Analysis Of The Poem ' America ' By Claude Mckay Essay

Claude McKay was a black man born in Jamaica, he choose literature very on in life and kept with it. He moved to the United States at age twenty three to study at Tuskegee Institute and was immediately shocked by the blatant racism prevalent in Charleston, South Carolina. He moved to New York and shortly after became co-editor of The Liberator, a famous abolitionist newspaper, he wrote some of his most revered poems while working there. He was part of the Harlem Renaissance a movement that was a reawakening of artistic and cultural talents of African American people in the United States and helped to reinvigorate their pride in being black.

In “America the beautiful” the author’s use of diction creates an uplifting spiritual tone in the poem.The author uses the same words “oh beautiful for…”focusing not on America's flaws but on the beauty. For instance the start of stanza 4 she writes “o beautiful 4 heroes proved in liberty strife who more than self her country loved and marymor than life”.She apads for the people who believe in freedom of america by sacrificing their lives for their

Born in Senegal around 1753, Phillis Wheatley became an important American poetic figure. At the age of 8, she was kidnapped and brought to Boston on a slave ship and upon her arrival to Boston, she was quickly sold to John Wheatley (Bio). Under her new family, Phillis adopted the master’s last name, taken under the wife’s wing, and showed her deep intelligence. Even though suffering from poor health, Phillis’s intelligence did not go unnoticed; she received lessons in theology, English, Latin and Greek. Being a slave did not stop Phillis from learning and experiencing her life, she participated in the master’s family events and eventually became a family member. The irony in this situation is

The poem America by Claude McKay is on its surface a poem combining what America should be and what this country stands for, with what it actually is, and the attitude it projects amongst the people. Mckay uses the form of poetry to express how he, as a Jamaican immigrant, feels about America. He characterizes the bittersweet relationship between striving for the American dream, and being denied that dream due to racism. While the America we are meant to see is a beautiful land of opportunity, McKay see’s as an ugly, flawed, system that crushes the hopes and dreams of the African-American people.

America is known to be the country of liberty. The definition of Liberty is simply the reason America was created; it is a place where everyone is treated equal with hopes of achieving their American dream. As a result, many people dream of coming to live in the wonderful country known for its freedom. However, America does not seem to hold that value as it used to. In the poem “Let America Be America Again”, the poet Langston Hughes expresses his disappointment with the country. The poem was written in 1935 where discrimination and inequality still exist. In the poem “Let America Be America Again”, the poet Langston Hughes uses repetition and alliteration in order to show desirement for a better country and disappointment of the country America came to be, and also imagery in order to exemplify the struggles of those who came to live in country they thought was dream.

Claude McKay’s poems reflect on American culture during a specific time in history, known as Harlem Renaissance. A time where racism was predominately a way of living for many, this was a beneficial time in history for African Americans. Bringing blacks together in a new movement that had not been present in America. Development in which blacks emphasized themselves by taking on their racial identity. It was a time period in which the black community helped each other to be able to express themselves as who they truly are, creating a true African American visual doing so

Racial prejudice often creates a division between the racists and their victims, and thus results in isolation and alienation of the victimized racial group. During the Harlem Renaissance, discrimination and oppression against African Americans was still prevalent, despite the 1920s being a time of expression of African culture. This juxtaposing concept is analyzed through Claude McKay’s poem “The White City”, which explores the perception of an African American speaker, presumably McKay himself, who longs to be a part of the White City, while retaining a deep, inner hatred of the city. Although McKay initially demonstrates his endearment and attachment toward the city through visual imagery, he directly juxtaposes it by expressing his hatred with tenacious, despicable diction. This juxtaposition not only serves to represent the struggle of being an African American in a white supremacist city but also displays McKay’s paradox of appreciating the “White City” while feeling detached from it.

In the poem ,“America”, Claude McKay uses figurative language and diction to create a dark tone, a powerful empowering tone, and an optimistic tone. The theme of double consciousness of African-Americans is supported in the poem and the poem itself also connects to the purpose of the Harlem Renaissance which was to fight back racial hate and stereotypes with black empowerment.

Diction plays a large role in in conveying deep meaning within the two poems. Both writers use figurative and emotional vocabulary throughout each line. In “I Too, Sing America”, Hughes begins the first line using a figurative metaphor, “I too am the darker brother / They send me to eat in the kitchen” (Hughes 1-2). When Hughes refers to the narrator as the darker brother, the metaphor is actually referring the the African American community, not just a singular person. The second metaphor in line 2 attributes to the social divide and mistreatment between whites and blacks. This method of writing is mirrored in McKay’s “America”, “Although she feeds me bread of bitterness / And sinks into my throat her tiger’s tooth” (McKay 1-2 ). The diction McKay chooses to use, urges readers to empathize a feeling of sorrow and animosity towards America. He does this by using words such “bitterness” and “sinks into my throat”.

Life, liberty, freedom, equality, opportunity, and so many other words have been used to describe the United States of America. Every American child grows up with the words “the land of the free” pounded into their heads, and every morning schools declare America as a place of “liberty and justice for all.” Such inflated rhetoric presents America with large shoes to fill. Thus, America’s shortcomings should not be surprising. Langston Hughes and Upton Sinclair were two 20th Century writers, who saw past this idealistic talk and saw the jungle that the United States really was. Langston Hughes wrote in his poem “Let America be America Again”, “Let America be America again. –Let it be the dream it used to be. –Let it be the pioneer on the plain –Seeking a home where himself is free. –(America was never America to me) (1).” He highlights not only the experience of African Americans during the 1930s, but identifies with other oppressed groups including immigrants writing, “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.” Likewise, Upton Sinclair conveyed his repulsion to immigrant oppression during the Industrial Revolution in his book The Jungle, emphasizing the gullibility behind trusting the grandiloquence of the American dream.

The Kansas City Call summed up the general mentality of African Americans during the 1920s with the statement “The New Negro does not fear the face of day.” (pg 118) Unlike the old days of slavery, African Americans had become more radical towards their oppressor and were beginning to organize as a people. Harlem Renaissance poet Claude Mckay embraced the “New Negro” archetype in his work by stating “If we must die, let it not be like hogs/ Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot….. Like men we’ll face the murderous, cowardly pack/ Pressed

All three of the poems discussed in this essay relate to the struggles suffered by African Americans in the late 18th century to the early 19th century in many different ways. They had to live under harsh

During the 1920’s a new movement began to arise. This movement known as the Harlem Renaissance expressed the new African American culture. The new African American culture was expressed through the writing of books, poetry, essays, the playing of music, and through sculptures and paintings. Three poems and their poets express the new African American culture with ease. (Jordan 848-891) The poems also express the position of themselves and other African Americans during this time. “You and Your Whole Race”, “Yet Do I Marvel”, and “The Lynching” are the three poems whose themes are the same. The poets of these poems are, as in order, Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, and Claude Mckay.

Written in the first half of the 20th century, “Let America Be America” is a poem that documents and responds to the oppressed state of the United States, in both the past and present. The poem is a plea for a return to the original principles of freedom that our country has seemingly forgotten. Additionally, the speaker sees America as the broken home to oppressed people who have lost sight of the ultimate goal of freedom and happiness. Although America is often perceived as the “land of the free,” Langston Hughes’s poem contradicts this ideology by not only painting a vivid picture of oppression in America but also by providing a desperate hope for the future.

– Let America be America again). The poems display images of hardship and frustration. They both speak of a difference within races and also what the life in America is different from the eyes of someone who isn’t white.