Visions and Reflections of America

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Lawrence Ferlinghetti's "I Am Waiting" is one of the most significant politically motivated poems of the 20th a work of radical social criticism from the 1950s that affords its readers detailed insights into America's Cold War culture and portrays the unique historical moment when the United States gained global power. This study of "I Am Waiting" conducts a close reading of the poem's poetic form, contextualizes it within the socio-cultural and political conflicts of the 1950s, and traces its intertextual references throughout American history.