To Be America Again Rhetorical Devices

The American Dream can be defined as an ideal that every American citizen has equal opportunity in achieving success and prosperity. In Martin Luther king Junior’s I Have a Dream speech, Sherman Alexie’s “Hymn”, and Langston Hughes’ poem “Let America be America Again”, all authors talk about how America does not provide the dream that it promised. The I Have a Dream speech was presented in 1963 by Martin Luther King Jr. He was an African American who was a civil rights activist and wrote the speech in hopes to stop discrimination. “Hymn”, by Sherman Alexie, is a poem about how many events provoked protests and divided the country. He was a writer, poet, journalist, and essayist. Let “America be America Again” was written by Langston Hughes in 1936. Hughes was an American writer and social activist.

The poem “Let America Be America Again” (658) is written by a famous writer by the name of Langston Hughes who is knowledgeable in American literature. Hughes writes this specific piece about the suffrages of what African Americans have encountered and uses a combination of ethos, pathos, and logos to express his thoughts. In the book Arguing About Literature: A Brief Guide by John Schilb and John Clifford gives a brief credibility description of Hughes to let readers knows he knows what he is talking about. He also uses history and emotion, both powerful strategies, to create a connection through his writing. Although he views majority of victims of poverty as African Americans, Hughes mentions others for those outside of the African American race can relate to this poem. In history and today’s society, people of all discrimination suffer powerlessness with lack of opportunity, equality, freedom, and fairness for immigration.

In the poem “I, Too, Sing America” by Langston Hughes, he envisions a greater America, a more inclusive America where all the races can proudly represent themselves as American citizens. Hughes was a leader of Harlem Renaissance, and had tremendous pride of his race as an African American. However, during that time period, African Americans were being considered as second-class race, and they were being segregated in every aspect throughout the country. Hughes could not tolerate seeing his fellow brothers and sisters being treated unequally because of their skin color, he knew that he had to do something to bring a change, and he was determined to make that change become the reality. Hughes published the poem in the year of 1945, about ten years before the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. It was the time where racism and prejudice were still prevalent, and segregation laws were being implemented in many places throughout the country. People needed encouragement to stand up in order to fight for their rights, and this poem perfectly empowers people’s courage and spirit. In “I, Too, Sing America,” Langston Hughes uses sound, diction, and symbolism hoping to awaken people’s dilapidated spirits and that one day people would embrace each other in which African Americans are truly classified as equal Americans.

It is now a competition of millions of selfish, greedy, and covetious people, searching for riches in America. Equally important, is a clear discrimination of people based on race, religion, class, and gender that is prominent in American society. These inequalities undermine the idea of an impartial ambition permitted to all. Renowned poet, Langston Hughes, discusses this in his poem "Let America Be America Again" when he says, "For all the dreams we’ve dreamed And all the songs we’ve sung And all the hopes we’ve held And all the flags we’ve hung, The millions who have nothing for our pay— Except the dream that’s almost dead (pg 44, line 55) He is arguing that no matter how hard they seem to try, people who are different, cannot get ahead. This poem was written in 1935, if the dream was gone then, it is most certainly not attainable today. Hughes writes "America never was America to me" throughout the poem; it really emphasizes the fact that equality (an essential part of the American Dream) is no longer something made available to various groups of people. In "the land of the free" white males have the upper-hand, cutting off of the dream from everyone else. In a different light, many argue that the American Dream is not dead, and is in fact thriving more now than ever. For example, many take this argument straight from the Declaration of Independence, which laid the foundation of the

In Langston Hughes’s “Let America Be America Again”, America was not a dream for everyone. Many people were not accepted or given the chance to experience the American dream. “I am the Negro bearing slavery’s scars.” The Negroes were forced into slavery and never were received the chance to thrive in the new born country. “I am the redskin

In Langston Hughes poem, “Let America Be America Again”, he describes the dream he has for America to exist at its fullest potential. His dream for freedom, equality, and true democracy is heard loud and clear throughout this work of art. However, the downfall is that America is yet to live up to the standards it so proudly “represents”. The issue roots in the gap between what America claims to be and what it actually is. In this poem, we see where this gap lies and the reality of America is revealed.

