Heather Ahern Huish
October 5, 2014
Activity 1.3 Writing Prompt
Even though it’s kind of broken right now, the promise of America is still one of the best dreams in the world. In comparison to when the United States was receiving wave upon wave of immigrants (Lazarus’s “wretched refuse” from The New Colossus), our nation is not currently ready or willing to receive new immigrants. Our economy is not booming, as it was when the Statue of Liberty was dedicated in 1886, nor are the American people open to receiving hordes of newcomers. However, the one part of our history that is still the same is that the only limiters that Americans have are their own dreams and willpower to succeed.
Emma Lazarus wrote The New Colossus in 1883, and it was then placed on a plaque at the base of the Statue of Liberty. It is a sonnet with an unusual mix of warmth and depression. When Lazarus writes, “The wretched refuse of your teeming shore, Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” in lines 12 - 14 of the sonnet, readers take new pride in their country because when they read this sonnet, they realize that America has always believed that once people arrive here, they are safe.
(This is the beginning of the text, as I haven't included the illustration or the speech)