The Study of Ideational and Interpersonal

Metafunction in Langston Hughes’ “Let America Be

America Again”
Hadrian Kusuma Asmara
hadrianasmara@gmail.com
English Language Studies of Sanata Dharma University

Abstract
The linguistic study of literature is no different from any other textual description. It is not
a new branch og linguistics but the application of existing theories and methods. This study intends
to deterimine how ideology is expressed in Langston Hughes’ “Let America Be America Again” .
This paper will analyze what kind of transitivity patterns that occurs in the text of the poem. By
examining the transitivity patterns in the text, The researcher can explain how the field of
situation is being constructed. This paper also carries on an interpersonal metafunctions analysis
of the poem of Langston Hughes’ from the Interpersonal Metafunctions, which aims to help readers
understand and evaluate the text through the change of clause mood and the selection of the
subject by the author of the poem. The ideology if discriminaation will explain more by this
research. This reserach offers transitivity analysis that are used to build the story and the reasons
for choosing the process. In addition, it also discusses how to choose the subject and mood of the
poem.

Keywords; Ideational Meatfunction, Interpersonal Metafunction, Let America Be America Again,

Langston Hughes, Ideology

Introduction
In Halliday's System Functional Grammar, language is a social phenomenon that is
concerned with the mechanism of text structure, function, and meaning of language. SFL starts
from an analysis in a social context where the lexico-grammatical choice is formed and built
under the influence of social and cultural contexts. The relationship between language and
society has existed the very beginning in SFL. Halliday, Mcintosh and Stevens (1964) stated that
language is “a form of activity of human being in societies” (p.4); in their book, they devoted all
chapters to ‘Users and uses of language’ (1964, p.75). It is not about the characterization of
language itself, what really makes it important is how the observation is used to investigate the
object of research. Halliday's statement is seen as an indication of the orientation that informs
the development of a SFL research program about language. In this case, observing voicing
productive principles is a reflection that allows SFL to offer 'scientific' descriptions of 'how
language works' by considering 'internal organization' of language and 'external relations' with
phenomena that are very important for their evaluation. This is included in the social semiotic
activities of language which is the study of language and ideological theory which both of them
have a close connection.

Systemic Functional Linguistic develops into a descriptive and interpretive framework

during the work of Haliday and his associates (1994). SFL is very useful to see how language
functions as a strategic meaning-making resource. Halliday explains how simultaneous strings
of meaning are expressed in a clausal structure, this is one of the main contributions in linguistic
analysis (Martin & Rose, 2003). In his contribution, Halliday introduced the intended meaning
into three language functions or three metaphors, namely ideational, interpersonal, and textual.
In these metafunctions, ideational focus on the content of the discourse, what activities are
taken and how participants are described, how they are classified. How people's experience of
reality, material, and symbolic is constructed in discourse is the concern of the ideational. Then,
interpersonal focuses on how language users build, negotiate and take their positions in social
relations and deal with clauses in exchange. While textual focuses on verbal words, especially
the flow of information in a text, and how the speakers construct their message that makes them
fit into the upholding language event.

Langston Hughes’ “Let America Be America Again” is a poem focuses on the idea of an
American dream and how, for some, the impossibility of achieving freedom, equality and
happiness is summarized in that dream. The poem consists of 17 stanzas and a total of 86 lines.
Hughes in the poem outlines the reasons why the real Americans have disappeared. For the
‘minor’ who is oppressed, the reality of everyday existence makes the dream a cruel illusion.
The poem explores the darker fields of life, the history of exploitation, for example, and outlines
the unique struggles of the people who formed America, both black and white.

This paper is a study of "Let America Be America Again" written by Langston Hughes
using Systemic Functional Grammar. The purpose of this paper itself is to find out the ideology
of the author in the poem aided by ideational, and interpersonal metafunctions analysis. This
paper identifies the transitivity processes that are used to build the story and the reasons for
choosing the process. In addition, it also discusses how to choose the subject and mood of the
poem. This paper uses the two metafunctions because of the two metafunctions apperas very
prominently form this text of the poem.

