`` Dreams `` By Langston Hughes Essay

The beginning of the 20th century many African Americans migrated from the south to the north in what we call today, the Great Migration. Many African Americans found themselves in a district of New York City called Harlem. The area known as Harlem matured into the hideaway of jazz and the blues where the African American artist emerged calling themselves the “New Negro.” The New Negro was the cornerstone for an era known today as the Harlem Renaissance (Barksdale 23). The Harlem Renaissance warranted the expression of the double consciousness of the African Americans, which was exposed by artists such as Langston Hughes. James Mercer Langston Hughes was an African American poet, journalist, playwright, and novelist whose works were

In the poem “Harlem”, Hughes expresses the overall position of African Americans during the 1900's. America, which is known as the “land of opportunity”, where dreams are suppose to come true; was not the case for African Americans during that time. Even though they we’re obviously "free," poverty, racism and other social injustices still existed; making it difficult and also impossible to actually reach those dreams—therefore, their dreams had been "deferred". In this poem Hughes really expresses the frustration of African Americans at that time, and allows me to relate buy giving me reactions of having my opportunities in life possibly robbed from me. The poem raises various questions to me like what happens to our dreams if we put them on hold? Do we give up? Do we become angry? Do we become complacent? To me, the last line is very powerful, because it indicates the fact that people can only be held down so long before they revolt, rebel or even

One of Langston Hughes’ most common and popular themes is that of the American Dream. Langston Hughes portrays the theme of equal hope for all people in America in his poem “Evenin’ Air Blues” (Johnson 60). Through the theme of the American Dream, Langston Hughes is ultimately saying that life should be better, richer, and fuller for everyone, especially the suppressed African American people. Langston Hughes writes about the promise that every person in America should have an equal opportunity to achieve success through hard work (Johnson 60). Hughes is expressing

Thirdly, Hughes writes a message of dreaming big in Dream Variations. “To fling my arms wide in some place of the sun…That is my dream” (Lines 1-2 & 9). Hughes dreams of being able to freely walk among white people, but is unable to do so due to the time era. That is why he continually dreams. C. Dale Young once said, “You are more and, sometimes, you are less.” In certain areas of America during this time period, those of color were treated fairly well, whereas in other areas, blacks were treated as though they were less than human! Sometimes people mean more in one place than they do in another place. That, though, is why it is so important to continue to dream. People need to push to make their dreams become a reality. Hughes pushed himself to his fullest extent in his life, and now he is one of the most respected writers in American history. All of this shows that we must never stop

magine America with no rules, government, or any type of structure . This is thanks to Thomas Jefferson and the founding fathers for creating , The Declaration Of Independence . Although the Jefferson and the founding fathers anticipated a better country after the creation of the Declaration Of Independence , America has not fully fulfilled these hopeful ideals. However America has come a long way since then , we still have work to do as a nation .

Langston Hughes’ dedication to depicting the bona fide aspects of black life leads him to discuss struggle. One of the most omnipresent themes in black life, at the time of Hughes, is the constant struggle they face every

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

The Harlem Renaissance was a time where creativity flourished throughout the African American community. At the time many African Americans were treated as second class citizens. The Harlem Renaissance acted as artistic and cultural outlet for the African-American community. The Harlem Renaissance, otherwise known as “The New Negro Movement” was an unexpected outburst of creative activity among African Americans In the poems Harlem by Langston Hughes, America by Claude McKay, and Incident by Countee Cullen all use frustration and hope as reoccurring themes to help empower the African-American population and realize the injustices they face day to day. The Harlem Renaissance was a period marked by great change and forever altered the

