ipl-logo

America By Tony Hoagland Essay

514 Words3 Pages

In the poem “America” by Tony Hoagland, the author discussed the American lifestyle, and the culture presently in his own perspective and opinion. I agree with his opinion about the people in America, and the atrocious reality that we are living in today. This present reality that Hoagland addressed reflects my view and my perspective not just about the people who lives in America, but innumerable people that lives on Earth. Hoagland, not just criticized the lifestyle and the way Americans are living, but also the materialism that exists in most of the people. 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. I truly agree with him because it reflects my feeling about multifarious people in this …show more content…

He then described in the poem how when he was dreaming about stabbing his father, that he did not bleed but instead it money that appeared. Hoagland wrote, “It was not blood but money”, which describes how money is everything for people now days and that it is inside the people. Money now is an addiction for people, and it is an object that people would die for. Hoagland distinguished that the money was clogging his heart and once it was released, he started feeling great. Hoagland wrote, “Freed from that which kept me from my liberty”, which describes how he feels free after the money came out from his

Show More
Related

  • Essay On Changes In America

    679 Words  | 3 Pages

    As each year passes in America, life continuously changes through the advancement of technology. However, a more important change in America is seen through the attitudes and actions of the people. In today's society, people place more concern toward their own needs; furthermore, people are becoming increasingly violent with others. In addition, not only are people hurting each other but also themselves through extensive drug usage.

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of John Downe's Letter To His Wife

    401 Words  | 2 Pages

    By using a positive tone and very descriptive writing, Downe is able to paint a pristine picture in the reader’s head of the heaven-like America he lives in. By describing the delicious foods presented to him by strangers, the endless brandy he can get for three half-pence, and butchers who deliver meat like modern-day pizza men, Downe presents a vibrant and beautiful image of America to his reader. Downe’s tone also helps with his connotation; Downe is also able to make England seem like truly horrible place. When comparing England to America, Downe uses words with negative connotation like “improper,” and “disgusting” to portray his homeland in a bad way. When contrasted with how Downe describes America, the reader feels like England is a horrible place where the poor and middle class are stomped upon by the rich.

    Read More

  • America By Bernie Sanders Essay

    1286 Words  | 6 Pages

    The Bernie Sanders campaign’s “America” ad, featuring a homonymous Simon and Garfunkel song, is undoubtedly a positive ad, filled with warmth, hope and enthusiasm. The minute-long advertisement switches focus from the candidate to the voters, or the American people. Using classic American images, a familiar folk-style soundtrack and footage of children and family, “America” appeals to optimism and quaint patriotism, especially those of Iowans who are the primary target of the ad. The ad opens with the shot of a snowy day, with wind turbines in the background. The image brings viewers Iowa to relate whatever else happens in the rest of the ad, since Iowa is one of the “top states for installed wind capacity.”

    Read More

  • Let America Be America Again By Langston Hughes

    835 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Vincent Cunningham's What Makes An Essay American

    141 Words  | 1 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Langston Hughes Let Usa Be America Again Literary Devices

    739 Words  | 3 Pages

    He takes the thought that this American dream might not have been all he imagined, but does build up a sense of empowerment towards the ending. “O, yes, I say it plain, America never was America to me, and yet I swear this oath--America will be!” (36-40) As opposed to the beginning of the poem where he felt out of place in his own homeland. In many of these lines his language evokes a sensory mental image that allows the reader to assume what he had felt in writing this.

    Read More

  • The New Colossus Essay

    626 Words  | 3 Pages

    The poem guarantees the immigrants promises when they come to the United States. Nonetheless, in different stories of the immigrants, there were favors. There were immigrants who were treated well while others were subjected to exploitation. In some of these stories, at one point of the immigrants’ lives, there were instances of suffering and later on, there were signs of relief. The poem represents America as a country which does not like war, but it is a country of compassion, freedom, and enlightenment.

    Read More

  • Run By Time Magazine By Allen Ginsberg Essay

    508 Words  | 3 Pages

    To the core, the United States’ principles and actions are full of insincerity. Allen Ginsberg’s America mocks the mendacity through a stream of ideas that not only contradict each other, but also the supposed ideals of the titular nation. The poet’s emotionally charged word choice allows him to relate his radical ideas on his country’s nuanced hypocrisy to the reader. Right from the start, Ginsberg’s charismatic word choice exposes how the idealistic principles of the country run contrary to its culture.

    Read More

  • Miniver Cheevy Allusion

    716 Words  | 3 Pages

    I believe this poem has something to do with oppression and that he wastes his time dreaming of

    Read More

  • Literary Analysis Of Oscar Wilde's Impressions Of America

    718 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Meaning Of America By Claude Mckay

    582 Words  | 3 Pages

    America has always been known for its famous reputation as being the land of opportunity. As it may seem like a welcoming statement, it contradicts itself by restricting immigrants like Claude McKay to certain opportunities. The poem America by Claude McKay lets his readers envision the life of being an immigrant. Although it may seem interesting that McKay never mentions the name America in his poem, he refers to it as being a female individual by using the terms “she” and “her”. Another pattern that he includes is the play of language through the use of similes and metaphors, to express his feelings about living in a foreign country.

    Read More

  • Three Major Themes In Langston Hughes's Poetry

    1089 Words  | 5 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of I Hear America Singing

    868 Words  | 4 Pages

    In Walt Whitman’s poem, “I hear America Singing ,” Whitman describes how America is a working society. Whitman shows that in America has patriotism and pride for one’s country. Whitman also shows individualism. Whitman also describes how the females and males have differences. Whitman shows individualism in these quotes.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Crevecoeur's Letters Of An American Farmer

    441 Words  | 2 Pages

    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 first paragraph Crevecoeur starts with his claim that America is a “great asylum” put together by the “poor of Europe.”

    Read More

  • As I Ebb D With The Ocean Of Life Analysis

    734 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout Walt Whitman’s writing, it is evident that many of his publications contain contradicting viewpoints about the quality of life. While in many of his works Whitman approaches the complexities of life by gazing through “rose colored glasses”, in other poems Whitman writes cynically, and seems to point out every complication with the world. This difference in the outlook on life can be seen within I Hear America Singing and As I Ebb’d with the Ocean of Life, where Whitman considers accomplishments, and their value in society. While in I Hear America Singing the achievements of people are viewed as extremely important since they live on forever, in As I Ebb’d with the Ocean of Life, accomplishments are viewed as useless since they are forgotten when people pass away.

    Read More

More about America By Tony Hoagland Essay

Open Document