Review of Related Theories

Halliday's SFL (Halliday 1994; Halliday & Matthiessen 2004), emphasizes semiotics,
meaningful language codes and texts and texts, studies functional and situational organizations
of languages in social contexts (Halliday, 1985: 11). It relates to how the speaker produces
intended speech and meaning texts through "general metaphors that connect language to the
outside where the world interacts with and their social role matters. According to SFL, the
language has three ideational, interpersonal, and textual metaphors that are reflected in
network systems with large potential meanings including subnetworks Transitivity, Thing, and
Quality with a series of semantic features specifically for speech production.

The context of the situation provides the idea of metafunctions for Halliday (Halliday,
1978). Ideational is the function of expressing experience and logical content of the text explains
our experience of the outside world in the environment; textual functions are language oriented
and are related to the production of cohesive and coherent texts by arranging and compiling
linguistic information in clauses; and the interpersonal functions among language users relating
to social relations and power, This links the participant's situational role to the discourse
produced. (Halliday, 1981: 328). This method can be parallelized with the grammar categories
of the situation context such as Ideational, Interpersonal, adn Textual.
Review of Related Literature
There are several studies that supporting this paper. The first research is entitled A
Study of Ideational Metafunction in Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness”: A Critical Discourse
Analysis” by Mahya Alaei and Saeideh Ahangan (2016). The researcher has identified
metafunctional patterns of ideation found in the lexico-grammar of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of
Darkness and has noted the author’s use of foregrounding against these patterns to contrast the
racist and imperialistic ideologies being opposed to through the frame narration of the whole
first part by Marlow as the chief character said to be Conrad’s own voice in the process of sailing
and cruising on the Thames in a yawl by the name of Nellie. Second is the research entitled
“Halliday’s SFL and Social Meaning” by Farzaneh Haratyan (2011). This research This study
attempts to explore Halliday’s SFL, transitivity and metafunctions in terms of their implied
social, semantic and functional load such. The third research is entitled “The Interpersonal
Metafunction Analysis of Barack Obama’s Victory Speech by Ruijuan Ye (2010). This research
carries on a tentive interpersonal metafunction analysis of Barack Obama's Victory Speech from
the Interpersonal Metafunction, which aims to help readers understand and evaluate the speech
regarding its suitability, thus to provide some guidance for readers to make better speeches.
The fourth is the research entitled A Comprative Analysis of Two Texts using Halliday’s Systemic
Functional Linguistics by Michael Ruddick. This research compare the two news text using the
Halliday’s SFL.
The contribution of all of the related studies is the theory that used in this paper which
is the used of Systemic Fuctional Grammar by Michael Halliday. The differentiation of this paper
with all the other researches is the data that used in this paper. This paper uses the poem as its
data which is it still has a less research that used the poem as the data to analyze using
Halliday’s Systemic Functional Grammar.

Findings and Discussions

"Let America Be America Again" is a poem consisting of 86 lines included in the total
number of clauses. The text in this poem was chosen to be analyzed based on transitivity
patterns. The clause accepted by Halliday (1985). Of the several clauses in the poem, they are
summed up and streamlined into the type of process, as well as the role and participation of
participants in tables and figures.
The solid analysis of the transitivity of these poem clauses is a relational process which is
the most dominant process in the poem. Then, it followed by process material that invites
several clauses from the poem. Distribution of process types cannot be displayed in table 1.

Table 1.
NO TRANSITIVITY PROCESS FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE
1. Relational 40 68.97%
2. Material 12 20.69%
3. Verbal 4 6.90%
4. Existential 1 1.72%
5. Mental 1 1.72%
Total 58 100.00%

The relational process appears dominant with a percentage of 69.49%. The dominance of
type of process is then filled by the material process which has a percentage of 20.34%. The rest
are two processes, namely verbal process and existential process which have a percentage
below than 10% in their appearance in this poem. Therefore, this part is divided into three
parts, namely the relational process, the material process, and the other processes.

A. Ideational Metafunctions

1. The Relational Process

The relational process that appears in the "Let America Be America Again" poem is the
dominant process that took place at this Langston Hughes' poem. The relational process
appears with a percentage of 68.97%. The processes that occur are divided into three types of
relational processes, which are intensive, substantial, and obsessive. This division is shown by
table 2.

Table 2
No Relational Process Frequency Percentage
1 Intensive 31 77.50%
2 Possesive 5 12.50%
3 Circumstantial 4 10.00%
Total 40 100.00%

From the data above, it can be seen that an intensive relational process dominates the
emergence in the poem. Most of the relational process, (number of percentages), are about the I
character in the poem.

