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Comparing Maya Angelou And Langston Hughes

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Compare and Contrast Angelou and Hughes Throughout the trial-and-error events that have happened in America, there are good and bad results in the end. During the 20th century, a big positive result was the art that had developed during this time. From paintings to poems, and sculpture to music, everything was inspiring to many individuals. There were many pieces of art that were so inspirational and thought-provoking that they are still around in the 21st century. Some authors during this time period share a similar idea, possibly due to the time period by which they lived or by experiences that they shared, but they also have a stark difference, whether it is in the tone, the diction, or even the point of view from the speaker. Two speakers …show more content…

These poets were both significant and influential, which is why their poems are still shared throughout current generations. One similarity that is showed in Angelou’s “Still I Rise” and Hughes’ “I, Too” is that they both show self-confidence. Maya Angelou uses “I” multiple times in her poem to show how she has strength, she believes in herself, and she can rise above the mistakes to make a better future for herself. Hughes’ poem also has a repetition of “I” to show that he is self-confident and powerful. In addition, both poems share the feeling of beauty in them. In Hughes’ poem “I, Too”, he states in the second stanza that “They’ll see how beautiful I am And be ashamed—”. When he says this, he describes how racism gets in the way of seeing people as they truly are, rather than just by their physical appearance and race. In Angelou’s poem “Still I Rise”, she shares her opinions about racism in a more direct manner when she says, “Does my sexiness upset you?/ Does it come as a surprise/ That I dance like I’ve got diamonds/ At the meeting of my thighs?” Both authors are describing how they feel that their racial background gets in the way of people seeing how they truly are beyond their race. Finally, both authors lived within the same generation. Although this may seem insignificant, their environments influence their opinions,

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Claude Mckay's Poem In The Harlem Dancer, And I, Too

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Some of the significant subjects were music, literature, poem, and art. The poets Langston Hughes and Claude McKay were some of the most influential poets from the renaissance. The poems “The Harlem Dancer” by Claude McKay and “I, Too” by Langston Hughes will be used to compare and show how two poems form the same era could be similar yet different based on their subject, purpose, style, tone, and rhythm. “I, Too” creates the world where people are treated equally. With so much discrimination and segregation occurring in the 20th century, it was a world that people wished for.

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Maya Angelou Obstacles

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III. a. Maya Angelou was an avid writer, speaker, activist and teacher. As a result of the many hardships that she suffered while growing up as a poor black woman in the south she has used her own experiences as the subject matter of her written work. In doing this she effectively shows how she was able to overcome her personal obstacles. Her autobiography “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1970) tells the story of her life and how she overcame and moved forward triumphantly in spite of her circumstances.

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Similarities Between Langston Hughes And Countee Cullen

780 Words | 4 Pages

Here Hughes says that once African Americans are perceived as equivalent, everybody will see they are not terrible and that they are excellent and some portion of America. Langston Hughes is a gifted artist who utilizes similitude and his own particular style of writing to build the adequacy of his general message. His use of "I" emphasizes that he too is an American and won 't be let around society nor will other African Americans. "I, Too" delineates the perspective of African Americans in the past and their quality to push ahead. In Conclusion,  The two poems are relevant to the African American society.

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Similarities Between Langston Hughes And Gwendolyn Brooks

509 Words | 3 Pages

The Harlem Renaissance motivated generations of black writers, but it was largely ignored by the literary establishment after it declined in the 1930s. With the start of the civil rights movement, it again acquired wider recognition. Artist such as Wallace Thurman, W. E. B. Du Bois, and Zora Neale Hurston introduced new ideas that changed the literature culture. I myself have been greatly influenced by the artist of the past. I would like to focus on two of them: Langston Hughes and Gwendolyn Brooks.

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Similarities Between Douglass And Langston Hughes

1690 Words | 7 Pages

Luca Santin Mrs. Kane Music & Lit 17 February 2023 Harlem Renaissance Project Langston Hughes, Louis Armstrong, and Aaron Douglas were all important figures during the Harlem Renaissance. While each of these individuals had their own unique talents and contributions, there are several similarities that can be drawn between them. There are three main topics that each of these people took part of during this time period: celebration of black culture, use of the arts, and collaboration with other people in their respective fields. One of the key themes of the Harlem Renaissance was the celebration of black culture, and all three of these individuals played a role in promoting this idea.

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Discussion Of The Essay 'Graduation' By Maya Angelou

450 Words | 2 Pages

Angelou, later on, became a writer, dancer, and poet. She went on to prove that no matter what skin color you may be, you can still go on to be successful. Throughout life, you should never judge a person because of how they look on the outside. You never know, that person could go on to be beyond than what you believed.

