Here is the synopsis of our sample research paper on Claude McKay/America. Have the paper e-mailed to you 24/7/365.
Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 3 page explication of African American poet Claude McKay's poem "America." Examination of this work shows how the nature of American society in the first half of the twentieth century evoked emotional opposites in the McKay, as his frustration and bitterness are mixed with admiration. Bibliography lists 4 sources.
Page Count:
3 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_khmckaya.rtf
Buy This Term Paper »
Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
on the lowest tiers of Jamaican society (Allen 68). In 1912, He immigrated to America, having already had two book of verse published (Giles). He continued his education at the
Tuskegee Institute in Alabama and it was there that he first encountered the brutal nature of American racism, an issue that forms the basis for much of this subsequent verse.
McKay brings to his poem "America" the perspective of a person who knows what it means to feel the frustration and anger that results from being a target of racial
prejudice. Examination of this work shows how the nature of American society in the first half of the twentieth century evoked emotional opposites in the McKay, as his frustration and
bitterness are mixed with admiration. McKay begins this poem with an account of the countrys offenses against people of color. Although she (America) feeds me bread of bitterness,
And sinks into my throat her tigers tooth, Stealing my breath of life, I will confess I love this cultured hell that tests my youth! (lines 1-4). As these
lines demonstrate, McKay chooses to express himself through the classic form of an iambic pentameter sonnet. The work is 14 lines long and follows an ababcdcdefefgg rhyme scheme. This fact
gives the words "cultured hell" added significance since, as a poet, McKay has mastered this classical form; yet, it is inherently understood that mainstream American society did not acknowledge at
this time that people of color could stand as equals with their white counterparts, as blacks were not considered equal to whites, socially, culturally or intellectually. The next
lines further address why the poet has mixed emotions concerning America. Her vigor flows like ides into my blood, Giving me strength erect against her hate. Her bigness sweeps my
...