This is my favorite poem. I actually do not even like poetry, but every time I read this poem, I love it more and more. I love what it stands for and how it is expressed. It shows so much truth in a land full of false hopes. To me, Langston Hughes does an amazing job of showing that America never was what it claimed to be. It has never been the land of the free. It has never been the land where dreams come true. It is a place where the rich run society and everything in it. I love how Hughes points all of this out and keeps saying “America was never America to me.” I think that line is so catchy and really makes the reader think. Although some may disagree and say that those who work hard will be rewarded, which in some cases is true, I think Hughes’ point is that some people work hard their entire lives and never make it past the poverty line.
My agenda item/thesis for this poem is: In America it does not matter how hard you work, you can never be guaranteed success, fame or fortune.
Posted by CarolineJones at April 8, 2005 02:32 PM | TrackBackI agree 100%. I think that American has become a place filled with high hopes and dreams and not once have they ben fulfilled.
Posted by: Jasmine Urgent at April 12, 2005 01:02 PMI think your agenda item kinda relates back to the whole Mickey Mouse Article...like we (americans) claim to be so wonderful and we are such a great country that we actually believe it ourselves. So when it comes down to it we work work work and expect something but get nothing...Sad that we have convinced the whole world of our greatness and ourselves
Posted by: Jen at April 13, 2005 02:30 PMI really like your agenda item, it makes people think. If America is so great then why are there so many people homeless or living day to day. Even if a person does have a job that doesn't mean they will have a house and a family and live happily ever after. People still have jobs and have to live out on the street. That doesn't sound like a land where dreams come true. A persons goal could be to have a job and live happily ever after, but that person could have a job and still be out on the street. There are terrible problems here, just like any other place. I will agree that we are all lucky to be Americans and have freedoms that no one else has, but we are just like other countries in that we have problems, too.
Posted by: Heather Chicotella at April 13, 2005 03:27 PMyou are right caroline, because i know that there has been many people that have worked very hard and still have not reached accomplished what exactly they want to accomplish. Some people spend all their life trying to do this.
Posted by: ChinazomOnubogu at April 13, 2005 10:49 PM