“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” It would be difficult to find an American who doesn’t recognize these now-famous words. This verse represents the essence of our nation, and every citizen in the Land of the Free should be aware of its significance. Known as the Great Melting Pot, America is a nation of immigrants. Every weary newcomer, who finally stepped foot on American soil, was greeted with these words- words of strength, support, and belonging. It’s no coincidence that these words were written by Emma Lazarus. Although to most she is known for little more than her …show more content…
She was one of seven children born to Mr. and Mrs. Moses and Esther Nathan Lazarus. The Lazarus family was part of the community of Sephardic Jews living in Portugal, dating back to the 1600s. The Lazarus family fled Portugal due to religious persecution, and emigrated to America. Although many people assumed that Mr. Lazarus was a banker due to his many financial dealings, this was an inaccurate speculation, as in truth, he was an industrialist who earned a living in a sugar refining business. He held his daughter Emma in very high regard, and considered her “as somehow too good for this world”, and therefore homeschooled her and allowed her to go outside only very rarely. She was fascinated by literature and poetry from a young age, and learned many languages, including German, French, and Italian from the best private tutors …show more content…
The book’s sympathetic views towards proto-Zionist and Kabbalistic ideas captivated her and encouraged her to further research her Jewish background. Emma admired George Eliot so much that she dedicated her book Dance to Death, a depiction of how the Jews were burned to death in Nordhausen during the Black Plague, in her memory. After her heightened awareness of the atrocities taking place against the Jews internationally, Emma began writing about the anti-Semitism which was taking place in Eastern Europe, particularly about the Pogroms happening in Russia. This inspired her to write the book Song of Semite in 1882, which extolled her appreciation of her ability to ‘sing her Jewish songs’ freely. Ms. Lazarus began aiding the Jewish immigrants from Europe who were coming to America at that time. She started visiting refugees at Castle Garden and Ward Island. She wrote extensively about the constant struggles the immigrants faced in newspaper articles and pamphlets. However, she was deeply troubled by the fact that they had no education, and nothing was being done to rectify the matter. Emma created a program which gave money only to those who were interested in employment. Within one week, a business in Long Island was not only providing jobs, but also giving young women various economic opportunities in their cannery. She was
America is a land filled with immigrants coming from different corners of the worlds, all in hopes of finding a better life in the country. However, No one had an easy transition from his or her home country to this foreign land. Not every race thrived the same way—some were luckier than others, while some have faced enormous obstacles in settling down and being part of the American society. Many people have suffered
From the beginning we can infer that she is a religious woman, as she insults her father by calling him a “prevaricate” and by stating he “will not be able to prevaricate at the gates of Heaven.” She is disappointed at how her father is lying to the authorities as he is hiding the truth from them. Since Emma is a deeply committed Christian she cannot bear to see her own father going against God’s law, therefore she takes it upon herself to deliver the message of God to Fusi. She and John, her husband, own a Volkswagen with all kinds of religious paraphernalia and films. Although they do not attempt to preach to the townspeople as they are Lutheran, they make an effort to convert those “along the grey dirt roads that led past tumble-down farmhouses, the inhabitants of which were never likely to enter a bank.” Emma is usually passive-aggressive towards Fusi, but after Fusi returns from a particularly difficult fishing trip, she becomes angry with Fusi. She wants Fusi to stop fishing because she cares about him, and she implores him to enter the care home as a resident. Although Fusi is in no condition to fish, he can still remain independent at home. But even knowing this Emma continues to try to get Fusi to leave since Emma knows that if Fusi stays in this home he will continue to fish illegally. Emma wants Fusi to admit the truth since she believes that God will punish him if he does not “repent” by admitting his lies. When Fusi finally gives on up trying to stay in his home and runs to the care home, Emma simply says “The Lord’s work to be done.” This shows that Emma views her actions as carrying out the work of God, which justifies it completely for herself. Rosie, a woman who was talking to Fusi when he ran off, tells Emma “You had no right”, showing that the other people around Emma disapprove of her actions. But this does not matter to Emma since she views her actions as being divinely guided. She perceives
“Ah, the creative process is the same secret in science as it is in art,” said Josef Mengele, comparing science to an art. He was less of an artist and more of a curious, debatably crazy, doctor. He was a scientist in Nazi Germany. In general, there was a history of injustice in the world targeting a certain race. When Mengele was around, there were very few medical regulations, so no consent had to be given for doctors to take patients’ cells and other tests done on the patients’ bodies without their consent. This was the same time that Henrietta Lacks lived. Henrietta Lacks was an African American woman who went to the doctor because she had cervical cancer. Her cells were taken and are still alive in culture today (Skloot 41). Hence, her cells were nicknamed Immortal (Skloot 41). Although many, at the time, saw no issue with using a patient without consent issue with what?, on numerous occasions since then courts have determined that having consent is necessary for taking any cells. The story of Henrietta lacks is has similarities to an episode of Law and Order titled Immortal, which is an ethical conundrum. Despite this, the shows are not exactly the same and show differences between them. Both of these stories, one supposedly fictional, can also be compared to the injustices performed by Josef Mengele in Nazi Germany.