Langston Hughes, a gentleman of color who was a leader to the African American community is a poet, who according to an editor of “Harlem Renaissance” portrayed the truth rather than a sugar-coated version of how life was in Harlem, the hub of the black community. Langston Hughes’ poem “Harlem” describes how colored people live in poverty, in the poem “Dream Variations” Hughes’ dream was symbolized by nature, and in the short story “Slave on the Block,” racism and life of a domestic slave are shown from his point of view. The time when these pieces of work were created was an era when black artistry was opening the eyes of white America to how poorly Afro Americans were treated; this movement was called the Harlem Renaissance, as said in “Harlem Renaissance”. In this movement, Hughes was a force of nature that pursued equality among all races, yet still maintaining integrity and pride. White America was not a welcoming place for people of melanin, white people were not sentimental or generous with them so people say it was more described as, “The cold, uncaring atmosphere of the United States were for blacks discrimination, racism, and often brutal treatment were a feature of everyday life” (“Dream”). Not only did Hughes have to endure the pain of this treatment but so did all colored people.

Travel back in time several centuries ago to the 1900’s and imagine how different life would be – oil lamps/candles, outhouses or one toilet shared between several people, movies known as “flickers” and lasting no longer than 10 minutes, no television, ice boxes as opposed to refrigerators, baseball being the main sport that people followed as opposed to football, and unless you were a White male, your lifestyle was not filled with many opportunities or rights. With slavery being abolished not too long ago, discrimination and segregation was still widely accepted and practiced. Life was much different back then. Although people were heavily being judged for the color of their skin, a movement called the Harlem Renaissance had a major influence on people’s views on African-Americans across the United States. The Harlem Renaissance created a new Black cultural identity through literature, music, theater, art, and politics. One of the leading voices was Langston Hughes, a writer whom wrote realistic portrayals, both suffering and victories of African-American lifestyles through poetry, short stories, novels, and plays. Through short, effective, and expressive words, Langston Hughes’s poetry promoted African-American culture and also addressed the oppression and injustice of African-Americans.

Harold Bloom notes that this movement brought an extraordinary creative activity in not only writing but also art and music. It redefined the expressions of African Americans and their customs. The Harlem Renaissance affected people then and still affects people today. It gives something to artists to write or even draw about and to show others the struggles they have gone through. Langston Hughes’s poem “Harlem” is just one of the thousand outcomes of the Harlem Renaissance. They all, through their poems, art and music had a strong sense of racial pride. They wanted to gain equality, attack racism, and most of all celebrate African American culture (Bloom 113-127).

Langston Hughes inspired others to reach their true potential in their work by using their own life as a catalyst:

In the poem “Harlem”, Langston Hughes uses literary devices to portray the African-American community as oppressed, however, strong-willed people, with the intention to warn those in power of a revolution. First of all, the African-American community is depicted to be oppressed as Hughes uses similes throughout the poem. Namely, when their dreams are compared to something “sag[ging] like a heavy load”; the line represents how an unpursued desire can emotionally feel like it is weighing you down. Especially when it is against one’s power whether or not they may follow their own ambitions due to racial injustice. On the other hand, Langston uses a metaphor to illustrate how the people of colour may also be strong-willed. The poem ends by asking

After poetry is written, published, and circulated, analysis of the poem must take place. It unveils and discusses the themes, figures of speech, word placement, and flow of the piece, and "A Dream Deferred," is no exception. In Langston Hughes's poem, A Dream Deferred, the theme is that no really knows to dreams if they are not reached, and very realistic figures of speech help convey this idea; the poem can be surprisingly related to Mr. Hughes's life through the subtitle and quotes from Langston himself.

The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural movement and the enlightenment of black minds as a whole. This movement sparked the minds of many leaders such as Marcus Garvey, W.E.B Dubois, and Langston Hughes, these men would also come to be known as the earliest Civil Rights activists. While Garvey and Dubois expressed their views in speeches and rallies Hughes had a different approach and chose to articulate his thoughts and views through literature more specifically poetry. Through his poetry, Hughes became a world renown poet for such works as “Let America Be America Again”, “Harlem” and “I Too” taken from his first book “The Weary Blues.” These poems while written and inspired by the everyday struggles of being an African-American were arguably targeted at white Americans. Hughes wrote a majority of his work during the Harlem Renaissance and as a result focused on “injustice” and “change” in the hopes that society would recognize their mistake and reconcile, but in order for this to happen he would have to target the right audience.