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Langston hughes works
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“I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart, I am the Negro bearing slavery’s scars. I am the red man driven from the land, I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek.” In the poem “Let America Be America Again” by Langston Hughes, the reader here’s from two different speakers, and how they both seperately want America to change. One of the speakers wants America to go back to what it was before, while the other responds in small comments, building up to say the quote you read at the beginning. In the poem “Let America Be America Again” the author has two separate speakers with contradicting thoughts, the author relates to problems that were happening in the real world, and how the author’s rhyme scheme is a vital component to how this poem reads.
What is the American Dream? Many people have tried to explain the dream, or how they feel about the dream. Most try to be all patriotic and country loving like Walt Whitman... But others like Langston Hughes reveal a darker side of the dream. Whitman hears America Singing.
Makayla Long Professor Van Epps ENGL 1102 13 February 2023 How Poetry affected America during the Harlem Renaissance Langston Hughes wrote the poem “Let America Be America Again” (1935) during the Harlem Renaissance period. Hughes used this poem to reveal his feelings towards the inequality in America. He used literary devices such as metaphors and repetition to show more about his theme of freedom and equality. Using these metaphors and repetition, Hughes gets his theme and feelings across in a very descriptive way.
The idea that hardships may bring out of someone something they did not know they had within them is something that many people believe. American culture is one that admires resolve in the face of hardship as we believe that is when someone shines that most. However adversity does not always bring out something that was not being shown before but rather gives a new direction to talents that someone already has. Adversity may push some to recognize talents they did not they had, like for example taking an advance class in a subject they did not like but finding they are talented in understanding the subject.
In “Let America be America again,” Hughes argues that “America was never America to him.” This quote means that America was supposed to be a great and amazing place but it never lived up to what it was supposed to be. He also exclaims how America was supposed to be a great dream but it was not a dream at all to him. He also argues about how it is not just the immigrants that are being discriminated against, but also anyone that is not rich.
I greatly didn't enjoy myself why watching this movie a lot, citizen cane is one of the worse movies I have ever watched with my own two eyes. If your like me and don't really care for older films and black and white pictures don't watch this movie. Citizen Cane will make you hate black and white films even more. Citizen Cane takes place in 1941, it’s an American mystery shot by none other then Orson Wells , the movie citizen cane is wells first big time production. Citizen cane is about a man who is assigned one job and that job is to figure out what Charles Foster Cane last words actually were and what the actually meant.
In Langston Hughes’s poetry, “Let America Be America Again”, he explain patriotism from his perspective. “The land that’s mine--the poor man’s, Indian’s Negro’s, ME who made America, whose sweat and blood, whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain, must bring back our mighty dream again.” Some examples of being patriotic for me is standing up for the flag, voting, having belief in a religion. America is very special to my family and to myself, I can be Hispanic, Irish, Asian, Italian, African American, British and still be an American. Being an American is the greatest opportunity in the world and I wouldn't change it.
America is well known as the land of the free and the home opportunity. Although it is said everyone is equal in every way, that has not always been the case. Langston Hughes is a poet who tried to emphasize the idea of equality among all human beings. Hughes underlined the basis of the American Dream with what is and what should be in the societal era he lived in. In hindsight he believed his poems helped others realize the injustices that all minorities had to face during this era.
The tone of Langston Hughes’ poem “I, Too, Sing America” is determined and talks about how “tomorrow” he will do what he pleases instead of doing what his master
He notes, "America never was America to me / And yet I swear this oath— / America will be!" The promise that America would be a nation of freedom and opportunity has proven to be a hollow one for many descendants of African Americans who were held in slavery. Our society has been deeply impacted by the legacies of slavery and institutionalized racism, and seeking reparations is an essential first step in ending these persistent injustices. As Hughes expresses, "O, let America be America again— / The land that never has been yet— /
At this time, the dream was equality and being accepted as citizens of the United States. Hughes felt that this goal of liberty and quality for African Americans was very hard to reach or match. A poem that resembles this thought well is titled “Youth”, where Hughes writes, “We have tomorrow… Bright before us… Like a flame” (Hughes 39). This poem has a lot of analysis towards the American Dream.
Ø Renaissance- The Renaissance, or “rebirth” was a period of time when classical art of Greece and Rome re-emerged into modern society. This event occurred during the 14th-16th century. Art, Architecture, literature, science, and philosophy were all examples of the rebirth of the renaissance where changes were made to add new trends and styles. The Renaissance was a time where Europe’s classical past was reborn and revisited.
The second speaker also reshapes the first two lines of the entire poem into a plea to the majority. Beforehand, the first speaker uses those lines as a call for the old American spirit to be revived: “Let America be America again / Let it be the dream it used to be” (1-2). Both speakers change the meaning of the lines to express their thoughts on America. As a result, the poem expresses the desire for everyone to be treated equally in the land of freedom. The readers can relate to the speaker because they wish that everyone has equal rights in the country that proclaims itself to be the symbol of freedom.
In the poem “I, Too”, the author Langston Hughes illustrates the key aspect of racial discrimination faces against the African Americans to further appeals the people to challenge white supremacy. He conveys the idea that black Americans are as important in the society. Frist, Hughes utilizes the shift of tones to indicate the thrive of African American power. In the first stanza, the speaker shows the sense of nation pride through the use of patriotic tone. The first line of the poem, “I, too, sing America” states the speaker’s state of mind.
In this case, Langston Hughes point of view had a whole other opinion on democracy. In his poem,”democracy” he wrote about how he wants democracy, but not everyone has the right to owe democracy. In the poem is states lines 5-9,’’I have as much right as the other fellow has to stand on my two feet and own the land.” the author uses compare and contrast to compare himself to a fellow to show that they should be equally treated because there are still the same people. The author is saying that he should be able to have the same rights as everyone else no matter who you are.