(1) I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart (16)

(2) I am the Negro bearing slavery's scars. (17)
(3) I am the red man driven from the land, (18)
(4) I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek— And finding only the same old stupid
plan of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak (19)
(5) I am the young man, full of strength and hope, tangled in that ancient endless chain
Of profit, power, gain, of grab the land! Of grab the gold! Of grab the ways of
satisfying need! Of work the men! Of take the pay! Of owning everything for one's
own greed! (20)
(6) I am the farmer, bondsman to the soil. (21)
(7) I am the worker sold to the machine (22)
(8) I am the Negro, servant to you all. (23)
(9) I am the people, humble, hungry, mean— Hungry yet today despite the dream.
Beaten yet today—O, Pioneers! (24)
(10) I am the man who never got ahead, (25)
(11) Who made America, (45)
(12) Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain, (46)
(13) Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain, (47)

The sentences show about the character "I" as someone who feels America is not like
America once again. The character "I" always describes itself in the poem. He describes himself
as an oppressed citizen who has not gotten equality and freedom in America, which he feels is
different now.
In some other clauses, there is also how "I" is the people who built America in the past.

(14) Yet I 'm the one who dreamt our basic dream .In the Old World while still a serf of
kings, (27)
(15) Who dreamt a dream so strong, so brave, so true, That even yet its mighty daring
sings In every brick and stone, in every furrow turned That's made America the land
it has become. (28)
(16) O, I'm the man who sailed those early seas, In search of what I meant to be my
home— (29)
(17) For I'm the one who left dark Ireland's shore,And Poland's plain, and England's
grassy lea, And torn from Black Africa's strand (30)

Then, with the number of clauses that show a fair percentage (14 or 46,67%), the
relational process also describes America. The relational process describe America is a dream
for those who are 'minor' and as America is coveted. Like the example below,

(18) Let America be America again (1)

(19) Let it be the dream it used to be (2)
(20) Let it be the pioneer on the plain (3)
(21) Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed (6)
(22) Let it be that great strongland of love, where never kings connive nor tyrants
scheme,that any man be crushed by one above (7)
(23) O, let my land be a land where Liberty, is crowned with no false patriotic wreath, (9)
(24) O, let America be America again— (41)
(25) America will be! Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster death, The rape and rot of
graft, and stealth, and lies, (56)

However, the relational process also describes America as the property of those who are
described as I or oppressed, with the obsessive being shown in the poem,

(26) America never was America to me (5)

(27) It never was America to me (8)
(28) The land that's mine—the poor man's, Indian's, Negro's, ME— (44)
(29) America never was America to me, (54)

Other relational processes describe the objects that are related to America and the I
character, and are as intensive relational processes,

(30) but opportunity is real, (10)

(31) and life is free, (11)
(32) Equality is in the air we breathe. (12)

Next, the relational processes also describe The Millions and you who had a relationship
with I. The Millions and you here refer to the side who opressed the character I. The relational
process of this subject is an intensive type of relational process,

(33) Say, who are you that mumbles in the dark? (14)
 (34) And who are you that draws your veil across the stars? (15)
(35) The millions who have nothing for our pay? (34)
(36) The millions who have nothing for our pay (39)

Last, the other relational processes describe the objects related to America and the
character I, and are circumstantial in nature,

(37) Except the dream that's almost dead today. (40)

(38) The land that never has been yet— (42)
(39) And yet must be—the land where every man is free. (43)
(40) From those who live like leeches on the people's lives, (51)

The other relational processes are about the dream of I of America.

2. The Material Processes

With the number of occurrences of 13 or a percentage of 22.03%, the material processes
are still major processes in the story. In the discovery of the percentage results that have been
found, 7 occurrences of the material processes are mostly related to We, We are meant namely,
the negro, the pilgrim, the poorest worker, and the other oppressed and forgotten. The
distribution of material processes is shown in Table 3.

