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Often American authors imply what it is like to be an American in their poetry. Essentially, Langston Hughes and Walt Whitman share similar thoughts in their literature. In “I, Too” and “I Hear America Singing”, the authors use textual evidence to support their opinions on America. In Walt Whitman’s poem, “I Hear America Singing”, Whitman explains how hard labor in America is music to him. Whitman says “I hear America singing, the varied carols i hear”, meaning how these jobs differentiate, but they all come together as one large working society. In comparison, Langston Hughes discusses society in his poem “I, Too”. Hughes wrote his literature in an era of time where racism and segregation was strong. Hughes states how he wasn’t allowed to…
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Walt Whitman and Donald Hall--These names incite a sense of excitement in almost every individual who enjoys poetry. The two American poets hail from different time periods, different backgrounds, and different lifestyles that have led to different experiences. However, despite their differences, the two poets appear to be very similar upon analyzing their works. “A Song of Myself” by Whitman and “My Son My Executioner” by Hall are poems that portray their fascination with the same theme – the cyclical nature of life. Another similarity that exists between the two poets is they both portray their views through utilizing examples from nature. In “A Song of Myself,” Whitman uses grass to highlight the cyclical nature of life,…
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I hear America is an example of him giving honor to those who are living their lives to make America better place. Langston Hughes is pointing out bigotry in America. They work hard to make America a better place also. Both show how they are trying to make America a better living place. Both clearly are stating what is being done to make America a awesome place again.…
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Even though, “ I, Too” and “I Hear America Singing” both explore the idea of racial inequality, they are conflicting towards each other because of the perspective each poem is written in. For instance, “ I, Too” is written in the perspective of an African-American man, whereas the perspective of “I Hear America Singing” is seen from a Caucasian point of view. Hughes states, “ I am the darker brother” (line 2) and “But I laugh,/ And eat well,/ And grow strong.”(lines 5-7). Contrarily to Hughes declaration of not being hindered, Whitman writes “mechanics” (line 2), “the carpenter singing”(line 3), “the mason singing” (line 4), “the boatman singing” and “the deckman singing” (line 5), “the shoemaker singing” (line 6). These lines written by…
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Do you like learning about great problems that have happened in American history? Walter Whitman and Langston Hughes are great American poets that wrote about life in America during two of the most influential times in American history, The Harlem Renaissance and post Civil War, but both wrote from two totally different points of view. Even though both poems, “I Hear America Singing” and “Let America Be America Again”, have many differences there are also some commonalities, one factor being that affects both poems was their own point of view of the American dream. Some of the many differences that separate the two poems is the tone. One believes that America is full of happiness and equality, while the other believes America is unequal…
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The American Voice is represented by the theme of hard work. This is demonstrated in Walt Whitman’s poem when he states “morning, or at noon intermission or at sundown” proclaiming that Americans work all day long for a long period of time (7). This idea is also found in Walt Whitman's…
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In “Let America be America Again”, Langston Hughes speaks on his opinions of the American Dream. Throughout the poem, Hughes compares his hopes and dreams for America with the reality of life for those outside of certain cultural, religious, and societal groups. This is a dramatic and diverse poem, fluctuating from peaceful moments to angry explosions. The author starts by mentioning of the key vision of America, where there is the hope for liberty and equality. Yet for the oppressed races, American life has been one of persecution. Writing now in the first person, the author empathizes with all struggling Americans, "I am the farmer/ the worker/ the Negro/ I am the people." With the gift of optimism, the writer urges "We, the people, must reclaim the land/ and make America again!"…
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Despite the fact that both poems are very similar, they also have a vast amount of differences. To start off, Walt Whitman’s poem is more formal and abstruse, and Langston Hughes' poem seems to be more straightforward, personal, and individual. Walt Whitman tends to focus more on strength as a whole, while Hughes' mainly talks about himself and how he interacts with society. "I Hear America Singing" also focuses mainly on the working force, but "I, Too Hear America Singing" focuses on segregation and slavery.…
