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A Comparison Of Maya Angelou And Lanston Hughes

Decent Essays

Angelou’s “Africa” vs. Hughes “Negro”
Maya Angelou, and Lanston Hughes two very different people with very similar views. This essay contains the comparison between the two poets. How they are slightly different, but all around are mainly the same. Throughout history there has been many wrong doings towards African American people. Assault, Segregation, Slavery...These are just a few different things that black people had to overcome throughout the years. Angelou and Hughes are both African American poets known for their contribution within black history, and are also those who have written about the suffering of African Americans. “Africa” written by Maya Angelo is a poem which expresses the grave injustice done to Africa by the Europeans. Whereas “Negro” written by Lanston Hughes is a poem which capitalizes on the history of African Americans throughout time. Even though both of these poems have different focuses, they reveal similarities. Each poem in their own way express the feeling in the way “black people” have been viewed, and what they have had to go through. Angelou, and Hughes talk about these suffering and are able to see a light at the end of a tunnel. They paint a picture to readers that even though they are “Negros” they are still standing, and they will prevail through it all. As readers read these poems they will be able to see each poem tells a different story, which ends up being the same story.

There once was a “sweet …golden” beauty and her name, was Africa. “Africa” is a poem written by Maya Angelou which expresses the grave injustice done to Africa by the Europeans. Through her words Angelou is able to express the pain, suffering, and hope felt by the people of African during this time. The poem speaks to the beauty of Africa, goes into the injustice it has faced, and the hope that it has to one day go back to how it was. Three stanzas hold the words of Angelou, each filled with several literary techniques such as metaphors, rhyming, and personification. These several techniques gives Maya Angelou’s poem a lot of power and effect over the readers. With her constant use of imagery a vivid picture is painted into our minds as readers can see the words she wrote, and feel the pain they

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