In the darkest of places, the hardest of times, or the lowest of lows, hope can always be found. “Hope Is a Tattered Flag,” by Carl Sandburg, illustrates where hope can be found, even when it seems like all is lost. This optimistic poem focuses on the depth of hope and the many aspects of life in which it lies. The setting of the work is in America amid a time of depression and hardship during the 1930s. In these trying times, all people were struggling to find their own gleam of hope anywhere they could. Sandburg speaks to every class of people, especially appealing to the common man who faced the most hardships during this time, with his unrhymed and simple writing style. He uses images of familiar places such as steel mills and salesrooms to speak to the working class citizens, and displays simple symbols of hope that can be found in these places. Also, the poem uses specific word choices, allusions, and metaphors to further depict the symbols of hope encountered in the poem. Sandburg incorporates the concept of hope with the instability of America during the 1930s with the use of vivid imagery, word choice and a writing style of free-verse to convey his theory of hope throughout the poem.
Carl Sandburg was born on January 6, 1878, in Galesburg, Illinois. In his early years of schooling, he only advanced as far as the eighth grade before having to leave school to help support his family by working many different jobs that included brick laying and shining shoes. After working a variety of jobs, Sandburg traveled as a hobo until enlisting in the military when the Spanish-American War broke out in 1898. When he returned from the war, he went back to school at Lombard College, which was the place where he first learned of his...
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In his poem, Sandburg deliberately uses a free-verse style of writing. This style is better-suited for Sandburg’s purpose in writing the poem because it directly emphasizes the point of each line while appealing to the common man. The first line of the poem expresses, “Hope is a tattered flag and a dream out of time” (Sandburg 120). Here, “tattered” provides an indication of conflict. The “dream out of time” is signifying that the dream of hope is of another era. During the time of the depression, the American people had so many troubles that they felt hope was unreachable to them. Mahony explains that this image “portrays hope as a survivor, emerging not unscathed from battle” (129). Sandburg uses clear and understandable language in his free-verse style to get his point across to all types of people in an understandable manner.
To start, The author Carl Hiaasen was born on March 12, 1953, in Plantation, Florida, a rural suburb of Fort Lauderdale. He was the first of four children born to Odel and Patricia Hiaasen. He started writing from the age of six. In 1970 he graduated from Plantation High School and entered Emory University, where he wrote the school-run newspaper called the Emory Wheel. Two years later, he transferred to the
Even though there is tragedy there-what Steinbeck seems to be saying is that the human spirit can and will endure despite immense privations. The will to live and endure will always overcome defeated hopes.
Carl Sandburg was born in Galesburg, Illinois on January 6, 1878. Both his parents were Swedish immigrants that moved to the America because jobs were scarce in Sweden. His father became a railroad worker in Burlington, Chicago and his mother was originally a housekeeper in Sweden and became a housewife in America. His family stayed in America for most of the time and rarely visited Sweden. His family eventually grew and he became the second kid out of seven (EIU). As a child Carl enjoyed visiting the prairie. He never enjoyed school or anything related to literature. He decided at the age of thirteen that he did not want to attend school anymore so he quit school. After this he began to drive a milk wagon. At the age of fourteen until seventeen he worked at the Union Hotel barbershop in Galesburg. Carl loved to work. He was dedicated to his work and serving others. When he turned twenty Carl volunteered to go into the military during the Spanish American War. Although he never actually went to into fighting section he still served as a U.S. soldier. Carl eventually came home. He had no job and was unemployed. Carl began writing short poems when he started West Point University. While he was at West Point he took the math exam and failed it. He went back home within a short amount of time to Galesburg, Illinois and attended Lombard College and still continued writing poems. Although he ...
Hopes and dreams are huge factors of the development of modern society‒technology is being re-evaluated, theories that seemed impossible are being considered and new ideas are embraced. Dreams inspire many people who are willing to go beyond the old standards of society and challenge what is normal. Even so, during the Depression, unlike today, dreams were not always welcomed and hopes were often crushed. The characters in the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck can attest to these things. Yet, these characters found ways to use their hopes and dreams as forms of discipline, as a way to form strong relationships and as an element which distinguishes the main characters from the other characters.
By the third section, Ginsberg has found some middle ground and solidarity. There is hope for the destroyed minds and corrupted America. Ginsberg attaches his own meaning to these words to set up the minds vs. society and provides some eternal hope that stands outside of society’s domination and gives everyone some ultimate answers and consistency.
