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Examples Of What It Means To Be An American By Langston Hughes

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What it means to be an American Langston Hughes' poetry is a powerful reflection of the African American experience, providing a voice to the marginalized and inspiring a generation to dream big and demand equality. While the ideals of freedom, opportunity, and diversity are often associated with American identity, Hughes' work highlights the reality that these ideals are not always fully realized for all members of society. For Hughes, being an American meant actively fighting for oneself and one's community, and striving towards a truly equal and just society, rather than simply accepting the status quo. His work serves as a reminder that the American experience is not a fixed or static concept, but one that is constantly evolving and …show more content…

The poem begins with Hughes declaring "I, too, sing America," (Hughes, ln 1) suggesting that despite the discrimination and marginalization he has faced as a Black person, he is still an American. The imagery of being sent to "eat in the kitchen" when "company comes" (ln 2; 3) further highlights the idea that Hughes believes he is not fully accepted or included in American society. However, Hughes is not content to accept this marginalization and instead asserts that he will not be denied his rightful place at the table. He states "Tomorrow, / I'll be at the table / When company comes" and that "Nobody'll dare / Say to me,” and that “[He’ll] 'Eat in the kitchen,' / Then" (lns 8-14). Through this, Hughes is expressing his determination to fight for his rights and to be viewed as a truly equal member of American society. Lastly, the final lines of the poem, "They'll see how beautiful I am / And be ashamed," (lns 15-18) further drive home the idea that Hughes sees himself as an American of equal worth and value to any other American. He implies that the discrimination he has faced is based on a lack of understanding of his true worth and value, and that once this is recognized, people will be ashamed of how they treated

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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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The poem calls for the return of the great America that he and others have been promised. The poem is told in first person point of view indicating that Hughe’s is the speaker of the poem. Hughes uses the first person point of view to include his personal point of view of what it is like to be an African American. The people Hughes describes in his poem are mainly the poor, the immigrants, the African Americans, and the Native Americans. They are the people who have worked to find the American Dream, but have only found that it was not meant for them.

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671 Words | 3 Pages

The speaker in the poem says, “Tangled in that ancient endless chain/of profit, power, gain of grab the land!” (lines 26-27). Hughes used a metaphor in these lines to describe how living in America was like an endless cycle and that he felt trapped and he wanted to feel equal to everyone else. The speaker uses this repetitive phrase, “Let America be America again,” (line 1). They use it again later on in the poem,

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476 Words | 2 Pages

He shows this in lines 1-4 when he says, “Let America be America again./Let it be the dream it used to be./Let it be the pioneer on the plain/Seeking a home where he himself is free." Hughes uses repetition and a slight rhyme scheme to grasp the reader’s attention. He uses words such as “pioneer” and “seek” to help the reader imagine

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572 Words | 3 Pages

He is not accusing the people of America for doing the awful jobs they are forced to do, but he is angry at the way they have to live in the “land of the free”: “I am the young man, full of strength and hope, tangled in that ancient endless chain,”. The young men and women come in the workforce with thoughts of achieving their dream. Little do they know, it has never been possible: “America never was America to me,”. Hughes is accusing America of how they set up a front as if they are free and the best country ever, when in reality nothing is actually free and dreams often stay dreams. They are forced to stay in the minds of Americans because they have to work these cruel jobs to survive in America.

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919 Words | 4 Pages

And that “Nobody’ll dare say,” to “Eat in the kitchen,” Last, you’ll read “Refugee in America” and you see that Hughes is speaking in the form of a refugee that is escaping from oppression and is ready for change by coming to the US. They have the change of

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783 Words | 4 Pages

At the beginning of the second stanza, Hughes’ tone is supportive and approving of what America has evolved into. By the third line, however, he has already used term such as “connive”

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827 Words | 4 Pages

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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435 Words | 2 Pages

From this quote and how it was written you can see how he’s very upset about not having equality in the world. In conclusion, through the poem Hughes clearly articulates through his words that he wants America to be great and be equal again for all people no matter what circumstance. The Mood of the poem, “Let America Be America Again” by Langston Hughes is received as depressing at some points and empowering at others. The reason for this is simple, Hughes makes it start out depressing by saying, “Let it be the dream it used to be.”

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399 Words | 2 Pages

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

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744 Words | 3 Pages

This provides the reader with the ultimate message of the poem that Langston Hughes tries to get to the world. Langston Hughes claims that “There’s never been equality” in America, that it lacks freedom in this so-called homeland of the free (Hughes, Line 16). This goes back to Hughes' message on how African Americans had endured inequality by Hughes telling that they never had equality. The use of connotations in the poem allows readers to hold the feeling of appeal to the poem and to add more personal feelings to words. The topic that African Americans do not have equality affects readers by making them reflect on how lucky they do not have to deal with inequality.

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997 Words | 4 Pages

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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1089 Words | 5 Pages

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.

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761 Words | 4 Pages

Langston Hughes is an African American Poet who is very closely connected to his culture and expresses his feelings very thoroughly through his poetry in a jazz style. Langston Hughes is a modern poet who ignore the classical style of writing poetry and instead, in favor of oral and improve traditions of the Black culture. In majority of Langston’s poetry, many of his audience seems to take away a very strong message that many can apply to themselves or to others or his poems gives you an educational background of what’s going on in the African American community right now. For example, Langston Hughes writes a poetry piece called Afro American Fragment, which gives you a great breakdown of what an everyday African American person goes through considering that their whole history is basically taken away from them. Langston seems to show his audience that in books we never hear much about what contributions a African American person has done except for being brought to America and being a slave.

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858 Words | 4 Pages

The speaker displays his connection to the black heritage by stating that “They’ll see how beautiful I am” (line 16), and the last line of the poem “I, too, sing America” repeats the first line, but this time with more insistent tone. The speaker is stating the fact

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