Table 3.
NO TRANSITIVITY PROCESS FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE
1. We
(The poorest worker, the negro, the 7 58.33%
pilgirm, and etc.)
2. I 2 16.67%
3. The Millions 1 8.33%
4. The poorest worker 1 8.33%
5. The steel of freedom 1 8.33%
Total 12 100.00%

The material processes are the second mostly used to show the reader how the character
We in the poem or those, who are oppressed, dream and hope to bring America into the first
America where equality and freedom still exists for them. With the number of occurence 7 or
58.33%, the poet shows how the We character which also includes the character I has very high
hopes and wants to fight to get America back, as shown in the following sentences

(41) For all the dreams we've dreamed (35)

(42) And all the songs we've sung (36)
(43) And all the hopes we've held (37)
(44) And all the flags we've hung, (38)
(45) We must take back our land again,America! (52)
 (46) We, the people, must redeem ,the land, the mines, the plants, the rivers. The
mountains and the endless plain—All, all the stretch of these great green states—
(57)
(47) And [We] make America again! (58)

The material processes are also used to show what I done before and what I want to do
next,

(48) I came to build a "homeland of the free." (31)

(49) [I]Must bring back our mighty dream again. (48)

The rest of the material processes are used to discover the millions done, the poorest
worker experienced, and the steel of freedom experienced.

(50) The poorest worker bartered through the years. (26)

(51) The millions shot down when we strike? (33)
(52) The steel of freedom does not stain. (50)

The material process that occurred in "Let America Be America Again" was well
implemented and organized. With the subject, most of them focus on the We chracter, which
represents "minor" people. The material process shows clearly how their enthusiasm reaches
their dreams as indicated by the dream and the modality must.

3. The Other Processes

Apart from the relational and material processes that appear in this poem, there are also
other transitivity processes. These processes are the verbal processes, the mental processes,
and the existential process, where each appears with the number 4 or 6.90%, both of the mental
and the existential processes appers with the number of 1 or 1.72%. Sentences (32), (49), (53),
and (55) show verbal processes,

(53) The free? Who said the free? Not me? Surely not me? The millions on relief today?
(32)
(54) Sure, call me any ugly name you choose— (49)
(55) O, yes, I say it plain, (53)
(56) And yet I swear this oath— (55)

In sentence (32), the character "I" asks about the freedom he hasn't actually received, so he
questions that. In (49,53,55), the character "I" shows his courage by challenging the oppressor.
The verbs processes are found using the words say, swear, and call.
Next, sentences (4) show mental processes,

(57) [The pioneer] Seeking a home where he himself is free. (4)

In (4), it shows the subject of the pioneer who occur before in the sentences (3). The pioneer
here means the ‘minor’ ones who search for a home that he could feel the freedom. The home
refers to America.
The last process that is found in the poem is the existential process, which occurs in
sentence (13)
 (58) There's never been equality for me, nor freedom in this "homeland of the free” (13)

The sentence shows the absence of equality for the "I" character in America, the
appointment of the existential process is indicated by to be.

B. The Interpersonal Metafunctions

1. Clause Mood
The mood in Langston Hughes' poetry is practically neatly arranged. The mood in the poem
expresses the ideology of the poem well. The use of different tenses presented in this poem,
there are present tense and past tenses. The choice of mood in each institution reflects the idea
of the poem well.
Like stanza 1.3, and 5 which shows the wishes of the author presented in the present tense.
The Stanza tells about the dream of the author to the real America.

Let America be America again. Let it be the dream it used to be. Let it be the pioneer on
the plain. Seeking a home where he himself is free . (Stanza 1)

Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed . Let it be that great strongland of love,
where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme,that any man be crushed by one above.
(Stanza 3)

O, let my land be a land where Liberty, is crowned with no false patriotic wreath, But
opportunity is real, and life is free. Equality is in the air we breathe. (Stanza 5)

What dream of what America wants is clearly described. Therefore, the dream of the
coveted America is presented in the present tense. The dream is likened to a dream that is being
dreamed of by the character I in the poem.
In addition, the present tense is also used to describe the I character. It tells about who
the I meant in the poem, in a dramatic way.

