...Kris Kringle Prof. Klump ENG 101 07/04/2021 Let America Be America Again America was once founded on certain principles and ideas; to live a life free from tyranny, to have opportunities for self development, and for equal treatment amongst all people regardless of societal status. Langston Hughes portrays how these qualities fail to exist during a specific time in America in a poem entitled “Let America Be America Again”. The speaker opens up the poem referring to America’s dream of freedom as simply that, a “dream it used to be” (Hughes 2). During a time of racial segregation and where slavery was used to produce, the majority of colored people faced intense hardships by the hand of wealthy, white slave owners. Born not into a land of freedom, but a land of enslavement, the speaker notes that “America never was America to me” (5). It would be difficult to fathom living in a world that preached about freedom and rights while practicing the opposite based on an individual’s skin pigmentation. The earlier populations of America consisted of a variety of ethnicities, from white, black, Native Americans and immigrants from across the globe. It was widely understood that the white man was in charge, with the rest of the population to do whatever their will. In the third stanza of this poem, the speaker notes that “equality is in the air we breathe” (14). It appears that the speaker has a heightened sense of what is truly most important in this life; that we are all living...
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...that America is successful, fearless,and the land of opportunity. Particularly, Walt Whitman's poem” I Hear America Singing and Langston Hughes poem “Let America Be America Again” are expressing their views of their two different world. Even though the poem” I Hear America Singing” and “Let America Be America Again” have many similarities they have many differences too;one of those differences is how their races affect their points of view. America's legacy of freedom has been questioned though slavery and segregation. These two subjects have been a problem for generation separating races and giving two different views of america. Though between these differences there are similarities that we see eye to eye with. For example Walt Whitman and Langston Hughes are both famous poets, but Walt Whitman's america is different from Langston Hughes because he grew up as A white and Langston Hughes grew up as a black-sadly affecting their views. Even though they're both talking about the american dream “I Hear America Singing” Expresses america as the dream it was supposed to be, then “Let America Be America Again” shows that the american...
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...Name Instructor Course Date of submission Let America Be America Again By Langston Hughes Theme: Freedom In his poem, let America be America again, Hughes focuses on American freedom and equality. His concern was on the socio-economic division in the American society. Relating the American declaration at independence, Hughes observes that the road to achievement of equality and freedom lost. The country has become corrupt and its leaders and businessmen are greedy. The grabbed land and gold making them wealthier during the common American citizen; the Negros, red Indians, the poor whites and immigrants lavish in poverty (Schmidt, and Lynne, 776). They have not achieved the American promise of freedom. Hughes wrote the poem with the poor and the American dream in mind. He relates the national stratification based on class division to see the possibility of realizing the American dream. According to him, America has turned into a country of the mighty crushing the weak (line 24) and the economic powerhouses accumulate more wealth while the poor lavish in more poverty. Capitalism has embraced the American philosophy and, therefore, it hinders the achievement of the long waited and dreamt for dream; a dream of equality, freedom and wellbeing. Greedy businessmen have altered the American dream. They have substituted equality and brotherhood with capitalism. Their actions have created a society that holds the slogan, ‘everybody for himself but God for us all.’ Nobody cares about...
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...Langston Hughes inspiration for poetry was Walt Whitman and Carl Sandburg and is thought of as the, “African American poet laureate, a writer who is able to sing eloquently about the reality and idealism of democracy in America” (Schilb, Clifford, 2014). Langston Hughes wrote, “Let America be America Again” in a 1938 pamphlet that he wrote entitled, A New Song. This pamphlet was in response to the communism called popular front that took place in the United States during the 1930’s. During this time Marxist principles were being conjoined to traditional American ideas and values. “Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed ---“ (Hughes, 1938) a quote written by Langston Hughes in his poem ties the overall theme of the “idealistic rhetoric...
