America By Tony Hoagland Essay

America, the land of equity, has the largest ratio of rich citizens to poor citizens at 12:1. Compared to Japan and Germany’s measly 4:1, this information is outrageous. America is shown to have the most skewed economic pyramid when denoting the amount of people on each side of the economic slide. The selection, Class in America - 2006, an academic paper by Gregory Mantsios, argues the existence and magnitude of class and economic standing in the United States; through the use of fact and opinion, he creates the visual of a society severely divided by economic standing. Gregory Mantsios effectively convinces the audience of the differences in class sanding that cause a significant impact in the lives of americans and economic spectrum with his use of logos, anticipation, and credible evidence.

Transcendental ideals are relevant to transcendentalists, but no longer valued in modern American life; transcendentalists are against materialism and hierarchies in society, whereas modern American life is built on hierarchies and the unremitting desire to acquire more and live a garish lifestyle. Transcendentalists live minimally, while most modern Americans strive to be successful and gain as much as possible. There is nothing wrong with pursuing success and wealth, but many transcendentalists see that type of lifestyle as monotonous and insignificant. Due to the hunt for prosperity and materials in modern America, transcendentalism is no longer relevant.

The poem “Miniver Cheevy,” is about a man who spends his days wishing that he had been born in a different era than the one he spends his days in. Looking back on the olden days Miniver Cheevy feels that the olden days were much better than modern times and the poem goes on to show his love for the past. However, instead of doing something about his love and curiosity for the past he chooses to reminisce about the past and drink his misery away. Throughout this paper I will discuss the poem’s central purpose and its attitude towards its subject matter, and how the author uses allusion to reinforce the poems central purpose and attitude.

In the poem "Let America Be America Again," Langston Hughes paints a vivid word picture of a depressed America in the 1930's. In this poetic expression, a speaker is allowed to say what he wants for America to be America, what is that we don't have that high gas prices. I think that I would change, that people who aren't working should not get any money from the state, freedom is a privilege instead of the state giving it for free. My brother is epileptic and he works so how come everybody in the world wants something for free. I learned over two years that everything is the same in Germany as in America sure we speak different we have different opinions about something, but we are still the person who we want to be is our decision about how we want to live our lives.

Those who want the world to change will vocalize their opinion for it. Whether it be a politician, a dictator, or a human-rights activist, those who speak for what they wish have more of a chance to alter the world's course than those who say nothing at all. As the popular saying goes, "You have no chance of winning the lottery you didn't enter." Among these famous speakers, there is the trio of transcendentalist thinkers: Emerson, Thoreau, and Whitman. While each of these three poets have a particular style, one in particular lead the path to a more free America and Earth. Henry David Thoreau, an American poet, has published works that have questioned what it means to be "normal" in society. He has taught readers to go out and question what their reality is. In one particular text, Thoreau begs questions that--to this day--people question. In Civil Disobedience, by Henry David Thoreau, he uses words to inspire people even to this day.

What is an American? Coming from a family that traveled illegally from a different country to America it has shown me that the United States has a better opportunity and giving choices for a better life. An American is someone that has opportunity, freedom, and who can be patriotic.

In 1830, John Downe travelled to the United States from England with the hopes that he would earn enough money to bring his wife and children along with him. Within a letter to his wife, John uses superb rhetorical strategies to convince his wife to immigrate to the America.

When reading this prompt, "So Mexicans Are Taking American Jobs," by Jimmy Santiago Baca, was the first reading that came to my mind. This poem brought light to the, recently more controversial, subject of the jobs in America. Mexicans are not "taking" Americans' Jobs. They are trying to survive in this world and are willing to work harder than some of the Americans. The workers do not confront American workers and tell them to give them their jobs, nor do they steal them in the middle of the night (Line 1-11). The poem also created a new idea in my mind about the given theme of "The American Experience". The experience is not automatically becoming successful; it is the opportunity to work and support a family freely. To choose how to live,

Once upon a time, being American was the greatest honor in the world. With heads held up, people could proudly declare their heritage and feel their hearts swell at the sight of a billowing striped flag. Soldiers’ boots could touch foreign earth knowing the blood spilled would be for a nation that was more than deserving. But that was years ago; now, what does this country have worthy of a human life? Next to nothing.

Written in 1782 by J. Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur, this passage from Letter of an American Farmer was written for the purpose of showing poor, helpless Europeans how much better their life could be in America. America was a place where anyone could come and be accepted as an American despite their cultural, social, or personal background. There weren’t constant fights for superiority or wars over foolish things in America like there was in Europe. America was a giant melting pot of people all coming together to form one great and powerful nation. Crèvecoeur’s usage of powerful metaphors, description, and references make this a powerful essay to persuade poor Europeans that America is the place they should be calling their homeland.

In the poem, “ Let America be America again”, Langston Hughes asserts that America does not live up to what it actually should be. Hughes’ tone seems to be angry and [exasperated]. He implicates the perspective of one particular group, but many people. The poem represents that many people come here with high hopes and big dreams but they are let down. He states that [prosperity] is one of the reasons that there is an economic inconsistency where the rich gets richer and the poor gets poorer. He uses many rhetorical devices such as rhymes, metaphor, repetition, alliteration etc… Firstly, the whole poem’s structure is structured in a poetic way using rhyme schemes. He uses words like “dreamed” and “schemed(line 6 and 8), “wreathe” and “breathe”(

The piece had no hook, from the beginning it lost me with the first reference of T.D. Jakes setting up his thesis statement that American essays preach. When Vincent Cunningham described how the writings are, “argumentative, Insistent, and irritating” he left out boring, which I feel best described his “What Makes an Essay American.” His use of other authors did not support his idea, because I have not read any of the works and I did not feel that the brief reference provided the support necessary. An essay in his opinion should be challenging and constructed soundly to gain the consideration and reaction of the reader. Writing is personal, each having their own method of telling a story, Mr. Cunningham did not grab me from the beginning and

In 1782, French aristocrat J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur, wrote an essay titled Letters of an American Farmer as a way of defining Americans. To persuade readers from countries unfamiliar with the American society is his purpose for writing this. Throughout he shows a feeling of admiration and respect towards the American way of life.

In the 1800’s, America was the subject of many romantic visions and musings. The British and East Coasters alike saw everything west of Appalachia as a wild wonderland: home to cowboys, adventure, and opportunity. Oscar Wilde, a renowned British author and satirist, voyaged across America to test the truth of these claims. Afterwards, he published his findings and opinions in a piece known as Impressions of America. In the piece, he makes it clear that America did not live up to his expectations, and would disappoint his readers as well. Through this satirical writing, Wilde uses comparison of beauty and industrialism and juxtaposition between compliments and criticism to paint American social values as backwards and unappealing in order to dispel the glamour of a romantic American culture.

Throughout his poem Let America Be America Again, Langston Hughes uses many literary devices such as extended metaphors, repetition and rhyme to emphasize the various emotions he associates with America. He begins with “let America be America again. Let it be the dream it used to be.” (1-2) and goes on to say “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. (There’s never been equality for me, nor freedom in this ‘homeland of the free’.)” (11-16) There has always been a correlation between America and adjectives like “free” or “brave”, phrases like “the land of opportunity”, though in his writing Hughes crushes the propaganda with an illustration of what it truly was like to live in the New World. To face the reality of slavery and the oppression of a people. In describing what America was in actuality he simultaneously illustrates for his readers a mental image of what he imagined America would be. You are able to see Hughes’ attachment to what he called “our most basic dream”.