American spirit of free expression and individu-
alism. Ginsberg also wrote in free verse, with
dependence on imagery and direct language—
and in fact, Ginsberg shared Youssef’s admira-
tion for Whitman. In ‘‘A Supermarket in Cali-
fornia,’’ Ginsberg introduces Whitman as a
character with whom he interacts. The speaker
of the poem begins by addressing Whitman and
telling him that he was thinking of him. The
speaker also self-referentially says that he was
walking down the street in search of images. The
speaker is in an urban setting at night, and the
images are of shopping, neon, streets, cars, and a
grocery store. Toward the end of the poem, the
speaker asks Whitman if they will dream of
America, describing it as lost. He even asks
Whitman (with a nickname that refers to his
beard, just as Youssef referred to Whitman’s
beard in ‘‘America, America’’) about the Amer-
ica he once knew. In this poem, Ginsberg
describes America as filled with superficial
things, such as the items in a grocery store and
neon signs. He seems to be searching and even
longing for a stronger sense of America. He feels
that America is lost and reaches out to someone
he admires to ask about America in the past.
Ginsberg’s most famous—and most
controversial—poem is probably ‘‘Howl,’’ in
which he lashes out against the craziness that he
claims has destroyed the great minds of his gen-
eration. The poem is chaotic and filled with
images, many disturbing. The America described
in this poem is one that is not at all peaceful, being
filledwithdrugs,alcohol,censorship,andvio-
lence. The landscape of the poem is urban, but
not the peaceful setting of ‘‘A Supermarket in
California.’’ Here, it is harsh, imposing, and over-
whelming. Ginsberg describes tenement roofs,
subways, hotels, cemeteries, bridges, meat trucks,
and skyscrapers. In the second part of the poem,
there is one question mark after the first statement,
and exclamation points follow for the rest of
the poem. The effect is unnerving and frantic.
Although this poem is not specifically about
America, there are numerous references to the
New York City setting (the Brooklyn Bridge, the
Empire State Building, Chinatown) throughout
the poem. Because the speaker refers so often to
the external world, and because specific references
aremadetoanAmericancity,thereadercannot
help but conclude that a lot of the madness is
American-made. The speaker sees America as
claustrophobic, chaotic, permissive, and stifling.
Although Ginsberg’s speaker is not criticizing the
military or politics of America, he is very critical of
the culture and people of America.
Carl Sandburg is regarded as a uniquely Amer-
ican poet who wrote from an American perspective
as an observer of his land. Unlike Ginsberg or
Youssef, Sandburg is not a critical voice against
America but a respectful observer of it. In ‘‘Hope
Is a Tattered Flag,’’ Sandburg writes a series of
metaphors to describe hope. Like Youssef, Whit-
man, and Ginsberg, he is writing in free verse, but
the structure is held together by each line’s being a
new metaphor. While Ginsberg depicted in ‘‘Howl’’
a landscape that was very urban and stressful, Sand-
burg creates one that is more sweeping and comfort-
ing. He describes a rainbow, the evening star, the
coal mines and steelworks, blue hills, a car sales-
room, a radio bringing music from all over the
world, the Salvation Army, spring, and a skyscraper
that is empty and therefore peaceful. Sandburg’s
America is first and foremost hopeful; irrespective
of the geography, he sees hope everywhere. His
depiction is of a nation where people are content
in their daily lives, similar to Whitman’s depiction.
However, Sandburg focuses on the landscape and
the external world, whereas Whitman focuses on
the people who populate and bring life to that
world. All of this stands in contrast to Youssef’s
depiction of America; on the other hand, parallels
can definitely be found between the way Sandburg
perceives America and the way Youssef perceives
pre-sanctions Iraq. Particularly in Youssef’s last
section, the tone echoes that of Sandburg.
Aside from a foreigner’s view of America
and several native views, what might an immi-
grant’s view of America be? Marilyn Chin’s fam-
ily came to America from Hong Kong, led a
humble existence, and tried to make the oppor-
tunities of America available for their younger
generation. Chin became a poet who grapples
with issues of dual identity and self-exploration.
In ‘‘How I Got That Name,’’ she writes openly
about her identity as an American and as a Chi-
nese. She tells the reader outright that the poem
is about assimilation. Her birth name was Mei
Ling Chin, but her father’s obsession with Mari-
lyn Monroe led him to rename his daughter on
the way to America. He not only bought into
American popular culture but even wanted his
daughter to begin assimilating right away. While
this assimilation is to a degree necessary and
makes life easier, it also complicates identity
issues. In her poem, Chin strikes back at
stereotypes and imagines a deity seeing herAmerica, America