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Langston Hughes Poetry Essay

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Poetry Analysis: Langston Hughes Langston Hughes is an American poet who is highly recognized as an important figure of the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance, or the “New Negro Movement”, refers to a time period between late 1910s and mid 1930s when cultural, artistic, and social developments took place rapidly in Harlem, New York. As a black poet whose heyday was during the 1920s, Langston Hughes was exemplary poet of Harlem Renaissance. He wrote several distinguishable poems, such as “I Dream a World”, “I, Too” or “Democracy”. Langston Hughes is a poet who often writes in the perspective of the discriminated, uses dictions that creates inspirational mood, and frequently talks about racism of the countries. “I Dream a World” is a poem …show more content…

The “Democracy” in the poem symbolize liberty and freedom of every individual. The speaker of the poem is likely to be a black or the discriminated because he/she desires to be recognized by surrounding people, “ I have as much right/ As the other fellow has/ To stand/ On my two feet/ And own the land.”. The speaker directly talks to the audience to bring up a sense of empathy. “I live here, too/ I want freedom/ Just as you” The audience, after reading the poem will re-consider the biased condition of discriminated ones. The mood of the poem is desperate because the speaker is eagered to see the freedom or the idealistic democracy in his country, “I do not need my freedom when I’m dead.”. The speaker wants the changes to happen at his current period of time, instead of “tomorrow” or “another day”. In the poem, “Democracy”, the theme, discrimination, is implied by the words like “Democracy” or “freedom”. The speaker addresses “Democracy will not come/ Today, this year”, which means that true democracy or true freedom is not established within his/her society. The speaker wants freedom, and he is discriminated by surrounding

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The poems “The Harlem Dancer” by Claude McKay and “I, Too” by Langston Hughes, both were written during the 1920s. Something significant happening during this time was the the boom of African American culture which took place mainly around the 20s and 30s in New York. Specifically their literature, art, music and much more. The Harlem Renaissance was going on during the time both poems were written, in fact, they were written because of the renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance was the movement of African American culture.

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Hannah Parra Ms.McCall APUSH, 3rd Period 3 March, 2015 Question 1: A) The argument established in the excerpt asserted that during the Harlem Renaissance, blacks proved themselves to be active and important forces in our nation and the creation of an American cultural identity, the Renaissance did exactly that. The Harlem Renaissance was an important cultural outpouring for African Americans in Harlem, New York throughout the 1920’s. During this time, blacks advanced in art, literature, music, drama, and dance.

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There are so many writers and people who do not write also that look up to him. He accepted the challenge of expressing the heart and soul of African Americans. Keenly aware of racism, Hughes visioned a nation where domestic problems could be realized. Hughes in his poetry, expressed his own reactions to incidents in his life and in the world at large. Langston Hughes left such a lasting impression on poetry , black culture, and the people in his life, that he changed the way they lived with the spirit and soul he put into his

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America is well known as the land of the free and the home opportunity. Although it is said everyone is equal in every way, that has not always been the case. Langston Hughes is a poet who tried to emphasize the idea of equality among all human beings. Hughes underlined the basis of the American Dream with what is and what should be in the societal era he lived in. In hindsight he believed his poems helped others realize the injustices that all minorities had to face during this era.

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Poetry, perhaps more than other genre of writing, often sparks controversy and discussion. Authors Walt Whitman and Langston Hughes are two authors in American Literature whose poetry is both debated and praised by critics. "I Hear America Singing" by Walt Whitman and "I, Too, Sing America" by Langston Hughes have sparked many discussions on their controversial content. Walt Whitman was the first of the two authors to write, followed by Langston Hughes who was influenced by Whitman's work. While Whitman's poem, "I Hear America Singing" reflects the happiness of the American people, the poem written by Hughes takes a different approach.

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Hearing Jordan reading this poem is crucial to appreciating and understanding the power of her poetry. “Poem about my rights” is personal, intimate and has a quality where the listeners feel as if the speaker is talking directly to them. Jordan uses language boldly and fully. She does not shy away from stereotypically or conventionally cuss words or ideas which may upset some listeners. In the poem she speaks about social and political issues that are real and issues which she feels should not be.

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My interpretation of the poem was that there are different types of freedom. America is known for being “Land of the Free” yet, blacks were enslaved. Sandy Gannoway seems that he feels that his freedom in America is more than satisfying than freedom in Liberia. There were very interesting line breaks that I felt that Hill choose to reinforce the idea of being free. For example, “—now he going off to Liberia, Land / of the free?”

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Student Name Instructor’s Name Class/Subject Name 11 March 2016 Harlem Renaissance Introduction At the end of World War I in 1948 new era began to emerge in which African American culture, art, literature, music and trends in dance began to flourish in Harlem, a district of New York City. It started during 1920s to 1930s and also known as the moments of blacks provided a great opportunity to African Americans to make their voice heard by the world which had been suppressed for a long time.

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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.

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The second speaker also reshapes the first two lines of the entire poem into a plea to the majority. Beforehand, the first speaker uses those lines as a call for the old American spirit to be revived: “Let America be America again / Let it be the dream it used to be” (1-2). Both speakers change the meaning of the lines to express their thoughts on America. As a result, the poem expresses the desire for everyone to be treated equally in the land of freedom. The readers can relate to the speaker because they wish that everyone has equal rights in the country that proclaims itself to be the symbol of freedom.

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I, too, am America.” In other words, the man represented in the poem is saying that he will not allow others to force him to do something that he does not want do; he also wants to make it known that he should be treated like every other American. Consequently, this proves how America has advanced in the area of equality and freedom given that minorities spoke up for their rights. There is no doubt that we have met the goal of being more fair and

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Following the account of how man should seek “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness” (The Declaration of Independence) the writer lets the people know that everyone has the right to overthrow a government if the human rights are unfair and unjust. And

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The speaker displays his connection to the black heritage by stating that “They’ll see how beautiful I am” (line 16), and the last line of the poem “I, too, sing America” repeats the first line, but this time with more insistent tone. The speaker is stating the fact

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It also states and lines 1-4,”Democracy will not come today, this year, nor ever, through compromise and fear.” The author use

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Walter Whitman was transcendentalist who believed in individual freedom and democracy and it definitely affected his poetry which is mainly focused on the ideas of democracy, equality, and brotherhood. For instance, in the poem Song of Myself, Whitman puts an emphasis on equality of all men and women. To him, all individuals are equal and all professions are equally honorable. In his interpretation, Whitman states that the freedom which is offered by democracy is for all should include all people, and not renounce those of other races, whether any social standings. This essay will focus on the main ideas presented in Whitman 's vision of equality in democracy in his Song of Myself.

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