My Response To Thank You, Ma Am

Just the slightest bit of care and compassion can change a persons whole persona. This is what happens in Langston Hughes short story “Thank You, Ma’am,” when the old Mrs. Jones catches Roger trying to steal her purse.When Mrs. Jones gets ahold of Roger, he asks her if she’s going to take him to jail in which she replies “Not with that face, I would not take you nowhere.” This is the first important theme in the story, sympathy. Later in the story she takes Roger back to her house and she leaves the door open. Figuring that she did this on purpose, Roger decides not to run out the door. This is the second important theme in the story, trust. The themes of sympathy and trust were expressed throughout Hughes story in many ways, and I’m here to talk about them.

Have you ever thought of stealing, for something you dearly wanted, and would do anything to get it? Well Langston Hughes wrote “Yes Ma’am” about a young boy named Roger. Roger wanted blue suede shoes, but didn’t have money to buy them. He saw Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones, and tried to steal her purse, but failed to do so. Hoping to shape him up, she treats him like her own son, and cares for him, though there is no one at his house to go home to.

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.

Langston Hughes’ poem Theme for English B is the speakers attempt at an assignment given by his instructor. The assignment is to “Go home and write/ a page tonight. / And let that page come out of you-/ Then, it will be true” (Hughes 289, 2-5). Throughout the poem the speaker is contemplating whether truth is distorted by racism. When reading Hughes there should be an understanding of the time period in which he is based. Hughes came of age in a time of major discrimination of the Black community. He joined and helped lead the Harlem Renaissance. Alice Walker’s In the Closet of the Soul, a letter written to an African-American woman named Mpinga, who asked Walker about the criticism targeted to one of the characters from her book The Color Purple. In the letter she writes about black men having an “apparent inability to empathize with black women’s suffering under sexism” (Walker 402). She is appalled that there are some men who regret to even recognize the hardships of black women, and how some seem to be ignorant to the subject of sexism.

These characters are affected in the setting in that Abby must survive to become a someone, but Roger has to survive the streets. Abby in “Nobody Stole Jason Grayson” at the end of the story Abby wants to become a someone “from now on, i’m going to think of myself as a recovering nobody”. But in “Thank you ma’am” Roger is being dragged through the streets by a lady. It states in “Thank you ma’am” that “then it will washed this evening, said the large woman starting up the streets, dragging the frightened boy behind her”. furthermore, this proves that different settings like the school or the streets affect the choices they made like stealing, and causes them to have divergent feelings like feeling invisible or acting culpable.

The world can be full of mysterious people, and it’s natural for a person to steal in this world. But when you teach others they will not steal anymore. In” Thank You Ma'am” by Langston Hughes.Roger, learns from his mistakes throughout Mrs Jones's Kindness.So Mrs Jones will help him.

Langston Hughes is one of the major African American literary figures of the twentieth century. His composition involves poetry, fiction, the short story, autobiography, and criticism. The greater part of Hughes' written work focuses on the account of the black man in America; his delights, distresses, and expectations. The story is told with a sadness for the occasions that have oppressed him however with a feeling of positive thinking for the better world that Hughes knows will come sometime in the not so distant future. Hughes was born in Joplin, Missouri, on Feb. 1, 1902, and grew up with relatives and family in Lawrence, Kansas, following his parents’ divorce. Be that as it may, he learned lessons in perseverance and pride from his grandma; the stories she told were loaded with deference for the Negro race and for individuals who worked, conspired, and battled. From this experience, as Hughes said in his auto-account, he took in the futility of crying. In 1915, Hughes rejoined his mom in Lincoln, Illinois, where he was chosen class artist in the language structure school. The respect was presented, as Hughes clarifies, because white individuals think Negroes have mood and since a sonnet has cadence, Negroes must have the capacity to compose verse. The next year Hughes moved to Cleveland, where his stepfather worked in the steel factories and his mom functioned as a server. Here Hughes composed lyrics in the way of Paul Laurence Dunbar and Carl Sandburg and contributed

Imagine the year 1949 and you are the only colored student in the class. Some would say you are beyond fortunate to be in a room full of white students with a white instructor. How would you feel? Furthermore, what thoughts would flow through your mind? Possibly, you may wonder if you shall quit the class. Given the timeframe in history, you would likely feel at a disadvantage. After all, the laws of segregation were not dismissed yet. This is the scenario the speaker in Langston Hughes, “Theme for English B”, is experiencing. While expressing his thoughts, the speaker portrays resentment, but an understanding towards the instructor.

