This Land Is Your Land Analysis

This song was written during what was hoped to be an ending point for the war, and directly refences an event that had happened earlier that year. This event was Operation Homecoming, dated February 12, 1973, which was supposed to bring home almost 600 prisoners of war. However, it’s main point is the inability of soldiers returning from war to re-adjust to domestic life. It worked to emphasize the terrible illness many soldiers were going through, and to further condone the return of American troops. This song, while not terrible popular, succeeded in reaching those who were willing to protest the war and empathize with the returning veterans, especially the African Americans who were disproportionately hurt in the

In the fourth stanza, Clark uses imagery to talk about segregation. She also uses the simile, “I-40 bisected the black community like a tourniquet of concrete,” which means they cut off the flow of traffic and really segregated the black community from everything else. Also in this stanza, the violence of the 60’s was shown through the imagery of the lines stating, “Ambulance siren driving over the house that called 911, diminishing howl in the distance,

The lyrics gather the attention of those African-Americans enduring racial discrimination to be prepare for a change, “You will not be able to stay home/brother/You will not be able to plug in, turn on and cop out”(lines 1-2).It feels like the Heron is conveying a sign of desperation to those listeners.Unity is essential for everyone who happens to

For those who may see this song as an easy option or too plain spoken, not delving into the “heart” of America enough, I ask you to

The article is very well writing and seems to be very well researched in many areas throughout the entire article. What I am not impressed with is the way that the author executed some of the beginnings and endings of topics. There were some instances where it did not make any sense to me.

The article was well written and organized thought. However it did had a bit of deficiencies. Although the usage of personal experience and opinions are existing but she also used a lot of rhetorical strategies. This overreliance made the argument and the tone sound little bit emotional. The introduction of

The procedural republic Sandel presents provides a solid and unique basis for the analysis of both Lash’s “Opportunity in the Promised Land” and Coates’ “The Case for Reparations.” While I was reading both Lasch and Coates, I was reminded of the qualities Sandel proposed in order for a democracy to both exist and be effective. I continue to return to the notion that in a procedural republic, freedom is attainable only by having particular rights that are protected from tyranny of the majority. However, as Americans, we rely on the role of constitutional law to enforce and protect those rights. Yet, if the white majority has the class status and educational means to create these laws, then the constitutional laws are not neutral––they reflect

The story of the song begins with how they came to the Land of the Free. The lyrics in the first verse, “Man, I was brave, sailing on graves Don’t think I didn’t notice those tombstones disguised as waves,” and “We all came America trying to get a lap dance from Lady Freedom,” shows how the author understood the deep intentions of immigrants. Even though people do not come over to America on ships anymore, he uses these words to compare the same dangers of coming to America. Back then, ships would carry travelers over to the colonies and many people died sailing on the ships, hence the phrase “tombstones disguised as waves.” Those who came were brave and left everything they had back in their home country while risking their life for a chance

The first verse talks about a young girl on the other side of the ocean whose dream is to come to the United States because she believes the one can be anything in America. All one has to do is come breath the American oxygen of success. Therefore, this girl represents all the immigrants who came to the United States to improve their lives and that of their families. Just like her,

In this poem, he touches on many themes. One of the main ones being mortality. Essentially, he is asking African-Americans are they willing to die for their rights. In order to encourage them, he declares that their deaths would be noble. There is a theme of warfare, as the race riots were basically a war between blacks versus whites. This contributes to the “us versus them” mentality, which then adds to the disdain amongst the two races. Honor is probably the most important theme, as it runs throughout the other major themes of the poem and is essentially the point of the poem. Even though you have already accepted your faith of dying, die with honor and meaning.

The Star-Spangled Banner has been sung exquisitely by various celebrities before many sporting events. Who doesn’t remember or know about Super Bowl XXV in 1991 when Whitney Houston serenaded America with her powerhouse voice? However, the meaning of America’s national anthem is more than just the change of pitches, octaves, and notes that are sung before a football game. As an American, our national anthem symbolizes the strength and resilience of America. For me, the words written by Francis Scott Key represents the importance of being a military child. Because of the selfless service of my father and countless others being enlisted in the United States Military, and their continuous courage to fight for America, we can state that we

Naomi Klein begins her discussion of indigenous rights in the modern capitalist world by sharing a short anecdote that followed the respected canadian native leader, Arthur Manuel, through a meeting with a powerful international crediting agency. Despite having amassed a considerable debt owed to the First Nations due to years of extracting valuable resources from the native’s land, Canada was still awarded with a AAA credit rating. The Canadian government is not just exploiting the property of native people for the material resource, but is also leveraging the land for loans and investment. Manuel intended to have this massive liability recognized by S&P, but the legal proof and documentation of indigenous land rights did not matter. The Canadian government seemed to be above answering to these indigenous rights, or according to Naomi Klein, “First Nations did not have the power to enforce their rights” (Klein, 2014, pg. 813).

In order to occupy her child, the mother dresses her daughter up to go sing in the children’s choir at church in the fifth stanza. She brushes her hair, bathes her, and puts on her gloves and shoes. Randall appeals to the senses in this stanza; he uses a metaphor here to inform the reader a visual that the family is African American. She has “night-dark” hair and small brown hands. She is dressed in white and smells of sweet rose petals. The mother takes the girls mind off of the Freedom March and fixes it on the children’s choir. The tone is one of content. The sixth stanza is a

The song deals lastly with laws when it says, "You can take God out of the law/You can make me listen to ya’ll" in lines 13-14. This statement shows the songwriter’s belief that God has been removed from laws of our country. As with the other excerpts from the

Langston Hughes’s “Let America Be America Again” is a poem that could be endlessly applied to where America stands today. This poem illustrates the morals, ideas, and visions set forth by those who found this country and how America has begun straying from those principles. The poem expresses that America is made up of all walks of people and that no man should be crushed by those above him, but rather be given the same opportunity as those above him. Hughes desire to make America great again can be shared in some way or another by most Americans making this poem everlasting. “Let America Be America Again” has the personalization, the language, the connection shared by every American, and the rhyme to allow readers of every race, gender, or religious belief to be brought together as not only people but as Americans.