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Similarities Between Whitman And Langston Hughes

311 Words | 2 Pages

“Race is a major group of humans beings that passes on certain physical characteristics from one generation to another” “dictionary scott foresman page 708”. Have you ever heard of the two most famous poets Walt Whitman “I Hear America Singing” and Langston Hughes “Let America Be America Again”. But race had a lot to do with it because some blacks and whites didn’t get along during 1819-1902 when the Walt Whitman and Langston Hughes wrote poems. Even though the poem Walt Whitman “I Hear America Singing”and Langston Hughes “Let America Be America Again” have many similarities there are many differences too;one such difference is the impact of their race. Walt Whitman and Langston Hughes didn’t have that many similarities.

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Comparing Scholarship Jacket And Still I Rise

324 Words | 2 Pages

The poem “Still I Rise” written by Maya Angelou and the story “The Scholarship Jacket” by Marta Saline, are two different kind of writing styles. One is a poem and the other is a story. Even though they might be two different kind of styles of writing, they still are somewhat similar. “Still I Rise” is a poem about conquering your goals in life and rising up to be the best you can possibly be. Mayas writing in this poem is very confident, in a way she almost sounds like she's bragging.

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Compare And Contrast Angelou And Paul Laurence Dunbar

535 Words | 3 Pages

The human connection to birds is a fascinating thing that is often depicted in stories. Humans want to be free like birds and fly away from the troubles that are present in their life. Birds reflect the image of freedom in life, so it’s no wonder that the Bald Eagle is the emblem of the United States; a country built on the principles of freedom and equality. Two famous poets by the names of Paul Laurence Dunbar and Maya Angelou used the image of the bird to describe how they felt in their own life. Even though Dunbar wrote in the Reconstruction Era and Angelou wrote around the time of the Civil Rights Movement, their ideas were almost identical.

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Similarities Between I Too Sing America And Still I Rise

399 Words | 2 Pages

America is a symbol of freedom. The poems “I, Too, Sing America” by Langston Hughes and “Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou both describe how America was rather unfair during their times. Langston Hughes was a key figure during the Harlem Renaissance and Maya Angelou did not become famous or recognized until her first autobiography. Even though “I, Too, Sing America” and “Still I Rise” have completely different tones, they both convey the message of how inequality was prevalent in America. Langston Hughes and Maya Angelou both talk about how in the future they will come back and be free.

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How It Feels To Be Colored Me Essay

585 Words | 3 Pages

In both story I have found a connection between how race has a direct effect on their identity. Starting off with “How it Feels to be Colored Me” by Zora Neale hurston like when she was comparing herself to "a brown bag" filled with all kinds of random things, and by comparing other people of various races to other bags similarly filled with different stuff, Hurston is basically saying that it really doesn 't matter what color we are on the outside--we 're all filled with basically the same things (the same thoughts, feelings, experiences, etc.) and that this essential similarity that transcends race is probably how we were made to be by God ("the Great Bag stuffer "). Basically, then, Hurston is saying that even though her own experiences

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Maya Angelou's Contribution To The Civil Rights Movement

1975 Words | 8 Pages

Angelou’s contribution to the Civil Rights Movement and her achievements as an activist were remarkable. While these achievements seem to be enough to last a lifetime, the Civil Rights Movement was only the beginning for Angelou. Angelou worked as an outspoken Civil Rights activist during the movement. But even after the Civil Rights Movement had ended, she continued to be a voice of humanity, speaking out against anything that harmed the human spirit. Angelou moved on to influence American society as a whole, from the 1970’s to the day she died, May 28, 2014.

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Comparing Poems By Maya Angelou And Phenomenal Woman By Nikki Giovanni

1281 Words | 6 Pages

The poems in this essay both talk about being a woman. “Phenomenal Woman” by Maya Angelou is about more of a confident woman while “Woman” by Nikki Giovanni is about a woman who wants a man to change for her. The poems though very different, are also similar because they both talk about confidence as a woman. By the end of both poems the narrators both know that they are women who are strong and do not need anyone else 's acceptance but their own. They know their own self worth and that is enough for them.

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Maya Angelou And Langston Hughes Comparison

514 Words | 3 Pages

Maya Angelou wrote the poem “Still, I rise.” These two poems both have their own meaning but are still similar in many ways. To begin, Hughes poem was about how African Americans were looked at as differently. The poem was about how blacks were segregated from whites. They were treated different and not looked at as human beings.

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Change In American Literature

970 Words | 4 Pages

This quote brings about an interesting topic, American Literature and the significant changes throughout history encouraged many people to create change in literature. The literary arts became a powerful tool in communicating different worldviews and the integrating of historical moments in time. This movement created a unique blending of different races to integrate through literary arts causing many cultures to unite internationally. Literature encouraged intellectual American’s to be a part of the change in their communities. For many people, this movement triggered an internal need for social and cultural change.

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