The Poem Teacher 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.

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.

It is the idea of contrast that Hughes imposes on the reader. Hughes not only focuses on the negativity aspects of life, but through the negative elements is one able to see the positive outcomes. It is the over all theme of overcoming these obstacles, that captures the audience. Towards the end of the last stanza of the poem, we, the audience, see a complete transformation of the speaker and his view on life. He now comprehends the extensity of his actions and views his emotions as a blinding element from reality. He does not have the need to commit suicide anymore, and now fully accepts the loss and embraces the lament. "Though you may hear me holler, and you may see me cry- I'll be dogged, sweet baby, If you gonna see me die. Life is fine! Fine as wine! Life is fine! (Conarroe pg 242, 27-33). With the passage, the reader is now aware of the transformation of the speaker.

     People always listen to music, watch movies or plays, and even read poetry without once even thinking what is could be that helps and artist eventually create a masterpiece. Often times, it is assumed that artists just have a “gift”, and people just do not consider the circumstances and situations that gradually mold a dormant idea into a polished reality. This seems to be the case with nearly every famous actor, writer, painter, or musician; including the ever-famous Langston Hughes.

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

James Langston Hughes was born February 1, 1902, in Joplin, Missouri. His parents divorced when he was very small, and his father (who found American racism made his desires to be a lawyer impossible) left the family and emigrated to Mexico. Hughes' mother moved with her child to Lawrence, Kansas, so she and he could live with his grandmother, Mary Langston.

The poem “Let America Be America Again,” by Langston Hughes, brings up two sides to the discussion about what America means to people. It discusses the fact that to some people, America is an amazing land, where people are free from oppression and have rights. The poem, however, does not neglect the fact that there are people who have never experienced those freedoms and rights, nor does it neglect the fact that the people who have not experienced those rights also live in America. The issue about people living in America but never experiencing rights that are thought to be American was very prominent at the time that Hughes wrote the poem. Now the discussion is not “what it means to live in America” but “what it means to love America.” The issue contemplates whether someone can love America and still notice its flaws; or, if in order to love America one must neglect its ugly truths and only focus on the great accomplishments. One of the main causes for this discussion derive from the fact that right-winged people claim that Obama does not love America. However, they fail to see that in order to love something you must also notice its flaws and fix them.

Compared to Langston Hughes, how are e.e. cummings’s thoughts about dreams different? Langston Hughes and e.e. cumming’s both wrote a powerful poem about dreams, although they both have the same topic they appear to be different in meaning. I believe that in Hughes poem he was addressing that dreams are what makes you who you are, however in cummings poem it seemed like dreams allow you to be who you want to be. Langston Hughes wrote the poem, Dreams, to tell the reader to hold onto your dreams, even when things in life can get hard, because without them, your life would be incomplete. e.e. cummings’s poem, Dive for Dreams, has a different approach. This piece of poetry is a way to get the reader motivated, to inspire them, and give them

Langston Hughes’ style of poetry renounced the classical style of poetry and sought out a more jazz and folk rhythm style. Most of Hughes’ poems were written during the Harlem Renaissance, named after the cultural activity African Americans participated in, such as: literature, music, art, theatre, and political thinking. William Blake, on the other hand, was a nonconformist who was associated with the leading radical thinkers of his day. Although, considered a lyric poet and a visionary, Blake’s poetry was not read by many, yet he still believed that his poetry could be understood by common people and was determined not to sacrifice his vision to become popular.

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 Harlem Renaissance was a time where the Afro-American came of age; he became self-assertive and racially conscious… he proclaimed himself to be a man and deserving respect. Those Afro-Americans who were part of that time period saw themselves as principals in that moment of transformation from old to new” (Huggins 3). African Americans migrated to the North in great numbers to seek better lives than in the South as the northern economy was booming and industrial jobs were numerous. This movement brought new ideas and talents that shifted the culture forever. Black writers, such as Langston Hughes, used their work to claim a place for themselves and to demand self-respect in society. Poems that Langston Hughes wrote captured the essence of the complexity of a life that mixes joy and frustration of black American life through the incorporation of jazz and blues in order to examine the paradox of being black in mostly white America, the land of the not quite free.

Not all poems fall into the category of epic poetry or ballads. Some pieces are short and concise rather than lengthy and elegant. A shorter poem may focus more thoroughly on diction, or the author’s specific choice of words, rather than things such as rhyme scheme or meter. Langston Hughes poem “Suicide’s Note” is a perfect example of this. Because it is only twelve words long, every single word is important and chosen carefully. This poem uses many literary techniques, none more than diction, to achieve its purpose. which is to focus on the split-second decision that is suicide.

As you read further into the poem it allows you to develop a clearer understanding of what Hughes is trying to express in the poem. It is stated that the dream may "crust and sugar over… like a syrupy sweet? He is stating that by not using or putting the dream into use had formed into crust, which is that hard material that is no longer useful because it is no longer pliable. The dream forced to sit idle hardens into an unusable substance of thoughts that have separated themselves from the goals and formed idle destructive thoughts that are crusted over with despair, doubt, anger, and hatred.

It’s almost as if Hughes is trying to show that in life, most of the time you just dive right in without thinking about the consequences. But then, life turns around and bites you in the butt leaving you crying, hollering, and in shock from the “cold”. Even though it catches you off guard, frightens and shocks you, you still survive. You survive by fighting, and resisting the urge to sink. The elevator represents life as well, but in a different way. The stanza about the elevator states “I thought about my baby And I thought I would jump down” (14-15). I think that these two lines do a great job portraying that in life, a lot of times, you feel powerless and you want to just give up; however, you must remember those around you who are ruiting and depending on you. Often times, this can lead to stepping back and consciously choosing to not give up, and the main character does not give up at the end of this stanza.