America By Tony Hoagland Analysis

Feelings towards a certain object, subject, or topic differ from person to person. The authors of “America” and “I Hear America Singing” express their feelings about the United States very differently in their writing. In “America,” the author constantly refers to the fact that America could be both a utopia and a dystopia at the same time. In “I Hear America Singing,” the author highlights the vast amount of jobs and chances at happiness that is in the land. Though both poems discuss the same topic, it is described dissimilarly and the authors present two different messages to the

Because America is referred to as a person rather than a thing, McKay is able to draw the reader in closer to his personal struggle of finding hope throughout hard

Hoagland begins the poem by describing America as a “maximum-security prison”, which means that it traps the people like a prison. He continued describing America by writing, “Whose walls are made of RadioShack's and Burger Kings, and MTV episodes”, which describes the materialism and the priorities of the people in America. Hoagland continued by emphasizing how Americans care about the display and the show off, which makes them very materialists. He then used a very crucial metaphor in poem where he described America as “suffocated”. Hoagland feels that Americans makes him suffocated because of their behavior.

When thinking of America the first thing that might come to mind would be “Freedom” or “American Dream/Promise”. Although in some cases they both fall in the same place, as portrayed in the speech. The illustration portrays the immigrants that are sailing over to America. While the speech tells you about how we should view America and its values. Both the illustration and speech portray what the American promise is.

Through this, he also creates the idea of significant wealth being the dream many wish to achieve. This is a relatively new idea because the industrial revolution had been the first chance at wealth and innovation for many in Europe and America, and it had only occurred a few decades before. Thus, extreme wealth had not been the primary achievement desired during the 1700’s, when the American dream first arose. Therefore, in Modern American society, what people desire most is significantly focused around frivolous and insignificant things such as superfluous wealth, but they are not willing to work hard to achieve

Through imagery, symbolism, and diction, the two passages collectively offer a pessimistic critique on opportunity in America: although the American dream can certainly reinvent one’s future, the dream cannot alter one’s past,

“America” by Tony Hoagland represents the America the teacher once knew and the America that it has changed to and how with the times not only people changed but the way we look at America has changed. The Poem America represents someone who may have a hard time growing with the country. Hoagland uses figure of speech, imagery, and symbolism to prove this point. “The students with blue hair and a tongue ring” (1) when we read this line it makes us visualize a young man in a class room with blue and tongue ring. Also this shows were the country is now and the style and how it may have changed sense the teacher was the age of his students.

There are many renowned individuals producing literature within the field of satire; among these individuals is the well-known Molly Ivins. Due to Ivins ' ability to use satire and irony throughout the discussion of serious topics, she has sustained a career as an author and political commentator and found great success along the way. In Ivins ' essay, “Is Texas America,” she ponders her objective to “explode the myths about Texas” during her journalist career (Ivins 782); Ivins refers to Texas as a massive and diverse state allowing for more variety among individuals and increased deviation from stereotypes. However, throughout her article she continues to place increased emphasis on the generalized stereotype of a white Republican male. Despite Ivan’s failure to efficiently analyze several topics she discusses, such as homophobia, racism, and Texas identification, there are sources that do agree with her stance and provide a more detailed explanation.

Essentially, the author is stating that money is important in the American Dream because it drives Americans to live and to prosper. Those who make a lot of money are able to live joyfully and happily there entire lives without worry of going in debt or going into poverty. All in all, money is an important aspect that one must have in order to reach the American

This materialism in turn has aided in the transformation of the American Dream into a much different dream. Richer Americans are spending more and more money on wants. Even many of those who cannot afford to purchase such luxury goods have made it their goal. The new dream of Americans is not just to be successful, their dream is to be rich enough to obtain the luxury goods they see others have. The truth of the matter is that while these luxury goods are not vital to people's lives, many have become obsessed by them.

The second speaker also reshapes the first two lines of the entire poem into a plea to the majority. Beforehand, the first speaker uses those lines as a call for the old American spirit to be revived: “Let America be America again / Let it be the dream it used to be” (1-2). Both speakers change the meaning of the lines to express their thoughts on America. As a result, the poem expresses the desire for everyone to be treated equally in the land of freedom. The readers can relate to the speaker because they wish that everyone has equal rights in the country that proclaims itself to be the symbol of freedom.

The problem with this is that the American Dream is to prosper in society not to possess material things. There is a clear difference of spending habits between old money and new money. “I lived at West Egg, the—well, the less fashionable of the two, though this is a most superficial tag to express the bizarre and not a little sinister contrast between them”(p.5). Both West and East Egg are wealthy, but West Egg is “new money” meaning they lack a sense of control. This is one of the reasons West Eggers are not accepted by East Eggers.

In 1776, the Declaration of Independence, in founding America, laid the foundation of the American Dream with the principles of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” (Jefferson 77). Jefferson believed that life should be better and richer for every man. He did not, however, necessarily mean that money is needed for life to be “richer.” As the American economy, society and culture have advanced, the interpretation of the American Dream has changed drastically. Nowadays, the American Dream values money and materialism over happiness.

I chose to read and analyze the poem titled “Wallflowers” by Donna Vorreyer and it conveys a theme of social isolation. The speaker is referencing the “uncommon words” to the abandonment that the subject endures. They don’t fit a particular mold that people will recognize, people don’t tend to use these “words” as often as they may use other words. They feel as if their lack of recognition will decrease their value. The subject begin to realize that if they find community within each other then they can create their own little community to escape the loneliness that constantly haunts them. In the text it states, “I want to make room for all of them,” and one of the lessons that I have learned within my years of living is that when you go a

Throughout the nonfiction book by Jeffrey Toobin, he talks about the justices of the Supreme Court in the United States and how it functions and also how it has changed over the years in history. The book shows a great look at how individuals such as George W. Bush in how they hold their power and how the justice system affects that. Also giving a great understanding with Justice Sandra Day O 'Connor 's