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  • Essay / Literary Analysis of I Hear America Singing

    “I Hear America Singing,” one of Whitman’s most famous songs, is an ode to the American nation. I think it can be divided into four sections. The first line is the initial part, which is a central phrase of the poem and from which we know that the poet may dwell on various Christmas carols. The second section begins from line 2 to line 6, which outlines the situation in which people from various fields sing. The next section includes only line 8, which specifically indicates songs belonging to women. The last three lines make up the final section, concluding the gist of the poem by saying that the poem is an ode to every American and that every individual is special. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay “I Hear America Singing” Essay Analysis The speaker tells the story in the first person. It is as if the speaker is speaking face to face to his audience. The poem deploys the first narration to strengthen the relationship between the speaker and the audience. The speaker only mentions that people of different professions sing while working or on the way to work, but doesn't say much about how he feels. Involving "I" in the narration can bring the audience into the speaker's mind and imagine the scene for themselves. The diction of the poem is simple and direct. Throughout the poem there is not a single new word. There are only trade names such as “carpenter” and “lumberjack”. Reading the poem is like chatting with an acquaintance and talking about what's happening in the neighborhood. It's simply describing familiar life as if we stayed at home and heard our mother singing while doing the dishes. The tone of the poem is happy and optimistic. The poem paints a joyous picture of people singing happily in different places. Carpenter or boatman, outdoors or indoors, everyone is happy with their work and even women are satisfied with household tasks, however trivial they may be. The last line “Singing with open mouths” clearly shows their joy because it is an act that one is likely to do when they are happy. Additionally, most of the adjectives in the poems, such as “comrade, sturdy, friendly” in line 10, are complimentary. The literary devices are parallelism and metaphor. When the speaker narrates the song of different types of people, the sentences are lined up in parallel. For example, lines 3, 4 and 6 use the structure “le+ (the name of the profession) +like…”. Metaphor is the most important literary device in the poem. The title itself is a metaphor. “Singing America” actually means “the American people who sing.” People from the listed fields refer to people from all walks of life while "mother, young wife and daughter" refers to women of every age group or all women in another word. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. .Get a custom essay now from our expert writers.Get a custom essayPersonally, the poem praises the optimism of ordinary, working-class people and shows us the happy life in America. The main goal is to promote an important American spirit or belief, individualism. In verse 9 “Each singing what belongs to him and no one else” illustrates that each person is unique and that what he has is independent of that of others. More importantly, the poem conveys another uniquely American spirit: “from rags to riches with hard work.” Since the founding of the country, it has been believed that every,.