...English homework: analysis/essay “The New Colossus“ by Emma Lazarus In the following text I am going to analyse the poem “The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus written in 1883, which is attached to the pedestal of “ The Statue of Liberty” . Furthermore, the question of why the poem was chosen is going to be answered. Because of its 14 verses the poem is an Italian sonnet , it is separated in two stanzas, the first one contains eight verses and the second includes six verses. The first stanza is written in an embracing rhyme which can be considered as welcoming people. It is about the statue itself. It is compared to the “Colossus of Rhodos”, which is different from the statue, if one thinks of the “Colossus of Rhodos” one is connecting it with dominating power (ll.1) The Statue of Liberty is called “ Mother of Exiles” which shows that she is welcoming immigrants and that anyone can find his or her home in America.(ll.6) She is also welcoming everyone, not only the immigrants, the homecomers as well, that is shown by the alliteration worls-wide welcome in line 7.She is placed in the harbor of New York City, where many immigrants come to, she is also turned to the world and not to America, that shows that America is happy to welcome these immigrants. The second stanza is written in a cross-rhyme, that shows that the topics is changing, Emma Lazarus is not writing about the statue itself anymore, she is describing the intention of the statue. She writes about what the...
Words: 444 - Pages: 2
...America have with other nations, and the opportunity America give to immigrant who came to American during the 1800s to earn a better life. To begin with, the Statue of Liberty was designed and made by a French sculptor with the intent it would be a gift to commemorate America 100th anniversary of independence. He wanted to honor...
Words: 638 - Pages: 3
...during 1865-1898. More than 2,812,191 immigrants arrived in the U.S., mainly from Europe. About 70% of all immigrants came through New York, in which became known as the “Golden Door.” Many of them were fleeing crop failure, shortages in land and jobs, raising taxes, personal freedom, economic opportunity, or escape from political or religious persecution. The rise of big business in the United States encouraged massive migrations and urbanization, sparked government and popular efforts to reshape the U.S. economy and environment. The most important factors that impact of both late 19th-century international migration to the United States and internal migration within the United States were immigrants living in...
Words: 809 - Pages: 4
... | There are many different civilizations of different origins who have settled in the United States today. There have been many different civilizations of Native Americans and Indians since the U.S. was founded. The French, Spanish, and English were the first to explore and establish settlements in North America. Nations of these origins claimed their own land and created colonies. Once the first colonies decided to establish themselves as a country, they were able to establish who were citizens and who were not. The United States has come a long way since then, with many immigration laws being created. The purpose of the laws is to control the amount of legal and illegal immigrants in the United States. All of the laws created have had major positive and negative effects on the groups that they have been created for. This country’s vision of “We the People” is that the people in the U.S. are...
Words: 925 - Pages: 4
...of the new United States sat down and wrote to the members of the Volunteer Association and other Inhabitants of the Kingdom of Ireland who were rankling under the yoke of British colonialism. In this letter Washington provided advice to buoy their spirits and off handedly provided his thoughts on immigration to the country that he had fought to free: “The bosom of America is open to receive not only the Opulent and respectable Stranger, but the oppressed and persecuted of all Nations and Religions; whom we shall welcome to a participation of all our rights and privileges…” (Spalding, 1994, p.36). 233 years later and the open bosom that Washington spoke of has been encased in armor, sealed behind stout oak. The tenets of the USA Patriot Act have made the process of immigration to the United States an almost impossible task for many of the world’s population. However the Patriot Act alone did not make Washington’s statement seem quaint and idealized. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1892, the cold inhospitable surroundings inside the fortress like Ellis Island, and the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 made Washington’s welcoming bosom an impossibility, a dream which remains unrealized. On May 6, 1882 the corpulent, mustachioed 21st inhabitant of the executive mansion, President Chester A. Arthur signed into law The Chinese Exclusion Act which placed an absolute 10-year moratorium on Chinese labor immigration, and imposed new requirements on and Chinese born immigrant who had...
Words: 2109 - Pages: 9
...late 19th Century, immigrants from countries all over the world came to America to escape persecution and lack of jobs. Emma Lazarus, a poet, described the Statue of Liberty as a symbol of the welcoming arms in the western world, in her poem, “The New Colossus”. However, America as a country only partly lived up to the words in Lazarus's poem because they provided jobs and helped the immigrants adjust to the language and culture in America, but they did not allow for all races to come to America. America lived up to these words by taking in as many immigrants as possible despite their status. Lazarus stated,”Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free”. Living up to these words, Americans created settlement houses to help the less fortunate immigrants adjust to life in a new country by helping them learn and the understand the language and culture of America. The U.S. also helped immigrants adjust to life in America by providing a large number of jobs that required little to no skill. Hence, Americans lived up to the words in Lazarus’s poem because they not only helped the poor learn the culture and language of Americans, but they also...
