Curry 1
Elijah Curry
Ms. Dana Conn
LC 300
30 April 2016
American Society
In America corruption can setback our society; despite that, the American people
continue to find opportunities to reach their desires even though they are plagued by
contradictions. Through American society and literature, America is defined for its
diversity and hardworking individuals who often fall prey to corrupt politicians and
hypocrisy.
It takes a lot of hard work to not only become a U.S. citizen but also to live in
America. To be an American citizen, one must complete the citizenship process, which
can take many years. Before being allowed to apply for citizenship, one must first wait
for five years before the first step can begin. Once fingerprinted one must wait 4-6
months for those results and pay $680 for the 200-question citizenship exam. If one fails
any portion of the exam, he can retake after waiting another 4-5 months. If one fails for a
second time, he must start the process over again (Gislason). This allows a lot of time
consuming, which occurs to hard work. To even get in you have to really try and you
have to study hard which is not easy. An example of hard work from literature is Walt
Whitman’s “I Hear America Singing” when “the boatman [is] singing what belongs to
him in his boat, [and] the deckhand [is] singing on the steamboat deck” (Whitman 510).
Curry 2
Not only does this show hard work, but it explains how the world is split into different
categories and different job opportunities. It explains how the boatman is the driver: the
boss. The leader is the one who everyone listens to and is the one who runs the ship.
Taking care of all the passengers and crew members is a lot of hard work. The deckhands
are the workers who listen to the boss and do as he says. They follow the orders, keep the
ship running, and take care of the passengers to keep the ship flowing smoothly.
Most people who leave their home countries have a reason for coming to
America, and it is hard work making citizenship status happen. If they never leave their
countries and try, they will never have the opportunity to live better life. The system
makes it very difficult to become a citizen while they take people’s money and kills their
