Another blog I liked was Siena's blog http://reach-forthe-stars.blogspot.com/. I enjoyed the poem at the beginning. The poem was very interesting and in it, she analyzed both the main character of her book and herself. In the paragraphs below the poem, she connected with the character even further. The thing that I liked best about Siena's blog post was that she judged her character in an interesting way and sort of criticized the main character at the end.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Two Blogs That I Enjoyed
One of the blogs that i liked a lot was Olivia's blog http://coolerthanejup.blogspot.com/. I liked it for many reasons. First, it was well organized and there was a clear theme. Second, she went very deep in the blog and said what she thought of the book. Third, she summarized the book at the beginning.
Comparing "Dreams" and "Let America Be America Again"
"Let America Be America Again" and "Dreams"by Langston Hughes are my favorite poems. They are both interesting and different in many ways. Both Poems have the message of hope. However, they present this idea in different ways and have clear, but different themes. Both of the poems inspire me and make me want to believe or to act.
"Let America Be America Again" tells the story of the depression and America not being an America of the free. It speaks for the lower class and the minorities who had no protection. Hughes presents these ideas in a beautiful way. He writes
"Who said the free? Not me? Surely not me? The millions on relief today? The millions shot down when we strike?" However, what I admire about these poems and especially this one, is that he empowers people rater than just commenting on trends and ideas. He says that America needs to be an "America of the free." I read this in fifth grade and was empowered, but I didn't really understand the poem. This poem starts off seeming to be pessimistic, talking about all of the things that was wrong with America and what America wasn't. However it ended positively.
"Dreams" starts off empowering and then goes on to describe what happens if people don't dream. I believe that the two poems are written in these different ways for a reason. He wrote "Dreams" when he was a student. Dreams shows a knowledge of what could happen if people gave up. "Let America Be America Again" shows what did happen when people gave up; when people were not protected. He calls on Black people like himself and all other lower class Americans to rise up, to dream and to act.
Both Poems addressed a dream. I think "Dreams" addressed black people dreaming to move up in society whereas "Let America Be America Again" addressed the lower class be a people. The idea of "Let America Be America Again" is egalitarian. The beginning of it is sort of a reaction to the dreams set up in "Dreams." Hughes dreamt so much of an America of the equal that the America of the depression made him speak.
"Who said the free? Not me? Surely not me? The millions on relief today? The millions shot down when we strike?" However, what I admire about these poems and especially this one, is that he empowers people rater than just commenting on trends and ideas. He says that America needs to be an "America of the free." I read this in fifth grade and was empowered, but I didn't really understand the poem. This poem starts off seeming to be pessimistic, talking about all of the things that was wrong with America and what America wasn't. However it ended positively.
"Dreams" starts off empowering and then goes on to describe what happens if people don't dream. I believe that the two poems are written in these different ways for a reason. He wrote "Dreams" when he was a student. Dreams shows a knowledge of what could happen if people gave up. "Let America Be America Again" shows what did happen when people gave up; when people were not protected. He calls on Black people like himself and all other lower class Americans to rise up, to dream and to act.
Both Poems addressed a dream. I think "Dreams" addressed black people dreaming to move up in society whereas "Let America Be America Again" addressed the lower class be a people. The idea of "Let America Be America Again" is egalitarian. The beginning of it is sort of a reaction to the dreams set up in "Dreams." Hughes dreamt so much of an America of the equal that the America of the depression made him speak.
Let America Be America Again
by Langston Hughes
Let America be America again. 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.) Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed-- Let it be that great strong land of love Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme That any man be crushed by one above. (It never was America to me.) 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.") Say, who are you that mumbles in the dark? And who are you that draws your veil across the stars? I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart, I am the Negro bearing slavery's scars. I am the red man driven from the land, I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek-- And finding only the same old stupid plan Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak. I am the young man, full of strength and hope, Tangled in that ancient endless chain Of profit, power, gain, of grab the land! Of grab the gold! Of grab the ways of satisfying need! Of work the men! Of take the pay! Of owning everything for one's own greed! I am the farmer, bondsman to the soil. I am the worker sold to the machine. I am the Negro, servant to you all. I am the people, humble, hungry, mean-- Hungry yet today despite the dream. Beaten yet today--O, Pioneers! I am the man who never got ahead, The poorest worker bartered through the years. Yet I'm the one who dreamt our basic dream In the Old World while still a serf of kings, Who dreamt a dream so strong, so brave, so true, That even yet its mighty daring sings In every brick and stone, in every furrow turned That's made America the land it has become. O, I'm the man who sailed those early seas In search of what I meant to be my home-- For I'm the one who left dark Ireland's shore, And Poland's plain, and England's grassy lea, And torn from Black Africa's strand I came To build a "homeland of the free." The free? Who said the free? Not me? Surely not me? The millions on relief today? The millions shot down when we strike? The millions who have nothing for our pay? 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 today. O, let America be America again-- The land that never has been yet-- And yet must be--the land where every man is free. The land that's mine--the poor man's, Indian's, Negro's, ME-- Who made America, Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain, Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain, Must bring back our mighty dream again. Sure, call me any ugly name you choose-- The steel of freedom does not stain. From those who live like leeches on the people's lives, We must take back our land again, America! O, yes, I say it plain, America never was America to me, And yet I swear this oath-- America will be! Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster death, The rape and rot of graft, and stealth, and lies, We, the people, must redeem The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers. The mountains and the endless plain-- All, all the stretch of these great green states-- And make America again!
Dreams Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.
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