"America" poetry analysis

Logan McCormick

Mrs. Parkinson

English 3B

7 March 2016

Claude McKay was a famous and very important writer from the Harlem renaissance that wrote “America” in the 1920’s. Throughout this poem McKay explains his views on America at the time. McKay starts the poem America by saying, “she feeds me bread of bitterness,”(McKay) and then he goes on to say “I love this cultured hell that tests my youth”(McKay). These quotations explain that although America is a very bitter place, he loves the country because it challenges him.

During the Harlem renaissance African Americans were facing both struggle and opportunities. The poem shows this by shifting its tone between the positive and negative connotations of America at the time. Words such as: “darkly”, “terror”, and “malice” support the negative view of America during the Harlem renaissance. As for words such as: “love”, “granite wonders”, and “treasures” show the positive aspect of America in McKay’s point of view at this time.