Present day America is going downhill, due to changes in government and lifestyle. America is no longer the place it once was. Globally, the American people are known for being lazy and obese, whereas we once were known for our determination, work ethic, and great power. American citizens are now scared of the government, and their frequent actions that are beginning to take place, such as taking citizens rights away or searching their mail. If America continues to follow down this path, we will fall like the Roman Empire. Margaret Atwood in “Letter to America” uses allusions, audience, pathos, and the context of the article in attempt to motivate America to make a change, because she does not like the way that America is currently changing. …show more content…
Atwood uses many emotional words and phrases to persuade her audience, and achieve her purpose. Atwood uses words and phrases that create emotions such as anger, but more importantly she creates a sense of reminiscing and missing the “good-ole-days” which is the emotion she uses to motivate her audience to take a stand and make a change for America. Atwood starts off her letter saying, “I’m no longer sure who you are… I thought I knew you” (Atwood). These statements make the readers sad as they come to the realization that America is changing since their childhood, which is what they consider, the good ole days. Atwood continues by listing some of her favorite memories from her childhood such as “the music [she] sang and danced to: the Andrew Sisters, Ella Fitzgerald, the Platters, Elvis” (Atwood). This makes America seem like it is “a ton of fun” (Atwood). The list of Atwood’s favorite music and other memories serves as pathos, because it makes people miss the way America used to be, and it also makes them mad about how America is now. The list causes the readers to realize how corrupt and different todays music, movies, books, and television shows are, which makes the reader sad about how much times are changing and this causes them to want to act so that today 's generation can know an America that is similar to the America that they have previously known. When describing America today Atwood describes her “embarrassment” (Atwood) for the country, she describes how the government is “gutting the Constitution” (Atwood) and “torching the American economy”(Atwood), she describes how the American people are “easily frightened”(Atwood) because of all of the new policies and changes in current day America. Americans are very prideful of their country so when Atwood describes feeling of embarrassment for America,
Throughout the passages, Laurie Halse Anderson establishes the Central Idea through the use of Characteristics and Imagery, revealing that the loudest words are the ones that aren’t spoken.
Atwood’s way of structuring the novel changes the readers’ interpretation throughout the whole novel. She does this by using symbolic references, e.g. the language she uses in the novel express what the characters represent and what they feel.
A stereotype is a trap, a cage, which restricts individuals to one identity. Once a stereotype is created, it is hard to overcome and leaves traces of prejudice. In agreement with Alicia Ostriker’s The Thieves of Language: Women Poets and Revisionist Mythmaking, Margaret Atwood’s poem “Siren Song” is a reach out for women to express feelings on gender discrimination without coming across in a way that would engender negative support. “Siren Song”, is written from the perspective of a siren, in a mythological setting but with a contemporary tone, that is restricted to the stereotype of a seductress who seeks to sing men to their deaths but in reality, she wants to break free and find someone that will not fall for her song.
The term “America” does not have one but many definitions that various people have come up with through out the centuries. Some believe America is everything they could hope for and some have believed that it is not what it seems. Frederick Douglas’ What to the Slave is the Fourth of July and Michael Rogin’s text Political Repression in the United States are two pieces of historic evidence that show what each individual imagined America as. Although both pieces have similarities, they have differences as well not only in their ideas but their writing style and content as well.
In the articles that I have read which are, “A letter to America” by Margaret Atwood and “ And our Flag was still there” by Barbara Kingsolver happen to have some similarities in there writing but also some differences. Both authors know that their country has some issues but one questions the actions of her country and the other author reclaims patriotism for Americans who love their country.
Nathaniel Hawthorne published The Scarlett Letter in 1850 but the events take place in the 1600’s. In the introduction, Hawthorne explains to the audience why he is writing another autobiographical book and maybe how it might not be “about” him but it somehow relates to him. Hawthorne says he wrote the autobiography for those who enjoy reading him and for those who follow him and his writings. Hawthorne primarily uses his persona, his complex syntax, and his carful arrangement to convey his purpose to explain his inspiration for The Scarlett Letter to his adult, Christian, and sympathetic audience.
