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When you hear the phrase "the American people" do you think of a people who are despoiled, alienated, or lost? William Carlos Williams characterizes the American people in this way in his poem To Elsie, which provides commentary on the American people's lost perspective. Through tone and imagery Williams tells of a self-alienating America that has lost perspective of its most treasured ideology, the American Dream, due to its violent and unstable tradition.
Williams' tone is a key component to understanding the message that he wishes to convey to the reader. In the first stanzas of the poem Williams' diction is often general and seemingly flaccid as he tries to articulate his understanding of "the pure products of America go[ing] crazy" (Williams 1-2). Using phrases such as "mountain folk from Kentucky" and "ribbed end of Jersey," Williams puts forth the proposition that this craziness encompasses all Americans from every walk of life (3-5). This flaccid language describes the......

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Approximate Pages: 4 (250 words per double-spaced page)

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