Let America Be America Again Analysis

Many people have come to America for adventure, opportunity, freedom, and the chance to experience the particular qualities of the American landscape. The American Dream is the idea that every United States citizen, including immigrants and residents, should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative. America somewhat provides access to the American dream, it is more so the citizen who provides access to the dream for themselves. Even though they encountered many trials and tribulations, with persistence, people such as Langston Hughes in “I Too Sing America and Anzia Yezierska in “America and I” they were able to achieve their individual American Dream.

Throughout the poem, the author chooses simple diction. This makes the tone straightforward and blunt, like a black America who simply expresses himself instead of sermonizing about discrimination. Thereby, readers can accept the poem’s argument more easily. Furthermore, the author writes the poem mostly in long sentences to emphasize on short yet important sentences such as “That’s America.”, “Be we are. That’s true!”

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.

In Langston Hughes poem “Let America be America Again” he talks about how America should return to the way that it was perceived to be in the dreams before America was truly America. Throughout the poem he uses various methods to evoke the patriotic images and dreams that he feels America should and will eventually be. Hughes states that America is supposed to be a place of equality for everyone including both white and colored people. During this period in time though there was not equality for everyone. Hughes talks about an America where both whites and colored people will have equality in all aspects socially, politically, and economically. What Hughes is saying is that both whites and colored

Why is America never America? “America never was America to me” is a line repeatedly written in the poem ‘Let America be America Again’ by an African American poet Langston Hughes. This poem was published in 1936, when being African American was one’s greatest sin. African Americans were treated as things that elite whites can own rather than free- willed humans. In this poem, the pain and suffering of colored Americans, who were considered less than humans, is reflected clearly. Despite being written by an African America poet, the poem ‘Let America Be America Again’ does not represent African Americans only. Minority groups including economically disadvantaged whites are represented in this poem. For these people America is not America. It is a sleepless night where dreams are not allowed. They never get freedom in the land of the free. They never get opportunity in the land of opportunities. They never get justice and equality in the land of the justice. America is not America they want to see, and the poet Langston Hughes repeatedly mentions, “America never was America to me”. In 1936, when the poem was first published, being colored immigrant was the same, or even worse than being a murderer, justice was never served, and there was no equality. The privileged elites had all the America to them but to the lower racial groups and immigrants, American dream never existed. Despite the fact that the poem ‘Let America be

     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.

Another difference in the poems is who the authors are describing. “The New Colossus” concentrated more on the immigrants going to America while “Let America Be America Again” gave more consideration to the general population living in America. Lazarus’ poem reached out to the people that wanted a fresh start to their lives. Using the Statue of Liberty as her voice in the poem, she says, “Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” She is explaining how she wants all people, rich, poor, black, white, to come to America for a new beginning to their lives. Whereas Hughes is explaining the current state of life among the people who live in America. He feels oppressed by his country to the audience and

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.

Throughout the poem there is the extended metaphor that America is not what it is meant to be and is compared to what it should be. For example; “Let it be the dream it used to be,” and “…the land where every man is free” (Hughes). What Hughes is trying to say throughout this whole poem is that America used to be the place where anything could happen, anyone could be anything they wanted to be, but then people let a silly thing like skin color get in the way of that dream. How could America be the land of possibilities when there are people that are constantly terrified of doing something as simple as drinking from the wrong water fountain? “Let America Be America Again” is a very powerful piece of work and deals with the fact the America needs to start being the land of the free again, that it’s not living up to its name and that something needs to be done about it.

“Let America be America Again”, discusses the struggles of striving for success as an underprivileged American, describing the dreamers who have oppression from the more privileged, yet still hope for

– 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.

“Let America Be America Again” by Langston Hughes, a poem describing the unequal and biased land of America, uses symbolism to illustrate Hughes’s dreams of America being the land in which all people are truly free. At the beginning of the poem Hughes states, “Let it (America) be the dream it used to be” (2). From this line, the “dream” symbolizes the hope the Founding Fathers had for America when they were writing the United States Constitution. Later in the poem, Hughes promises America will become this dream, but only with the aid and perseverance of all citizens. Additionally, the “dream” exemplifies his yearning for liberty, equality, and freedom for all people no matter their differences.

1) The keywords of the dream used in this poem are Let America/it/my … The writer uses these keywords to show that the America he experiences is a lot worse and different that the one that it used to be and he wants it to go back to the way it was before. “There’s never been equality for me nor freedom in this “homeland of the free””. This quote is taken from the brackets in the first 16 lines of the poem. This shows us that he is most likely of colour due to the fact that he says “There’s never been equality for me” and America is not known for having treated people of colour as equally as white people.

Langston Hughes’s “Let America Be America Again” is a poem that could be endlessly applied to where America stands today. This poem illustrates the morals, ideas, and visions set forth by those who found this country and how America has begun straying from those principles. The poem expresses that America is made up of all walks of people and that no man should be crushed by those above him, but rather be given the same opportunity as those above him. Hughes desire to make America great again can be shared in some way or another by most Americans making this poem everlasting. “Let America Be America Again” has the personalization, the language, the connection shared by every American, and the rhyme to allow readers of every race, gender, or religious belief to be brought together as not only people but as Americans.