One of the strongest parts is the questions-passage: the sender asks Americans what made them change, why the national-exaltation… He doesn’t look for the answers.
Our nation. Our great nation. Our great, but imperfect nation. The ideals our nation holds so close to its heart. Have we forgotten them? Have we forgotten what our soldiers were fighting for? Have we forgotten the path our forefathers paved out of love for those who hadn’t even swallowed their first breaths on earth. Have we become so lost in the dredges of life, in our problems and opinions, that the path isn’t even in sight anymore? Lost...lost is a strange word. Lost is troubled, but not hopeless. Lost is out of sight, but not gone. Lost can be found. New paths can be made and maybe, the old path can come back into sight. Or maybe it doesn’t have to. The America our forefathers envisioned is likely not the America that we see today. Not, we are not the same America, but like the generations that
Atwood tries to open our eyes by satirising our society with a brilliant contrasting novel. Dystopian in every way, the reader encounters a world in which modern values of our society seem/ are replaceable. Showing the worst of all possible outcomes, she demonstrates that our primarily heartless, just economical thinking could bring the downfall of our society. Altough satires are often used to be funny ;Atwood uses this instrument of literature for an attack on a society which she strongly disapproves of. With the intent to bring about improvement, she raises the question if our current lifestyle excuses the possible future problems.
Toni Morrison, named Chloe Anthony Wofford, was born on February 18, 1931. Toni has a rich history and highly valuable academic experiences. Throughout her life, Toni has earned several prestigious awards and has won nearly all possible prizes for her novels. Starting to write as soon as she could read, Toni Morrison has “entered America’s heart.”
The Handmaid's Tale presents an extreme example of sexism and misogyny by featuring the complete objectification of women in the society of Gilead. Yet by also highlighting the mistreatment of women in the cultures that precede and follow the Gileadean era, Margaret Atwood is suggesting that sexism and misogyny are deeply embedded in any society and that serious and deliberate attention must be given to these forms of discrimination in order to eliminate them.
on America as a whole, and uses the people and setting of the story as
“Letter to America”, was written in 2003 and composed by Margaret Atwood. Margaret Atwood was asked by the Nation to write a letter concerning America’s foreign policy. Margaret Atwood is one of the finest poets in Canadian history; therefore, it is difficult to understand why she made so many statements that were not backed up by factual evidence. Margaret Atwood made many statements concerning the actions America has taken over the past fifty five years. She stated America had taken a turn for the worst. She also stated that Canadians had never understood who America was trying to be. This caused her difficulty in writing the letter, because she never understood what was really going on. She made statements such as: we were gutting the constitution, running up record labels of debt, and torching the American economy. Margaret Atwood’s compelling statements towards America’s policies were well written, but lacked the factual evidence it needed to make her statements credible.
...ace, how some react bravely, and how some react cowardly or with resignation fascinate us. As readers, we can’t avert our eyes even as we’re enraged by what other vicious officials are doing to citizens, and compelled to turn the pages as we wonder If rebels and other members of the populace can somehow remake a wretched society into something more positive. Our government may become tyrannical, we may have a surveillance camera following us every minute of every day, we may have our memories completely erased, etc. Society may dehumanize its citizens by forcing us to conform strictly to their expectations. Human intelligence may slip downwards to the point where we don’t even know what water really is. These works of literature magnifies the dystopian world we live in today, and illustrates and exposes the dystopia that our world may grow to be in the future.
The crestfallen tone shows that, as a citizen, the government let people down. Ginsberg thinks that all the economic recovery America gained was through human suffering, since the Depression made a rebound after America started marketing weapons to Europe in World War Two. Uncle Sam has made war the national business. How could you be patriotic towards a country with “libraries full of tears” (12), a country whose history is full of