Question

National mythologies are made up of stories and literary works that advance a nation's values and ideals, celebrate its heroes, and commemorate its defining events. How does Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's "Paul Revere's Ride" do each of these things? Cite specific examples from the poem in your response.

Answer 1

Commemorating a defining event.

"Listen, my children, and you shall hear Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere, On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-Five: Hardly a man is now alive Who remembers that famous day and year."