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I Too By Langston Hughes Essay

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During the Harlem Renaissance, a cultural movement of the 1920s, many African American artists and authors emerged from their secret lives. Among those artists and authors is Langston Hughes. Hughes’ work is still very popular today. Two of Hughes’ most renowned poems are “I, Too” and “Dream Variations.” Both poems convey the central theme that everyone should be treated equally, regardless of his or her skin color. In “I, Too,” Hughes expresses how African Americans felt when being discriminated against. Hughes describes a situation in which a black man encounters racial inequality to convey this message. “I am the darker brother. They send me to eat in the kitchen When company comes, But I laugh, And eat well, And grow strong.” (Hughes). By saying “But I laugh, And eat well,” Hughes gives off ironic humor. This phrase is ironic because one would think that the man would be upset that he could not be with the company, but he is rather optimistic because he knows that he too is American and he will be viewed equally one day. “Tomorrow, I’ll at the table When company comes. Nobody’ll dare Say to me, “Eat in the kitchen,” Then. Besides, They’ll …show more content…

In the first stanza, Hughes displays the dream by using very descriptive actions. “To fling my arms wide In some place of the sun, To whirl and to dance Till the white day is done. Then rest at cool evening Beneath a tall tree While night comes on gently, Dark like me--- That is my dream!” (Hughes). Stanza one is very joyous and hopeful; however, stanza two is not. Stanza two depicts that the purpose for living had quite possibly diminished. “To my arms wide In the face of the sun, Dance! Whirl! Whirl! Till the quick day is done. Rest at pale evening… A tall, slim tree… Night coming tenderly Black like me.” (Hughes). Stanza two also shows that one day, the man will be able to live his dream in world full of

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Langston Hughes’s poem “I, Too” was written during the Harlem Renaissance, a time of booming cultural pride from African-Americans despite the suffering they had recently endured from Jim Crow - a set of local and state laws that enforced racial segregation in the Southern states of America. Hughes utilizes bold syntax to express that no matter what background people come from, everyone has a place in society. He places emphasis on the fact that African-Americans are proud of their nationality by proclaiming, “I, too, sing America…I, too, am America” (Hughes 1,18). Hughes conveys that regardless of the speaker's racial background, they are still Americans, proving that they are a crucial part of society similar to everyone else. His elaborate

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In the 1900’s African Americans were still not experiencing the freedom that they were expecting. Langston Hughes was one of the most successful African American writers during the Harlem Renaissance who wanted to make a difference. Langston Hughes conveys the same central idea through two unique poems. The central idea that Langston Hughes portrays through “I Too”and “Dream Variations” is that we are all the same inside, no matter the color of our skin. “I Too” written by Langston Hughes, during The Harlem Renaissance, depicts that African Americans during the 1920’s are still being persecuted even though they are supposed to be free.

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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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Though we get a clear understanding it is nighttime from these lines, we also fill with this lonliness feeling that night can bring. We may also grab this feeling of heavy shoulders with the last line of the first stanza,

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***Racial equality has positively enhanced the social status of African Americans in the United States. In the poem “I, Too” by Langston Hughes, he wrote about the frustrations of the black man in his poetry. He never gave up because he saw America in which black and white men would eat at the same table and be considered equal. In the 2nd stanza, he uses metaphors such as “the darker brother” to refer to the black man. Sadly, during that time Hughes was writing, the black man was not equal to others.

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The poem “Dream Variations” by Langston Hughes depicts a theme and dream of getting out of segregation and violence.

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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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The kitchen represents the obvious lack of rights and free will of African Americans in America (“I, Too” 103). The table in the pericope, “I’ll be at the table/ When the company comes” (9-10) represents true equality, strength, potential and aptitude (“I, Too” 103). “I, Too” also contains an extended

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In the poem “I, Too” by Langston Hughes states “I am the darker brother. They send me to eat in the kitchen When company comes, But I laugh And eat well, And grow strong. Tomorrow, I’ll be at the table When company comes.” the poem depicts the experience of a black man in the past who was discriminated against and not seen as an equal since he was told to go eat in the kitchen when company came over. Despite this, he tells us how tomorrow will be a new day where he will be able to sit at the table and shows us his resilience in being able to do

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Although the poems are about the American dream, Whitman’s characters feel happy, but Hughes’ feels aggravated that they can’t achieve their dream. These poems are both discussing the american dream. About the opportunities in America. Langston Hughes was writing his poem at a later time than Whitman, so Hughes studied Whitman’s poems and used his techniques. With the studying of Whitman, Hughes’ incorporated some of Whitman’s techniques into his poem “Let America be America be America Again”.

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In lines three-to-four of the second stanza, Hughes says, “Life is a barren field frozen with snow.” Here, the author

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The accompaniment is consistent and a driving force. It is meant to depict the first and fourth stanzas of the poem, in which the character dreams

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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.

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The speaker laughs at the oppression, and do the opposite things that the white people expect him to do, which illustrates his inner growing strength and power despite the fact that he is constantly put down by other. Furthermore, the speaker’s tone becomes aggressive in the third stanza which serves as the caution to warn people that the black power is thriving by saying that “Nobody’ll dare Say to me, ‘Eat in the kitchen,’ then” at lines 11 to 14. The lines indeed are somewhat violent, but clearly deliver the intention of the speakers, and emphasizes the importance of the message. At the last two stanzas, the tone again becomes prideful.

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