Langston Hughes Research Paper

Biographical Information:

Langston Hughes, a very well-known African American poet, was born on February 1, 1902 in Joplin Missouri. Following Hughes’s birth, his parents (James Hughes and Carrie Langston) separated from each other, and his father moved to Mexico. This left Hughes and his mother who were very poor at the time. Hughes and his mother moved frequently during Hughes’s childhood before settling in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1920, Hughes graduated from Central High School and decided to live with his father for one year which influenced his writing and poetry. In 1928, he moved into the Harlem which also impacted his poetry significantly. Over the next three decades, Hughes published a significant amount of plays, books, and poems. Unfortunately,

Throughout the majority of his life, he created many famous writing pieces including Not Without Laughter, The Big Sea, The Poetry of a Negro, and numerous plays, books, and poems . Many of works highlight the hardships for African Americans during this time period in the United States (Johnson). In addition, Howard University awarded Hughes with an honorary doctorate in 1963. Also, in 2002, Langston Hughes was included on a distinguished list of the 100 Greatest African Americans. In short, Langston Hughes was an extraordinary person who changed the world considerably during his time period

First, there is repetition used throughout this piece. Many times the first word in two lines below each other seem to repeat with each other. For example, in lines 18 and 19, the word “only” is repeated at the start of each line. This unique sort of repetition occurs five times throughout the poem. The repetition can show the importance of a word or phrase in the poem. Also, the different word choice can reflect the change of tone in the poem. For example, the poem starts off by stating “I lie down in the shadow” (l. 15) and “And then the wall rose, / Rose slowly” (l. 7-8). This creates a solemn and discouraged tone to start off the poem. The speaker remembers his childhood dream that he never accomplished because of racial barriers during the time period. However, by the end of the poem, the word choice changes remarkably. For instance, the speaker declares firmly “To smash this night” (l. 25) and “To break this shadow” (l. 26). The diction changes tremendously throughout this poem which also helps change the tone. Instead of the speaker of the poem being solemn and dejected, it is more enthusiastic and encouraging. The speaker refuses to give in and completely forget about his/her childhood dream. He/She wants to overcome the obstacle of racial discrimination. Clearly, the word choice in this poem helps show the change of tone in this particular