Langston Hughes Research Paper

A poet is someone who writes poems which is an art form where the human language is used in qualities that differ from what we normally know. Poetry comes in all sorts of forms whether it is sound or words. Great poetry is often debatable but one thing is certain and that is that Langston Hughes is a great poet. Hughes had the ability to spread his message to those all over the country. He is known for reading his poetry to more people than any other poet in the country as well as giving a voice to the black community. With his ability to use language and themes Hughes was able to become one of the most famous poets ever to write.
James Mercer Langston Hughes who we know as “Langston Hughes” was born on February 1, 1902, in Joplin Missouri.

Langston and his mother would move around again until they finally settled in Cleveland, Ohio. During his time in Ohio Hughes was introduced to the works of Walt Whitman whom he credits as a primary influence. During this time Hughes also began to write his own poetry and would also be involved with the school’s magazine. Hughes would submit his works to poetry magazines that were well known but they would all reject him. Hughes would graduate in 1920 and then move to Mexico to live with his father for a short time so that he could convince him his plan to attend Columbia University. Hughes father wanted him to study abroad and study engineering. His father said he would provide financial assistance to Columbia as long as his son studied engineering not becoming a writer. Hughes would eventually leave Columbia because of racial prejudice he experienced. Hughes had become interested in the Harlem Renaissance and would eventually become the voice of this movement. Hughes took a freighter to Spain and Africa following his time in New York and lived in Paris for a short time where he continued his work of publishing poetry. When Hughes returned to the U.S. he was working as a busboy in Washington D.C. where he met a poet by the

"Langston Hughes, although only twenty-four years old, is already conspicuous in the group of Negro intellectuals who are dignifying Harlem with a genuine art life (New York Herald Tribune). Hughes criticized black’s for viewing their lives as “unattractive”. Hughes received praise from the black community because he was able to express to the world the realities of black life. Hughes helped shape the Harlem Renaissance period and how the authors would write. Hughes wrote eleven plays and countless works of prose, including the well-known “Simple” books: Simple Speaks His Mind, (Simon & Schuster, 1950); Simple Stakes a Claim, (Rinehart, 1957); Simple Takes a Wife, (Simon & Schuster, 1953); andSimple’s Uncle Sam (Hill and Wang, 1965). He edited the anthologies The Poetry of the Negro and The Book of Negro Folklore, wrote an acclaimed autobiography, The Big Sea (Knopf, 1940), and cowrote the play Mule Bone(HarperCollins, 1991) with Zora Neale Hurston (Langston Hughes, Poets.Com). One thing that made Hughes special is his ability to write about the experience of African Americans throughout the country rather than his own. Hughes felt that if he told their stories he would be able to reflect their culture and all of the experiences and emotions that they