Transcript The New Colossus” & “Childhood”

“The New Colossus”
Emma Lazarus
Biographies
Emma Lazarus
Connect to the Poem
Think about a place that evokes vivid memories or
creates strong emotions in you. It could be your old
neighborhood, a relative’s house, or a special place you
have visited.
Freewrite for a few minutes about the place you
selected. Briefly describe it and tell why it makes you
feel the way it does.
Building Background
In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries,
people from around the world immigrated to the
United States. Many came with nothing but the clothes
on their backs and the dream of a better life. Life
during this time was often difficult. Many people had
to work long hours in sickening conditions, and equal
rights for all people had not yet been established.
“The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus is the poem
engraved on the pedestal on which the Statue of
Liberty stands. The Statue of Liberty was a gift given to
the United States by France in 1885. It stands in New
York Harbor and has become one of the most wellknown and beloved symbols of freedom in the United
States.
Literary Element: Sonnet
A sonnet is a poem of fourteen lines. Sonnets usually have
strict rhyme patterns and deal with a single theme, idea, or
emotion. For example, many of William Shakespeare’s
sonnets address the topic of love.
Sonnets are an important and challenging form of poetry. To
identify a sonnet, determine the rhyme pattern at the ends of
lines. Also look for iambic pentameter. An iamb is a pair of
syllables whose first syllable is unstressed and whose second
syllable is stressed (like the word today). Pentameter means
the line has five such pairs of syllables.
As you read the poems, identify the traits that make them
sonnets: Softly tap the rhythm, listen for the end rhymes, and
identify the theme.
“The New Colossus”
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset fates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
Reading Check & Interpretations
In “The New Colossus,” how does Emma Lazarus describe
the Statue of Liberty?
In “The New Colossus,” to what does “the golden door”
refer?
Imagine you are a newly arrived immigrant to the United
States. How would you feel if you saw the Statue of Liberty
for the first time? Explain why you think you would feel that
way.
Which would be more memorable to you: a visit to a historic
national monument, such as the Statue of Liberty, or to a
famous person’s childhood home? Why?