The document compares how two poems, "I, Too" and "The New Colossus", portray the American Dream differently based on the treatment of people. "The New Colossus" promotes the American Dream as a place where oppressed people from other lands will be welcomed and treated equally. However, "I, Too" shows that for African Americans, the reality was they were still treated unfairly and not allowed to fully participate in society. Both poems share the theme that the American Dream is about being able to live freely and without discrimination.
2. I am using the poems “I, Too” and “The New Colossus” to show the difference of how
the people in them are being treated. In “The New Colossus” it is telling people from
other countries who are mistreated to come to America because that will change. But, in
“I, Too” the “darker brother” is sent to eat in the kitchen and he isn’t treated fairly.
3. In “The New Colossus” it says “Give me
your tired, your poor, your huddled masses
yearning to breathe free, the wretched
refuse of your teeming shore. Send these,
the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my
lamp beside the golden door!”
4. It is basically saying anybody that is not being
treated fairly or is not wanted, come to America
and you will be treated equally. So, in this poem
it is saying that the American Dream is to not be
lower than everybody else.
5. In “I, Too” it says “I am the darker
brother, They send me to eat in the kitchen”.
6. So, because he is black he is not being
treated as fairly as the white people and
so his American Dream is to someday eat
at the table when company comes instead
of being sent to the kitchen to eat.
7. These two poems have two different perspectives of how
America is, but both have the same American Dream
which is to be treated equally and fairly. In “The New
Colossus” America is a welcoming country willing to let
anybody in, but in “I, Too” America is not treating African
Americans fairly and is not welcoming to them. “The New
Colossus” gets its point across by using the quote I have
put in the third slide and “I, Too” gets its point across by
the quote that I have put in the fifth slide.
8. I think of the American Dream as being treated
fairly and being able to do what ever you want
with your life. So, I think that the poem “The New
Colossus” relates to my idea of the American
Dream rather than “I, Too”. Although “I, Too” is
more realistic to real life because not everybody is
always treated fairly.