Langston Hughes, the most memorable figure of the Harlem Renaissance, wrote everything from plays, short stories, novels, and most importantly poetry. Hughes’ writing is based on his personal views on frustration that he had towards the plight of African Americans. Langston has no fear with anything he is involved in and stood up for his people. Unfortunately, his people responded negatively towards his actions, for they thought he was creating more racial tensions. Nevertheless, this was not Hughes’ intentions, and he was proud of his doings. Langston Hughes used his writings to reflect his thoughts about racial oppression, literary movement, and personal experience.

Langston Hughes uses his own experiences as evidence as to how society tries to influence the minds of others. Hughes self-identifies as a black person, “I am the only colored student in my class.” He emphasizes how his ethnicity separates him from his white classmates. He also hints about how his life was harder just because he was a black student; saying that his professor is more free because he is “older-- and white.” He is able to align himself closely with his classmates and professor even though he has described his experience with segregation and racism. Like them he likes “to eat, sleep, drink, and be love./ I like to work, read learn, and understand

Hughes is currently a twenty-two old college student who is determined to succeed. “I go here to this college on the hill above Harlem, where I am the only colored student in class” (lines 10-11). Hughes most likely attends the prestigious Columbia University, where he’s the only African-American in his class and probably his entire school. Despite this, Hughes remains strong and determined to remain in the race and finish, because he knows the reward will be great. Furthermore, while trying to reach this reward, he is also willing to learn and teach others. “I guess you learn from me-although you’re older-and white-and somewhat more free” (lines 38-40). Looking past age, color, and level of freedom, Langston Hughes is eager to be educated by the instructor, as he is hopeful that the instructor is willing to be educated by him. By educating one another, they both get to see the world through each other’s perspective and find understanding. Being determined, is the only way Hughes will reap his great reward of: remaining at the college on the hill, learning, being free, and ultimately being seen as equal to

Jones was very kind to Roger even after he was unkind to her. She taught a lesson that no one else would have even thought about before calling the cops. She was caring to Roger and also used the golden rule to teach him to be kind to everyone around him. When Roger left Mrs. Jones, he had been taught a lesson to be kind to everyone and I think that's a good one to learn. She left an affect on him he “ wanted to say something other than “Thank you, ma’am” to Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones, but he couldn’t do so as he turned at the barren stoop and looked back at the large women in the door. He barely managed to say “Thank you” before she shut the door. And he never saw her

In the short story “Thank you, M’am” by “Langston Hughes” Mrs. Jones affected Roger after that night. She affected him by kindness by helping him even though he tried to steal something from her, Mrs.Jones didn’t run off scared or call him names or hit him, and that surprised him. Roger was surprised that he was actually treated like a human being for once.

Characterization Essay As a key character in the story, Thank You M’am, the boy Roger is well written. He is written in the perfect amount of detail and is displayed as a changing and growing individual. Therefore, the character Roger from Langston Hughes’ short fiction story, Thank You M’am has very good characterization. This is true because this character is portrayed well, is a highly developed character, round, and it is extremely evident in the way he changes. To begin with, Roger is not a static character but instead, he is realistically developed and changes into a completely different being by the end of the story.

The poem is well written and expresses how a person wants to be accepted in society. He is angry because life is a struggle where a person is not considered normal and has problems with society integration. Langston Hughes wants to show that being of mixed race is a major problem in a world where racism exists. I chose this poem because I liked how the Hughes describes the racism that society had during civil segregation of whites and