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Analysis Of Let America Be America Again By Langston Hughes

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One of the main statement of Langston Hughes “Let America be America Again” is the inequality between majorities and minorities. The theoretical concept of this term paper looks into Postcolonial-Criticism, especially cultural differences and the American Civil Rights Movement as well as African-American studies. If you read a poem like “Let America Be America Again” the first question which will come to your mind will probably be the question of whether there was segregation, inequality and discrimination of minorities at this specific time. In the fifth stanza of the poem Hughes names groups which were discriminated, namely African-Americans, American-Indians and immigrants in general. To further understand this issue I looked into Marxism and the most important movement at this time, the Harlem Renaissance.

Apart from the issue of inequality, the main theme of “Let America be America Again” is the confrontation with the American Dream. Hughes himself was not entirely sure if there ever was such a dream or what the dream really meant and continuously changes his own mind throughout the poem. First of, to answer this questions there must be a clear definition of the American Dream, but the issue about dreams is that they are different for every single human. The American dream might mean something completely different …show more content…

To answer this questions we need an understanding of what the Harlem Renaissance was. What were the intentions of the authors ? Are there characteristics, which let us connect the Harlem Renaissance to “Let America be America Again” ? Furthermore, “The Negro Movement” was closely connected to specific writing styles influenced by blues and folklore. To which point does Langston Hughes follow this pattern

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In the poem, “ Let America be America again”, Langston Hughes asserts that America does not live up to what it actually should be. Hughes’ tone seems to be angry and [exasperated]. He implicates the perspective of one particular group, but many people. The poem represents that many people come here with high hopes and big dreams but they are let down. He states that [prosperity] is one of the reasons that there is an economic inconsistency where the rich gets richer and the poor gets poorer.

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In his writing piece, “That Word Black” (1958), Langston Hughes accentuates the issue over the negative connotation of the term ‘black’, and how its usage associates black individuals with immoral concepts, implying that they are terrible people. By providing imagery, a series of examples of black’s adverse use, and juxtaposition between that of the white’s, the writer heightens pathos. Langston Hughes’ purposes is to reveal the abysmal correlation of the word ‘black’ in order to demonstrate the underlying racism and disparity between black and white people. Because the author uses AAVE to show the ethos and sincerness that he is a black person, and discusses an educational, racial topic, he appeals to the white people who hold a cultural stereotypes

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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.

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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.

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The Harlem Renaissance was a period in American history, which occurred in the 1920s in Harlem, New York. The cultural movement was an opportunity for African Americans to celebrate their heritage through intellectual and artistic works. Langston Hughes, a famous poet, was a product of the Harlem Renaissance. One notable piece of literature by Hughes is “Dream Deferred”. However, the discussion of African American culture isn’t limited to the 1920s.

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It was a period of expression in which they took pride in their culture, this sense of group identity formed a basis for later progress for blacks in the United States. The Harlem Renaissance took down previous racial stereotypes, as well as exemplified that African Americans had much to offer and contributed greatly to the creation of American culture. B) James Weldon Johnson’s excerpt argued that African Americans during the Harlem Renaissance were establishing themselves as active and important forces in society whom were also accomplishing great artistic achievements. Langston Hughes, a leading African American poet of the Harlem Renaissance, wrote literature about the pain and pride

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The Harlem Renaissance was a “outpouring of writing, music, and social criticism” (Baker, 1987) aimed at destroying the ever-present racism of the 1920s. Langston Hughes, an artist of the Harlem Renaissance, was a big contributor to change, inspiring those of his own time and later on to stand up for African American rights. Penning the 1926 manifesto The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain, Hughes encapsulated the thoughts of Harlem, and urged African Americans to be proud of their own culture, “without fear or shame” (Hughes in Bernard, 2011).

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The development of the Harlem neighborhood in New York City, as a black cultural time period in the early 20th century is also known as the Harlem Renaissance. This time period, 1910’s to the mid 1930’s, was very successful and considered the Golden Age in African American history, performing arts, music and literature. At one point, like many, a group of people who had no power nor place in society are now changing the world one step at a time. This time period changed America using Langston Hughes, the Great Migration and the “New Negro” organization organized by Marcus Garvey.

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One of his poems that has been a great figure of the twentieth century literature is "Let America Be America Again". In this poem, Hughes argues that America has never been the way it was set to be founded as, the history behind

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The theme of the poem, “Let America Be America Again” by Langston Hughes is about equality. There are multiple reasons and quotes hinting to why it's about Equality. For example, Hughes states in his poem, “There has never been equality for me, nor freedom in this “homeland of the free”” (15-16). From this quote we can see that he thinks everything isn’t equal. He put quotes around the homeland of the free to make it seem sarcastic.

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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.

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When people think of the Harlem Renaissance they think of music, literature, art, and the ability for African-Americans to be able to showcase their talents. This was a time where such authors like Langston Hughes were able to take their thoughts and portray them in a different light for the world to see. Hughes was born in Joplin, Missouri where he lived for a brief period until his parents split and he was forced to live with his grandmother. He lived with her until thirteen when she shipped him back off to his mom in Lincoln, Illinois. Upon graduating high school, he attended Columbia University for one year then decided to travel to Africa and Europe before settling down in Washington D.C.

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By stressing that he is equal in society and it is something that people will start to realize is reinforced in the last stanza. The last stanza “I, too, am America,”(18) where the word ‘sing’ from the first stanza is changed to ‘am.’ This is a powerful way to close the poem, reinforces the greater notion that not only is he a voice in society, but he is the very essence that is part of

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Langston Hughes was an American poem born in the early nineteen hundreds, who became known as the leader of the Harlem Renaissance. He published many poems that brought light to the life of people of color in the twentieth century. There are three poems that the speakers are used to portray three major themes of each poem. Racism, the American Dream, and Hopes are all the major themes that Hughes uses to highlight the average life of a person of color. Theme for English B,” “Harlem,” and “Let America Be America Again” were three of Hughes’s poems that was selected to underline the themes.

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What would happen if the dreams you most desired were at risk of never coming true? In the poem, "A Dream Deferred" by Langston Hughes, he uses figurative language to convey the importance of what happens when a dream is deferred for too long due to oppression. Not only does Hughes uses similes to help the reader understand the author 's point of view, but also metaphors and imagery. "A Dream Deferred" was written in a time where oppression was not only harmful but also a painful way of life for Hughes and hundreds of other Americans. In this poem, he uses imagery to convey just how desperate those Americans felt at that time with what was happening in the world, and what would continue to happen if nothing was fixed.

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