singing worked is different; no two people are doing the same thing. This suggest that the people are not singing the same song, but they do all share one thing- a dream of a better future. Whitman also use repetition by beginning every line with the working class folks “singing” in his or her unique way and repeats the structure to suggest the feeling of harmony. The chorus shows how everyone is ultimately working towards their American

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The poems also have different points of views. Whitman's refers to I Hear America singing as a varied carol with nine different workers. He talks about in line three a carpenter then in line four a mason and the boatman. Whitman also talks about a shoe maker and a hatter. Whitman identifies people as his or her talking.

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Thus giving a small part of the American Dream. In comparison reading the poem "I hear America singing by Walt Whitman the tone

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While the two authors discuss similar subject matter, there are many differences that can be identified between these two literary works. Support 1: The first of many variations is related to the structure of writing used by the authors. For example, in "I Hear America Singing" Whitman writes in a sing song style, evident in the line, "I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear," while Hughes' treatment is more direct and abrasive as seen in the line, "They send me to eat in the kitchen." Further, in "I Hear America Singing," the sentences are long and flow easily into subsequent phrases, whereas "I,

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