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How Does Langston Hughes Use Imagery

505 Words3 Pages

The Harlem Renaissance was a time of great diverse culture. However, the acts of segregation, discrimination, and inequality between blacks and whites was still very alive. Poets of the Harlem Renaissance used their voices and writing skills to send a message of the importance and desire for freedom and identity at the time. Three poems that used imagery to express these themes are “A Black Man Talks of Reaping” by Arna Bontemps, “I, Too” by Langston Hughes, and “Any Human to Another” by Countee Cullen.

To begin, “A Black Man Talks of Reaping” by Arna Bontemps uses imagery to depict a desire for freedom and identity. This poem creates an image of a Black man working hard to farm. However, the poem describes that the Black man is unable to reap what he sows. He does not get the harvest for his hard work. Instead, it implies that the harvest is taken by the Whites. This image is important because it shows a desire for getting what you deserve. The imagery of this poem is so effect because it relates to the struggles of the time. At the time the poem was written, Black people were terribly discriminated against and did not have the freedom to get any type of payment or reward for their hard work. Even if they were classified as free, they did not …show more content…

The image this poem creates is one of a man who identifies he is American like those around him, but gets segregated and treated different than others. When guests come over, he is not allowed to be in sight and does not get to eat with the White people. However, the poem also describes a hopeful future, and states “Tomorrow, I will be at the table.” This statement means that the writer knows in the future that he will not be separated from Whites and will be able to eat with them at the table. This poem is also very effective because it relates to the real life situation at the time and describes a desire to be free and

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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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