Let America Be America Again: Poem Analysis

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

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

America is arguably the most robust country and yet it also one of many countries where we are not all free. In the poem "Let America Be America Again" Langston Hughes shows his opinion of America and declared that America has never been great and never will be if there is varied equality among the ethnics and their social classes. Learned Hand announced “That spirit of an American which has never been, and may never be; nay, which never will be except as the conscience and courage of Americas create it”, her he feels that America is only as good as the common people in it, therefore, Americas future lies in our hands and the way we use it. Both Langston Hughes and Learned Hand presumed that America has never been great yet, Hand is unsure on whether America has the potential to change their ways but, Langston Hughes let out his emotions exclaiming” America never was America to me, and yet I swear this oath America will be! These two Americans have shown how they feel and believe that we can only be a magnificent country if we believe

Langston Hughes, “I too, Sing America” chronicles an African-American male’s struggle with patriotism in an age of inequality and segregation in the United States. The poem cleverly uses metaphors to represent racial segregation faced by African-Americans during the early twentieth century. The speaker presents a battle cry for equality and acceptance, and his words are a plea and a declaration for nationalism and patriotism. Although, the poem does not directly imply racism, the speaker’s language suggests that he equates the kitchen to racial discrimination by the general American society. His word usage signals his wish to participate in a land that he proudly claims as his own despite his personal experiences of rejection. Despite

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.

     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 light of the sea of differences between Hughes' poem "Let America Be America Again" and Trump's "Make America Great Again " speech, the subtle similarities are even more remarkable as they speak with hope to outrageous behaviors, dominating rulers and the need for this country to align with its founding ideals. Langston Hughes writes from the view point of a thirty something "radicalized" minority who was raised by relatives and people close to his parents, while living in multiple homes and communities. (Roberts & Zweig, 2015, pp.

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). 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.

In the fight for equality, people of color often feel isolated and separated from those whose privilege reinforces their oppression. However, there are and always have been white people who see the inequalities that are practiced in society and speak out against them in hopes of reaching equality for all. Langston Hughes used his voice in poetry to express his experience as a black man in the United States during the Civil Rights Movement, and his is a household name. There is no doubt that his words have power. The reader expects to feel his experience and gain empathy and understanding through his poetry. In his poem, “Let America Be America Again,” Hughes presents his experience of American life in a powerful contrast to the experience

How is Technology changing the world? Technology has been rapidly changing and expanding in every field imaginable. There is no doubt that technology holds the future and that technology makes life easier. If you go back 50-100 years from now there were jobs back then that we currently do not have. Advances in technology bring us this new way of life that all we do is count on this technology.

Seeking to create and promote a new image for African Americans, or the New Negro, the poems “A New Song”, by Langston Hughes, “To the Intrenched Classes”, by Claude McKay, and Harsh World That Lashest me”, by Countee Cullen, each express that despite the oppression faced by African Americans, they will rise above it. In “A New Song”, Hughes unites the African American community in the first lines, “I speak in the name of the black millions / Awakening to action” (Collected Poems of Langston Hughes 170). He is using this poem as though it were a public service announcement stating that the African American community is no longer remaining silent. As a community, it is no longer just one induvial rising to be heard. Hughes points out the multiple ways that African Americans and those who came before face oppression such slavery in the line “When I bowed my back / beneath the slaver’s whip” or the lack of education available to African Americans in the line “When I saw my children unschooled” (Collected Poems of Langston Hughes, 170). The theme of this poem is “That day is past” which Hughes repeats throughout the poem (Collected Poems of Langston Hughes 170-171). As a collective people, Hughes encourages everyone to “Revolt! Arise! (171). The last line of this poem extends the invitation to end oppression to the white majority by calling upon “The Black / And White World” (Collected Poems of Langston Hughes 171). Together, African Americans and whites can end the oppression and allow the “New Negro” to stand equally.

"Next to of course god America i" by Edward Estlin Cummings implies the patriotism of the United States by a patriot with war supporting attitude. However, with the poem having a patriotic view, it also has a sarcastic outlook, which is caused by blind patriotism. The blind patriotism is seen throughout the poem in several lines.