“Let America Be America Again” by Langston Hughes, a poem describing the unequal and biased land of America, uses symbolism to illustrate Hughes’s dreams of America being the land in which all people are truly free. At the beginning of the poem Hughes states, “Let it (America) be the dream it used to be” (2). From this line, the “dream” symbolizes the hope the Founding Fathers had for America when they were writing the United States Constitution. Later in the poem, Hughes promises America will become this dream, but only with the aid and perseverance of all citizens. Additionally, the “dream” exemplifies his yearning for liberty, equality, and freedom for all people no matter their differences.

The main idea of this poem is that America promised its people that they would be free, however many American residents were still enslaved. The author expressed how he has physically lived in America, but he has not lived in an America that holds up to the values and dreams it was founded on. He expresses this in lines 1-4 when he says, "Let it be the dream it used to be. Let it be the pioneer on the plain, seeking a home where he himself is free. (America never was America to me)". America was supposed to be a dream come true where all men were free and able to have equal opportunity. Hughes uses alliteration and repetition to emphasize this point. However, the black, the poor, and the oppressed never experienced this promised America.

In “ Make America America Again” Hughes describes the false promises made to many by the Constitution. Freedom and equality were among the promises that Hughes believed were not given to all people. Consequently because of this false narrative of the American Dream Hughes poem creates a negative America. Negative America is seen as unfair to the working middle class which is evident when Hughes writes, “Who made America, whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain, Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain…”. When Hughes asks whos sweat and blood and whose pain and faith, he is talking about the effort and hard work down by the working class.

Langston Hughes (1902-1967) is regarded today as one of the most influential Black writers in American history. Pulling inspiration from the genres of blues and jazz, the works of Walt Whitman and Carl Sandburg, and his own life experiences, Hughes’ writing is both classic and innovative (Anon., 1997). Having been an integral part of the Harlem Renaissance, much of his work was centered around the strife and inequality faced by African Americans at the time. Although he explored a wide range of themes in his writing, the concept of the “American Dream” created the foundation for much of his work. As a black man, Hughes knew that he would never experience the proverbial “American Dream” of freedom and

America has not always been as strong as it stands today. Those who came to America for freedom had come into contact with hope that they saw falling away. Some did not have a sense of belonging; they didn’t believe that the American dream was for everyone. Langston Hughes was a black man who wrote during the Harlem Renaissance. He wanted to remind people that we are all Americans and we are no different. In his poem “I, Too, Sing America” he writes “But I laugh, and eat well, and grow strong. Tomorrow, I’ll be at the table” which portrays his thoughts that he shares the same joy as

Because racial tensions were high during that time, it is easy to believe Hughes would not feel like an American in his own country or to his fellow people. When this poem was written, Hughes was stranded in Genoa, Italy after his passport and money were stolen while on vacation. He was stuck weeks abroad while US ships denied him passage on account of his skin color. He wrote this poem and sent it off to Crisis Magazine with a letter begging for quick payment so he could get home. This poem is an expression of his displeasure at his people’s current treatment and attempt to inspire his audience to change the country for the better. Since then, his literary status has risen to that of one of the most well-respected American writers. Readers can clearly see the direct impact of America’s poor treatment of African Americans in his writings.

Hughes refused to separate the difference between his personal experience and the common experience of black America. He wanted to tell stories of his people in the way that would reflect their culture, including suffering and their love of music, laughter, and language itself. Hughes shows his longing dream of getting America back to the beautiful place that we as people spent all these years making it up to be. Hughes says in the first stanza “O, let my land be a land where Liberty- Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath- But opportunity is real, and life is free- Equality is in the air we breathe”.(1)

This essay will explicate five of Hughes poems that scrutinize the racial or social injustices for African Americans of his time and how they viewed the ‘American Dream’. These five poems are “Harlem”, “Let America be America Again”, “I, Too”,

Hughes is considered to be one of the most influential writers of this movement based on the way he brings into question how racial superiority can exist when people share similar qualities of humanity. Hughes identifies in his poem that his instructor is “white—yet apart of me, as I am a part of you. That’s American” (31-33). These lines serve to show that, despite color, these two individuals can be in each other’s lives in a meaningful way. Additionally, the notion of something being “American” has the connotation of it being unified and diverse. Finally, the speaker concludes this poem by acknowledging that his instructor is white and, thus, “somewhat more free.” Freedom, if truly free, is not something that can be qualified by “somewhat.” This line poses the question as to whether or not there actually is freedom for African-American citizens at this