Comparing Langston Hughes And Walt Whitman's Work

Upon first glance the differences between Hughes and Cullen seem very clear. Hughes writes in rhythm, while Cullens writes in rhyme, but those are just the stylistic differences. Hughes and Cullen may write poems in a different style but they both write about similar themes. The time they wrote in was during the Harlem Renaissance, a time period when African Americans were discovering their heritage and trying to become accepted in the once white dominated society. The African Americans had their own cultures and their own style of music and writing but they wanted everyone to know they were still human, that they were still American, even though the differences in color were

The well known poet Langston Hughes was an inspiring character during the Harlem Renaissance to provide a push for the black communities to fight for the rights they deserved. Hughes wrote his poetry to deliver important messages and provide support to the movements. When he was at a young age a teacher introduced him to poets Carl Sandburg and Walt Whitman, and they inspired him to start his own. Being a “darker brother,” as he called blacks, he experienced and wanted his rights, and that inspired him. Although literary critics felt that Langston Hughes portrayed an unattractive view of black life, the poems demonstrate reality. Hughes used the Blues and Jazz to add effect to his work as well as his extravagant word use and literary

No two poets have the same exact influences when they begin writing. William Wordsworth and Langston Hughes grew up in different times and lived quite different lives. When you compare the poems, “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” by William Wordsworth and “Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes, you can see they had unique influences in their writing. The poems may seem quite different but they also share some similarities. Hughes and Wordsworth use two different styles to develop a similar topic. The poems have similarities and differences in their structure, tone, ideas, and literary elements used in the poems.

In the early part of the 20th century writers became more artistic. A modernist approach could be seen in many artist works. The African American writers during this era could be seen as aggressively self-conscious, divided, and vigor. Yet, many were just trying to figure out who they were as a person, and how they fit in the north. The Harlem Renaissance paved a way for these African American writers to emerge. Urban culture became visible, and many writers begin expressing themselves. Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston are two modernists who exposed the beauty of the African American Culture. Therefore, there artistic abilities and cultural experiences supported them in identifying themselves through short stories and poems.

        One of the most noticable similarities between the two pieces of poetry, "I Hear America Singing", and "I, Too, Sing America", is the theme of unity. Both poems express what America is, and that is the people in America. Whitman's poem however, doesn't include blacks in his poem, but all other kinds of people. Hughes', poem makes it so that he is included. For example, Whitman's poem celebrates, "The carpenter singing his as he measures his plank or beam,

The two poems also share a lot of similarities. The first and most obvious similarity is the titles. The two titles "I Hear America Singing" and "I, Too, Sing America" both have America singing, or singing about America. In the two poems the poets talk about what they think America is at the time they lived. In Walt Whitman`s he talks about how Americans work together and do good at their jobs to make a great country. In the poem by Hughes he talks about what is wrong with how Americans think discrimination is right and he wants America to be like the way Whitman described it which is Americans helping each other build and sustain their country. The two poets have a lot of love for their country and really want to see America as a safe and unified country.

“When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer” by Walt Whitman is the recollection of a speaker that attended an astronomer’s lecture only to be bored and leaves the room to enjoy the stars without scientific analyzation hindering their natural beauty. On the other hand, “324” by Emily Dickinson demonstrates the role of nature in the speaker’s personal connection to religion and God instead of attending Church and sermons. Although their topics seem so unlike, the poetic devices within them have both similarities and differences. Whitman’s and Dickinson’s poems bear many differences, including structure, meter, and rhyme, while remaining alike in their use of imagery to convey like attitudes towards traditionalism and nature.

The survival of the Black American family is a revolutionary act. The system of slavery purposefully separated and destroyed black families. Yet, in the face of obstacles, the Black family as an institution survived. Langston Hughes and Robert Hayden show the power of connection, love, and learning between the Black parent and the Black child. Many Black poets write about the Black experience in America, but few capture the interactions between Black parent and Black child the way Langston Hughes and Robert Hayden do in their poems “Mother to Son” and “Those Winter Sundays”, respectively. Langston Hughes and Robert Hayden use metaphors and imagery to portray the lessons Black children learn from Black parents.

While Walt Whitman was trying to start a writing career, he attended a lecture held by Emerson; Emerson’s lecture was about how we as Americans need to start our own ways of writing because we focus too much on European style (Permenter). Take a look at Whitman and everything that he accomplished. Although he was not the first American poet, he was one of the first famous American poets. His Leaves of Grass “represented a revolutionary departure in American literature” (2992), meaning that the poem and its ideas were new to the Americans. He also “opened the field of American and ultimately of modern poetry” (2992). Whitman’s actions are truly what American and American culture stands

Two of the most talented African American poets of the twentieth century were Langston Hughes and Maya Angelou. This is strange to consider because Hughes was a 1920s icon, while Angelou passed away just a few years ago. They both played major roles in the Harlem Renaissance and in civil rights. Though they are from different time periods, Langston Hughes and Maya Angelou are very comparable.

I really liked Whitman's use of imagery, but I did not consider his writing from a more holistic aspect. I think you wrote it best, that Whitman seems to favor the deeper meanings in life over the temporary. After reading your post, I think Whitman talking about the atoms that make up his physical body and that he will return to the grass that he loves supports your idea that Whitman has a desire for something more than a temporary and materialistic existence.

What is the American dream?, Is it a goal, or a belief?. Many people have their very own definition of the American dream. from being proud or patriotic to being traditional or ordinary of the idea but we all have some concept of what the American dream is. this essay will address the various ideas of Americans whether you loathe it or admire it. this is certainly true in the poems written by Walt Whitman and Langston Hughes. Both have different perspectives of the “American Dream’.

Langston Hughes was an American poet who wrote many famous poems in 1994. Two of his most famous works “I, Too’ and “My People” have many things in common. The common theme of these poems is that they both talk about how both his people and himself are beautiful.

Both of the poems compare a couple of thing for example there literary devices. In the poem “I Hear America Singing” by Walt Whitman, It expresses that each and every person has his or her own stories. In the poem he uses the word song as a metaphor for story. The tone of voice being used in the poem is joy, pride and independence. The speaker of the poem is basically telling us that the people that make up America and everyone fits in like a puzzle. The poem was initially named the “Epilogue”. This poem is written in free verse witch usually Walt Whitman uses also including short lines and simple words. He does not use numerous stanzas either he keeps his poems in one stanza while langston hughes uses a more organized way of writing where he splits his poems into stanzas. The perspective in I, Too, Sing America is a

Walt Whitman is one of the most established poets of the times. His poems are often ridiculed, but I for one deeply enjoy them. I enjoy them because he is very patriotic toward America, uses common motifs of nature and unity, and uses an expansive vocabulary and tricky metaphors.