ipl-logo

How Did Langston Hughes Use Racism And Inequality Erred Dream

631 Words3 Pages

The Harlem Renaissance introduced a sense of cultural freedom that allowed the new African Americans from the Great Migration to express their feelings and emotions through literature, as well as, a variety of other mediums. Poets who expressed such sentiments had many styles of addressing their viewpoints. Some wrote complex and short poems with encrypted messages whilst some wrote long poems with immediately conceivable messages. This led to the creation of elements that distinctively reflects the issues at the time. For instance, the desire to ascertain African American rights to self-definition and self-defense and the racial pride from their contributions to society.
A popular poet named Langston Hughes conveyed racism and inequality …show more content…

However, he includes an alternate ending with the question “or does it explode?” From that last statement, Hughes is hinting that, if the dream to achieve equality and social freedom, escape from oppression from the south, and receive good education is never fulfilled, then it will linger within the person, become burdensome, and make it difficult to not feel disappointed from the hindering of societal growth. Additionally, Hughes’ violent emphasis of the word “explosion” portrays how serious the aftereffects could be, including riots, rebellions, revolutions and strikes, and the desire to assert rights of self-definition and self-defense. Another poem that discusses the same issue of racism and inequality is “If We Must Die” by Claude McKay. McKay introduces his poem by establishing the fact that …show more content…

A poem titled “My City” by James Weldon Johnson captures the pride he has within himself as he admires Manhattan and all of its unique elements. Johnson begins his poem with him realizing one day he’ll have to “sleep death’s endless night” and so he starts listing things he might miss such as Manhattan’s natural elements that included “the trees, the smell of flowers, the singing birds, the flashing streams, and the patient herds.” He considers missing them, but he appreciates elements of Manhattan that can’t be reproduced and are present only in that city, such as, “Manhattan’s sights and sounds, her smells, her crowds, her throbbing force, her subtle spell, her shining towers, her avenues, and her slums”. He finds pride in appreciating these unique elements because he can understand the origin of those places, such as the slums that placed hardships as well as provided a “safe haven” to the people during the Great Migration. By understanding the city’s foundation he was able to completely absorb, admire, strengthen his racial pride, and appreciate the

Show More
Related

Harlem Renaissance Dbq

756 Words | 4 Pages

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

Read More

Historical Literary Lens On If We Must Die By Claude Mckay

173 Words | 1 Pages

Historical Literary Lens on “If We Must Die” by Claude McKay Claude McKay’s poem ‘If We Must Die’ portrays historical exploitation and oppression and the challenges the black community went through during the period of slavery. Through the poem, McKay calls for the unity of the black community to stand up against social injustices, and if they must die, they do so honorably as he quoted saying, "If we must die—oh, let us nobly die. " The emphasis on the idea of an honorable death exemplifies how the black community was subjected to fatal exploitation during slavery, and the only way out was by fighting back, even if outnumbered and overpowered.

Read More

Langston Hughes: The Harlem Renaissance

1054 Words | 5 Pages

Harlem Renaissance Essay First Draft The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural awakening, the reborn and rise of the intellectuals and great artists that were people of color. Such artists includes Langston Hughes, Claude McKay and Zora Neale Hurston. These young writers were able to express their feelings that they have felt while living in America at the time. The most popular writer of the movement was Langston Hughes.

Read More

Mckay Figurative Language

611 Words | 3 Pages

Every human being is born into this world with one guaranteed fact: that the life they were just given will one day end. Another guaranteed fact is that it will not be easy, and we will face struggles every day. Claude Mckay’s poem, “If We Must Die,” expresses the idea that since we are all going to die one day, we should go down fighting for what we believe is right. Mckay uses figurative language and literary devices to convey the oppression African American’s faced in the early 20th century.

Read More

What Are The Ethical Effects Of The Harlem Renaissance

934 Words | 4 Pages

Even through discrimination and hardships, black artists have overcome obstacles of racial hate by writing poems, songs, and creating art pieces such as sculptures and paintings to lay down a foundation of civil rights and draw attention to the bitter tradition of racism and slavery thrown at African Americans. During the 1920s to the 1930s in the northern states of America, particularly in New York, the Harlem Renaissance was a literary time period in American history that celebrated the unique cultural roots of African Americans. The Harlem Renaissance sprouted notably credible historical authors and poets who developed important pieces of literature that created movements that immensely affected America by acknowledging the unethical effects

Read More

Harlem Renaissance Research Paper

860 Words | 4 Pages

African American Poetry created many opportunities for the black community to freely speak of their discrimination. Harlem was the primary neighborhood in which this cultural movement began. It was a 3 square mile neighborhood in which many talented and artistic African Americans lived (“The Harlem Renaissance”). The writers often used common English writing styles, often using a sonnet style expressing racial pride (Cullen). Many poems were also written about their discrimination, this was an easy way to show others what was truly happening, no matter how little they wanted to see it (“The Harlem Renaissance”).

