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Equality in america essay
Equality in america essay
American equality
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America is a place where people share a sense of unity and pride for their country. In Whitman’s “Song of Myself” he shows that he feels “ Comrade of Californians, comrade of free North-Westerners... Comrade of raftsmen and coalman, comrade to all who shake hands and welcome to drink and meat” (35). This shows how americans no matter how far apart they may be feel a sense of friendship just because they are Americans. People in America are willing to come together as one due to their shared trait of all being Americans. Mark Twain shows in “The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” that people have a sense of pride in the country 's history when he talks about the dog being named Andrew Jackson (103). People in America respect their country’s …show more content…
Jack Frost explores this in his poem “The Road Not Taken” when he explains he “took the other, as just as fair... [although people] had worn them really about the same” (736). In America their are so many opportunities for people to explore that there is not really on that is perceived as greater than another. All the paths that are available for people to take are and there is not one particular one that is left alone. In “The Souls of Black Folk” by W.E.B Du Bois he feels that America is “a world which yields him no true self-consciousness, but only lets him see himself through the revolution of the other world” (534). In America people are judged by the opportunities that they take and the decisions that they make. People really see themselves through how other people around them perceive them. Du Bois sees this as a bad thing but it can be looked at either way because it allows people to know how those around them …show more content…
Zora Hurston explains in “How it Feels to be Colored Me” that even though she felt some discrimination towards her she was “not tragically colored [and] there [was] no great sorrow dammed up in [her] soul” because she felt accepted in her community (941). Even though Hurston had some problems she was still able to find a community that accepted her. America is so diverse that people are able to always find a group of people that they fit in with and are comfortable with. Hurston explains this even further in “The Gilded Six-Bits” when she explains “Missie May was bathing herself in the galvanized washtub in the bedroom. Her dark-brown skin glistened under the soapsuds that skittered down her wash rag” (943). Missie May is able to feel pride for herself even though she is different from those around her. Her sense off community makes her comfortable in who she
A Sight in Camp in the Daybreak and Grim written by Walt Whitman, an american poet focuses on a soldier walking through the hospital tent at camp. The soldier examines three deceased soldiers, one old, one young and one who is not young nor old. The poem was written during the Civil War and thus the setting of the poem is a campsite in the Civil War. Although a recognized American poet, essayist, and journalist Walt Whitman had little to no formal education, this however proved to be a defining characteristic in his work. This short poem seems to be simple and straight to the point but it actually lends itself to a deeper meaning.
Human beings all around the world are different in many ways. They all have their unique and physical characteristics, as well as different personalities. They each also have different ideas and thoughts on different topics. America is made up of a great amount of diverse people with diverse, even conflicting opinions and ideas. Diversity is a major component of the foundation of our country. The cliché of American as a salad bowl is extremely true. Every person is different and every person in his or her own way makes up a small part of America. Without the diversity of ideas and beliefs of Americans, the nation would not be nearly as successful as we are. A major similarity between Ralph Waldo Emerson's Self Reliance and J.D Salinger's Catcher in the Rye is a non-conformist ideology that both exhibit, and the idea that one should choose their own individuality above confomity.
How does Zora Neale Hurston’s race affect her approach to life? America has a long history of discriminating certain groups of people, particularly people of color. African-Americans were treated as slaves and was not seen as equal. Although slavery remained a history and was ultimately legally abolished, race still plays a big role in determining superiority today. Author of How it feels to be colored me, Zora Neale Hurston, describes her journey of racial recognition outside her world that reshaped her conception of racial identity that resulted in the prideful embrace of her African American heritage.
In “People Like Us”, the writer talks about tolerance and diversity in the United States. America has for a long time been cited as one of the most diverse countries. Upon investigation of that statement, one will find that it is a fact, for the country is filled with millions of individuals from different ethnic extractions, political affiliations, religion, socioeconomic status, personalities, interests, etc. However, according to “People Like Us”, instead of the population of the country uniting in its diversity and using that as a strength, individuals are trying really hard to distance themselves from others who are not like themselves, and to band themselves together with those who are like them. David
Though her race was a victim of brutal, harsh discrimination, Hurston lived her life as an individual first, and a person of color second. In the narrative “How It Feels to Be Colored Me” by Zora Neale Hurston, Hurston says, “The cosmic Zora emerges. I belong to no race nor time. I am the eternal feminine with its string of beads” (Hurston 3). She feels as though an extraordinary form of herself is brought out. This form is not bound by physical traits and is the everlasting woman with the cards she is dealt. The “cosmic Zora” emerging represents the empowered, fearless Zora from Orange County, Florida. When she says that she belongs “to no race nor time”, she means that her race and background do not define who she is as an individual. “The eternal feminine” symbolizes the
Upon reading “How it feels to be colored” it is apparent that Hurston was fearless, optimistic and bold from her apparent attitude towards life. She says that she is not tragically colored, nor weep at the world for she is focused on sharpening her oyster knife ( Reading this, her proud and charismatic personality shines through as she boldly views the world differently from those that see color or race as opposed to who they are. Zora embraces her dark skin color and says she is proud to be a strong woman of African American descent. She does not allow the notion that her skin color and the reasoning she is from a different race affect her attitude towards life. She says that she is not concerned by
In “How It Feels to Be Colored Me,” Hurston breaks from the tradition of her time by rejecting the idea that the African American people should be ashamed or saddened by the color of their skin. She tells other African Americans that they should embrace their color and be proud of who they are. She writes, “[A socialite]…has nothing on me. The cosmic Zora emerges,” and “I am the eternal feminine with its string of beads” (942-943). Whether she feels “colored” or not, she knows she is beautiful and of value. But Hurston writes about a time when she did not always know that she was considered colored.
