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Langston hughes and thematic tendencies and in poems
Langston hughes and thematic tendencies and in poems
Langston hughes and thematic tendencies and in poems
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"We must learn to live together as brothers, or we will parish as fools" (Martin Luther King Jr). That is what was said from one of the most experienced leaders, at during a very judgmental time. Martin Luther King Jr was just one of the many men that changed America. During this time, there was a lot of harassment towards blacks. They were not considered as an equal people.
Introduction Many writers and speakers have been influenced by the speeches of Martin Luther King Jr. "I have a Dream" and Frederick Douglass "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July". These speeches have helped evolve the history so drastically that black American’s now have freedom and to never be segregated like they were in the past.
Hughes conveys this opinion by using the hyperbole “Democracy will not come today, this year nor ever”(Hughes 111). This helps portray his perspective because it explains how he hasn't experienced democracy yet and he would like to. Hughes uses the idiom , “I have as much right as the other fellow has to stand on my two feet and own the land. ”(Hughes 111). This idiom explains how black people should have just as much rights as the other fellow, white people, to be able to stick up for what they believe in.
“ I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self evident: that all men are created equal.” Dr. King also states that one day he would like his children to be free as whites were. “ I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but the content of their character.” Dr. King uses his own words to describe what he wants the nation to look like in the future. “ I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.”
believed that not only was it the responsibility of individuals to remedy the situation of racial injustice to achieve inequality but also it was the job of society as a whole (the state). However, Martin Luther King Jr. noted in piece titled, “Letter from the Birmingham Jail” (1963) that, “We know through painful experience that freedom is not voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.” (MLK, 580) I find this quote to be important as during the creation of our founding documents, the founding fathers were very intentional as to what they wanted. It was not in the interests of the founding fathers to provide equal rights to everyone, as doing so would ultimately put them all on the same pedestal which would not give them the level of superiority in which they believed they were entitled to.
Those were the truly wise words of Martin Luther King, Jr they mean most Afro-Americans or Canadians don’t get the same privileges as other nationalities, yet we work as hard as them maybe even harder. All these are sign that
Dr. King illustrates the illogical wrong doings of America towards black people in his two writings to represent the error and injustice in segregation. In “I Have a Dream” Dr. King explains that even though slavery ended “one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free.” In addition to this in “I Have a Dream”, the text also states that the constitution promised “unalienable Rights” to all American citizens but it has failed to give black people, american citizens, their rights. In “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, the black community sought to negotiate and talk with the people in power, whites, “But the latter consistently refused to engage in good faith negotiation.” Furthermore in “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, Dr. King relates how
There were many major movements and goals of the antebellum reform. Before the Civil War, almost 100 reform communities were instituted. Some were democratic, others were ruled over by an interesting leader. Most of them were motivated by religion, but some had desires to reverse social and economic changes. Almost all of these communities wanted to have a cooperative society, to revive social harmony in an individualistic society and to close the growing space between the rich and the poor.
“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” -Abraham Lincoln. As this quote says, our ancestors’ intention for this land was that all humans would be treated the same way; equal. But this world didn’t end up like they wanted.
“Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.” (King). King calms the African Americans who are being oppressed by using the words, “this situation can and will be changed.” and “Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.” which gives them hope that there will be a new day when a change will take place.
Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine is a hybrid and communal text constructed out of varying poetic form accompanied by contrasting imagery, and historical events. Rankine, although the author of this text is not necessarily its narrator. She plays with prospective, switching the fundamental meaning of “you” and pulls from the personal experiences of her friends, colleagues, and surrounding community. Rankine is able to incorporate “an emphasis on impressionism and subjectivity in [her] writing”, blur the line between various genres, and “[reject] … elaborate formal aesthetics in favor of minimalist design”, which are the pillars of postmodern works (Klages). She utilizes historical and modern events such as the Jim Crow laws, affirmative
Therefore this makes people see racism in a whole new light; racism has not been justified because the United States have failed to uphold their promises. Kings goes on to say how racial equality can not be achieved until “...justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream” (King). He deliberately tries to make the audience feel as if racial segregation is both wrong and against basic morals. Martin Luther King’s most famous speech, “I Have a Dream” was the changing point for racism in America. It managed to inspire a generation of blacks to never give up and made thousands of white Americans feel ashamed of their actions.
“I Have a Dream,” however, played a major step into changing it. It managed to inspire a generation of blacks to never give up and made thousands of white Americans bitterly ashamed of their actions, forging a new start for society. Even now, it continues to make generations of people, not just Americans, to give up their racist beliefs and advocate social colorblindness. Without King, America would be probably still heavily segregated. Other than the speech’s heartwarming and moving content, King’s effective structure along with the usage of all three rhetorical modes and certain rhetorical tropes and schemes has revealed the reason “I Have a Dream” as a masterpiece of rhetoric and it persuades hundreds of thousands of people support the blacks instead of treating them
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,
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.
