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Essay 2 Idea Draft

Working Thesis: Hughes' poem "Let America be America Again" calls readers to return to the values the country was built upon. His poem deserves to be cherished in the literary canon because its message is still relevant in America's current society.

Annotations and Quotations:

  • Universal human themes/reflections of general humanity - The Human Experience 
    • Theme: Dreams 
      • "Seeking a home where he himself is free"
      • "Let America be the dream that dreamers dreamed"
      • "Must bring back our mighty dream again" 
      • "For all the dreams we've dreamed"
    • Theme: Identity of Specific Marginalized Populations
      • "I am the farmer, bondsman to the soil."
      • "I am the worker sold to the machine."
      • "I am the Negro, servant to you all."
      • "I am the people, humble, hungry, mean—"
      • "I am the man who never got ahead, The poorest worker bartered through the years."
  • Cultural References:The land that’s mine—the poor man’s, Indian’s, Negro’s, ME
Essay Outline Draft

  • I. Introduction
    • Thesis
    • Hook
    • Establish and define the canon and discuss what it means to write without labels
    • Discuss why Eurocentrism in literature is problematic
  • II. Body #1 - 
  • Rough Topic Sentence: Hughes poem deserves to be in the canon because its message is relevant to today's American society.
    • American Dream = myth
    • Capitalistic Society
  • III. Body #2 - 
  • Rough Topic Sentence: Hughes poem must be recognized by the literary canon because he speaks for the peoples of Third World Populations.
    • Native Americans "driven"
    • African Americans enslaved
  • IV. Body #3 
  • Rough Topic Sentence: Hughes poem deserves to be celebrated in the literary canon because it is a good piece of literature.
    • Perform analysis of actual literary devices
    • Poetry methods that establish this poem as good
    • Musicality
    • Use of repetition
  • V. Conclusion
    • Closing remarks
    • Further elaborate on what the Literary Canon means
    • Possibly establish a Third World Canon?
    • Discuss ways to combat Eurocentrism in literature and in the literary canon


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