Chicago:
The Legacy of Carl Sandburg
Carl Sandburg may be one of our most influential poets in American history, he knew the American working man and his necessities. Sandburg used his poetry to explicate to the economy how life is, can, and could be. Carl Sandburg was born in Galesburg, Illinois January 6, 1878 to Swedish immigrant parents with the names of August and Clara Johnson. His family was extremely poor. Carl left school at the age of thirteen to work odd jobs from bricklaying to dish washing to earn money to support the family. At seventeen, he left home to travel to Kansas as a hobo, there he turned to the army for help. He served eight months in Puerto Rico during the Spanish-American war.
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Chicago is as poem that captures how the cities of America are in that time period. He addresses the city as "you", as if it were a living person and all of the people that make things happen in the city are the organs of that person. The poem has a positive outlook on the city of Chicago. It details the flaws and shortcomings of the city. He talks of painted women on the streets luring the farm boys, which would be women with make-up applied heavily working the streets. He says that they tell him the city is brutal, crooked, and wicked and that he believes them. The poem also translates into how living in the city is toilsome and that the city is unrelenting. On the other hand it shows how the city can be prosperous and happy with the city’s disadvantages. in the second half of the poem it’s telling how nomatter what is wrong with the city, the people are still proud of who they are.
The theme of "Chicago" is how life in the city really is. The Acadamy of American Poets states that "Chicago is written so that the average working man can read it and think about his surroundings rather than to become a robot from the repetitious stress consuming him"(47-48). The Carl Sandburg page says that, Oliver Wendle Holmes, a skilled rhymester, told a young poet:
The first chapter introduces Chicago, in the 1800s as a place where flocks of single women are coming to Chicago looking for jobs. This city was described as very unsafe. Two people a day, on average, died at railroad crossings, disease was very common, and people died from
Can you imagine ever performing on Broadway? Let me go a step further and ask if you could ever imagine performing in the Broadway show Chicago? To feel the excitement of performing for the longest-running American musical in Broadway history. Broadway shows may not be for everyone, but it truly says something when a show is completely sold out and not one single person is left sitting down at the end of the play.
Chicago is in sections, there is the South, North, East, and West side. The people are different in each side from what they wear to what they eat. The food is very different because in some sides there is more of one race then another. In all the sides the food is very
In Carl Sandburg’s poem “Chicago” he describes the positive and negative attributes of the city such as: the thriving industry and the hardworking people as the positive and crime and murder as the negative. “Chicago” is a short poem , however, the poem conveys many emotions about the city. Even though Chicago has many negative connotations to its name Carl Sandburg tries to express his love for the great city. By using repetition, personification, and apostrophe Carl Sandburg explains why he loves Chicago.
In "Chicago," published in 1916, has accepted the world around him and acknowledges that although he is not a part of what he has witnessed, he is complacent with the alienating properties Chicago is able to provide and finds comfort in being lost within the large city. The narrator begins by describing Chicago as "Hog Butcher for the World,/Tool maker, Stacker of Wheat,/ Player with Railroads and the Nation's Freight Handler;/Stormy, husky, brawling,/City of the Big Shoulders" to explain how industrialization has come to define the city ("Chicago" 1-5). The narrator then proceeds to describe his observations of individuals who live on the fringe of society, "painted women under the gas lamps luring
The book accounts the dark side of Chicago streets. The book discusses the outer and inner lives of both the Chicago police officer and the city itself. The city reveals itself to be not just a setting or a place but a central force in the journalist journey of life and death.
As we read chapter two, we saw a comparison between the book and the poem we had read earlier. The poem first talked about how Chicago does not have a good justice system. It also described the women that lived there as prostitutes and how their children were terrified of the city. Then, the poem revealed how the city of Chicago was dark and smoke filled. The city represented darkness, but the people of the town were still proud of it. Even though it was a dark town, it still thrived in jobs and even in the railroad system. The pride of Chicago was something many experienced.
A theme used in Chicago is strength and skill . Chicago was a city that had been built, wrecked and rebuilt. The people of Chicago all had power and strength to live in such a horrendous city. "Chicago" is not just about the powerful position of the city, but about the brute strength of the people who built it. Lines 1-5 are saying that Sandburg starts the poem with a list of names for the city that reflects its dirty, gritty, extreme soul. In the early twentieth century Chicago was a center for the businesses Sandburg notices. In these lines the speaker personifies the city by comparing it to a "Stormy, imposing, brawling" specialist, with "Enormous Shoulders." This list also brings out the human laborers who really perform the work related
As massive as Chicago is, opportunity is frequent. But as massive as Chicago is, nothing can be perfect. Carl Sandburg’s “Chicago” helps one reading the poem understand what living in a big city like Chicago is like, equally exciting as frightening. “Chicago” is a poem that captures what the legendary city stands for, a polarizing residence that embodies what makes society both incredible and disappointing. Take the line “They tell me you are wicked and I believe them, for I have seen your painted women under the gas lamps luring the farm boys.”
Sandburg uses imagery that gives Chicago the reputation of being wicked, crooked, and brutal. The author gives references of when people have called the city such names. Sandburg says, “And they tell me you are crooked and I answer: Yes, it is true I have seen/ the gunman kill and go free to kill again,” (line 8-9). Not only did Sandburg write this line to give an example of one of the things people call his city but he is also saying yes I have seen it happen, Chicago can be dangerous. Despite what people say about his city he still describes it as proud. Sandburg sneers, “Come and show me another city with lifted head singing so proud to be/ alive and coarse and strong and cunning,” (14-15). Sandburg defends his city while some people think it is cruel and harsh he describes Chicago as proud of those characteristics. Sandburg portrays Chicago as wicked, crooked, and brutal, but takes pride in living in a city that is so tough.
The speaker sees the bad in the city, of course but he see the good that someone else may not see. He is daring the people who criticize Chicago to find another city that is as lively and full of personality. “Come and show me another city with lifted head singing so proud to be alive and coarse and strong and cunning. Flinging magnetic curses amid the toil of piling job on job, here is a tall bold slugger set vivid against the little soft cities; Fierce as a dog with tongue lapping for action, cunning as a savage pitted against the
Born Carl Sandburg and baptized Carl August, Sandburg was born the second of seven children on January 6, 1878 (P.C., vol. 41 222-223)he had a hard childhood and a background full of experience both of which helped to make him the poet, author, journalist, and literary genius that would go on to be recognised for multiple achievements and innovations in the literary field(P. Nivin). His parents were August and Clara Sandburg both of which were Swedish immigrants. August, a hard working man, worked sixty hour weeks at the Burlington, Chicago, and Quincy Railroad Yards. August never learned to write due to him leaving school early however he was fully capable of reading
The setting in the story is definitely unlike the Chicago we know now. In the present time of Chicago, buildings are mostly neat and contains thousands of people who either live or work in it. Meanwhile, in the novel, a giant fence surrounds the city, and the most of the buildings are abandoned and in ruins. This means our environment could later be destroyed and the beauty of our world will exist.
Have you ever wondered what it’s like to visit Chicago? Chicago is a great place to visit and has lots to do and see. Today I will be telling you 3 descriptive things about Chicago. The first descriptive detail about Chicago is its downtown area. The second descriptive detail about Chicago is the weather. The final descriptive detail about Chicago is the pizza.
Carl Sandburg, born in Galesburg, Illinois, on January 6, 1878, was an American poet, writer, and editor who won three Pulitzer Prizes: two for his poetry and one for his biography of Abraham Lincoln. However he was best known for his poetry. His most famous poem, called happiness explained an experience he had in college. Carl attended Lombard college located in chicago, illinois, from