I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart. I am the Negro bearing slavery's scars. I am
the red man driven from the land, I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek— And
finding only the same old stupid plan of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak. I am the
young man, full of strength and hope, tangled in that ancient endless chain Of profit, power,
gain, of grab the land! Of grab the gold! Of grab the ways of satisfying need! Of work the
men! Of take the pay! Of owning everything for one's own greed! I am the farmer,
bondsman to the soil. I am the worker sold to the machine. I am the Negro, servant to you
all. I am the people, humble, hungry, mean— Hungry yet today despite the dream. Beaten
yet today—O, Pioneers! I am the man who never got ahead,

The vivid description of the character I in the present tense shows who I is here.
Not only describing dreams and who is the character I, the present tense presented in this poem
also shows their hopes,

For all the dreams we've dreamed . And all the songs we've sung. And all the hopes we've
held. And all the flags we've hung.
America will be! Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster death, The rape and rot of graft,
and stealth, and lies, We, the people, must redeem,The land, the mines, the plants, the
 rivers. The mountains and the endless plain—All, all the stretch of these great green
states— And make America again!

The present tense is used in several of the above sentences clearly. The author in this poem
uses the present tense that describes that this is the time for the oppressed to rise to rebuild
America.
Then, not only is the use of the present tense that builds the mood in this poem, the use of
past tense is also very constructive in this poem. The author presents past tense in several
clauses.

Yet I 'm the one who dreamt our basic dream .In the Old World while still a serf of kings,
Who dreamt a dream so strong, so brave, so true, That even yet its mighty daring sings In
every brick and stone, in every furrow turned That's made America the land it has become.
O, I'm the man who sailed those early seas, In search of what I meant to be my home—For
I'm the one who left dark Ireland's shore,And Poland's plain, and England's grassy lea, And
torn from Black Africa's strand. I came To build a "homeland of the free."

Past tense in this poem is mostly found in the dependent clause. It can be seen that the
author wants to explain more about the character "I" here. Past tense is used as an explanation
for the "I" marker, which mostly explains who he was in the past.
The change from the present tense mood clause to the mood of the clause in past tense is
very signify in understanding what the author wants to say in this poem. The message that the
writer wants to convey is that America is no longer the coveted America and how the spirit of
the writer invites those who are oppressed to rebuild America for them.

2. Sentence Subject
"Let America Be America Again" is a poem about the America that has changed. However,
this poem does not only focus on America itself, the character "I" is more dominantly
highlighted as the subject in this poem,

Table 4.
NO Subject Frequency Percentage
1 I 23 39.66%
2 America 14 24.14%
3 We 7 12.07%
4 The millions 4 5.17%
5 You 2 3.45%
6 Equality 2 3.45%
7 Life 1 1.72%
8 Dream 1 1.72%
9 The Steel of Freedom 1 1.72%
10 Opportunity 1 1.72%
11 The pioneer 1 1.72%
12 The poorest worker 1 1.72%
Total 58 100.00%

I am mostly used as the subject of the sentence subjects with the number 24 or 41.38%.
Then, America became the second dominant subject after the first character in this poem. The
rate of appearance of America as a subject is 14 or 24.14%. The pronoun is the most frequent
subjects (7 or 12.96%), and the fourth most frequent subjects (3 or 5.17%). The pronoun You
also occur as a subject with the number 2 or 3.7%. There are four different subjects and they
have the same number or percentage, 1 or 1.85%, in the rest of the subjects.
The highest number of the use of I show the significance of the process how America should
be. I, here, present as the main subject of the poem,

(1) I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart

(2) I am the Negro bearing slavery's scars.
(3) I am the red man driven from the land,
(4) I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek— And finding only the same old stupid
plan of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak
(5) I am the young man, full of strength and hope, tangled in that ancient endless chain
Of profit, power, gain, of grab the land! Of grab the gold! Of grab the ways of
satisfying need! Of work the men! Of take the pay! Of owning everything for one's
own greed!
(6) I am the farmer, bondsman to the soil.
(7) I am the worker sold to the machine
(8) I am the Negro, servant to you all.
(9) I am the people, humble, hungry, mean— Hungry yet today despite the dream.
Beaten yet today—O, Pioneers!
(10) I am the man who never got ahead,
(11) Yet I 'm the one who dreamt our basic dream .In the Old World while still a serf of
kings,
(12) Who dreamt a dream so strong, so brave, so true, That even yet its mighty daring
sings In every brick and stone, in every furrow turned That's made America the land
it has become.
(13) O, I'm the man who sailed those early seas, In search of what I meant to be my
home—
(14) For I'm the one who left dark Ireland's shore,And Poland's plain, and England's
grassy lea, And torn from Black Africa's strand
(15) The free? Who said the free Not me? Surely not me? The millions on relief today?
(16) I came To build a "homeland of the free."
(17) Who made America,
(18) Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain,
(19) Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain,
(20) Must bring back our mighty dream again.
(21) Sure, call me any ugly name you choose—
(22) O, yes, I say it plain,
(23) And yet I swear this oath—

