Poem Response Final for America by Claude McKay

        "I love this cultured hell that tests my youth", this is a quote from Claude McKay's America. In this poem the speaker shows just how hard it was and still is, to make it in America. In the poem, you see multiple times that the speaker is troubled with their attempt of finding success, but it uses oxymorons to show that they also find the experience a challenge in a good way, and enjoy the ride. Examples of the speaker showing how hard it is to find success in America, is when they say, "Darkly I gaze into the days ahead", another example is when they declare that they "Love this cultured hell that tests my youth", and a final example is when they state that "Her bigness sweeps my being like a flood". These examples show how hard it is to make it in America. And that this poem shows it.
The first example of the speaker showing how hard it is to make in America is when they say "darkly I gaze into the days ahead" (McKay 11). This shows that the journey and the days to success are going to be difficult and grueling. It doesn't show excitement, it shows the determination to find success despite the difficulty and annoyance. It shows the hard work that people had to put in just to get there, let alone what they had to do once they actually got there. McKay shows that people looked with dread into their journey ahead of them once they got to America. This is what this quote from America by Claude McKay showed.  
Another example of McKay showing how hard it was to make it in America was when the speaker declared that they, "Love this cultured hell that tests my youth" (McKay 4). This quote came across as very interesting to me. It shows challenges, and that it tests peoples being but it also uses an oxymoron to show that the speaker was enjoying the challenge. This made me wonder if this poem was about immigration. I thought this as people come to America with thoughts of amazement and brilliance, but then the challenge to succeed is and was incredibly difficult. Even though it's difficult, grueling, scary and annoying, people still feel that love for America and the excitement to be a part of it. In that way many people have and do love the journey to making it in America and this oxymoron between loving this hell that tests youth explains it perfectly. This is another example of how Claude McKay's America shows how bard it is to make it in the USA.
The last example of the speaker in America showing how hard it is to make it in the USA, is when they state that "Her bigness sweeps my being like a flood" (McKay 7). In this quote the speaker shows that America, full of its possibilities, can quickly knock you off your feet but catch up with you in the end, whether good or bad. They show this in this quote by using "bigness" to refer to America. This shows the endless possibilities, the size as well as the overwhelming quality of America. Another thing the speaker does in this quote is say that America "sweeps my being like a flood", by using sweep and flood as the word choice it shows that it can knock you down, and catch up with you in a good or bad way. This is how this quote supports Claude McKay's America and that it's hard to make it in America.
After reading this poem I realized how hard it is to build up a life and success in America. In conclusion Claude McKay's America shows how hard it is to make it in America. There are multiple ways the speaker shows this. One is when they say "Darkly I gaze into the days ahead" (McKay 11), another way is when the speaker declares "I love this cultured hell that tests my youth" (McKay 4), and a third and final line where the speaker shows this is when they state "Her bigness sweeps my being like a flood" (McKay 7). This is what I gathered and thought while and after reading the poem America  by Claude McKay.

Reading Response on 13 Reasons Why

        13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher has many hidden aspects. In the book Hannah Baker, who tragically committed suicide, made tapes with 13 reasons why she killed herself. She filled a box of tapes and sent them to people to pass on, there was an overall of 13 people, these were the people that took a part in her death. During the tapes you really get to know Hannah and who she was as a person. She had her obvious characteristics and characteristics that you have to look around for while reading. I noticed that she takes a huge notice in small details and makes them bigger. There were many parts of the book where I noticed this. Examples of this were when she expanded so greatly on the guy who slapped her butt, and she went so closely into each detail of the Courtney picture. These are examples that show Hannah taking huge notice in the small details.
        One example of Hannah taking notice in the smaller derails is when she expands so greatly on the guy in the candy shop slapping her butt. When I was reading this my automatic thought was "That that would be so annoying. Why is he being so immature?" And I imagined he would just be a small part to a bigger thing. But he wasn't. Although the bigger story she was telling was about a list in best and worst butt where she was voted best, he wasn't a small detail. She spent a number of times going back to that moment and even marked the location on her map. It didn't seem all that important but as Hannah, she dug deeper and hooked that, smaller details, as well as big stories together and made them one huge reason for suicide. This is one example of how Hannah pays attention to small details in big ways.
        Another example of Hannah paying attention to the smaller details is when she was explaining the picture of her and Courtney. The situation was not the nicest, she was being used for a reputation. But the picture was not actually a big part in context. With the thought she put into it you would think it was huge big event but actually, it was a small detail, the end of a story. She made it seem like the biggest part and expanded so much so that it seemed like a big contribution to her death, but really it was just a small addition to the chain. This is a second example of how Hannah looks closely to details and makes them bigger.
        In conclusion Hannah Baker from 13 Reasons Why payed close attention to small details and expanded to make them bigger. There are many parts in the book where you see this. The guy in the candy store slapping her butt and the picture with Courtney were some examples. All in all, Hannah likes to expand on small parts of a big story.