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Andrew Nguyen

White

AP English Literature Per. 3

2 November 2020

Perseverance Through the Times of Segregation

From reading the “America” poem, the speaker talks about the characteristics of

America, where despite the bitterness that America brings to the speaker, the speaker still enjoys

the “cultured hell” that he experiences within America. The speaker does not seem to be afraid of

America, where he is like “a rebel fronts a king in state.” Even living within America he does not

fear, have hatred, or make remarks against America. Some interesting thoughts come towards the

end of the poem, where the speaker looks onward to darkly in the days ahead, referring to the

possible future and involvement of issues over time in America. From what can be seen within

the poem, he seems to appreciate America despite all the harsh things that America has done to

him, where possibly as we come to see the future, where with time, ideas, new spectacles, or new

thoughts will come through that will eventually make America a better place and in turn

ultimately remove the bitterness that he is experiencing within America. Some interesting areas

that I found very important within the poem was “cultured hell” within line 4 and the quote

“Darkly I gaze into the days ahead, And see her might and granite wonders there, Beneath the

touch of Time’s unerring hand, Like priceless treasures sinking in the sand” starting at line 11

and finishing at line 14. What can be pulled out of these selected quotes can be the tools, Diction

and possibly Figurative meaning with the use of imagery/simile. Within the first quote, “cultured

hell,” cultured can be defined as refined taste and manners and good education. In a connotative

sense, the use of cultured within the poem is to refer to the idea of a cultural melting pot that can
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be found within America, where there are many diverse groups of people coming from many

parts of the world with many different perspectives as to how they see life and such, which in

turn can be applied to the idea shown of love and hate for America. Within America during the

time this poem was created (1921), slavery had already been abolished, where those who were

previously slaves had the opportunity to be equal with those who were not slaves. However, this

idea did not come into fruition, where obstacles began to block the path to defining what is truly

equal rights and equal opportunities between White and Black people. It was until 1954, when

protest for civil rights and the eventual Civil Rights Movement questioned the power and

segregation that was occurring between Black and White people. What this poem provides is an

underlying perspective to the segregation that this speaker may have experienced during this

lifetime, where despite his love of America, there are issues such as segregation and civil rights

that come in the way of truly being “loved” and “embraced” by America and its own people. The

significance that this poem provides, is application of its thoughts and own ideas it has to many

civil issues that have been seen within America throughout the years and decades, that have

eventually sparked a hopeful future within a individual’s mind of hoping for a better future and

such similar to what the speaker mentions towards the end of the poem. This can help to compare

similar situations shown throughout the years to the past and the present, how they were similar

in a sense towards what they were fighting for. Within the second quote, it can be seen that with

time, despite the difference in perspectives and such, there will be changes that can be made in

the eventual future that will in turn ultimately alter the perspectives of other people’s thoughts

and possibly society in general, where it can change what is seen as the norm within society.

Priceless treasure sinking into the sand could represent the possibility of urgency in a sense
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possibly. A theme that may be drawn from this quote is possibly the idea of perseverance and

remaining hopeful despite what life throws at you.