The poem opens a thought of the American Dream, about what he wants America to be, and his hope for the country. The beginning line of the poem entails that America has to be the same America it once was, to me it’s a lie. America back then practiced slavery and oppression, it destroyed the lands of people to build their own homes. The ideal of an “America” was all a dream. It’s what they wanted for their America to be. We as people should be able to rise up and redefine the American equality and take back our land. The poem serves a powerful message of equality. The theme of this poem is against injustice and inequalities that exist in America and that can corrupt the American dream. All characters in the novels we read for the semester i.e. The African, Quick skills, and Tucker, have a lot of similarities with the poem, “Let America Be America Again”. They led their people to freedom by fighting against slavery and restrictions. The African escaped from his master. The African vowed to be free and never be enslaved again. Quickskill came to liberate the fellow slaves, who were enslaved in his master 's plantation. Tucker realized that he had some worth, and wanted freedom for his family. All three of these characters laid their lives on the line for their fellow men. They would rather prefer to die with dignity rather than become a white man’s property. They wanted
Carl Sandburg had a rough start in his early life. He was born in Galesburg, Illinois, January 6, 1878 to Swedish immigrants. In all, Sandburg had seven siblings. Very early in life, Sandburg’s name changed from “Johnson” to “Sandburg,”(Carl Sandburg). His father worked on the railroad and his family was extremely poor. Therefore, he dropped out of school at age 13 in eighth grade to work all sorts of odd jobs to help provide for his family. Years later, at age seventeen, Sandburg became a hobo and moved west, (Carl Sandburg). Sandburg then decided to join the military. He was at Puerto Rico for eight months during the Spanish-American War. after he served, being a war veteran qualified him to get a college tuition at Lombard College in his hometown, Galesburg, Illinois . Carl
In his poem “To America,” H. Leyvik utilizes a distinctive feature in both the second and seventh stanzas. This feature is roughly worded, forty years ago I arrived here and I wanted to, but didn’t, fall prostrate on your earth and kiss it (Leyvik, 251-253). The function of this distinctive feature is to help organize the speaker's words as he struggles to admit his love for America. In its first appearance, it ties the meaning of stanzas three, four, five, and six, where the speaker outlines the sources of his struggle, back to the first appearance of the distinctive feature. In its second appearance, it segues to the climactic conclusion where the speaker officially exclaims his love for America.
Hughes uses imagery and describes his dreams as "Bright like a sun" with the use of a simile. As he grew up, he experienced prejudice and racial discrimination, and his naive dreams were shattered. The point of the speaker's deepest despair is when the wall that shuts out his dream reaches its greatest height, leaving him to 'lie down in its shadow.' This wall can symbolize the racial barriers in society which deny people like Hughes their early hopes. However, as he becomes more mature, he once again takes up the dream, willing his 'dark hands' to take action and smash through the barriers of racial injustice and oppression and to once again let in the light, the 'sun.' The message of the poem is that we must take action against unjust society, deal with prejudice and rise above
He basically creates a personal story that creates the public imagination, which is why his work is smiled upon. As Sandburg traveled, his ideas and beliefs evolved. Which sometimes gave his poems the push they needed. He had an unflinching documentary eye. Sandburg’s work is an eyebrow raiser, and is also encouraged. He aims towards the cadence of everyday association and talk as a base and model for his poems. He uses his free-going mind to acknowledge a world beyond America, one where things are different through his poetry. His many activities are one of the qualities that make him so interesting. Sandburg is the voice for America , and also its strengths and geniuses.
With the use of imagery Sandburg “provided concrete visual details that vividly illustrate the general semantics extensional devices. Conversely, the general semantics extensional devices provide insights into Sandburg 's poetry”(Mass). He used the device of imagery in his poem Chicago to paint a vivid picture in reader’s minds with descriptive words like “under the smoke, dust all over his mouth, laughing white teeth”(Sandburg 765). The poem Fog presents a feeling of movement which is created by the use of imagery. There is always a progression in the presence and movement of the fog which is in turn resembles a cat and its movements. With Sandburg’s descriptive detail orientated word choice “Sandburg exhibits an imagist 's bent for describing the bare details of a scene, even in those poems whose enthusiastic and garrulous speakers do not retain the detachment and brevity characteristic of undisputed imagist poems”(Van Wienen). In the poem Grass, Sandburg uses imagery to present a strong image of how destructive war is. By listing off “Pile the bodies high at Austerlitz and Waterloo”, Sandburg presents a strong image of how the dead bodies resulted from the actions of war(766). By providing this vivid picture through imagery it makes readers understand the deeper meaning behind the bodies and the purpose of the
Standing tall during trials and tribulations and fighting his battles in private, he continues to fight without showing an ounce of second thought or withdrawal. “In the fell clutch of circumstance,” the speaker does not show his pain or hurt with action. He takes the beating without backing down or crying aloud. Keeping his head up, he tells us in the last line of stanza two that, “My head is bloody, but unbowed.” He refuses to be defeated. This line provides imagery of just how bad the speaker feels on the inside. Readers begin to picture how broken and hurt the speaker must feel, while at the same time seeing how brave and strong he is for not giving up. Encouraging readers to reflect upon their own problems and inspiring them not to throw in the towel when things get rough. You begin to connect with the speaker and relate your own “bludgeonings of chance” to his, while identifying with
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
R.W.Franklin. “’Hope’ is the thing with feathers –.” The Poems of Emily Dickinson. Harvard University Press. N.e. 1999. 314. Print.
In the poem he talks about his thoughts on the American Dream. He explains that America should be America again and that it should be the dream it once was. He wants America to be a land of peace and love. He also discusses that he never received his freedom and equality in America.