Langston Hughes '' Life Is Fine'

Langston Hughes was an American poet whose African American themes made him an important contributor to the Harlem Renaissance. In his poems, “I, Too” and “Dream Variations” Hughes expresses his feelings about racial segregation and discrimination during his lifetime. The Harlem Renaissance was a period of poor treatment and hope of African Americans in the 1920’s; Langston’s poems tell his story and opinion on this certain time of his life.

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.

“Life is fine!” is not what one typically announces if their life really is fine (Hughes l.27). Often, people hide behind masks of being “fine” to hide their true issues, such as depression and despair. The poem “Life is Fine” by Langston Hughes as well as “On Turning Ten” by Billy Collins tackles the topic of depression. While both poems focus on this theme of depression, they greatly differ in their perspectives and outlooks for the future, one with a suicidal adult as narrator, the other a ten year old child.

In the poem, Blues at Dawn, Langston Hughes talks about how he does not think in the morning. He states, “I don’t dare start thing in the morning.” When he states this, he is talking about how he can’t think about what is going on in the world when he wakes up. In the fourth line of the poem, Hughes writes, “Them thoughts would bust my head.” In this line, it brings the reader into reality that the thoughts and world around are very chaotic.

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.

To get a better understanding of the music “ Freedom Road,” the bibliography website and the allmusic website gives a summary of the artists. To summarize, “Freedom Road” was a poem written by Langston Hughes, he was a poet and playwright. On the bibliography website, it summarizes Langston Hughes life from the day he was born until his death. He was one of the first people to speak for black lives. He publishes his first poem right after high school, it was called “The Negro Speak of River.” While attending Lincoln, his poetry got Carl Van Vechten attention, he used his connections to help Hughes’s first book get published; The Weary Blues, The book had a poetic style and the knowledge of black and its heritage. In other words, his work

When a person commits suicide, her motive is not always clear. In the novel The Awakening by Kate Chopin, a woman breaks from conformity and eventually swims out to sea in order to drown. Mikaela McConnell analyzes this piece in the article “A Lost Sense of Self by Ignoring Other in THE AWAKENING by Kate Chopin” from the journal The Explicator. She argues that Edna Pontellier’s suicide is a result of the challenges that come with “creating and re-creating self” (McConnell 41). However, this is untrue because Edna’s self-discovery happens with ease.

Hughes brings out such a strong message in this work that it is not just relevant to the year it was written (1938), but has an extremely strong purpose and voice today. Langston Hughes did not have the easiest life. One can see those struggles, especially through this poem. He was an African American author born in 1902, and raised by his grandmother in his early childhood. He then went to live with his

Langston Hughes was a poet with many artistic abilities. His writing and drawings established the lifestyles of many African Americans during this time. In a poem called “I, Too” Hughes express his feelings as an African American, a brother, and someone who deserves to fit in society. He states “I, too sing America” (1039). Hughes saw himself as an individual who has a voice in America even though his skin is a little darker. In a poem called “Democracy” Hughes states: “I have as much right as the other fellow has to stand on my own two feet and own the land” (1043). Hughes was speaking for every African American whom were still dealing with segregation, racism, and freedom.

L. Hughes’ short story ‘Passing’ is driven by the conflict between the morals of having to behave like a white man and being African American by birth. The main character has a conflicting identity. ‘William Faulkner reminds us that in addition to a conflict of wills, fiction also shows “the heart in conflict with itself”’ (Burroway, J. 2011 pg. 249). This is particularly evident when the narrator, Jack says, ‘that’s the kind of thing that makes passing hard, having to deny your own family when you see them…you and I both realise it is all for the best, but anyhow it’s terrible’ (Hughes 1971 pg. 51). The main character is seen to although understand the privilege he has, also feel guilty about ignoring who he is by birth. David Lodge describes ‘…The beginning of a novel is a threshold, separating the real world we inhabit from the world the novelist has imagined. It should therefore… “Draw

To begin, Hughes’ uses his diction to create a distinct mood for his poem. For example, when one reads the poem without first reading the title, “The calm, Cool face of the river Asked me for a kiss,” they may create in their own head a calm, positive or happy mood. The words may remind one of summer days at the lake or the beautiful view of a river valley. The author does this on purpose as he wants the reader to be relaxed. With the title, “Suicide’s Note,” attached, however, the mood automatically becomes more solemn. Hughes gives his readers this title because he wants them to understand that this poem has a meaning beyond what can be seen at first glance. Nothing in these lines really reveals a tone, or the author’s attitude toward the subject, which makes the mood that much more more important. The author establishes that his, or anyone’s, thoughts or feelings

“Seek the good in others and the best you will find.” In the short story, “Thank You, Ma'am” by Langston Hughes, Mrs.Jones lives by this quote. When a raggedy boy runs up behind you and steals your pocketbook you naturally would think,”he is not a good boy.” Well when this happened to Mrs. Jones one night she had a different approach. She sought the good in others by looking past the bad, giving second chances and kindness. She shows this when she took Roger in and taught him a lesson. From this story, we can all learn the important lesson of seeking the good in others.

Life is fine depicts an overall theme of sorrow that can ultimately lead to the constant pursuit of a higher meaning to life and happiness. This pursuit is an exemplification of the notion of American dream. Throughout his literature, Hughes constantly questions the ideology behind the American dream and critiques the fact that for some Americans, this "American dream "can seen unattainable. The concept of the American dream can be seen as a fa�ade hiding the true meaning behind the entire movement. To the African American culture,

“Life is fine”, by Langston Hughes is a Situationally Ironic poem with an Abcb Rhyme Scheme. In this poem, Hughes uses an Allusion to explain how in the 1920’s times were hard. Specifically for African American men. The message of the poem is -Understanding the feelings of black men during these times of segregation and financial troubles in the 1920’s. Hughes creates a form of Allusion to show the strength and perseverance of men during the Great Depression.

place and the setting of the piece of art. In this poem life is fine by Langston Hughes, the