Carl Sandburg, “Chicago”
AssignmentNote: As in previous weeks, this week’s readings include multiple genres, but for this particular discussion we will focus on poetry.On the Perspectives in American Literature site, Paul Reuben claims, “Although the modernist poets do not explicitly concern themselves with gender, race, or class issues, there are exceptions to this statement.” For this assignment, you are asked to disprove his first contention and indicate the exceptions by discussing the gender, race, and/or class issues in any two poems from this week’s reading list. Please remember to show how each poem reflects its period.Your response should be written in 3rd person, consist of at least 400 words, and comport with MLA style and format. Remember to use quoted material from each poem to validate your claims and note that the rules for citing poetry are somewhat different. For information, please see MLA Style – Poetry.To set up your response, do the following:Devote one paragraph of at least 200 words for each poem in which you examine how the poet discusses gender, race, and/or class issues.Discuss the poem and the selected issue(s) in context of their periods.Provide textual examples to support your contentions.Cite all examples using proper MLA format.TWO POEMS THAT YOU LIKE THE MOST:Carl Sandburg, “Chicago”Carl Sandburg, “A Fence”Claude McKay, “If We Must Die”Claude McKay, “Harlem Shadows”Langston Hughes, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”Langston Hughes, “Harlem”Langston Hughes, “Lonesome Place”Langston Hughes, “Bound No’th Blues”Langston Hughes, “Hard Luck”Langston Hughes, “Down an’ Out”Langston Hughes, “Feet O’ Jesus”Please also select at least one of the following prose works from your digital textbook:Theodore Dreiser, “The Second Choice”F. Scott Fitzgerald, “Winter Dreams”Ernest Hemingway, “Big Two-Hearted River: Part I and Part II”John Dos Passos, excerpt from U.S.A—The 42nd ParallelJohn Dos Passos, excerpt from U.S.A.—1919John Dos Passos, excerpt from U.S.A.—The Big Money