Read the excerpt from Emma Lazarus's poem The New Colossus, which is inscribed on the base of the Statue of Liberty. " 'Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!' cries she With silent lips. 'Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.' " Who are the "tired," "poor," "huddled masses" to which the poem refers?

a - Americans who were leaving the country

b - Americans who lived in New York City

c - immigrants passing through Ellis Island

d-immigrants passing through Angel Island

Correct answer:

C - immigrants passing through Ellis Island.

Explanation/context:

Throughout the history of the United States, people have come to this land hoping for a better life for themselves and their families. The lines you quoted come from a plaque at the Statue of Liberty. That statue and the message on the plaque are emblems of America as a place where immigrants can hope for freedom and opportunity.

As the question noted, the quote on the Statue of Liberty plaque, comes from the poem, "The New Colossus," which was written by American poet Emma Lazarus. Lazarus wrote the poem in 1883 as part of an effort to raise money for the construction of a pedestal for the Statue of Liberty.

The "tired," "poor," and the "huddled masses" to which the poem refers are the European immigrants that were passing through Ellis Island, in Upper New York Bay, where the Statue of Liberty is located. These lines, perhaps the most well-known of this famous sonnet - which she wrote in 1883 - summarize the main message of the poem, namely, that the Statue of Liberty, and, by extension, the nation that it represents, is compassionate and warm-hearted, as it proved when it welcomed and gave hope to the millions of immigrants that sailed into the New York harbor at the end of the 19th century and the first decades of the 20th century looking for a better future.