Langston Hughes’s commitment to a celebration of black American life in all its forms is the reason why he has been proclaimed “The Poet Laureate of Black America”(Waldron). In the 1950’s, racism, segregation, economic hardships and cultural evolvement was at another peak. This poem shows that although different cultures exist in society, they possess same similarities. In Langston Hughes’ poem, “Theme For English B,” the speaker is given an assignment to write a paper; however, he struggles with how he should write it because the instructor asks that the paper come from within themselves and that would make it true to life. Life at this time was based on white Americans. The speaker in the poem is a black student in an all white classroom. The young man goes through a quandary whether he should write as a typical …show more content…
It appears throughout the poem, that he is able to clearly see the differences and similarities of himself and his classmates. The speaker states, “I am the only colored student in my class” (Hughes 10) as he identifies as the challenged minority. He then begins showing the similarities he has with his instructor and classmates in the sixth stanza, “Well, I like to eat, sleep, drink, and be in love./I like to work, read, learn, and understand life” ( 21-22). He says that the color of his skin does not make a difference in everyday living, the music he listens too or the type of literature that interests him. In the following stanza he talks about how he is just like everyone else, despite his skin color. “I guess being colored doesn’t make me not like/The same things other folks like who are other races” ( 25-26). Several times he points out qualities that make black and white race equal, therefore, attempting to figure out who he is and where he fits in to the social form of
Poetry Analysis for the Theme for English B Langston Hughes the speaker and author of the poem “Theme for English B” uses figurative language, imagery, and tone to develop the theme of racial discrimination. The poem focuses on how he is different from a racial standpoint but is similar in the way he lives and is an American. Langston Hughes uses figurative language throughout his poem. “I feel and see and hear, Harlem, I hear you.”
Langston Hughes is one the most renowned and respected authors of twentieth century America not simply one of the most respected African-American authors, though he is certainly this as well, but one of the most respected authors of the period overall. A large part of the respect and admiration that the man and his work have garnered is due to the richness an complexity of Hughes' writing, both his poetry and his prose and even his non-fictions. In almost all of his texts, Hughes manages at once to develop and explore the many intricacies and interactions of the human condition and specifically of the experience growing up and living as a black individual in a white-dominated and explicitly anti-Black society while at the same time, while at the same time rendering his human characters and their emotions in a simple, straightforward, and immensely accessible fashion. Reading the complexity behind the surface simplicity of his works is at once enjoyable and edifying.
In the poem, “Theme for English B” by Langston Hughes, the theme is if you’re a person of color, it doesn’t mean you’re different from somebody who’s not. We’re all human. When Langston began the poem, he gave reasons to why he isn’t any different than a white citizen. He wrote, “Well, I like to eat, sleep, drink, and be in love. I like to work, read, learn, and understand life. I like a pipe for a Christmas present, or records---Bessie, bop, or Bach.” Though he is a different color, it doesn’t mean that he isn’t a normal human being. A black still includes all the characteristics and interests as a “normal” person, no matter their color. During the middle of the poem, Hughes give the point of view of a non-colored person. He writes, “So will
Langston Hughes is famous for his many great poems and was a very talented man. He wrote a poem in college called “Theme for English B”. In Langston Hughes’s poem, he uses imagery of racial differences and a bold tone to undermine the teacher’s authority. He also to expresses the universal idea that intolerance often comes out of individual assumption. Langston’s confusion of the topic of the paper causes him to write the entire paper about the paper.
His writings heavily reflect upon what it meant to be an African-American during this time period; the emotions that he felt are obvious with each of his literary texts. First of all, Langston Hughes’s poem “Theme for English B” is about identity
On the 17th of July, 1996, 13 minutes in it's flight, Trans World Airlines Flight 800 (TWA 800) crashed
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 the fight for equality, people of color often feel isolated and separated from those whose privilege reinforces their oppression. However, there are and always have been white people who see the inequalities that are practiced in society and speak out against them in hopes of reaching equality for all. Langston Hughes used his voice in poetry to express his experience as a black man in the United States during the Civil Rights Movement, and his is a household name. There is no doubt that his words have power. The reader expects to feel his experience and gain empathy and understanding through his poetry. In his poem, “Let America Be America Again,” Hughes presents his experience of American life in a powerful contrast to the experience
Through his poem “Theme for English B”, Langston Hughes expresses his will to exterminate discrimination by proving that despite different skin colors, Americans all share similarities and learn from each other. Langston wrote the poem in 1900, when black Americans were not considered Americans. He talks about a black student being assigned to write a paper about himself. The audience is thus the student’s professor – the representation of the white Americans. Since the professor said: “let that page come out of you---Then, it will be true.”, the student began wondering “if it’s that simple”. He then describes himself to explain why it isn’t simple: he is “twenty-two”, “the only colored in class”, and lives in the poor community Harlem.
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
Chris Semansky’s critical essay on “Theme for English B” goes to interpret what the poem Langston Hughes composed is about. Semansky provides numerous points as to what each part of the poem meant. For example, he stated that Langston’s poem could have been an act of rebellion to teach the teacher by the student. Also, it was to show his intellectual power and his infinite identities. The “Theme for English B” was not only about who the student was in Semansky’s opinion, but also teaching the instructor about something much deeper than the surface.
This paper examines the perspective of Langston Hughes and how his style of writing is. It looks at how several interrelated themes run through the poetry of Langston Hughes, all of which have to do with being black in America and surviving in spite of immense difficulties. Langston Hughes is one of the most influential writers because his style of work not only captured the situation of African Americans; it also grabbed the attention of other races with the use of literary elements and other stylistic qualities. Langston Hughes became well known for his way of interpreting music into his work of writing, which readers love and enjoy today.
In two of his poems, Theme for English B and I Too, Langston Hughes was able to depict the idea that African Americans are no different, but are American just like anyone else. He wanted to show the importance of melding cultures
My background as a tenacious student and a minority has allowed me to connect to the poem in ways that I could very much relate to. I have personally lived through the motions of life that he refers to in “Theme for English b”.Langston Hughes’s poem is more about the differences he knows other people see in him or rather on him, and what they are missing. By doing this, Hughes make it clear that the color of his skin plays a crucial role in the way that people think he is like. He finishes by boldly stating what he had been
Langston Hughes was the leading voice of African American people in his time, speaking through his poetry to represent blacks. His Influence through his poems are seen widely not just by blacks but by those who enjoy poetry in other races and social classes. Hughes poems, Harlem, The Negro speaks of rivers, Theme for English B, and Negro are great examples of his output for the racial inequality between the blacks and whites. The relationship between whites and blacks are rooted in America's history for the good and the bad. Hughes poems bring the history at large and present them in a proud manner. The injustice that blacks face because of their history of once being in bondage is something they are constantly reminded and ridiculed for but must overcome and bring to light that the thoughts of slavery and inequality will be a lesson and something to remember for a different future where that kind of prejudice is not found so widely.