Poem Internship Assignnment

Madeline Frank

Mrs. Parkinson

English III

7 March 2016

   America By, Claude Mckay depicts the author’s opinion or struggle with America. In this poem we 

see how the author goes back and forth between a hopeful and dark America. The author starts the

 

poem off by depicting a place where there is no hope. In the poem the author states “ She feeds me 

bread of bitterness, and sinks into my throat her tiger’s tooth,” (Mckay). We see in these lines how

 

America has become somewhat of a road block in the author’s goals. As the poem goes on we see a

 twist in the message when the author says “ I love this cultures hell that tests my youth.”(McKay). 

This twist in the poem shines some light on the author’s point of hard work and persistence to achieve 

his dreams no matter the challenges ahead. This poem is still beneficial to readers today because of 

its broad message of persistence. We see how the author uses his struggle of being oppressed in 

America to motivate himself to push back and achieve his goals. Today's readers will benefit by 

reading and understanding his message and how it can apply to their personal situations today.