Early Autumn, By Langston Hughes

My people is one of Langston Hughes’ poems which is about working class black African American people. In this poem, he compared the beauty of nature to the beauty of his people. My people is a very short poem, built in three stanzas which consist of two lines in each stanza. This poem was written in simple language, therefore, the readers can easily understand what he is trying to convey. I believe, beneath its simple words, this poem depicts the beauty of working class black African American people that go beyond the beauty of physical appearance.

Has America ever been great, of the 239 years this influential country has been a country has it ever been truly great and free? As Langston Hughes exclaimed, "America never was America to me”. Learned Hand and Langston Hughes had differences on their thought on the topic of Liberty and whether America is great. Hughes and Hands opinion of Liberty has changed the way the common man reacts to racism and the way we perceive America's greatness.

For the longest time in American history racism has always existed to some certain extent. In the poem “Open Letter to the south” by Langston Hughes is about the inequality of people and how we should all come together as one no matter you skin color. In the Poem “Let America be America Again” also by Langston Hughes is from the perspective of a low class black man and expresses his difficulties. Both “Open Letter to the south” and “let America Be America again” compares the longings for acceptance, hope, and the future.

The two poems “White Lies” by Natasha Trethewey and “Theme for English B” by Langston Hughes were written to express racial dilemmas that the authors went through. Thematically, they represent the American Dream. In “White Lies” we see that Trethewey went through some racial identity issues. She felt as if she had to lie to blend in with the rest of the whites, which was easy for her because she was mixed. To understand the full meaning of this poem, one assumes that Trethewey was the product of an interracial marriage. This type of thing was frowned upon during the time she grew up. In the poem “Theme for English B” Hughes seems to accept the fact that he is different. Hughes does not seem to have a problem with expressing his difference. He looks at as his individuality and strives to let everyone know that he is proud of who he is. The two poems have many similarities and differences.

Langston Hughes declares that America should be America again. He starts to say in the beginning, "America was never America to me." He says America should go back to being the dream that the dreamers had, and be a "great strong land of love." There should not be kings or tyrants or people being crushed by someone above them. The speaker repeats, "It never was America to me." Hughes wants his land to embody liberty - not just by wearing a false patriotic wreath on its head, but through pervasive opportunity and equality. The speaker claims that he has never experienced freedom or equality in

Throughout Langston Hughes' novel, Not Without Laughter, the author introduces multiple characters that reveal their notions of prejudice. The novel explores that prejudice in one form or another is in every aspect of one's life. Prejudice can be defined as an opinion for or against a person's look, race, class, or religion, which is usually formed by a hasty generalization. Most of the main characters, Aunt Hager, Sister Johnson, Jimboy, Harriet, and Tempy contain different accounts of prejudice in the world, which stimulate many of Sandy's thoughts of life as he comes of age. Aunt Hager, Annjee, Harriet, and Sandy, are a multi-generation poor African American family that live in a small home together but are eventually divided by multiple circumstances. The story takes place during the 1910s in the small town of Stanton, Kansas.

Humans write because it is a means of self-expression and communication that can be more powerful than verbal speech. When we read what others write, our minds open up to the writer’s experiences and in result will begin to feel empathy when we open our minds to others’ lives. The experiences that others write about help us all grow as people as well, because it prevents us from doing one of the most threatening things to mankind: repeating history. The importance of reading what others have wrote in the past is immense, because it teaches us how degrading life used to be for others, minorities in specific. For humans to repeat something as horrific as slavery could be possible, but what prevents it is the fact we are able to read about the

Lorraine Hansberry, the author of Raisin in the Sun, simulates the title of her play from the famous line in the poem “Harlem” by Langston Hughes, in which the poet asks, “What happens to a dream deferred?” A dream deferred is a vision that someone has, but due to certain circumstances, their fantasy life is either ignored or put on hold. For the Younger family, their dream of living as an ordinary middle-class black family and being accepted by the whites was deferred at one point. At the time the story took place, the blacks in the Chicago area still faced racism just like the south. The dream of the Younger family was very essential to each of them. They were willing to do literally anything to make their dreams come true.

