To Paint A Water Lily By Langston Hughes

The speaker also chooses her diction precisely, so that there is clear contribution to the overall idea that the poem is indeed about the quest for change and longing from escape from the swamp. Two very different forms of description are used to represent this source of dread: once by the simple name, swamp, and

Poetry is a complicated yet beautiful art form. It allows for an individual to express their emotions and ideas by painting a picture using eloquent lines. Although alluring, poetry is also perplexing. It is almost impossible to fully understand what the author was exactly trying to get across in writing. There are, however, multiple factors that can be used to help analyze poetry to get a better feel of that certain piece. In this paper, I will be analyzing Life Is Fine by Langston Hughes using irony, symbols, tone, rhyme, rhythm, and meter.

The two poems “White Lies” by Natasha Trethewey and “Theme for English B” by Langston Hughes were written to express racial dilemmas that the authors went through. Thematically, they represent the American Dream. In “White Lies” we see that Trethewey went through some racial identity issues. She felt as if she had to lie to blend in with the rest of the whites, which was easy for her because she was mixed. To understand the full meaning of this poem, one assumes that Trethewey was the product of an interracial marriage. This type of thing was frowned upon during the time she grew up. In the poem “Theme for English B” Hughes seems to accept the fact that he is different. Hughes does not seem to have a problem with expressing his difference. He looks at as his individuality and strives to let everyone know that he is proud of who he is. The two poems have many similarities and differences.

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.

In the short story "Chickamauga" and the poem "To paint a water lily" there are many similarities to be found. In Chickamauga, Ambrose Bierce tells a tale of a young boy living in the south during the Civil War. The boy goes out to explore the woods and through a series of traumatic events discovers the painful realizations of what the so-called 'real world' entails. Like in "Chickamauga", "To Paint a Water Lily" also depicts two different worlds. Ted Hughes mentions how most people generally perceive a pond, and then how one would perceive it after studying it immensely. You learn that the 'life' of a water lily is not beautiful and calm, but rather the opposite. Both of these narratives dive into the importance of looking more closely at your reality to see what it really is rather than what you think it may be.

In the novel, “Not without Laughter,” Langston Hughes uses the narrator's voice and the thoughts and dialogue of the character Sandy to explore social stratification. Specifically, the class relationships in American society through Sandy's experiences with the 3 sisters of the novel: Annjee, Tempy and Harriett. The sensibilities, style and intuitive feel of these 3 characters communicates to the reader that each one represents a different means of living, reflective of three prominent social strata in American society: the working-class, the petit-bourgeois middle class and the declassed.

“Life is Fine” by Langston Hughes was published in 1949. This poem tells the story of an individual who tried numerous times to commit suicide due to a failed relationship with a loved one. It also tells of the narrator’s triumph of overcoming these feelings and realization that life is fine.

Hughes overall employs the use of visual imagery in showing how the speaker simply cannot paint the water lily as it is, considering that he displays exactly how it is a part of two worlds, being harmonious at times, yet equally chaotic at others. For instances, Hughes seems to touch upon the tranquility of nature as he mentions how the “eyes praise” at the sight of seeing possible scenarios where “rainbow arcs” fill the skies and “spark” a sense of peace in the eye of the beholder. Here one can clearly extrapolate how the speaker seems to be in admiration with what he sees when discovering what it truly means to paint a water lily, as he witnesses concepts such as rainbows that serve as epitomes for symbolic references to peace or calmness,

The hate that Hughes’s father had towards colored people affected Hughes deeply. To Hughes it was like his father was trapped in a desolate world bound by the hate for his family, himself, and his son. In the autobiography The Big Sea, Hughes wrote that his father would shout at him for having fun with Negroes and his father would never come to accept them. This relationship between him and his father is mostly seen in his play Mulatto. In the play the main character, the son, is criticized by his father who is ashamed of his son’s own race. The son tries to attest to his father that he is not worthless and that his race is a joyous title, similarly Hughes experienced the same dilemmas in his own life. He had to convince his father that Negroes

The main character is Ella she is the other twin, Ella has changed tremendously throughout the course of the novel. Ella is a good student, she makes very good grades and she passes all her AP classes. Ella doesn’t go out and party like her sister, she doesn’t have a boyfriend like her sister, she’s a very artistic individual. Ella changes through the novel whenever her and Maddy get into an accident that Ella caused. Ella’s life is then changed forever when an ambulance asks her for her name and while she is being asked she is looking at her dead sister “Maddy” being taken away. As she is being taken off Ella says her name Maddy and the ambulance then thinks her name is Maddy. Ella was so shaken that she couldn’t disagree with the ambulance.

The poem “In Time of Silver Rain” was written by Langston Hughes, an African American poet during the mid 1900’s. It is about new spring, happiness and new life after winter. The big theme of the poem is this silver rain. When Langston Hughes says “silver rain” it is a lot like the saying, a “cloud with silver lining”. Which means that with every sorrow there is joy, so you should never feel hopeless. In this case, the amazing joy of spring where life is new and full of hope comes after a bleak, long winter. Also rain is stereotypically bad, but in order for spring to come there must be rain. It is the reason there are

“Life is fine, fine as wine” to me this is the most memorial part of the poem life is fine by langston hughes. To me this poem is about staying strong during rough patches in life. Even though this poem was written a few years after the great depression and harlem renaissance I still feel like it’s connected together.In this essay I will discuss the poetic devices used,the theme and purpose, and my thoughts about this poem. We are going to start with the poetic devices used in life is fine.

The human mind is capable of remembering virtually anybody, however, remembering how a person made you feel will last forever. In the short story “Early Autumn,” by Langston Hughes describes most of his characters by using adverbs which add something deeper to their personality. The first character seems to be like any other New Yorker walking the cities minding his own business with a frown that comes with living in a busy place. I think Bill seems to fit the picture of what a person might think of is visiting New York, might be, unhappy lawyers and business people waiting for something to happen. However, what sets Bill from apart from perhaps the rest he has a background. That he seemed like any other another young man that falls in love,

In the poem “Life is Fine”, Hughes uses symbolism and imagery to create a ambivalent tone to convey that Love strips people bare causing vulnerability. The man says he will be “dogged,sweet baby, If you gonna see me die.” This reveals that he, the person speaking, talks upon the “baby” as if it could be an actual baby or could be a symbol for life. Each time the guy mentions the word “baby” he comes back to reality ,just like how life can bring you back to reality. The speaker also shared how he stepped into an elevator “ Sixteen floors above the ground” This reveals that the speaker, for the second time, was willing to take great risks to end his life.

This poem “The Ballad of the Landlord” by Langston Hughes is about the abuse of the African-American and it is appeared by the suitable example of tenant and landlord. In this poem, the African-American tenant requests his white landlord to repair his steps and roof yet the landlord does not adheres to his requests and when the tenant gets to be irritated with this dangers to impact him. The landlord calls the police and pulls the tenant arrested for menacing him. It is undoubtedly demonstrated that everything was blamed upon the African-American person because all the law and the law makers where white. It unmistakably demonstrates the injustice for the African-American people. After that the tenant was left with was moral rights which had