Baraka And Kaufman

“let America Be America Again” has a gloomy, heavy, sulky view of America. It questions as to whether America is all it’s cracked up to be, a place where anyone can be whatever and do whatever. Whereas “I Hear America Singing” has a rose-colored, on cloud nine, view that paints America as a utopia. It makes everyone look like little gears that, no matter what, keep on turning to make things run as smoothly as possible. Both of these selections are biased , one positive and one negative, but they both make the reader paint an image of the America that the selection points out. To me America is a dream and ideal place to live, they don’t restrict one’s thoughts or feelings. If they did then Hughes and Whitman wouldn’t have been able to release these two pieces of work and, in turn, there would be a lot less emotion in the work today, and work without emotion is work that doesn’t belong in

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.

Identity is portrayed similarly in “half caste” and “no problem” because they are both about race and their struggle to be acknowledged as a person. Both poets John Agard and Benjamin Zephaniah use language, for and structure to show the struggle.

The idea of an equal America exists no more. Regardless of the fact that there is a plethora of varying perspectives dividing the country into two, there are words and phrases that are generally accepted in viewing our country from the rest of the world. First, the American Dream is regularly associated with equal opportunity, prosperity, and liberty. Walt Whitman, as well as many others, have written about this desired America for the socially accepted American. He is often referred to as “America’s Poet,” who amplifies the elegant qualities of America that we believe to be true. It is obvious that Whitman portrays America as an alive and colorful place full of chance and flourishment throughout his work. “I Hear America Singing” is a prime example of an America that is only seen from the surface, where Whitman clearly indicates that the United States is a country where all its citizens are able to achieve equality and liberty. Contradictory, Sharon Olds poem, “On the Subway,” proves the lack of individual liberty, which deteriorates the growth of the country, ultimately opposing the America, where personal freedom is the foundation. Olds’ poem pokes holes in the surface that shows the controversial interior that truly makes up America that Whitman painted beforehand. Olds and Whitman also illustrate varying insight regarding personal liberty and its importance in two opposing poems; one who proclaims it as easily attainable and necessary to the country and the other who

One of the most disturbing things in today’s culture is a loss of originality and nationality. People are no longer proud to be Americans and instead of pushing for new heights people follow in the footsteps of others. People today need heir sense of self back and need to start taking pride in what they do and where they’re from. In “One Song, America, Before I Go” by Walt Whitman and “I Too” by Langston Hughes, the speakers celebrated the concepts of individuality, originality, and nationality.

     In the poem "Let America Be America Again," Langston Hughes paints a vivid word picture of a depressed America in the 1930's. To many living in America, the idealism presented as the American Dream had escaped their grasp. In this poetic expression, a speaker is allowed to voice the unsung Americans' concern of how America was intended to be, had become to them, and could aspire to be again.

In the early years of America’s foundation, a powerful air of uncapped potential, the desire for expansion and individual identification enamored the American people. Progress was inevitable as was cultural definition. But as time progressed, the feeling of unlimited strength, time and space transformed into something that, for better or worse, was no longer shared by later poets. Those of the “New World” came to realize that their world never really managed to leave behind the faults of the “Old.” Societal tension rose as different poets and authors struggled to pin down the direction of American culture and its ideals. When no solid idea was able to capture American culture adequately, the concept of an ever-evolving American identity

The position of US Poet Laureate is an exceptionally prestigious and challenging position to achieve, as any aspiring poet within the country is eligible. To quote the Library of Congress, the poet laureate “serves as the official lightning rod for the poetic impulse of Americans” (“About the Position”), which means that their duty is to increase the widespread national appreciation of the reading and writing of poetry, specifically those imbued with American themes. These duties as laureate are perfectly suited for Yusef Komunyakaa, who embodies all of the necessary qualities. Through jazz-infused poetry and personal experiences, Komunyakaa truly captures within his poetry what it means to be an American, and he continues to leave an impact on the world of literature both

In Langston Hughes poem, “Let America Be America Again”, he describes the dream he has for America to exist at its fullest potential. His dream for freedom, equality, and true democracy is heard loud and clear throughout this work of art. However, the downfall is that America is yet to live up to the standards it so proudly “represents”. The issue roots in the gap between what America claims to be and what it actually is. In this poem, we see where this gap lies and the reality of America is revealed.

These marginalized members, such as like the poor, single mothers, LGBT people, and those who have been to jail, lack activity in larger beliefs not only in dominant white normative constructions, but also in Queer theory. In the beginning of the essay, Cohen defines and provides the background of queer theory. The author claims that in current times, the word “queer” does not only have the meaning of sexual deviants, but it also refers to abnormal kinship and family structure such as single family, re-marriage, homo parents, orphan, and multi-parents, which also can be seen in the family structures found in drag ball houses within Baileys work. Cohen states, “For me this is the process of the queering of Black studies: making visible all those who in the past have been silenced and excluded as full members of Black communities—the poor, women, lesbians and gays—those people on the margins of society and excluded from the middle-class march toward respectability. But we must remember that reconstituting and expanding the membership of Black communities is not enough, we must also understand and detail the work of power that constructs and disseminates the idea of outsider or deviant within and outside of Black communities” (p.42). Marginalized people take on deviant and defiant actions simply to establish some level of agency in their lives. Cohen proposes that

– 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.

Several nonconformist American writers of the 1950s gave birth to the Beat Generation through their experimental writing, lifestyle, religious practises, and philosophies. Writers such as John Clellon Holmes, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Philip Whalen, Gary Snyder, and Gregory Corso advocators all critical to the movement. But “[a]t the core of the Beat culture were still-notable poets and literary figures like Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg, both of whom helped to build one of the first centers of Beat culture, in North Beach San Francisco” (Issitt 2). Jack Kerouac’s On the Road, and Allen Ginsberg’s collection of poems called Howl, in addition to Williams S. Burroughs’s Naked Lunch, were immensely influential. In 1952 John Holmes birthed the term “Beat Generation” through an essay on the

The true message of the poem is complex, and does let the reader perplex on whether Ginsberg was trying to incense or deplore these individual’s state. But is it truly such a dark, depressing work of art ? The Hippie movement that the Beat Generation inspired was after all a movement of peace and hope. Ginsberg does admit that he and Salomon share the same “invisible humor” (Part III, l.9) , and the words and expression used in the poem might aim to exaggerate the absurdity of a situation, not only to highlight the contrast between them and the rest of the world, but also to make the reader laugh - and the audience did laugh during Ginsberg’s first reading. But perhaps the irony is even deeper than that, and Ginsberg jokes not at the expense of their own absurd behaviour, but on the mainstream people’s ignorance on what normality should

To begin, jazz’s unique extemporizing aspects incites Amiri Baraka to proclaim his conviction on the worldly problems that we face in his eminent poem, Afrikan Revolution. Presented on February 4, 1973 after Amilear Cabral’s funeral, Amiri Baraka expresses his concerns on the differences among the people in society, specifically, people of African descent and anyone who is suffering from oppression. At the start of the poem, Amiri Baraka strikes his audience with examples of

Three important poets who are typically associated with the confessional poetry movement are Anne Sexton, Allen Ginsberg, and Denise Levertov. An analysis of selected works from these poets yields a deeper insight into the individual poets and the broad