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Walt Whitman writes his poetry to show his understanding of human existence. He explains and interprets all aspects of what it means to live and be human, covering everything from nature to emotions. Whitman discusses major themes of sadness and despair but also covers the importance of diversity and options in his poetry "I Hear America Singing". In "I Hear America Singing" the main theme pulled is that no one can do a job they do not know and understand, and in order to get the job done everyone's job is important and necessary. Walt brings up great points in his poem "Song of Myself" making the point that the population as a whole should notice their positive traits and the good things in their life and praise themselves for it.…
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The American Voice is characterized by the theme of hard working. This is demonstrated in the poem by Walt Whitman when he states “I hear America singing” (1). This means that Americans are happy hard working people. This idea is also found in the last line when he states” with open mouths their strong melodious songs. “This supports the claim because it’s saying Americans like to work and sing while doing it.…
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It represented Romanticism period and the American Dream are connected both had a purpose to many people that were from this time man values. “Romanticism in music was characterized by an emphasis on emotion and great freedom of form” music was a reaction against freedom music was a way to express there emotions. It emphasis on the imagination and emotions, and marked especially in English literature “I hear American Singing”: Poem that the author wanted workers to connect with each other. This piece of poetry connects with freedom, slaves and immigrants because this show how trough singing this people felt free to show how they feel. “Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be blithe and strong” He is listing the different members of American working people. In a way is describing the struggle of many people. Black community was mentioned and set as an example of the struggle during this…
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The title of the poem “I, too, sing America” is an allusion to “I Hear America Singing” by Walt Whitman in the 1800s, which provokes unity in America including all the different socio-economical classes in various jobs and statuses. Hughes intentions behind this allusion is to express the Blacks as a part of American nation, the use of irregular punctuation in the phrase “I, too, sing America” emphasizes on the idea of the African American race as a whole un the flag of United State of America, since before the civil rights the Whites injustice and prejudice had put the blacks under pressure and forcing them to…
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In Walt Whitman’s poem , “Song of Myself”, he discusses his vision of America. From Whitman’s perspective, all people and the work they do are equally important to America’s prosperity. Whitman visioned a peaceful and cooperative type of America. The poem not only puts an emphasis on the diversity of the nation but also stresses the cooperation between the nation’s diverse groups. In this poem he praises and criticizes certain aspects of his society.…
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There were two poems by Langston Hughes that stood out in the 1920’s, that caught my eye, one is “I, Too, Sing America” and the other is “My People”. The poems that are written about here will be analyzed in the “Historical Critical Perspective”. Evaluating the poems with such a perspective, one must understand the era in which the poet lived and wrote. Any literature, especially poetry, has to do with life. A writer must express what is happening around them. The year is 1920 and the segregation between the black man and the white man was strong; the black people had their own bathrooms and drinking fountains. The black people had their own seats on a bus and they went to their own schools as well. They also had their own types of music and poems, the music was called jazz and the poems can be called the blues. Everyone remembers the 1920s by the nick name “The Roaring Twenties”. All the poems that were written by Langston Hughes are read by the blacks and an insufficient amount of whites, at that time, blacks would take what he wrote to heart. It is believed that people from all walks of life have read Hughes’s poems and will continue to read them. Everyone has enjoyed and learned from Hughes poems and will continue to enjoy and learn from them well into the future. The reason they would read them is for an understanding of the past and how the black man was treated. These poems tells us that in the time Hughes wrote these poems, the white people did not look at the black people as people, but as objects, though beauty has no eye for color. Both of these poems have the common theme of beauty throughout them.…
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Walt Whitman’s influence on American literature is enormous. His poetry expresses the most revolutionary aspiration of his era; he is truly defender, his mission is to promote democracy, he heralds the new period, where the triumph of the brotherhood takes people’s mind. Walt Whitman’s mission not only to promote the harmony between people, but also people’s soul and body. Whitman’s poetry is confessional and frank; he is trying to overcome the distance between reality and its representation in poetry. Everything the poet observes has the right to be poetry because all these manifestations of life, the images in his poetry are presented not only in humans but also into the phenomena of natures, as there are no barriers between natural life and the circle of human existence.…
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