Poem In Langston Hughes's Theme For English B

The Harlem Renaissance is often referred to as the New Negro Movement. Langston Hughes, author of “Theme for English B” written in 1949, has a huge impact of the African American community with his work as a unique writer and playwright. Hughes uses “Theme” in the title of this poem to show he, who wrote it, is the speaker. The central idea of the poem is being heavily supported by the speakers questionable vocabulary. In the beginning of the poem we learn that the speaker has been given a paper to write; courtesy of his professor, the topic being the speaker himself. Then, the poet gives us a detailed description of where our speaker lives, which is Harlem, New York, when the speaker arrives home, we are able to read the paper that appears to be a man confronting his professor’s racism. However, with a deeper understanding the speaker only means to ask, so he himself can have a grasp on his surroundings.”As I learn from you,/ I guess you learn from me-/” (37, 38) Knowing what you do not know is a difficult task, the poet only wishes to learn not demand, leading us to the theme of the poem; two can learn from each other no matter the race.

Here, a natural reaction is to empathize with the man as he is confronted with racial differences between his peers. The situation is not only described as disorienting, the speaker also uses diction that can be indefinite as well; he uses vague words to indirectly ask whether or not the professor is racially sensitive. For example, the phrase "I guess" (17, 25, and 38) repeats three times in the poem, each time referring to him. Therefore, the speaker does not recognize his own person, there is a lack of understanding in who he is, but still room to grow and learn from those around