The New Colossus

The "colossus" in the title of the Petrarchan sonnet, The New Colossus, by Emma Lazarus, infers that there is a giant that guards the door to the kingdom so many wish to enter, but in fact, it turns out to be a welcoming by the Statue of Liberty that inspires hope into the author, and presumably, all those who are allowed to enter the United States of America through Ellis Island. From the beginning of the poems first verse it is clear that this giant is not as it seems as it is, "not like the…

Lazarus was a Jew living in New York during the late 19th century. Her ancestors had been expelled from Spain in 1492 under the Spanish monarchs, Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon. Once in the United States her family became more secular but still practiced the main Jewish holidays. In her poem In the Jewish Synagogue at Newport, Lazarus reflects on what life in the new world means to her, her family, and other Jews that have also become more secular over the…

Lazarus the poet of “The New Colossus” paints a vision from inside the Statue of Liberty that expresses the desire of many immigrants to join what America refers to as the greatest country. Lazarus is an active voice for her Jewish background and continues this pattern in several of her writing pieces. Jewish families persecuted by rape, murder, and arson cause Lazarus to form the Society for the…

Since 1886, the Statue of Liberty has stood on Liberty Island as a welcome sign to immigrants entering America. On the base of the Statue of Liberty is the poem The New Colossus, by Emma Lazarus. The poem reads, “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!" This is a reflection of all that America stands for. Today, there is a national…

Emma Lazarus’s sonnet, “New Colossus”, speaks the idea of, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” This quote is etched on the Statue of Liberty, a symbol of freedom for immigrants entering America, a place of hope, of safety. However, in the book Spare Parts, by Joshua Davis, we see a journey of a group of young illegal immigrants from Mexico, who face hardships, fears of being deported, and ultimately success against one of the most prestigious…

It is the idea that anyone can come into America and make a successful life, as long as one works hard enough. Emma Lazarus’ poem, “The New Colossus,” romanticizes Lady Liberty and how she is welcoming to all, especially the poor and the needy. In Lazarus’ work, Lady Liberty seems to take on a Messianic cast, come to rescue the poor masses from the oppressive European nations. Many believed…

The promise that America has is hope for everyone. When immigrants would come to the New World, they had faith that America would give them jobs, freedom, and a better future for them and their family. The Statue of Liberty symbolizes the hope that America gives. The New Colossus a poem by Emma Lazarus explains why the Mother of Exiles was someone that people looked up to. "from her beacon-hand glows world-wide welcome." It didn't matter where the immigrants came from, the statue and America…

In chapter two of “The New Colossus,” written by Marshall Goldberg. Nellie Bly got an offer in the biggest newspaper called “The World” and she had a new assignment which was investigating Emma Lazarus’s death. Nellie Bly was a women journalist, who wrote about the Bellevue Hospital Asylum. Her story made an impact on the practice of journalism and made a change in the asylum. Her work was admired by Pulitzer, the owner of the World, in which she got a byline and got her involved in Emma…

Despite all the social issues and injustices faced in our world today, chasing the American dream is still the fantasy for many. Emma Lazarus’ poem “The New Colossus” and Langston Hughes’ “Let America Be America Again” both address this idea of social mobility, and, more specifically, the dream of those immigrants who seek a home in America for a future of freedom and opportunity. Lazarus’ poem revolves around the meaning of the Statue of Liberty to both native and incoming Americans as a…

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…