All of these sentences show that I is here as the main subject of this poem. Subject I as a person
who feels oppressed and doesn't feel the coveted America. Subject I here functions as a pronoun
from several characters or characters intended by the author. The characters that are according
to the author are figures who built America.
In connection with America, Hughes also shows America what the pronoun I dreamed.

(24) Let America be America again

 (25) Let it be the dream it used to be
(26) Let it be the pioneer on the plain
(27) America never was America to me
(28) Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed
(29) Let it be that great strongland of love, where never kings connive nor tyrants
scheme,that any man be crushed by one above
(30) It never was America to me
(31) O, let my land be a land where Liberty, is crowned with no false patriotic wreath,
(32) O, let America be America again—
(33) The land that never has been yet—
(34) And yet must be—the land where every man is free.
(35) The land that's mine—the poor man's, Indian's, Negro's, ME—
(36) America never was America to me,
(37) America will be! Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster death, The rape and rot of
graft, and stealth, and lies,

Then, in addition to the two subjects, Hughes also used pronoun We as a substitute for
pronoun I. In this poem, the pronoun We are used as a subject to invite all those who are
oppressed.

(38) For all the dreams we've dreamed

(39) And all the songs we've sung
(40) And all the hopes we've held
(41) And all the flags we've hung,
(42) We must take back our land again,
(43) We, the people, must redeem ,The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers. The
mountains and the endless plain—All, all the stretch of these great green states—
(44) And make America again!

With the use of the pronoun We, Hughes invited them to jointly strive to regain America, which
is no longer what it used to be.
Besides that there is also the subject of The Millions which is directed by the writer as a
person oppressing character I.

(45) The millions shot down when we strike

(46) The millions who have nothing for our pay?
(47) The millions who have nothing for our pay—
(48) From those who live like leeches on the people's lives,

Obviously in the sentences, subject The Millions is addressed to whom. Also, the subject of The
Millions sometimes changed to pronoun You in the following two sentences,

(49) Say, who are you that mumbles in the dark?

(50) And who are you that draws your veil across the stars?

There are several also other subjects that indicate the desire of the subject I in the poem,
such as dream, equality, life, and freedom.

(51) but opportunity is real

 (52) and life is free,
(53) Equality is in the air we breathe.
(54) There's never been equality for me, nor freedom in this "homeland of the free”
(55) Except the dream that's almost dead today.

Finally, there are other subjects occurs in the poem,

(56) [The pioneer] Seeking a home where he himself is free.

(57) The poorest worker bartered through the years
(58) The steel of freedom does not stain.

The dominant use of I and America shows how these two subjects are mutually
sustainable, where I am here as people who are oppressed and who built America in the past.
America here also becomes dominant because it is in accordance with what the writer wants to
say about America which is not as old as it has equality and freedom. Almost all the clauses are
about the subject I.

Conclusion
The poem of Langston Hughes entitled “Let America Be America Again” is consist of 58
clauses. There are five Ideational Metafunction that occurs in this poem, the relational, the
material, the verbal, the mental, and the existential processses. While, the Interpersonal
Metafunctions in this poem focused on the subject-finite and the change of clause mood which
happens in the poem. With those two metafunctions, the researcher present the ideology of the
poem which is told us about how the poet wants to reveal that America is not America which
has equality and freedom inside it.

The use of Systemic Functional Grammar in this poem is useful to reveal the ideology of
the text. The research use two of metafunctions that existed in Halliday’s SFG. This research use
Ideational and Interpersonal Metafunctions in analyzing the poem of Langston Hughes entitled
“Let America Be America Again”. The use of these two metafunctions revelas the structure and
the ideology of the poem. Therefore, Systemic Functional Grammar is a powerful tools to
discover the ideology of the text.

References
Alaei, Mahya. And Saeideh Ahangan (2016). A Study of Ideational Metafunction in Joseph
Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness”: a Criticial Discoursse Analysis. English Language Teaching,
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