Blog #24

My favorite poem was "Innocent Traveler" because its really intense and contains strong emotion. The poem itself shows how chance can really affect what happens in a persons lifetime and how we don't ever really know what lies ahead of us. It tells the story of how a whole family was created but if one change had been made, certain members of that family would not be there. Sharing those experiences. It sends a bigger message of greatness and thankfulness. While reading the poems I began to understand the real struggle of making s life here in America and trying to become part of the american dream. All of the poems together explained the struggles of immigrating to America. Immigrants had the chance to make better lives for themselves and families but it definitely wasn't easy, in fact it was the opposite. Tears were shed when family members died trying to make it to the shores of America. Even when they got here, many didn't feel at home because of the absence of acceptance they received from the American people. Still they worked to make their lives better as they had planned, they took pride in their heritage and kept their cultural traditions strong within the family. Poems send the same messages as memoirs and autobiographies because they all tell personal stories. Each of them compile emotional experiences into words to share messages and experiences with their audience. Poetry is often shorter then memoirs but it can still get the same points across in fewer words. 

I agree with the statement “He is neither a European nor the descendent of a European... Here individuals of all nations are melted  into a new race of men." because America is the melting pot. When immigrants came to America they brought their cultural traditions along but they also took in new experiences from other cultures, melting together both cultures. It's almost as if when immigrants came to America they had additions made, they didn't stay exactly the same. In America many nationalities blossom and you can easily find people from all different backgrounds. Over time they began to mix together and instead of having just Americans or just Italians, there became Italian Americans. Nationalities were combined in America to create German Americans and Mexican Americans. America has changed over time in the fact that the melting pot isn't the same. Today immigrants aren't freely relocating to america as they had been before. Now there are more restrictions and racism between cultures. In some cases immigrants felt the need to "fit in" with the american ways instead of embracing their own culture and bringing traditions here. I still think of America as a canvas, all of the paints represent the cultures blended together to create unique pictures and stories to tell. Each picture made has a different story, created with different colors. No two paintings would be the same, just as no two people are. Paint can be added and mixed to create new colors just as cultures can be mixed to create new people.