Super Sad True Love Story

Through the various primary sources, a theme of hypocrisy is introduced, revealing the constant contradiction of freedom in America during the 19th century. This theme is exemplified in “America”, a poem written by James Whitfield. The poem begins with the lines, “America, it is to thee, / Thou boasted land of liberty, - / It is to thee I raise my song, / Thou land of blood, and crime, and wrong” (Whitfield “America” 1- 4). Within the first four lines of the poem, Whitfield introduces the notion that America, albeit boasting of freedom, is truly a land of wrongdoing. This idea is further enhanced later in the poem, as it is mentioned, “Oh no; they fought, as they believed, / For the inherent rights of man; / But mark, how they have been deceived / By slavery’s accursed plan” (Whitfield “America” 37 -

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.

In the poems on America many of the writers write about love for a certain view of this country.

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

To the world, America is seen as one of the greatest nations in the world. Some may even consider it to be the greatest. “Land of the pilgrims and so forth” (Cummings 667). Symbolism is represented in the poem “next to of course god america i” by the way E.E. Cummings uses the land of the pilgrims to represent the countries roots, the heroic happy dead to represent the soldiers that have died for this country to ensure liberty to all that partake of this land, and by the way he uses the roaring slaughter to symbolise war and battle. In this essay, I will be discussing the ways the words used in this poem help to create a symbol that the reader is able to comprehend and I will discuss some possible meanings behind each of

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.

With reference to Ginsberg's emulation of Walt Whitman's content, the Norton Anthology, Postmodern American Poetry, states that, "Ginsberg proposed a return to the immediacy, egalitarianism and visionary ambitions of Blake and Whitman." (130). His poem "America" caters toward themes of democracy, something Whitman's poetry also does. Yet unlike Whitman, Ginsberg takes a more questioning stance on America and does not use his poem to praise the nation.

Ginsberg reflects on the satire of people worshipping American culture when it is actually the cause of their trouble. Which glorifies a civilization restricting you to normality, and destroying the best minds. These parts take the reader behind Ginsberg’s belief of the “best minds” American culture changes across the fundamental desires to destroy them.

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.

"America" is another poem written by McKay that reveals the outsider theme of the Negro in America. McKay voices his love/hate relationship with America in this poem. He states that she "sinks into my throat her tiger's tooth, stealing my breath of life." He does however "confess I love this cultured hell that tests my youth! Her vigor flows like tides into my blood giving me strength erect against her hate." This line indicates that while he struggles as an American, it is America that keeps him going; that she gives him life even as she sucks it away. McKay is saying that he loves America not so much as an American but as an outsider that needs the test to live and become stronger. Another example of the theme of alientation is in the line "Yet as a rebel fronts a king in state I stand within her walls." McKay is once again using the point of view of the outsider rather than someone that really feels "American." This poem is

Gary Shteyngart’s novel, Super Sad True Love Story was a New York bestseller and won the 2011 Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for comic literature. The novel has been critically acclaimed and given more good reviews than it truthfully deserves. When reading a novel one expects the writing to pull you in and captivate you with each turn of the page. However, this is not one of those novels. Motivation for reading this novel began to slip soon into the first chapter and my class grade is the only reason I was able to complete the reading. The novel is meant to be written in satire but throughout the entire book, I only found a select few lines witty or amusing.

Ginsberg starts this poem with the speaker declaring that he has given America everything and has not received anything in return. The first line signifies the speaker’s intimacy with America. One will only

It is evident from the very beginning that Ginsberg is disillusioned with American society, and he is ready to turn his back on what he feels has been oppressing him. "America I've given you all and now I'm

The speaker ended his poem depicting his vision how they will see how beautiful he will become and will be ashamed. He reinforces his idea by ending the poem with “I, too am America.”. His motive in the last stanza was to let his readers know that after all the struggles that he been through he will rise above and be just as the same as his white brothers and they’ll be ashamed because of the way how they have treated him.