EE Cummings
The word choice in ee cummings' "god america I" specifically directs the reader to the sarcastic overtones in the poem, in particular his criticism of American patriotism. The reader can understand the poem better when he or she understands that many of the words are intended as sarcasm. This shapes his argument in a more critical light. Written in 1926, the poem conveyed cynicism at a point in time when America's economy was booming and patriotism was running at a high after the Great War, but cummings saw that there were still a lot of reasons to make the case that blind patriotism was unwarranted.
In the opening line he states "next of course to god america…," showing two key elements of sarcasm immediately. The "of course" is a flippant reaction to the need to "of course" love god, because that is a given in American society at the time. Whether his lack of capitalization on "god" and "america" is intended to downgrade them to the status of regular nouns or is simply a reflection of his style -- as in the way he renders his own name -- is something that is left for the reader to decide. Regardless, when he adds "and so forth" in the second line, it becomes clear that he is showing disregard as well for the idea that America should be loved unconditionally. He is setting the tone here for a poem that challenges the idea of blind patriotism.
In the middle section, he makes some interesting word choices that affect the...
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