Comparing My Arkansas And Langston Hughes

For a long time, poems and books have been written as a way of expressing feelings, telling stories and criticizing problems of the society or the world in general. In the three poems that I will be analyzing we can see all of those. They were written by really talented American poets. For the first one, Gary Soto, a 64 years old, white, Californian man, who had a great formation and success with his poems. Langston Hughes, the author for the other two pieces, was born in Missouri and died when he was 65 in New York. He portrayed the black life in America and was one of the leaders of Harlem

Ava Marie DuVernay was born on August 24, 1972 in Long Beach, CA to the late Darlene Maye Joseph Duvernay Jr. but she was raised by her mother and stepfather Murray Maye, she was the oldest of five children, she grew up in Lynwood California and Compton California. As a little child she loved music, she always said she was going to work in the music industry. When she started high school in 1986 that when she lost her dream of working in the music industry, she attended saint Joseph high school, she graduated in 1990 after that she went to the university of California and graduated with a double- major in English and African American in she also graduated with a bachelor of arts in 1995.

Langston Hughes was someone who never gave up on his dream. He was an African-American born in Missouri in 1902. He received his education at Columbia University and later went on to go to Lincoln University. Although he is most well known for being a poet, he held a variety of other jobs ranging from a busboy to a columnist in his early years. In the 1920s America entered the Harlem Renaissance, a time of appreciation for black heritage. It was at this point in history that he became an important writer. The reason he was so important to this time in history is because his writing, “offers a transcription of urban life through a portrayals of the speech habits attitudes and feelings of an oppressed people. The poems do more, however, than

James Mercer Langston Hughes was born in 1902 in Joplin, Missouri. He grew up mainly in Lawrence, Kansas but also lived in Illinois, Ohio and Mexico. Constantly having to travel he wrote his poem that would make him famous, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”. Having different expectations his parents slit up resulting in him living with his maternal grandmother.

Langston Hughes uses both Harlem and The Negro Speaks of Rivers to evoke responses from his readers. Both of these poems are profound in and of themselves when simply read given the political and racial tensions at the time, but when read and digested, they can speak to any race, creed, or color. The use of figurative language in both of these poems is what makes them so easy to identify with. He uses blood, deep rivers, rotten meat, and other nouns to allow the reader to process what each of his or her own rotten meat or deep river is. Interestingly enough, when read passionately, the reader could get lost in his or her own story, but it is of upmost importance to remember that Hughes is chronicling the story of African American plight in such a way that allows anyone to identify with it. It is through this identification that allows anyone to develop pride and sensitivity for Hughes and his people.

Langston Hughes and Claude McKay share similar qualities in their respective poems “I, Too, Sing America” written by Hughes and “America” written by McKay. These poems, though different and unique in style, share common characteristics that make each poem a classic piece of American literature. Hughes and McKay, both African American males, were very notable during the Harlem Renaissance period. Both writers express their views on their individual African Americans perceptions in America in these poems, through their use of diction, tone, theme.

In today’s society we face a lot of issues, but there is one issue that stands out to me most. Which these two poems address, that is injustice towards other race in America. In Langston Hughes “I Too” and “The Weary Blues” the trouble of unjust towards African Americans, weigh on the speaker’s mind. Each poem reflecting on the same issue just a little bit differently.

The poetry of Langston Hughes, the poet laureate of Harlem, is an effective commentary on the condition of blacks in America during the 20th Century. Hughes places particular emphasis on Harlem, a black area in New York that became a destination of many hopeful blacks in the first half of the 1900ís. In much of Hughes' poetry, a theme that runs throughout is that of a "dream deferred." The recurrence of a"dream deferred" in several Hughes poems paints a clear picture of the disappointment and dismay that blacks in America faced in Harlem. Furthermore, as each poem develops, so does the feeling behind a"dream deferred," growing more serious and even angry with each new stanza.<br><br>To understand Hughes' idea of the"dream deferred," one

I am that girl in the back of the room who will never be described as an outgoing individual. My presence does not come off as that of the most popular kid. I can walk into a room and no one will notice I am there. I was an average kid in high school: I got decent grades, watched the same shows as my peers, celebrated the same holidays, etc. I seemed to fit in on the outside that which makes me different was unnoticeable. Both Langston Hughes and I are different from our peers, we are considered outsiders. Hughes is considered an outsider because of his race. I was an outsider because of my legal status and lack of social security number. Hughes’ status as an outsider is made evident through his daily route to from school. My status as an outsider was evident through the process of applying for college.

Langston Hughes was a successful African-American poet of the Harlem renaissance in the 20th century. Hughes' had a simple and cultured writing style. "Harlem" is filled with rhythm, jazz, blues, imagery, and evokes vivid images within the mind. The poem focuses on what could happen to deferred dreams. Hughes' aim is to make it clear that if you postpone your dreams you might not get another chance to attain it--so take those dreams and run. Each question associates with negative effects of deferred dreams. The imagery from the poem causes the reader to be pulled in by the writer's words.

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.

"Life is hard, but accepting that fact makes it easier." This common phrase clearly states a harsh fact that Rev. Dimmesdale, a character in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, had to face. In this story of deception and adultery set in the Puritan era, Hawthorne introduces Dimmesdale as a weak and cowardly man who refuses to take responsibility for his actions.  The Rev. Dimmesdale is a transitional character in that he is, at the beginning of the novel, outwardly good but inwardly deceitful and by the end of the novel he becomes both outwardly and inwardly truthful.

Hughes placed a particular emphasis on Harlem, an area in New York that was predominately Black, which became a Mecca for many hopeful blacks in the first half of the 1900's. Hughes has a theme in most of his poetry, in other words his writing style was to write poetry that is called "dream deferred". His use of a "dream deferred" focus in several poems paints a vivid picture of the disappointment and dismay that blacks in America faced in Harlem. Furthermore, as each his poems develop, so does the feeling behind a "dream deferred," his words make the reader feel the growing anger and seriousness even more at each new stanza.

One poem I chose from Langston Hughes that grabbed my immediate attention is his poem “The Weary Blues”. This poem written by Hughes is very powerful to me and expresses a deep message within for all Americans during that time; double-consciousness is notable all throughout the entire poem. Langston Hughes, who was one of the main focal points of figures of the Harlem Renaissance, tries to remain conscientious to his African-American roots in his foundation. His poem “The Weary Blues” is the perfect example of double-consciousness. The author of the article places an immersed question: Was Langston Hughes able to overcome the “double-consciousness” and take the pot luck with African origins and roots, or did he also not know how to manage to escape from the assimilation in the melting-pot of the American culture? Reading the poem from him, he actually provides the answer, which he states that the poet succeeds in promoting the “folk” (Black) tradition, having to compromise with the compulsory framing into American (White) reality of the form and the content of the subject.

The poems “ I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” and “Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou are both poems that speak on the issues of the mistreatment of African Americans, and how these challenges were created simply by the color of one’s skin and overcome. While the poems “Mother To Son” and “ Dreams” by Langston Hughes refer to the hopes of African Americans for a better standard of living, and the consequences of departing from these dreams of bettering themselves. This comparison of these four poems is important because all four aim to better society for African Americans, and inform the population struggles that they maybe be able to relate, and provide them with the inspiration to keep pushing forward. These poems explain why the desire for equality was so important to African americans at this time, and what they had to go through to get it. I believe that these poems are all used as methods of expression, information, as well as rebellion against the racial in injustice that was suffered for so long.