With Reference To At Least Four Different Poems, Explore How Cultural

In Hughes poem “Note on the commercial Theatre” he started off with an angry tone, upset that African American music was used by the whites, but the African Americans didn’t receive the credit for the artistic work: “You’ve taken my blues and gone you sing them on Broadway” (1043). Furthermore, at the end of the poem Hughes does expresses a powerful ending, our culture is beautiful, but you will never be me: “Black and beautiful and sing about me, and put on plays about me! I reckon it’ll be me myself” (1043)! Hughes poems focused on the urban cultures, while Zora Neale Hurston short story “How it feels to be Colored Me” focused on her as a woman who is discovering herself and her worth.

My background as a tenacious student and a minority has allowed me to connect to the poem in ways that I could very much relate to. I have personally lived through the motions of life that he refers to in “Theme for English b”.Langston Hughes’s poem is more about the differences he knows other people see in him or rather on him, and what they are missing. By doing this, Hughes make it clear that the color of his skin plays a crucial role in the way that people think he is like. He finishes by boldly stating what he had been

Throughout this poem Hughes has placed many symbols in the readers mind to bring the image of the African American people to thought. He reminds African American readers of their origin and what they have been through by using the

Symbolic Imagery in Langston Hughes' Poems, The Negro Speaks of Rivers and Mother To Son

Two poems are not as widely anthologized, but are thematically comparable in the manner Hughes expresses the disparity among the American Dream and the fact of life for African people in the course of the early twentieth Century.

The power of one race over another is a theme in Hughes’ poems that demonstrates the injustice of racial inequality. In the poem “Negro” Hughes says, “I’ve been a victim: The

Overall, the speaker in this poem seems to feel great optimism for America in the future, because African Americans will one day be treated fairly by the whites, and will thrive as a

Langston Hughes’ central argument in “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain” is that the black artist must not be afraid of being himself—that is, of being black. In fact, the truly great black artist will use the experiences and culture of his people, and particularly of the lower-class black masses, as material and inspiration for his art. The great black artist will not want to be white but will recognize that he is black, and that black is beautiful, and he will not care what either white or black people think about his affirmation of self and race. Yet beneath this argument’s confident prose lies another claim which is more subtly rendered: the idea that individuality, for the black artist, is not solely personally individual, not individual

African American’s have faced a great deal of harsh and cruel treatment throughout our society. From being stripped from their homeland of Africa and being brought to America as slaves, African Americans have seen and been through it all. Author and renowned poet Gwendolyn Elizabeth Brooks discuses and describes many of the cruel and unfair treatment that African Americans have faced throughout our civilization. Brooks’ not only speaks on the racial prejudice of African Americans, but she also discusses the heartaches, the life, and the growth of African Americans as a people. Brooks’ poetry and stories are very similar to her own experience growing up as an African American woman.

Poet Langston Hughes enjoys writing, and one day he fell asleep under a tall until it turned dark. He had a dream, and that dream turned into a poem: “Dream Variations”. This poem makes you feel like you are falling asleep and creating your own dream. Usually, when listening a poem, you never notice the real meaning behind each line until you have carefully examined all of the words. In this specific poem, Hughes adds many different types of figurative language, and alliteration is one example of figurative language that is used in this poem.

Both poems show the way in which African Americans were treated at the time and presents an expectation to the outlooks of the future of American humanity considering the African American

This article seeks to analyze two works of black poetry, On Being Brought from Africa to America by Phillis Wheatley and I, too, Sing America by Langston Hughes. Nunes & Vieira (2008) aim to show that society's perspective of black people has not changed over the years even though the two poets had 150 years a gap. In particular, through two selected poems, they establish that though the tones might have changed, the themes still remained the same. Simultaneously, it gives details about their lives, the structure of society at the time they lived in, and the influence it had over their gifted talents.

From “Mother to Son” to “Harlem Sweeties”, Langston Hughes uses various themes and poetic structures within his writing. Hughes writing style consisted of the black pride and strength of the black community that would later be considered as the “driving force” behind The Harlem Renaissance. His poems and short stories seemed to evoke a feeling of hopefulness, pride and self- realization. He wrote song lyrics, essays, autobiographies and plays however, his multi-dimensional style of writing consisted of varying themes. Captured in each theme is Hughes’ interpretation of the identity within the African-American culture. Dignity, Racism, Music and Knowledge of Self are some of the common themes that are embodied in Hughes’ work. In the poem “Harlem Sweeties”, he pays homage to the physical beauty of the African-American women living in Harlem during a time when being black was not considered to be a beautiful trait within the eyes of “white society”. He captures the dignity of the women of Harlem by comparing their varying complexions to decadent desserts and sweet fruits. Langston Hughes had a witty way of using similes and metaphors to capture the inner strength and integrity of the black community. His writing reflects a sense of pride in his racial identity and he was realistic about the oppressive nature of living in a “white society”. In order to gain a further understanding of the complexities within Hughes free style of writing, we must explore the common themes

Jeremy Thomas Mrs. Rothstein English 9H: Period 3 21 May 2015 Research Paper on the poem “The Weary Blues” by Langston Hughes Langston Hughes published “The Weary Blues” in 1926 when he was twenty-four, and the poem depicts his life in his own unique perspective as a struggling black man. (“Langston Hughes” 2 of 3). In the poem Hughes creates a speaker who is spending a night out and listens to a black man singing the blues. In one stanza, he illustrates a scene in which the African American singer expresses pride in his heritage, strength, soul, and the depth to which his emotions and spirituality reach. The imagery in the poem paints a very gloomy and melancholy atmosphere.

The night of February 26, 2012 a 17-year-old African American male shot and killed by a 28 year old Hispanic male. This unfortunate event shaped the world and opened the eyes for so many people today. The world opened its eyes and became more aware of the unfortunate events that occur on a day to day basis that we are not always informed on. Most think they are living in a world where discrimination and racism is no longer a factor, but this poem after Trayvon Martin shows otherwise. Furthermore, Lillian-Yvonne Bertram, the author who has a PhD in Literature & Creative Writing at the University of Utah, where is currently an assistant Professor of English. She wrote this poem after the death of Trayvon Martin in dedication to his life.