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...Is America a Dream? Most of you humans probably want to know ,”Was America a Dream for Everyone?” Well it would be a hasty generalization to say “yes.” As it is also a hasty generalization to say “no,” so we are looking at two poems to see what the authors thought. The first poem is “Let America be America Again,” and the second poem will be “I Hear America Singing.” So let’s dive in and see my opinion. In the poem “Let America be America Again” America was not a dream for everyone. It was not the best place or the worse place. it was a horrible place for the poor white as stated in the following. “I am the poor white, fouled and pushed apart.” And then we hear about the slaves. “I am the Negro bearing slavery's scar.”Who would want to be...
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...The Evolution of Langston Hughes In the 1900s America was constantly evolving. Langston Hughes, an African American poet, wrote poems about civil rights, hope, and the American dream that inspired other African Americans to fight for equality in the 1900s. Hughes wrote during a time period that African Americans were not treated equally. In 1964 the Civil Rights Act was signed creating equality and ending segregation for African Americans. As America changed, Hughes perspective on America and equality evolved affecting his writing. In the beginning of Hughes’s writing career he was critical of America, but was inspiring to the lower class. For example, In “Let America Be America Again”, by Langston Hughes, he states, “There’s never been equality...
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...PROPOSAL FOR ENGLISH 1302 ESSAY Let America Be America Again CLAIMS: If the United States practiced in what the nation fought for during the revolution, second class citizens, slaves and native americans will not be forced to be treated so poorly from the individuals who have power and live up to the ideals of our nation, being equal to one another and being free from a ruler. PERSUASION: The speaker is reminding the reader that is was the second class citizens, slaves and native americans who made America and not the wealthy white men who didn’t make America. If he can remind the reader about that truth, then he has succeeded in making America great again. AUDIENCE: The speaker values the ideals of America and what they stand for...
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...poem Let America Be America Again. Walt Whitman and Langston Hughes have similar writing techniques. Whitman wrote the poem Let America Be America Again while Hughes wrote Let America Be America again. These poems are about 100 years apart and have many similarities and differences. The poems are similar in many ways, but one similarity is that they are both poems about America, the title gives that away though. Also both poems name a list of individuals that are left out of the American dream. "Those of mechanics, the carpenter, the mason, the boatman." (Let America Be America Again) In I Hear America Singing it states "I am the farmer, I am the worker, I am the negro." This American dream that so many people are left out of involves having opportunities...
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...“Let America Be America Again” is a poem not about just one group of people, but about African Americans, immigrants, poor white people, American Indians, and any and all groups who have been left out. When Mr. Hughes says: “I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart, I am the Negro bearing slavery’s scars. I am the red man driven from the land, I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek— And finding only the same old stupid plan Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak.” (Hughes 697) He speaking is for everyone, except the rich and privileged as we see in the line that says: Of profit, power, gain, of grab the land! Of grab the gold! Of grab the ways of satisfying need! Of work the men! Of take the pay! Of owning everything for one’s own greed (Hughes 697) It is important for us all to remember this land is for everyone, not just the privileged. Reading this poem and passing it on to others is a good way to remember what this country initially stood for and what most people are still fighting for. At one time America stood for liberty, equality, and the land of the free. When Mr. Hughes states “Let it be the dream it used to be” and “America never was America to me” we understand that he never has felt America was equal or free, but we also see that Mr. Hughes wants America to fulfill the promises of freedom, liberty, and equality. I enjoyed this part of the poem because it reminded me of why people came to this country and still come to this country...
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...sensations and emotions. He expressed the pain of loss and outrage on behalf of the American people. "I haven't read the newspapers for months, everyday somebody goes on trial for murder". "Your machinery is too much for me". The author states that "I'm sick of your insane demands". The inner world of the main hero is opposed to the indifferent and cynical outside world. However, in the same time, he expresses its blood relationship with his country. "It occurs to me that I am America"....
