Woody Guthrie's Songs

Folk singer Woody Guthrie experienced the great depression first hand. His family went from middle class to dire poverty in the 1920’s and 1930’s. He wrote this song after traveling the world and witnessing the awful effects of the Great Depression. Originally called “God Bless America” this song was a response to Irving Berlin’s song also called “God Bless America”, he believed that this song was unrealistic and smug. The tone of this song one could say is very sarcastic, because if god really did bless America things like the great depression would not be happening. For example, at the end of his song when he, “saw my people, As they stood hungry, I stood there wondering if [God blessed America for me.]”

It is often inferred by many people that have read both Walt Whitman's poem “I Hear America Singing”, and Langston Hughes poem “I, Too, Sing America”, that one is a response to the other. Walt Whitman was an extremely famous poet and still is presently. His poem was very patriotic and inspired a lot of people. Langston Hughes did not see the poem in a positive way. In what many think is a retaliation to the poem, Langston Hughes wrote “I, Too, Sing America”. Langston Hughes’s poem “I, Too, Sing America” builds on and compares with Walt Whitman’s poem in many ways, it says we all Americans, they sound very much alike, we need to be together as one.

Walt Whitman and Langston Hughes. Two highly renowed poets. One of Whitman's most known poems, "I Hear America Singing", is about living the American life; he explains multiple types of people in his piece of work and how they are all a part of America. Similar to this, Langston Hughes wrote the poem "I, Too, Sing America", and in this, he includes African Americans, suggesting that Whitman left some people out. Also saying, that blacks are proud and just as big of a part of America as anyone else. Along with this, both are similar in the sense that they are about people in America. Aside from this, there are three other ways in which the poems "I, Too, Sing America", and "I Hear America Singing", are similar. Becasue of this, the poems

In this paper I will be talking about the similarities and differences in the two different poems. The two poems were written by two incredible poets and were probably one of the best in their lifetimes. The first poem is written by Walt Whitman and is called “ I Hear America Singing”. The other poem is by Langston Hughes and is called “I, Too, Sing America” .Many people believe that Langston Hughes wrote his poem “I, Too, Sing America” in response to Walt Whitman's poem “ I Hear America Singing”. Some people have a completely opposite opinion and say that the two poems have nothing to with each other. Langston Hughes did many things in his life. Some of them include being an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and a

Langston Hughes wrote a poem that some believe is in response to a poem Walt Whitman made. Walt Whitman’s poem “I hear America Singing” is basically a description of the people who made up America at the time. The mothers, the carpenters, the masons, the shoemakers, the wood cutters, etc, were all the different types of people that made up what America, said of the poem. With Langston Hughes's poem “I, Too, Sing America”, the poem is making a sort of claim that Hughes’s and blacks alike also have a right to feel patriotic towards and be a part of America. Both poems are pretty similar to what they’re subject is (America), but they are quite different when it comes to what exactly the two poems are mainly focusing on.

Langston Hughes and Claude McKay share similar qualities in their respective poems “I, Too, Sing America” written by Hughes and “America” written by McKay. These poems, though different and unique in style, share common characteristics that make each poem a classic piece of American literature. Hughes and McKay, both African American males, were very notable during the Harlem Renaissance period. Both writers express their views on their individual African Americans perceptions in America in these poems, through their use of diction, tone, theme.

This quote explains that Guthrie’s life was hard. Guthrie wrote his most famous song “This Land is Your Land” in New York City. Guthrie’s songs were a pick-me-up for the nation at this horrible

Woody’s words and songs are alike in millions of ways. To start, they both are saying that this land is made for everyone. For example, in the song, “This Land is Your Land” it says, “ As I went walking I saw a sign and it said,”no trespassing.” But on the other side it said nothing and that side was made for you and me.” He means all of that land was made for you and me and we’re not even allowed to go there? How can one person own all of that land? And the side that says nothing was made for you and me. Secondly, they are alike because they are both saying

Woody Guthrie was a famous folk singer and he was iconic. He made over thousands of songs. The most famous song he made in 1940 was “This Land is Your Land” he sang it all around the U.S.A. on trains to explain how this land is made for you and me and he has a famous quote from Woody Guthrie. He is astonishing because he was poor and lived on a farm and then he got famous for his song “This Land is Your Land” and traveling all around the world. There are many similarities and differences in his song and his quote.

Woody Guthrie once said, “ I’m out to fight those songs to my very last breath of air and my last drop of blood. Woody Guthrie was a folk singer who sang songs all over the usa “ What Woody Guthrie trying to say is that he will never give up singing songs about building people up . That is what the song “ This Land is Your Land “ that is written 1940 wrote is about .The song and the quote are similar and different in many ways.

Bob Dylan was a pioneer of the antiwar movement. He opened a new section of music and inspired millions. Although he wasn’t the best singer in the traditional sense, his lyrics were what moved people. For example in “Man on the Street”, Bob Dylan tells of the human suffering that is caused by human cruelty. “Dylan's lyrics were not so much a form of entertainment, but created to get the public aware of what was going on in the world. Bob Dylan's imagination and energy with words is what made him famous” (Jake Rae).

This Land Is Your Land is similar to the inspirational quote in a couple different ways. First off, They were both written by woody guthrie. Second, they both mean that this land is your land and no matter what you look like you deserve to take pride in what you work on and what you do. Third, the lyrics are similar. For example, in the quote, it says “I’m out to fight those songs with my last breath of air and my very last drop of blood.” And in the lyrics of this land is your land, it says that nobody living can ever stop me, nobody living can make me turn back. Plus, they were both said and written in the dust bowl.And,they both Encourage people to be the best they can be and take pride in their work. Some other similarities are in the

The poetic devices in the song, “Alabama” by Neil Young are: rhyming, anaphora, and symbolism. He uses rhyming in every stanza, including “back” and “track” in the second and fourth. The use of rhyming makes the song easier to read and listen to. Young also uses anaphora in each stanza, except the last, he starts them with “Oh Alabama” or “Alabama” it helps the listener realize that this entire song is about the State of Alabama. By using “Oh” Young is saying that the state is in trouble.

The displays are organized into three different sections --- the context of one of the most significant event of Woody Guthrie’s life—the Dust bowl, Woody Guthrie’s fight for the labor union during the Great Depression and the following decades, and the influence of Woody Guthrie on other famous musicians. The first part of display about the Dust Bowl is used to provide context to the audience about the era. Rather than focusing on causes or the economic effect of the Dust Bowl, it focuses on the impact it had on American people and how it fueled the political awakening of Woody Guthrie. The second part of the display songs how Woody Guthrie used music to represent the voice of the people. His political activities with the labor union was not

Some of the most important figures of this chapter in the development of folk music were Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, and Alan Lomax. In 1928, Charles Seeger and Ruth Crawford Seeger, Pete Seeger’s father and step-mother, along with John Lomax and his son Alan, began the Archive of American Folk Song at the Library of Congress, not only working to transcribe traditional songs that were at risk of disappearing, but they also encouraged the development of folk music as a tool for radical politics. This anthology of music would later help inspire Bob Dylan and others during the folk revival of the 1960s. This chronicling of folk music was all part of this rise of collectivist folk music at a time in which leftist politics wanted to produce a cultural identity in America for the folk before the power of corporate America. Some of the folk anthems of this time were songs like “This Land is Your Land“, recorded Woody Guthrie in 1944, or “Which Side Are You On?”, originally by Florence Reece in 1931 and recorded by the Almanac Singers in 1941.