The New Colossus 

Thursday 5 September 2019 
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Answer the following questions  

 
When was the poem written? 
 
1883 

 
What was happening in the world around the artist when she wrote the poem? What 
is the context of the poem? 
 
The Statue of Liberty is being built and she was trying to raise money using her poem to 
aid the construction of the pedestal underneath the statue of liberty. The context of the 
poem is to show and convey greatness and represent the liberty of the USA to the people 
of the country; this persuades the citizens to pursue symbol of the statue and will aid the 
effort on building it. 

 
 
What important events/ideas/issues does the poem refer to? 
 
The poem refers ‘Brazen giant’ to the great Colossus of Rhodes, which symbolises helios 
the Greek sun god and their successful victory in defending their country from Cyprus. 
The ‘Sunset gates’ refers to the before 1890 the USA have very open policies on 
immigrants - however after the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which suspended the 
immigration of Chinese labourers and prevented the ones who left the country from 
coming back.  

 
How does the poem reflect the time in which it was written? 
 

 
 
 2 
  

It reflects the patriarchal beliefs of those times where people then still have a very fixed 
mindset of freedom and war, which links with the symbolism of the Statue of Liberty. 

 
 
Read this article 
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/14/us/cuccinelli-statue-liberty-poem.html?auth=
linked-google 
 
Why is this poem still relevant?  
 
The poem illustrates the liberty and immigration from overseas who pass by Ellis Island 
to New York City, therefore showing a welcoming presence to the migrants. The poem is 
also symbolised liberty and diversity for all citizens of the USA; however, Trump's 
administration is trying to manipulating the poem to suggest that the liberty that the 
poet was saying is meant for the liberty of white protestant people. The collective 
consciousness that is represented in contemporary American society is the set of 
nationalist belief that promotes segregation between White protestant Americans with 
other racial groups. This is intensified as Trump has become president, because he has 
brought back the trend of racism and segregation between their own people, indirectly. 
Despite, the reformed to better America of such discrimination that plagued the past, 
Trump has slowly reversed that reform and strengthen that hatred that has been 
abandoned before. Therefore his use of indirect persuasion, through the use of Statue of 
Liberty’s poem by Lazarus, he transcended the original intention to fit the collective 
consciousness of the group that still bear the hatred from the past, to suit their ideology - 
which Trump is a part of too.