LET AMERICA BE AMERICA
AGAIN
Literary work form chosen: Poetry
Author: Langston Hughes
Title: Let America Be America Again
A Hostile Takeover…
Literary work form: Author:
Painting
William H.
Powell
Title: Discovery
Of The
Corruption of a Nation…
Literary work form: Film
Author/Director: Michael Mann
Title: The Insider
DISCUSSES HOW AMERICA HAS DEVIATED FROM ITS ORIGINAL DREAM. HE LISTS THE EVOLUTION OF
A CONNIVING AND TYRANNICAL AMERICA, OF SLAVERY AND OF NATIVE AMERICAN’S BEING DRIVEN
FROM THEIR LANDS. HUGHES DESCRIBES AN AMERICA FULL OF CORRUPTION, CALLING IT A LAND
WHERE LIBERTY WEARS A “FALSE PATRIOTIC WREATH” AND A LAND OF “DOG EAT DOG, OF MIGHTY
CRUSH THE WEAK.” THE SECOND WORK CHOSEN IS AN OIL PAINTING BY WILLIAM H. POWELL. THE
PAINTING DEPICTS HERNANDO DE SOTO AND HIS MEN ARRIVING AT THE RIVER BED OF THE
MISSISSIPPI WHERE THE INDIANS RESIDE. IN THE PAINTING WE SEE DE SOTO AND HIS MEN RIDING
THROUGH EMBODIED WITH PRIDE AND STRENGTH BY WAY OF EXPRESSION AND DRESS. HE RIDES IN
ON A WHITE HORSE, AS IF TO SYMBOLIZE HEROISM, PRANCING THROUGH THE VILLAGE. YOU CAN
ALSO SEE ONE OF DE SOTO’S MEN PLACING A WOODEN CROSS INTO THE GROUND WITH A
CRUCIFIX ATTACHED AND ROLLING UP A CANNON WHILE THE INDIANS WATCH FEARFULLY AND
CAUTIOUSLY NEAR BY WHILE THE CHIEF STANDS HOLDING OUT A PEACE PIPE. THE THIRD AND FINAL
WORK IS A FILM BY MICHAEL MANN CALLED “THE INSIDER.” THE MOVIE IS ABOUT A BIOLOGIST
PROMPTED TO EXPOSE THE EXTREME PRACTICES OF A TOBACCO COMPANY HE WAS ONCE
EMPLOYED BY. THE PROTAGONIST RECEIVES DEATH THREATS AND EVEN LOSES HIS FAMILY IN THE
PROCESS OF FINDING JUSTICE AND UNCOVERING THE TRUTHS ABOUT BIG BUSINESS AND THE
ADDICTIVE EFFECTS OF TOBACCO.
…and the theme that ties it all together? ETHICS
In Business, ethics plays a key role both inside and outside of the work space. A company that exhibits good work ethic gains the prize of excelling financially and establishing healthy business relationships with consumers that want to buy what they are selling. “A code of ethics ensures that the company presents a unified image and maintains a standardized positive image among all of the internal and external elements it will come into contact with.” (Root III, "The Purpose of
Ethical Practices in Business")
OBJECTIVE ANALYSIS-POEM o The first literary form that I used was a poem by
Langston Hughes titled: “Let America Be
America Again”
In this piece there are many literary elements that are present to discuss. The first element that I encountered is listed below. In the beginning of the poem Hughes states, “let America be America again, let it be the dream it used to be, let it be the pioneer upon the plain…”
(kk0313, 2007) in this line Hughes portrays America as a dream and as a pioneer. In these two comparisons Langston Hughes is giving humanistic qualities and characteristics to something that is not human. This is supported by the fact that America is not a person and therefore cannot possess the qualities of a pioneer or experience a dream. Another example of this is when Hughes speaks about liberty.
He states, “Let my land be a land where liberty is crowned with no false patriotic wreath” (kk0313, 2007) In this line he is depicting liberty as a person bearing a wreath upon the head. Within these lines we see the author giving human traits to nonhuman things. The literary tool used here is personification.
The second that I have recognized can be found through out the poem when Hughes states things such as, “ Dream the dreamers dream”, “I am the people, humble, hungry, mean– hungry yet today despite the dream”, and “ Of profit,
