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In Edna St. Vincent's My Lips Have Kissed, Where, And Why

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Racism marks the nation—restlessness and impatience shines through their actions. Although demeaning, the statement above describes two facets of the character of America and its people. Their mindset and beliefs about themselves, as well as others have helped shape the way this nation behaved in the past, and still do today. This essay will hopefully help those reading get a better understanding of what drove America to take the actions it did in the early to mid-twentieth century. World War I was the most significant occurrence at the beginning of the 1900’s. With the need for soldiers at an all-time high, a draft was put into place that required all men between ages twenty-one and thirty-five to register and classify for military service …show more content…

For example, Edna St. Vincent in her poem “What Lips My Lips Have Kissed, and Where, and Why,” talks about how she cannot remember who she has kissed, where she kissed them, and why she kissed them (hence the title). The poem refers to her thought process about “who she was” and how the journey to “who she is” now is unknown, touching base on the restless and impatient spirit of Americans in this time period. They were so caught up in getting the next best thing like mentioned earlier in this paper. They took action without forethought and then ended up in a place they did not want to be and did not know how they got there—the Great Depression being one great illustration. Ideas that should have been declared immoral slipped through the cracks and ultimately caused major damage. This shows the prevalence of racism in America when this was written. The loss of intentionality in the actions of Americans lead to a subconscious behavior of discrimination and overall apathetic way of life. Living without purpose limits growth and leaves room for making mistakes more easily in the

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