In stanza six of the poem "Song of Myself", by Walt Whitman, he poses the question "What is the grass?" I believe that grass is a metaphor for the cycle of life. Throughout the poem Whitman points out images that grass could represent. All of these images stem from the life and death that we come to expect in our lifetime. During your life you will experience death, it at times surrounds you, but if you look past the grief and look to the beauty you will see that it is a cycle that keeps our world in balance. The images of flags, tears, children and older people that are torn from the ones they love, but only to soon return to other lost ones are all parts of Walt Whitman's poem.
One very important topic that major American authors Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson incorporated into their writing was the idea of the “self” or “self-identity”. Both Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson were prolific major American poets and many of the topics they chose to write about involved aspects of transcendentalism. Though Whitman and Dickinson wrote about some of the same topics, they did not share the same meanings, especially with the description of “self”. Published in 1855 within a poetry collection called Leaves of Grass, “Song of Myself” gives a look into how Walt Whitman felt about self-identity. Whitman uses a first person narrator to describe the “self” as the celebration of the individual through personal exploration and gaining personal experience. In Emily Dickinson’s poem, “I heard a Fly buzz when I died” published in 1896 as part of Poems by Emily Dickinson (third series), she alludes that the key to identifying the “self” is sight.
In the poem "Song of Myself" by Walt Whitman he unifies the country during a chaos and the United States was extremely divided. He unifies the people by portraying the persona of multitudes and claims that he is omnipresent when he says “Maternal as well as paternal, a child as well as a man” (16, Line 13) because he is identifying himself as everyone. This is an American ideal that resonates with many because Unification is an ideal present in the pledge and the term United is even recognizable in the name of this country. Walt precedes the poem and presents a theme of equality for all, which is an important aspect of what it means to be an American. This ideal can be found in the American constitution when it states “all men are equal” and
The third passage, excerpted from Walt Whitman's Song of Myself, demonstrates Whitman's willingness to represent those from usually neglected peoples, such as prostitutes, sickly persons, and slaves. He is their voice of portrayal. He is the one who will reveal the true nature of these people and the circumstances they've been forcefully thrown into. He isn't afraid to speak for them towards those who are ignorant and uncaring. He will be truthful but painfully candid, as well, as shown by how he'll "keep as delicate around the bowels as around the head and heart." He does not find indecencies more vulgar than death itself. On the contrary, he sees them as normal occurrences in life, further emphasizing how he won't back down from educating
In “O Me! O Life!,” Walt Whitman uses a desperate questioning tone to connect the questions that he has of his life to the answer that he comes up with. Whitman uses the questioning tone to set up his true message given off as the answer in the poem: through all the trials of life, one should struggle, for there will be a chance to contribute a verse, to have meaning.
Society shapes human beings into what they think is perfection. People in today’s society follow the world’s rituals as they continue to conform to fit in to the latest trends. Today, implants, plastic surgery, and weight loss treatments are the reason people have money set aside in their savings accounts. The pressure of others claims to be the main reason people change their hair, skin, and size, and often forget about their own special characteristics. There is a reason Walt Whitman, writes “I Celebrate Myself, and Sing Myself,” to show the importance of loving yourself and cherishing your own personal qualities as a human being. He speaks of himself, hoping to grab his readers’ attention. Throughout the poem, “I Celebrate Myself, and Sing
Walt Whitman was arguable one of the most influential poets during the Civil War era. Though never directly involved in war, Whitman was able to talk about the war in a more insightful way than many poets at the time could. Whitman was most active in writing during the times before and after the war, choosing to dedicate himself to helping wounded soldiers during the war instead. Walt Whitman’s poetry reflects the progression of his philosophy of America: his initial view of America was uplifting, represented in his Pre-Civil war poems and while the Civil War poetry presents the degradation of American society, Whitman’s final poetry returns to a realistic, optimistic view for America.
Through the clever use of anaphora, well-chosen appropriate diction, and varied sentence structures, Whitman was able to emphasize and effectively portray to the reader how learning from the astronomer was boring and useless while learning from nature was superior. By doing so, Whitman was able to extend the ideal of transcendentalism that true knowledge is gained from first hand experiences from nature and not from traditional learning practices and reading books.