Words: 423 - Pages: 2
...Texte 1: On the threshold of a new world This document is an excerpt from the novel Ellis Island and other stories written by Mark Helprin in 1976. The extract is entitled « On the threshold of a new world », the scene takes place in Ellis Island, which is a small island in the NYC harbor. It’s an immigration station where immigrants came from all over Europe to get their American dream, which means freedom and equality. The narrator comes from Eastern Europe and he describes his arrival in Ellis Island, which consists in a very precise medical examination. . The medical examination (l.1 to 21) -The immigrant is surprised, he asks the officer “why” (l.8) but then he has to obey to him; he’s at his mercy, the officer can decide of his future and he could ship the immigrant back to Europe -The narrator is young and a bachelor; he’s well educated (l.29); he might be a Jew from Eastern Europe since he speaks Hebrew, Yiddish, Russian… -Must have emigrated for: political and religious reasons; persecuted for his beliefs; denied the right to vote; wanted to have a good job and a good life. -He hoped he could sell his books, find prosperity, have more freedom, better standard of living, better future, no social boundaries to climb up the social ladder. . The questioning examination: a suspicious immigrant (l.22 to 41) -The young woman is very wary about the narrator: “suspicious”, “sharply”, “disgust”, “commanded”, “shouted”, “cold eyes”. -He might be a danger...
Words: 346 - Pages: 2
...Ellis Island was the main immigration reception center in the United States from 1892 to 1943. Most of the immigrants were very poor and hoping to build a better life for themselves and their families. Some were escaping religious persecution, a bad economy, or various political problems. They came to America in crowded steamships. When they got to Ellis Island, they had to be examined by the doctors there. Some were then sent back to Europe because they weren’t healthy. The majority of the immigrants got to stay in America, though. Americans were anything but welcoming to the immigrants at first. They were regarded with prejudice and suspicion. Nativists were among the most unwelcoming to immigrants. Nativism, essentially, is the belief that...
Words: 257 - Pages: 2
...entitled « On the threshold of a new world », the scene takes place in Ellis Island, which is a small island in the NYC harbor. It’s an immigration station where immigrants came from all over Europe to get their American dream, which means freedom and equality. The narrator comes from Eastern Europe and he describes his arrival in Ellis Island, which consists in a very precise medical examination. . The medical examination (l.1 to 21) -The immigrant is surprised, he asks the officer “why” (l.8) but then he has to obey to him; he’s at his mercy, the officer can decide of his future and he could ship the immigrant back to Europe -The narrator is young and a bachelor; he’s well educated (l.29); he might be a Jew from Eastern Europe since he speaks Hebrew, Yiddish, Russian… -Must have emigrated for: political and religious reasons; persecuted for his beliefs; denied the right to vote; wanted to have a good job and a good life. -He hoped he could sell his books, find prosperity, have more freedom, better standard of living, better future, no social boundaries to climb up the social ladder. . The questioning examination: a suspicious immigrant (l.22 to 41) -The young woman is very wary about the narrator: “suspicious”, “sharply”, “disgust”, “commanded”, “shouted”, “cold eyes”. -He might be a danger, a threat because he writes books, he may imports radical ideas. She doesn’t trust intellectuals. -She has to process thousands of immigrants every week so she has no time...
Words: 337 - Pages: 2
...The English playwright, John Heywood used the expression “Rome was not built in a day” to make the argument that great things take time to build. In the song “Clique”, Kanye West boasts, “so I just meditate at the home in Pompeii/about how I could build a new Rome in one day” (101-102). In these lines, the always hubris Kanye accepts Heywood’s challenge and plots how he can build a new Rome in one day. There is no question that Kanye cannot rebuild the Roman Empire in one day, nevertheless the real question is how could one of the most powerful ancient empires fall? Over the years, historians have attributed the fall of the Roman Empire to many different factors. I believe that immigration played the biggest role in the fall of the Roman Empire...
