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= The “Real” American Voice: The Immigrant Experience  = =Although American Literature has tried to represent distinctive American voices and styles that are influenced by social and political history, many groups are still marginalized and under-represented. As a class, we will answer the following questions: = = //How does American Literature from the turn of the century create conceptions of the American experience and identity? What groups are left out of the literature? What is their “story” and how should it be represented?// =



**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 gates 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-tost to me, > I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” > --Emma Lazarus, 1883