With close reference to any two poems on this course, critically discuss different conceptions of American-ness

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One may find a great variety of themes in American poetry, irrespective of the period one is interested in. There are numerous poems about love, war, the self, nature, reality and dreams. However the point common to all of them, is that they convey a sense of "Americanism?; that is, they can all explain differently what it is to be American. For instance, Francis Scott Key in his poem entitled "Defence of Fort M'Henry"(1814), (that subsequently became the American national anthem under the title "The Star-Spangled Banner") argued that to be an American was primarily to be a patriot. Another viewpoint, is that of Langston Hughes, expressed in "Theme for English B", written in 1951. He suggested that to be American was to be part and parcel of a multicultural society in which inequalities exist, and where the minorities had to fight their way into this society. The difference between these two conceptions of Americanism can be explained by studying the periods the poets lived in and the backgrounds they came from.

Extraits

[...] With close reference to any two poems on this course, critically discuss different conceptions of American-ness One can find a great variety of themes in American poetry, whatever the period one is interested in: poems about love or about war, about the self or about nature, about reality or about dreams. But the common point of all these is that they convey a sense of American-ness that is, they can all explain differently what it is to be American. For instance, Francis Scott Key in his 1814 poem entitled "Defence of Fort M'Henry" that was to become the American national anthem under the title "The Star- Spangled Banner" argued that to be an American was primarily to be a patriot. [...]

[...] "Hughes's Life and Career." 31 Oct From The Oxford Companion to African American Literature. Oxford: Oxford University Press USFlag.org, "Francis Scott Key" Oct APPENDIX Francis Scott Key (1780-1843) "Defence of Fort M'Henry" ("The Star-Spangled Banner") (1814) O say, can you see, by the dawn's early light, What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming— Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the clouds of the fight, O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming! And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there; say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave O'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave? [...]

[...] As a conclusion, we may argue that there are as many definitions and implications of the concept of American-ness as there are Americans. The definitions expressed in Key's "The Star-Spangled Banner" and in Hughes's "Theme for English though very different as the contexts and the themes of writing were, are both equally valid: patriotism is firmly fixed in American minds as well as the certainty to belong to a multifaceted society, and minorities had and still have to struggle to be accepted as parts of this society. [...]

[...] I am the only colored student in my class. The steps from the hill lead down into Harlem, through a park, then I cross St Nicholas, Eighth Avenue, Seventh, and I come to the the Harlem Branch where I take the elevator up to my room, sit down, and write this page: It's not easy to know what is true for you or me at twenty-two, my age. But I guess I'm what I feel and see and hear, Harlem, I hear you: hear you, hear me—we two—you, me, talk on this page. [...]

[...] I like a pipe for a Christmas present, or records—Bessie, bop, or Bach. I guess being colored doesn't make me not like the same things other folks like who are other races. So will my page be colored that I write? Being me, it will not be white. But it will be a part of you, instructor. You are white— yet a part of me, as I am a part of you. That's American. Sometimes perhaps you don't want to be a part of me. [...]