Summary Of A Hot Day By Langston Hughes

Thesis statement: Hughes wrote this when Jim Crow laws were still imposing an bitter segregated society in the South. There were still lynchings of innocent African Americans, there was no Civil Rights Movement, there was no Civil Rights legislation yet, and Blacks couldn't eat at lunch counters in the South. Harlem, however, was not at all like the South in terms of blatant, legal segregation. However, racism was very much in place in many places in America. Blacks were second class citizens, their children attended schools that were ill-equipped, and the dreams of Black citizens were not being realized in this period.

The poems “Daybreak in Alabama,” by Langston Hughes, and “Strange Fruit,” by Abel Meeropol, were written during a time period of strict racial inequality. Hughes’ poem is about an African American who is seeing a racial equality forming around him in a positive way for the first time. Abel’s poem has a more negative side about black people being lynched in the South. The poems explore the common theme of racism in the South. In “Daybreak in Alabama” Hughes approaches the theme of racial inequality through hopeful imagery and delighted metaphor whereas in “Strange Fruit” Meeropol approaches the same theme through evil imagery and horrifying metaphor.

As time has passed humanity still tends to separate each other based on our racial being rather than seeing each other as one human race. Langston Hughes’s, “A New Song,” published in 1938 introduces the idea of a new vision of social relations in American society. Hughes’s original version of this poem written in 1933, does not encompass his growing anger on this subject that is dwelled upon in his published version. However, with Hughes’s powerful tone and word choice throughout his 1938 rendition, his reader is able to understand his urge to transform America into an interracial culture. (Central Idea) His poem voices the importance of transforming society into a multiethnic unity and working-class established through cultural ties between whites and blacks. (Thesis) Hughes voices this crucial need to change through his emphasis on African American’s past struggles as opposed to the new dream, his militant tone, and through expressing the role that the establishment of cultural ties plays in society.

Langston Hughes clearly connects with a wide range of audiences through the simplicity that surrounds his poetry. The beauty of this manner in which he wrote his poetry, is that it grasp people by illustrating his narratives of the common lifestyles experienced by the current American generation. His art form expresses certain questionable ideologies of life and exposes to the audience what it takes to fully comprehend what being an American truly means. Each individual poem describes and illustrates the strength and hardships the African American community was experiencing. Through his literature art form of poetry, Hughes was able to convey the common assertions of

A huddle of horns And a tinkle of glass A note Handed down from Marcus to Malcolm To a brother Too bad and too cool to give his name. Sometimes despair Makes the stoops shudder Sometimes there are endless depths of pain Singing a capella on street corners

The short but inspirational poem "Harlem" by Langston Hughes addresses what happens to aspirations that are postponed or lost. The brief, mind provoking questions posed throughout the poem allow the readers to reflect--on the effects of delaying our dreams. In addition, the questions give indications about Hughes' views on deferred dreams.

Langston Hughes was born on February 1, 1902, in Joplin, Missouri. He was named after his father, James Hughes, but was known as Langston. He was the only child from his parents James and Carrie Hughes. His parents were not married for long because of an unhappy marriage. When they separated, Langston was left with his mother, who left him behind to move from city to city to find work. Langston ended up living with his 70 year-old grandmother in Lawrence, Kansas. He lived with her until he was 13, and then he moved back with his mother in Lincoln, Kansas after his grandmother died in 1915.

The period of the Harlem Renaissance was a time of great change and exploration for African Americans . It was during this point in the early twentieth century that African Americans were exploring their cultural and social roots. With the rapid expansion of a cohesive black community in the area, it was only a matter of time before the finest minds in Black America converged to share their ideas and unleash their creative essences upon a country that had for so long silenced them. In the midst of this bohemian convergence, many notable figures arose who would give a new voice to African Americans. With such great notables as Countee Cullen, Jean Toomer, Zora Neale, and James Johnson, mainstream American now had a unique window into the

According to Becky Bradley in American Cultural History, Langston Hughes was born February 1, 1902 in Joplin, Missouri. Growing up, he dealt with some hard times. His parents divorced when he was little and he grew up with neither of his parents. Hughes was raised by his grandmother since his father moved to Mexico after their divorce and his mother moved to Illinois. It was when Hughes was thirteen that he moved out to Lincoln, Illinois to be reunited with his mother. This is where Hughes began writing poetry. However, the family moved again and finally settled in Cleveland, Ohio (Bradley, pars. 1-3).

