When I first opened my book to start reading Easter Wings, I was taken of guard by its shape as well as the fact that it was side ways. I did not understand why this poem, reading, was different form all the other ones we had read in the past. However, once I finished reading it became a bit clearer as to why this one was different from all the rest. Easter Wings is a two-stanza poem's built on a back-and-forth between hopelessness and optimism. First comes the disappointment; in the first half of each stanza, Herbert describes the downward spiral of human life.
The purpose of “Why, You Reckon?” by Langston Hughes is to accurately display, through the times of that century and human emotion, that despite money, power, and the color of your skin there can still be an unhappiness of the soul. There is evidence in the beginning of the short story of two men’s unhappiness in life the symbol of them being uncontent was their hunger. “Man, ain’t you hongry.... Well, sir, I’m tellin’ you, I was so tired and hongry and cold that night.” (253- 254).
First ALot of african Americans didn't have a job or weren’t accepted in jobs. The whites could call a job and get a african american person fired. The poem written by Paul Laurence Dunbar i about how black were were getting treated differently. It was also about how black people had to wear mask because they felt like they had to hide their identity. Then the poem “Mother To Son” written by Langston hughes is about how life can get really challenging sometimes but you should never give up.
Jazz music filled the streets, people poured into speakeasies, the economy boomed and American spirits were high during the roaring twenties. The Harlem Renaissance played an essential part in making this decade a notable time. Due to the great migration caused by Jim Crow laws, Boll Weevils and industrial jobs available in the North, African Americans finally left their lives of endless debt and farming for a new opportunities in the North. Harlem allowed the opportunity for a new African American culture to be represented. This new culture allowed for African Americans to be able to achieve new dreams.
Langston Hughes poems “Harlem” and “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” are two poems that have a deeper meaning than a reader may notice. Hughes 's poem “Harlem” incorporates the use of similes to make a reader focus on the point Hughes is trying to make. In “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” Hughes shows how close he was to the rivers on a personal level. With those two main focuses highlighted throughout each poem, it creates an intriguing idea for a reader to comprehend. In these particular poems, Hughes’s use of an allusion, imagery, and symbolism in each poem paints a clear picture of what Hughes wants a reader to realize.
Hughes’s grandmother was a prideful black woman, and she instilled racial pride in Langston (Henderson). The separation from his mother and father caused Langston to often feel abandoned, so he found himself at an early age turning to books to escape his reality (Rampersad). In his biography, The Big Sea, Langston recalled “even before I was six, books began to happen to me, so that after a while there came a time when I believed in books more than people — which, of course, was wrong.” In high school, Hughes’s poetic skill was already developed and evident, with him being elected class poet and publishing works in the school paper (Howes 204). His early poems reflected influence from Carl Sandburg and Walt Whitman, whom he had learned in about school and admired greatly.
Leach, the author offers valuable insights into the early life of Langston Hughes, showcasing the experiences that shaped the prominent writer. According to Leach, Hughes was born in 1902 in Missouri on a wintry night, growing up feeling disconnected from his parents. His father, James, left for Mexico for work when Hughes was less than a year old, while his mother, Carrie, frequently left him in the care of his grandmother as she sought employment elsewhere (Leach 1). Leach emphasizes the impact of this solitary childhood on Hughes's development and later literary work. Hughes's grandmother, Mary Sampson Patterson Leary Langston, shared stories of their ancestors' resilience and resistance, instilling in him a sense of racial pride.
In American society today it seems that many issues are focused around race and gender. These things have always presented issues in society but they seem to have spiked since Donald Trump ran for and got elected President of the United States. Everyone has seen/heard, whether it be on social media, television, newspaper, or radio, the race issues with the multiple police shootings involving African American citizen, the immigration bans against Muslim countries, and Trump’s “build a wall” statements about Mexico. There has been controversy on gender issues like the debates of how many “genders” there is in society, is sex change acceptable at a young age, is it acceptable at all, gay marriage, and gay rights, along with feminism and the ideals that come
Langston hughes was born on May 22,1967 langston passed away at the age of 65. He grew up in Joplin, Missouri. Langston’s height was 5’4” tall. , he was born on February 1,1902. The poem was published in 1951.
What happens to a dream deferred? … the poem “A Dream Deferred” by Langston Hughes explores the topic of deferred dreams and connects to the reader because everyone has lost dreams. Many people have interpreted the poem in different ways. Nike's “A Dream Deferred” and Khandi Alexander's “A dream deferred” are examples of different interpretations and artistic expressions of Hughes’s poem. These different interpretations are essential to understand because it shows how the meaning of words can change when different contexts, sounds, and visual elements are used.
In his poem “Harlem” Hughes highlights the limitations set on African Americans. Opening the poem with the question “What happens to a dream deferred?” he then compares the experience of African Americans using a series of dismal similes, illustrating how since Africans were brought by force into America they have endured miserable treatment, and have shriveled up, like a raisin, in comparison with the former glory of the people and culture (Harlem). Hughes further delves into the subject of inequality with his poem “I, Too.” Within the poem he narrates an everyday example of inequality, how he must eat in a separate room simply because of the color of his skin.
Aside from his highly praised works such as “I, Too” and “The Weary Blues,” Hughes faced heavy criticism for his more in-depth poems. Surprisingly, the judgement came from fellow black writers. Hughes was already under the watchful eye of a few of these famed writers at the early age of twenty-four (“Langston Hughes”). What set him apart from other writers at his age, was that Hughes was in love with the good and bad sides of being black in America. Most black writers wanted to take the beauty of being black and magnify it.
Langston Hughes poems “Harlem” and “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” are two poems that have a deeper meaning than a reader may notice. Hughes 's poem “Harlem” incorporates the use of similes to make a reader focus on the point Hughes is trying to make. In “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” Hughes shows how close he was to the rivers on a personal level. With those two main focuses highlighted throughout each poem, it creates an intriguing idea for a reader to comprehend. In these particular poems, Hughes’s use of an allusion, imagery, and symbolism in each poem paints a clear picture of what Hughes wants a reader to realize.
As a mixed-race child living in the early 1900s, Langston Hughes well-understood but was determined to overcome the oppression of racial prejudice. Despite the hindrances that Hughes faced due to racism, he made many achievements and is a recognized literary figure. Given his first-hand experience, and knowing how countless others struggled, the impact of discrimination was drawn into Hughes’ writing. Through the motifs of light, dark, and dreams, Hughes conveys the difficulty that he as well as other black people faced when striving for their dreams, yet also his hope that they would overcome obstacles to succeed. While considered as a black person, Langston Hughes was not purely African.
Langston Hughes was a poet that particularly focused on Harlem communities, the American Dream, racial discrimination, and the jazz age. However, “April Rain Song” by Langston Hughes does not relate to any of these topics. This poem does not fall into his usual categories, it is simply just a song about rain. Some people would argue that there is a relationship between this poem and the Harlem Renaissance because he did live there at about the time this poem was written. They say that this poem was inspired when Langston Hughes was watching a rail fall over the urbanized city.
