Theme For English B By Langston Hughes

The poem “Let America Be America Again” (658) is written by a famous writer by the name of Langston Hughes who is knowledgeable in American literature. Hughes writes this specific piece about the suffrages of what African Americans have encountered and uses a combination of ethos, pathos, and logos to express his thoughts. In the book Arguing About Literature: A Brief Guide by John Schilb and John Clifford gives a brief credibility description of Hughes to let readers knows he knows what he is talking about. He also uses history and emotion, both powerful strategies, to create a connection through his writing. Although he views majority of victims of poverty as African Americans, Hughes mentions others for those outside of the African American race can relate to this poem. In history and today’s society, people of all discrimination suffer powerlessness with lack of opportunity, equality, freedom, and fairness for immigration.

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 and I have many things in common.. In “Theme for English B” Hughes talks about his truth, how he is very aware that he has a different skin color, but that is not what he thinks he should be identified by. What identifies him are the accumulation of the things in his life. I can relate with this because although I do not feel like I am discriminated for my race, I do feel like I'm discriminated against for not being like those of my race. I also know that certain points of one’s life shapes it. It is difficult to know what you are suppose to be when you are a the first born generation in a country. Much like Hughes at the time that he wrote the piece, I too am young and am eager to grow, while also being oblivious to what come

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.

The metaphor in line 3, “They send me to eat in the kitchen When company comes,” expresses the oppression that African Americans still face (Hughes). However, as the poem progresses, a sense of hope appears. Found in line 15, “Besides, They’ll see how beautiful I am And be ashamed---” the true value of African Americans will soon enough prevail (Hughes). In “I Too”, the narrator’s use of personal pronouns symbolizes the entirety of African Americans and how the oppression denotes isolation.

Throughout my life I have experienced many trials that are quite different to that of the narrator in “Theme for English B”; however, there are some similarities such as his life experiences, that can be compared to those of the narrator. In this poem Langston Hughes writes of a man who is given an assignment with very abstract and philosophical instructions for writing this paper. Accordingly, the narrator has some difficulties at first because he thinks of how different he and the professor is, saying “It’s not easy to know what is true for you or me at twenty-two, my age. But I guess I’m what I feel and see and hear” (16-18). Consequently, the narrator realizes the difference between his life in Harlem and the life of his white professor. This causes the narrator to be skeptical of how the professor may receive the narrators’ interpretation of the assignment. Though the narrator and I share similar characteristics and experiences it is the differences that make the most impact throughout this paper. Three major differences are his teacher’s assignment, the colleges view of him, and his life in general. While Hughes does provide much background information on the narrator’s past, he gives multiple examples of his life a student and as a citizen living at the YMCA in Harlem.

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.

The Harlem Renaissance was an evolutionary period in terms of African-American cultural expression; in fact, the movement changed the way that black musicians, poets, authors, and even ordinary people perceived themselves. One of the most influential poets of the time was Langston Hughes. Hughes’ works display a pride in being black that most African-Americans are too afraid to show, even today. Moreover, he adamantly refused to submit to the sentiment that he should be ashamed of his heritage, instead believing that “no great poet has ever been afraid of being himself.”(p1990 From the Negro Artist). In the article “‘Don’t Turn Back’: Langston Hughes, Barack Obama, and Martin Luther King, Jr.” by Jason Miller, Miller analyzes how Hughes’ poetry has been used by Martin Luther King, Jr. and Barack Obama and how the House of Un-american Activities Committee affected that use.

Langston Hughes is a famous poet known mostly for his contribution to the Harlem Renaissance. He wrote many inspirational poems that are still read and used for educational purposes. Many of his poems were inspired by his life and his story. One of his many poems entitled “Theme for English B” talks about how his teacher instructed him to write a page about himself and it will be true. In a “Theme for English B”, Hughes uses tone, and characterization to display a relationship between race and writing.

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

“Theme for English B” by Langston Hughes and “in the inner city” by Lucille Clifton are both simple poems written by African American during a time where being black was not so popular and a trying time for those whom were black Americans. They both wrote about the plight of blacks during their perspective times; Hughes’ piece was one that spoken in a straightforward and blunt manner, while Clifton was a harsh and muggy one. Both of these poems were written in everyday language, I would imagine, ensuring that their point was one that was easy to understand. Hughes’ poem was not written without any rhyme scheme, while Clifton’s had some rhyme scheme. These poems show the darker side, the evil and violence towards fellow Americans because of their skin color. To me both Hughes and Clifton speaks out about the evil side during a time when it was not popular to speak out about this dark side; which was considered the norm.

As Americans have become divided in recent times, what it means to be an American has also changed. In “Hunger of Memory”, author Richard Rodriguez examines how language affects his family relationships. For Langston Hughes, being an American means to postpone dreams or have them become something else entirely. Rodriguez states that his parents spoke a hesitant, accented English, he feels acknowledged when others speak to him in Spanish, (third paragraph). In “A Dream Deferred”, poet Langston Hughes compares his “American Dream” to a heavy load that sags. In Richard Rodriguez’s “Hunger of Memory”, the author discusses how he and his family view a dark complexion as a burden, unattractive, and as a sign of poverty or low status.

In response to Langston Hughes poem Theme for English B many ideas about it come to mind when reading the poem. In paragraph two of the poem he talks about what he enjoys. To me the aspect of what he enjoys doesn’t come to a surprise. Most people enjoy eating, drinking and listening to music. In Hughes opinion he believes it is not the same. When you consider the time period when the poem was written race played a large part in society. He believes others viewed him as a person that should enjoy things within his race. The perception was whatever race you were you should enjoy whatever your race was doing at the time. To him it doesn’t matter but just don’t see him as one race or color.

In “Montage of a Dream Deferred”, Langston Hughes uses a recurring theme of covering his experiences as an African American man during the Harlem Renaissance with artificial happiness, especially in music, to show how Caucasian people will only tolerate African American people as long as the latter pretends to be happy under societal oppression. Popular white culture was often willing to embrace Harlem culture to the extent that African Americans were passive and satisfied with their inferior social status. Hughes’ poems “Dream Boogie” and “Lady’s Boogie” describe the hidden painful undertones that were thus characteristic of seemingly upbeat jazz music: “Listen closely: / You’ll hear their feet / Beating out and beating out a- // You think / It’s a happy beat?

struggle of the Afro Americans. It is a dream which has not come true and will