Melting pot
...day America is called a melting pot of people and cultures. That is because of the great immigration to America, after the American revolution. People from all over the world came to America to pursue “the American dream”. The second stanza recites different names from different parts of the world; Johann, Jan, Juan, Giovanni and Ivan. It says that they all came to America and got their name changed to John (a typical American name), and become American. In real life, when people immigrated to America, they usually took a different name or made theirs shorter to be more American. I think he mentions it in the poem to show that most people were accepted as Americans. In the third stanza he tells about Sam, watching the people coming in to America and wondering why they are aloud in, and not him. He was there even before they came, “but was tossed out before he passed the brim.” Sam represents many people; anyone who have not been accepted or let in to the American society. Because of the writer and choice of comparisons in the poem, I believe Sam represents the Blacks. The blacks, former slaves, had been in America for hundreds of years before the immigration began, but still they were not accepted as Americans. They were Afro-Americans. The fourth stanza says that every time Sam tried to come in, he was thrown out again. It means that every time the blacks tried to “come in”, and be accepted by the American society, they were rejected. They were alienated because of their black skin and history in the c...