"Tomorrow, I 'll be at the table When company comes." States Black writer Langston Hughes. America is great, isn 't it? This country was built on Liberty, and is a beacon to the rest of the world to which refugees can traverse towards. However, the course of actions in this country has not always been rainbows and sunshine, nor is it today even. There was a time in this wonderful country when Liberty seemed to dwindle, and the hope for our country 's equality was slight. During this time, lived a unique writer by the name of Walt Whitman, who awed the country with his patriotic voice which he embedded into his literature. One of his most famous poems, I Hear America Singing, touched the heart of the American People by recognizing the many

Before I explain my take on what "identity" means in Langston Hughes works, I would like explain a little about a man who happened to be one of the most recognizable names in African- American literature, and the struggle he faced – as a writer and mostly as an African American. A brief glimpse into our darkest days and description of his life and about him will help elucidate the background, and his style of writing. Jordan stated African Americans journey and identity in the Americans started on the wrong no “Over a period of more than three centuries, in the slave ships of the Middle Passage and the plantations of the American South, peoples from many nations of what is now called West and Central Africa, brought together under conditions of extreme brutality, reinvented themselves as one people and they renamed themselves ‘African’, ‘Coloured People’ and ‘Negro’. Later, from end of the nineteenth century to the first few decades of the twentieth century, mostly in northern urban centres of the USA, the descendants of the slaves reinvented themselves again, this time as the ‘New Negro’”(848-891).

1. Langston Hughes’ use of language in his poem, "Bad Morning," parallels its subject flawlessly. The poem speaks of frustration, weariness, and tension, a tension that Hughes mimics in the first line. The poem begins with a simple, "Here I Sit.” Each simple, monosyllabic word appears rigid and separate from the rest. Later in the poem, the speaker describes his shoes as being “mismated.” As opposed to the more common “mismatched,” mismated has a strained quality. The use of the hard "t" divides the word into a third syllable, making it sound clipped and tense. As the poem draws to a close, the speaker voices his frustration outright. Hughes’ use of “I’s” instead of “I’m” gives the phrase a more breathy quality, akin to that of a drained sigh. The linguistic subtleties that Hughes employs gives the poem a sense of unity and flow, making the piece come together seamlessly.

Langston Hughes (1902-1967), one of the most prominent figures in the world of Harlem, has come to be an African American poet as well as a legend of a variety of fields such as music, children's literature and journalism. Through his poetry, plays, short stories, novels, autobiographies, children's books, newspaper columns, Negro histories, edited anthologies, and other works, Hughes is considered a voice of the African-American people and a prime example of the magnificence of the Harlem Renaissance who promoted equality, condemned racism and injustice that the Negro society endured, and left behind a precious literary and enduring legacy for the future generations. In an endeavor to explore why and to what extent his poetry has still

An Explication of Langton Hughes “Harlem (Dream Deferred)” Dreams are amazing things, and we can talk about them as long as we could remember them, but are dreams nothing but dreams if there never pursued? In "Harlem," the speaker discusses the darker side of an idea. Some people work hard to accomplish their dreams while others put their dreams on hold due to various circumstances in their lives. He wonders what happens when that dream or idea are ignored or "deferred." The result is not too pretty.

Langston Hughes’ poem “Mother To Son” is a twenty line poem that seems to be from the perspective of a prudent mother that is giving her son, and possibly the readers, some helpful and supportive advice, telling them that, no matter how many adversities they may face, they can not give up. I believe that this is the main theme of the poem, perseverance. “So, boy, don’t you turn back./ Don’t you set down on the steps./ ‘Cause you find it’s kinder hard./ Don’t you fall now-/ For I’se still goin’ honey,” (15-17). In these lines, the mother really drives the idea of diligence and perseverance to her son. Also, in these lines, it can also be seen just how much this mother cares for and loves her child. She advises him to emulate her in the sense that she hasn’t given up and he shouldn’t either, so that they may climb the battered staircase of life together. This causes the mood to be overall relatively jovial and hopeful.