Langston Hughes has a type of cynical view on America that seems to change its taste as he gets older. The first to look at is “I,Too” where he seems to have a hopeful view of his country and separates the citizens from the country. He says things such as “They’ll see how beautiful I am” which shows that he feels good about his future and the future of racial tension. Which he then transitions into “Let America be America again” where he is crtizieing the American people for saying that they are about liberty and freedom when they are his oppressors. It’s more of a call to action than his last few poems he is more so pointing out the injustices than just stating that there are some. And by the tone of the poem you can tell that he has lost

In his poem, let America be America again, Hughes focuses on American freedom and equality. His concern was on the socio-economic division in the American society. Relating the American declaration at independence, Hughes observes that the road to achievement of equality and freedom lost. The country has become corrupt and its leaders and businessmen are greedy. The grabbed land and gold making them wealthier during the common American citizen; the Negros, red Indians, the poor whites and immigrants lavish in poverty (Schmidt, and Lynne, 776). They have not achieved the American promise of freedom. Hughes wrote the poem with the

Everyone has wonder what life would have been like if they had done things differently and at one point in their life they have ask themselves the same question, “What if I...” had gone to college, got a different job, had children, or married the other person, etc.. Some people have got to go back and change the course of their life others except what they have and make the best of it. Some people think their life would have been better or happier had they did things differently, but for Dexter Green, from the short story Winter Dreams, I feel that he made the right decision for his life. Love does not always bring happiness.

In the novel, “Not without Laughter,” Langston Hughes uses the narrator's voice and the thoughts and dialogue of the character Sandy to explore social stratification. Specifically, the class relationships in American society through Sandy's experiences with the 3 sisters of the novel: Annjee, Tempy and Harriett. The sensibilities, style and intuitive feel of these 3 characters communicates to the reader that each one represents a different means of living, reflective of three prominent social strata in American society: the working-class, the petit-bourgeois middle class and the declassed.

Langston Hughes was an African-American man born on February 1, 1902, in Joplin, Missouri(Rampersad). In his early years, he went across America writing poems and plays to have African-American culture be seen throughout America (Rampersad). Over time, Langston Hughes played a considerable role during the Harlem Renaissance that took place during the 1920’s as a writer to breathe life back to all African-Americans during the time(Britannica). The Harlem Renaissance was a movement to implement more African-American culture around America with literary, jazz, art, and food(Wintz).During this time, Langston Hughes wrote many poems, plays, newspaper columns, and novels during this time to shed light on African-American history in America(Britannica).

“Winter Dreams” follows perfectly along with the characteristics of the Modernist movement, which is one of the many reasons it should be added into the syllabus. F. Scott Fitzgerald explores a common Modernist theme, isolation and uncertainty, within “Winter Dreams” by using a descriptive style. This descriptive style is a contrast to the literary works of Sherwood Anderson, known for his simple prose, and Ernest Hemingway, known for his journalist style. Fitzgerald uses beautiful imagery within his works to create Modernist themes. Within “Winter Dreams”, Fitzgerald combines different techniques to switch back and forth between descriptive imagery and straightforward dialogue and description. Modernism “represents the transformation of traditional

Langston Hughes’s “Let America Be America Again” is a poem that could be endlessly applied to where America stands today. This poem illustrates the morals, ideas, and visions set forth by those who found this country and how America has begun straying from those principles. The poem expresses that America is made up of all walks of people and that no man should be crushed by those above him, but rather be given the same opportunity as those above him. Hughes desire to make America great again can be shared in some way or another by most Americans making this poem everlasting. “Let America Be America Again” has the personalization, the language, the connection shared by every American, and the rhyme to allow readers of every race, gender, or religious belief to be brought together as not only people but as Americans.