Ronald Takaki quotes Langston Hughes in his book A Different Mirror “ Let American be America again, let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed, … I am the red man driven from the land, I am the Immigrant clutching the hope I seek, O let my land be a land where, equality is the air we breathe.” (Takaki, 19-20). “‘We the’diverse ‘people of the United States’ transformed America into a mighty economy and an amazing unique society of varied races, ethnicities, and religion.” (Takaki, 20). Takaki wrote in his book, “ Day of spacious dreams! I sailed for America, Overblown with hope.” ( Takaki, 14). Would not all immigrants come here for a better life? Yes, Ken Vinson, who works at a local power station in Marshalltown, Iowa said, “Some people came here because they were desperate. I don’t care how they got here, and they have a family. Now all of the sudden you want to rip these people out and send them back? I wouldn’t want my family torn apart like that.’” (Barabak, 2016) . An opponent may say, their desire and dreams take away our hope. Desires, dreams, and hopes, however, are contagious and
Immigration has been prevalent in The United States of America since the days of colonization in the 17th century. Masses of migrants around the world have sought a place in which to escape persecution, gain economic fortunes, and live their lives in freedom. America has always symbolized the land of opportunity everyone has been looking for, as exemplified by the inscription on The Statue of Liberty:
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, written by Rebecca Skloot, focuses on what happened to the cells of one unknow Henrietta Lacks, and how it affected her and her family. For years no one even knew the owner of the cells that were hijacked from her body; her name was said wrong, when it was rarely talked about, for decades. There are more long-term issues addressed in this book, however. The story of Henrietta Lacks is a great example of these trends. The issue of civil rights could never be more evident than in Henrietta’s life. Henrietta experienced extreme racism within her medical treatments, the book also addresses the
America, in the early twentieth century, was centered on the Progressive Era. This was a period of unrest and reform. Monopolies continued in spite of the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890. Social problems flourished in the U.S. During the 1910s labor unions continued to grow as the middle classes became more and more unhappy. Unsafe working conditions were underscored by the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in which hundreds of female workers were killed. The plight of the Negro worsened, all while women finally received the right to vote through the ratification of the nineteenth amendment. Although this was a turbulent time in America, it was also a time to remember. During this time period, Emma Goldman devoted all of her attention to the cause of upholding the first amendment clause of freedom of speech. The right to free speech is one of the most fundamental American guarantees. However, defining the limits of free speech has never been an easy task.