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...The poem “Let America Be America Again” by Langton Hughes has different meanings. This poem begins to talk about how the pioneers first came to America in the search of what many people call “The American Dream”. It talks about how they came to America seeking for equality and liberty, but is it America really a place of liberty and equality? This is what Hughes makes us question our self about. The poem speaks of the American dream that never existed for the lower class American. It also talks about the freedom and equality that every immigrant hoped for but never achieved. In his poem, Hughes represents not only African Americans, but other minority groups as well. Besides criticizing the unfair life in America, the poem conveys a sense of hope that the American Dream is soon to come. Which I think is something that even now many people can relate to. This poem is written in 1935. Langston Hughes is writing a poem of someone who feels that America does not live up to what it should be. The tone is angry and resentful. In this poem it’s not representing the point of view of one particular group. It’s saying that there are many people who’ve come here with hopes and dreams and they’re being let down. He’s also saying that there is an economic difference between people. In essence the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer, because there is not equal opportunity. That idea is something that is not real for many people because of their race, economic situation, and come up...
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...Harlem Renaissance Strayer University Humanities 112 Professor Renee Pistone November 30, 2014 Harlem renaissance poetry comprises of poems composed in the 1920s by poets such as Countee Cullen, Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, and Sterling Brown. All these poets had different items illustrated in their poems, though they all pointed the oppression of the minority race in America, and their fight to achieve freedom. The focus of this essay is to analyze poems by two different poets during the Harlem Renaissance period, describing the role played by each author in this period. The poems to be analyzed are If We Must Die by Claude McKay and Let America be America Again by Langston Hughes. These two poems pass different messages and show the different wishes of the two poets. McKay and Hughes each contributed to the Harlem Renaissance poetry in varying ways. Hughes was a well-known artist who wrote essays, short stories, poems, and children’s books. He used his poetry to celebrate the African American community and tried to capture the life of the African Americans in his work. His major focus is on dreams, and he gives suggestions of what happens when dreams are ignored and postponed. He, therefore, played a role in airing the dreams of the black Americans who lived in Harlem, and how these dreams were shattered (Bloom, 2004). His poetry is a way of showing that the black Americans had dreams, which if they did not come true would lead...
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...culture and ways of the early 1900’s to mid 1900’s. The unfortunate issue of slavery and inequality was very prevalent in the writings of Mr. Hughes. He wrote with a sense of the unfairness he was dealing with, as well as being a voice for those enduring the segregation as well. Only a few of his poems allowed us to see he had a hopeful side and would appear to write on day dream type things, like the sun and the rain. I wanted to point out on two particular poems that Hughes wrote, “Democracy” and “Let America be America Again”. In these poems many of the social indiscrepencies were obviously a huge factor in the way he felt. But as I read through these poems I could almost see a few similarities with the social issues of this present time. Although the segregation and separation was indeed more prevalent in the time of Hughes, the views he shares in these two poems are quite comparable to some of the views that society may very well have today. In let “America be America Again” Hughes says “I am the people, humble, hungry, mean---Hungry yet today despite the dream. He says also “beaten today---O Pioneers! I am the man who never got ahead, the poorest worker bartered through the years.”...
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...feeling of being pushed into a corner. America allows opportunities to find us, create new opportunities, and we all look and strive for these opportunities. Immigrants came to our nation for a new start in life. The image of the Jewish children on the ship staring at the Statue of Liberty. America quit accepting immigrants because they needed to reduce the number coming into the country. The immigrants that were able to enter the country were given different job opportunities. The poem, I Hear America Singing,...
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...Some people may ask themselves, “What does it mean to be an American?” many new people coming to America; always have that question in mind, because they want to fit in. An American is someone who doesn’t let society change them, they are proud of being themselves and doesn’t care who judges them, and an American is someone who has courage to stands up for what they believe in and won’t let anybody change their views. Being in a society, everyone is expected to act and do the same things. But, America changes that with the different types of cultures and people from all around the world in one place. Of course in the beginning of America, it wasn’t like that at all. Many people thought we should be separated and some were better than others because the color of their skin. The biggest conflict...
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