American Pluralism: Poem Analysis

In the course of learning about American Pluralism, we have previously written on a number of primary and secondary prose sources and photographs. This paper investigates new types of sources, investigating attitudes on immigration found in the forms of poetry and political cartoons. While in many ways these can be similar in content to prose and photographic sources, these new forms of primary documents provide some additional information and tone that other documents do not fully capture. Through this media one might grasp more fully the attitudes of the author and the public at the time, in ways mere prose or photographs might miss. The first poem, a sonnet entitled The New Colossus, written by Emily Lazarus in 1883, describes the Statue of Liberty in New York harbor. It begins with a comparison to the Colossus of Rhodes, a massive statue of Helios from antiquity. …show more content…
Each example has a distinct tone, theme, and message. Emma Lazarus’ The New Colossus describes a welcoming, hospitable country who welcome immigrants of any kind with a raised beacon. Thomas Aldrich’s Unguarded Gates evokes a love of how America is, and a deep concern for how immigrants might negatively affect. The Modern Moses, like The New Colossus depicts a welcoming figure, easing the passage of the downtrodden toward a brighter future. And Reluctant Welcome, like Unguarded Gates, urges caution and scorn of immigrants for fear of what baggage they might bring with them. These sources all invoke emotions, from fear to love and nurturing. In this way they communicate attitudes toward immigration in a way that prose might struggle to. However, despite their emotional strength, these forms lack the descriptive strength of other writing. They do not make reasoned arguments, but instead appeal almost solely to emotion. As such they are important to understanding attitudes, but cannot stand on their