In the United States, the cliché of a nation of immigrants is often invoked. Indeed, very few Americans can trace their ancestry to what is now the United States, and the origins of its immigrants have changed many times in American history. Despite the identity of an immigrant nation, changes in the origins of immigrants have often been met with resistance. What began with white, western European settlers fleeing religious persecution morphed into a multicultural nation as immigrants from countries across the globe came to the U.S. in increasing numbers. Like the colonial immigrants before them, these new immigrants sailed to the Americas to gain freedom, flee poverty and famine, and make a better life for themselves. Forgetting their origins as persecuted and excluded people, the older and more established immigrants became possessive about their country and tried to exclude and persecute the immigrant groups from non-western European backgrounds arriving in the U.S. This hostile, defensive, and xenophobic reaction to influxes of “new” immigrants known as Nativism was not far out of the mainstream. Nativism became a part of the American cultural and political landscape and helped to shape, through exclusion, the face of the United States for years to come.
childhood and renewed life style were she learned how to distinguish one language to another
Hughes’s poem, “Let America be America Again” conveys a forward-looking, emboldened tone. The speaker acknowledges the suffering of all of the different people, from the “poor white” (Hughes 19) to the “red man” (Hughes 20) to the “Negro” (Hughes 32). The speaker attempts to name all who have suffered in America, but continues to dream that
Poems are expression of the human soul, and even though, is not everyone’s cup of tea when the individual finds that special poem it moves their soul one with the poet. There are many poets in the world, but the one that grab my attention the most was no other than Langston Hughes. It would be impossible for me to cover all the poems he wrote, but the one that grab my attention the most is called “Let America Be America Again.” It first appeared in “1938 pamphlet by Hughes entitled A New Song. Which was published by a socialist organization named the International Worker Order” (MLM) and later change back to its original name. I have never felt such an energy coming out of a poem like this one which is the reason that I instantly felt in love with it.
Although today’s America in many ways has changed into a new society. Immigrants desire to move to America because they have freedom of religion, a chance to rise from poverty, and a new beginning. According to Michel-Guillaume Jean de Crevecoeur in from Letters from an American Farmer, ‘’ A country that had no bread for him, whose fields produced him no harvest, who met with nothing but the frowns of the rich, the severity of the laws, with jails and punishments; who owned not a single foot of the extensive surface of this planet? No! Urged by a variety of motives, here they came (148). Immigrants have a need to move to America to have a better future. As immigrants look on America they see that it’s a way out of getting a new life.
Emma's personality is largely shaped by the nature of her upbringing. Emma had no motherly figure guiding her as she grew up, due to the fact that her mother passed away at a young age, and her governess, Miss Taylor, became her best friend instead of an authority over her. At the start of the novel Miss Taylor gets married to Mr. Weston, leaving Emma with her despondent and hypochondriac father, Mr. Woodhouse. Although Mr. Woodhouse often confines Emma to the house because of his paranoia of her being harmed, he gives her little guidance. Emma becomes accustomed to being the "princess" of her house, and she applies this role to all of her social interactions, as she develops the ability to manipulate people and control them to advance her own goals. Emma views herself with the highest regard, and feels competition and annoyance with those who threaten her position. Emma has much resentment toward Mrs. Elton, as Mrs. Elton becomes a parody for Emma's mistakes and interactions. Mrs. Elton's attachment to Jane Fairfax is much like Emma's attachment to Harriet Smith; both Mrs. Elton and Emma attach themselves to young women and try to raise their...
Often depicted as a melting pot, America is always being put on a pedestal by the rest of the world due to the large amounts of successful immigrants in the United States. Millions of people have packed their bags and moved to America in hopes of achieving their dreams. While some succeed, others fail and are let down by the dim reality that not everyone can achieve their goals. This essay will compare the poems, “Let America Be America Again” by Langston Hughes and “The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus to exhibit my perspective on both works. Both poems portray people’s hopes that America will be great, however, due to the different eras and the authors’ backgrounds, the poems have different meanings. Lazarus’ poem was written in the early stages of America, as it describes her cheerful
Emma is the main character in the novel. She is a beautiful, smart, and wealthy 21-year-old woman. Because of her admired qualities, Emma is a little conceited. She is the daughter of Henry Woodhouse. Since her mother died, Emma has taken the role of taking care of her father, who is old and often sick.