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How Did Langston Hughes Change The Portrayal Of African American

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How did Langston Hughes change the portrayal of African American dreams during the Harlem Renaissance? Langston Hughes was a writer during the Harlem Renaissance which was a pivotal movement during the 1920s among African Americans in art, music, and culture. His work combined challenging stereotypes and advocating for a better future. One of his many works, ‘If-ing’, explores dreams and aspirations “if” he was a rich man. “If I had a million / I’d get me a plane / And everybody in America’ / Think I was insane.” From his use of literary devices, imagery throughout the stanza, and the effect of these techniques, Hughes made an impact on society, especially challenges that shaped the perceptions during that era. In this poem, figurative language such as hyperbole, irony, and metaphors all exaggerate his desire for wealth while …show more content…

This serves as a hypothetical scenario that shows his dreams and desires if he was a wealthy man. Throughout the poem, Hughes talks about a hypothetical scenario where he imagined the possibilities of wealth. The lines "If I had a million / I’d get me a plane / And everybody in America’d / Think I was insane" (Hughes, 9-12) showed many different literary devices, for example, “get me a plane” (Hughes, 10). They symbolized not just materialistic wealth, but also freedom, challenging stereotypes that limited Black peoples dreams. This, followed by line 9, revealed irony, as he exaggerated it by saying “million” since achieving a million dollars as a person in a marginalized group was nearly impossible. This stanza used metaphors to address stereotypes of wealth since many Black families faced economic oppression and were denied monetary freedom. By using figurative language, Hughes was able to express the narrator's desire for freedom while overthrowing stereotypes. In this stanza, the imagery also plays a significant role, portraying the dreams of the

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