Read More

Music During The Harlem Renaissance

1404 Words | 6 Pages

Due to the Harlem Renaissance, the United States now sees the African American community as a serious source of literature, art, and especially music. It was an opportunity for African Americans to resist the inequality and prove that if race was not a factor, that there may be aspects of African Americans that are appealing to whites The main idea of being free and open about everything regarding life has been passed down through the ages of African American culture to the music and poetry that we see and hear

Read More

Album Analysis: The Harlem Renaissance

932 Words | 4 Pages

Poetry Album Analysis over the “Harlem Renaissance” The Harlem Renaissance was an impactful cultural movement that took place in the 1920s and 1930s in Harlem, New York. It was a time of artistic, literary, and intellectual growth for African Americans, who had been oppressed for centuries. This poetry album about the Harlem Renaissance is an excellent testament to the creativity and passion of the poets who contributed to this cultural movement. Through a deep analysis of the themes and motifs present in the album, we can gain a deeper understanding of the cultural significance of this period in history.

Read More

The Harlem Dancer And Invocation Analysis

1686 Words | 7 Pages

In this piece, McKay talks about how African Americans have been oppressed throughout history and shows the sadness he has for his people, “My heart grows sick with hate, becomes as lead,/ For this my race that has no home on earth(7-8).” He also wants his people to be liberated and be able to live as equals with white people, which they've been denied the right to do. Another poem which shows how the themes of the Harlem Renaissance shaped his writing is If We Must Die. In this piece, McKay talks about how he doesn’t want black people to die in vain like that had been throughout history but rather let them die with honor and dignity because they matter just as much as the white people, or “the murderous, cowardly pack”. In the line, “ If we must die-let it not be like hogs/ Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot,/ While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs,/ Making their mock at our accursed lot./

Read More

Prejudice And Racism During The Harlem Renaissance

748 Words | 3 Pages

Moreover, publications like "The Opportunity: A Journal of Negro Life," "Crisis," and "The Messenger" were particularly important because they exposed acts of prejudice (The Harlem Renaissance). Certain literary elements were seen as symbols of control and authority by Black Americans. The main goal of the writers of the Harlem Renaissance was to show that black people were capable individuals deserving of the same respect as white people. The approach African Americans outlined in theaters and on records was refined by writers like Langston Hughes and Claude McKay, who also paved the way for the following generation. The poem changed a nation of Black Americans to significant heights during the Harlem Renaissance (The Harlem Renaissance).

Read More

Post Dramatic Production Analysis

522 Words | 3 Pages

Now is the winter of our discontent. In the Post Dramatic Production, The Tragedy of King Richard III by The La Boite theatre company, the same statement is posed. Using the famous first line of the original playwright by Shakespeare named Richard III the production questions the audience as to whether the meaning of the original play is still relevant for a 21st century audience and questions if something bad were to happen in front of us now what we would do about it. The show looks at how a psychopath is made, sitting in between the shakespearean representation of King Richard III, and who King Richard III really was. Taking a four-hundred-year old story, the La Boite theatre company effectively illustrated to the audience their understanding and thoughts on the original playwright and then expressed their modern interpretation through a discerning execution of characterisation, manipulation of tension and dramatic design in which aimed to engage the modern audience.

Read More

Essay On The Harlem Renaissance

1331 Words | 6 Pages

The Harlem Renaissance,was an explosion of African American culture,especially in the creative arts, and the most influential movement in African American literary history. Making use of the literary, musical, theatrical, and visual arts, contributors to this movement sought to revive the attributes of the “African American” from the stereotypes that the white had labeled them. They also sought to let loose of conservative moral values and bourgeois shame about aspects of their lives that the white majority would have seen as an reinforcement of racist beliefs. The contributors to this movement did not particularly belong to a major school of thought. They came from all over the country to give rise to this movement.

Read More

Images Of Oppression In Walt Whitman's Song Of Myself

887 Words | 4 Pages

Langston Hughes uses images of oppression to reveal a deeper truth about the way minorities have been treated in America. He uses his poems to bring into question some of Walt Whitman’s poems that indirectly state that all things are great, that all persons are one people in America, which Hughes claims is false because of all the racist views and oppression that people face from the people America. This oppression is then used to keep the minorities from Walt Whitman in his poem, “Song of Myself”, talks about the connection between all people, how we are family and are brothers and sisters who all share common bonds. He says, “ And I know that the spirit of God is the brother of my own,/ And that all the men ever born are also my brothers,

Read More

Three Major Themes In Langston Hughes's Poetry

1089 Words | 5 Pages

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.

Read More

Rhetorical Devices In The Negro Speaks Of Rivers By Langston Hughes

1413 Words | 6 Pages

Throughout much of his poetry, Langston Hughes wrestles with complex notations of African American dreams, racism, and discrimination during the Harlem Renaissance. Through various poems, Hughes uses rhetorical devices to state his point of view. He tends to use metaphors, similes, imagery, and connotation abundantly to illustrate in what he strongly believes. Discrimination and racism were very popular during the time when Langston Hughes began to develop and publish his poems, so therefore his poems are mostly based on racism and discrimination, and the desire of an African American to live the American dream. Langston Hughes poems served as a voice for all African Americans greatly throughout his living life, and even after his death.

Read More

More about How Did Langston Hughes Use Racism And Inequality Erred Dream

Related Topics

Open Document