Compare And Contrast Theme For English B And Ballad Of Birmingham

Literature is a big part of all cultures. People acquire a vast amount of information from what is being read. The way they are written and the people who wrote them can change the manner in which values are being seen. Every culture and race is unique it includes language,

Each of these two poems are extremely patriotic and portray the American spirit. After reading these poem the readers typically reaction is having a lot of pride in their great country. In “I Hear America Singing” it describes all the small hard jobs that keeps America running. Such as farmers, mechanics, sailors and many more essential jobs. In “I, Too, Sing America” by Langston Hughes, he talks about how he is not accepted as an American, because he is darker. He thinks this is wrong, because he sings America just like us. There is only one difference between us and that is skin color. Both Walt Whitman, and Langston Hughes were born in America and have a deep love for it, that makes them both American. So a skin color should not keep another human being, from treating them the

When I first read Langston Hughes' poem "Theme for English B", I did not particularly like it. But after reading it a second time and discussing it in class, I came to appreciate the poem on several levels. The way Hughes describes the setting of Harlem/New York is brief, but evocative. He also gives us insight into the thoughts and emotions of the main character, the young "colored" student, and ends the piece with several thought provoking passages.

One of the foremost poets of the Harlem Renaissance was Langston Hughes. Many of Hughes' poems are about the act of writing poetry, justifying African-American poets' right to speak and create verse, which was denied in previous eras. The act of literacy for African-Americans was depicted as a radical, self-conscious act in Hughes' output. This is explicitly seen in Hughes' poem "Theme for English B." The poem very literally portrays a young, African-American man (presumably Hughes himself) being given an assignment by a white teacher to write about himself. The poet is forced into a paradox he is in a white-run institution, using the language of whites, and yet he must speak about himself truthfully:

In Hughes poem “Note on the commercial Theatre” he started off with an angry tone, upset that African American music was used by the whites, but the African Americans didn’t receive the credit for the artistic work: “You’ve taken my blues and gone you sing them on Broadway” (1043). Furthermore, at the end of the poem Hughes does expresses a powerful ending, our culture is beautiful, but you will never be me: “Black and beautiful and sing about me, and put on plays about me! I reckon it’ll be me myself” (1043)! Hughes poems focused on the urban cultures, while Zora Neale Hurston short story “How it feels to be Colored Me” focused on her as a woman who is discovering herself and her worth.

In the poem ,“America”, Claude McKay uses figurative language and diction to create a dark tone, a powerful empowering tone, and an optimistic tone. The theme of double consciousness of African-Americans is supported in the poem and the poem itself also connects to the purpose of the Harlem Renaissance which was to fight back racial hate and stereotypes with black empowerment.

Dudley Randall’s “Ballad of Birmingham” is a look into the effects of racism on a personal level. The poem is set in Alabama during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. The tone of the title alludes to the city of Birmingham as a whole. The poem gives the reader, instead, a personal look into a tragic incident in the lives of a mother and her daughter. The denotation of the poem seems to simply tell of the sadness of a mother losing her child. The poem’s theme is one of guilt, irony, and the grief of losing a child. The mother feels responsible for the death of her child. The dramatic irony of the mother’s view of church as being a “safe haven” for her child is presented to the reader through the mother’s insistence that the young girl

The 1960s were a time when America was extremely racially divided. ¨Separate but equal¨ had recently been repealed, yet people were still holding on to extremely racist views. James Baldwin's essay, ¨Down at the Cross: Letter from a Region in My Mind¨ uses a variety of literary techniques to get his point across. Baldwin often uses pathos, ethos, and similes to convey his emotions and experiences to the audience.

Race is not merely a group of people with same identity, origin and physical characters but it is an issue that involves emotions, opinions and rights. In America, people were and are recognized mainly on the basis of their skin color. This could be best witnessed in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail”. He introduces his arguments against injustice. He provides the reason for being in Birmingham by saying that, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” (__). His thesis awakes the desire to have equal rights for the blacks. Dr. King uses various rhetorical devises such as allusion, ethos, and pathos that appeals emotionally, socially, morally and makes the text relatable and important because his text responds

There are also many differences within the two poems, “ Theme for English B and Let America be America again.” The first poem explains the life of a twenty two year old person who is in school through the eyes of an outside narrator. The narrator describes that he has desires and needs just like anyone else, but that all depends on the color of your skin. It even gets to the point where it’s possible that his opinions that he states are “colored.” (So will my page be colored that I write? – theme for English B.). He later explains that no matter how separated things can be, there is always a connection between people from all walks of life. In the other poem, “ let America be America again” is about what the country stands for but with an ironic twist. Hughes supports this element with examples of metaphor and his monologues reinforce what he states in the poem. (There’s never been equality for me, or freedom in this “homeland of the free”.

Langston Hughes is a famous poet known mostly for his contribution to the Harlem Renaissance. He wrote many inspirational poems that are still read and used for educational purposes. Many of his poems were inspired by his life and his story. One of his many poems entitled “Theme for English B” talks about how his teacher instructed him to write a page about himself and it will be true. In a “Theme for English B”, Hughes uses tone, and characterization to display a relationship between race and writing.

A similarity is that both authors are in a battle of whether or not to express who they are. In “White Lies” Trethewey uses her advantage of being mixed to decide which side she wants people to see. The author uses vivid imagery to paint a picture of racism and moral dilemmas in the South in the late twentieth century through her personal experierence. While in “Theme for English B”, Langston knows that there is no way possible for him to hide that he is black, unlike Trethewey, so he decides to be proud of whom he is. Langston knows that he lives in a double standard world. He realizes that his “black” standard may not meet the “white” standard of his teacher or fellow students. The individuality of the authors played a major role in how they express their differences. Langston seems to be more accepting of the fact that he is different and accepts that. Trethewey lies about who she is and keeps silent to the fact that she is black.

During the 1920’s a new movement began to arise. This movement known as the Harlem Renaissance expressed the new African American culture. The new African American culture was expressed through the writing of books, poetry, essays, the playing of music, and through sculptures and paintings. Three poems and their poets express the new African American culture with ease. (Jordan 848-891) The poems also express the position of themselves and other African Americans during this time. “You and Your Whole Race”, “Yet Do I Marvel”, and “The Lynching” are the three poems whose themes are the same. The poets of these poems are, as in order, Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, and Claude Mckay.

Both Brown and Hughes show the similarities and differences of white men and black men from two different angles and they allow the reader to compare races in different ways. They both show styles of writings that were expressed by poets of the Harlem movement.

Explication Ballad of Birmingham In the poem “Ballad of Birmingham”, by Dudley Randall, many different things can be analyzed. The difference in the two translations; one being a literal translation, telling the true meaning of the poem, and the other being a thematic translation, which tells the author’s theme and symbolism used in his/her work. Another thing that all poets have in common is the usage of poetic devices; such as similes, metaphors, and personification.