Early 20th century Literature

Tristan Francois

Languages (Carl sandburg)

• This poem by Carl Sandburg is about the different ways o vocal communication that people use on a daily basis and how older languages are sometimes forgotten as new ones are used more frequently or are reinvented by new generations and become more popular. This poem was influenced by the new wave of immigrants entering other countries such as America, bringing their own dialects or languages as their races or nations influenced each other.

In the early 20th century, a lot of people immigrated to different countriesm one of them being the united states.

The river merchants wife: a letter (Ezra Pond)

• This poem is about a young girl who gets married at the age of14,which was acceptable in Chinese culture at the time. This was the tradition, and after two years in her 16th year, the husband left her to go on sea Towards the end of the poem the wife states that she would like her husband to let her know if he is coming home. This poem is a reflection of the events of the early 20th century because communication wasn’t as advanced as it is now, and writing letters still was a common way to communicate. In Chinese culture, getting married at a young age such as 14 was acceptable ,making this literary piece a reflection of the early 20th century

Child marriage was very common in china, some young children getting married as young as 14,or younger.