Words: 1106 - Pages: 5
...Spé Anglais Texte 1: On the threshold of a new world This document is an excerpt from the novel Ellis Island and other stories written by Mark Helprin in 1976. The extract is entitled « On the threshold of a new world », the scene takes place in Ellis Island, which is a small island in the NYC harbor. It’s an immigration station where immigrants came from all over Europe to get their American dream, which means freedom and equality. The narrator comes from Eastern Europe and he describes his arrival in Ellis Island, which consists in a very precise medical examination. . The medical examination (l.1 to 21) -The immigrant is surprised, he asks the officer “why” (l.8) but then he has to obey to him; he’s at his mercy, the officer can decide of his future and he could ship the immigrant back to Europe -The narrator is young and a bachelor; he’s well educated (l.29); he might be a Jew from Eastern Europe since he speaks Hebrew, Yiddish, Russian… -Must have emigrated for: political and religious reasons; persecuted for his beliefs; denied the right to vote; wanted to have a good job and a good life. -He hoped he could sell his books, find prosperity, have more freedom, better standard of living, better future, no social boundaries to climb up the social ladder. . The questioning examination: a suspicious immigrant (l.22 to 41) -The young woman is very wary about the narrator: “suspicious”, “sharply”, “disgust”, “commanded”, “shouted”, “cold eyes”. -He might...
Words: 452 - Pages: 2
...When it comes to the topic of immigrants, most of us will readily agree that they changed America. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is on the question of “how did they change America”. While some are convinced that America changed them, others believe that they changed America. Even though there are policies and regulations to prevent the influx of illegal immigrants in the United States; why are they not being enforced or do the people feel that illegal immigration should be ignored in the United States? Everyone in the United States of America is an immigrant or has descended from immigrants. The Constitution of the United States begins: “We the People of the United States…” Nonetheless, we know the United States was not and then and is not now made up of a single group of people. It is made up of many peoples. Immigration is defined as action of coming to live permanently in a foreign country; Migration is defined as the act or process of moving from one region or country to another; Populating is defined as a place with permanent residents or becoming a permanent resident in a place; and An immigrant is defined as an act of entering a new country to settle permanently the act of moving to or establish yourself in another country or region, temporarily or permanently. America is a nation of immigrants. Our American journey and our success would simply not be possible without the generations of immigrants who have come to our shores from every corner...
Words: 358 - Pages: 2
...Do you think your life is hard? Well imagine how immigrants had it, their life was hard. First off they had to cross an ocean with sick passengers on it, and then get pushed around by guards. Finally, their kids played in the streets because there were no place to play! So that is how hard immigrants had it. First of all before the immigrants got to America they had to pay 35 dollars get on the boat. The boat was filled with people, they all had to sleep on metal beds with straw as the mattress, it must have been impossible for people to sleep with uncomfortable beds. Also illnesses were spreading with all the mice and rats on the rocking boat. Lastly after a lot of people got sick vomit was everywhere, and only a few people died. After that...
Words: 367 - Pages: 2
...The Role Immigrants Play In American Businesses and the American Workforce The role immigrant’s play in American businesses and the American workforce are way bigger than Americans think. Immigration brings numerous benefits to the nation because they work in all types of occupations. There is nothing that immigrants are not in our nation; they vary from scientists, construction workers, teachers, engineers and so much more. They play roles in big businesses and small business and they help grow our economy and communities. They partake in lower skilled industries such as fruits and vegetable processing, meat packing, agriculture, etc. This is something that we purchase daily all thanks to immigrants. There is research that shows that immigration...
Words: 366 - Pages: 2
...Immigrants in our own land It is very difficult to adjust and live by a new set of rules from one day to another. That second where an immigrant cross’ a border to an unknown country, is the second that changes everything. But why is it so difficult to grow accustomed to a totally new life? The poem ”Immigrants in our own land,” is a text about the immigration that took place at Ellis Island near Manhatten, where a lot of immigrants passed between 1892 and 1954. The poem is a so-called chopped-up prose. The chopped-up prose does often describe a course of events, which can also be seen in this particular poem. The narrator is an immigrant. It is obvious because he uses expressions such as “myself,” “we,” and so on. It is a subjective narrator, which makes the poem very authentic. It can be seen that the main character of the poem is a guy due to the fact that he uses boxer shorts, which a girl does not normally use: “my T-shirts, boxer shorts, socks and pants are drying.” (p. 187, l. 25). He expresses how the immigrants felt when they came to America, through his point of view. He describes different events which has had an effect throughout his life. If the story was told from an American’s point of view, it would be much more different and the poem would probably have a completely different focus. A very central element in the text is the way he tells about the life in jail. He explains and expresses how it is to live behind bars and how an average day goes by...
Words: 642 - Pages: 3
