Sign Up Now
Get instant access to over 1 million+ study documents
OR
Already registered? click here to login
By creating your account, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and student honor code.
Langston Hughes Poetry
A Reflection of the American Dream in Langston Hughes's Poetry
The Harlem Renaissance was an artistic, literary, and cultural movement that emerged in New York, specifically Harlem, shortly after World War I and into the 1930s. One of the most prominent poets to arise from the cultural movement was Langston Hughes. Hughes's poetry explores the generational differences that have emerged and how though it may seem that there have been obstacles that have been overcome through the years, many things do not seem to change. Through his poetry, Hughes was able to demonstrate how each generation strives to be better than the last and the disappointment that may be encountered when one may not be able to achieve their dream.
In the poem "Mother to Son," the narrator encourages her son to continue to fight against the current and to not allow all her hard work to be discarded. The narrator states, "Lif for me ain't been no crystal stair," meaning that the path to success she encountered was unclear and that it was a difficult and possibly dangerous climb that she had to make in order to get to where she is. Moreover,...
Regardless of the stairs' dilapidated state, the narrator states, "all the time/I'se been climbin' on/And reachin' landin's/And turnin' corners/And sometimes goin' in the dark/Where there ain't been no light" (9-13). The narrator's journey has not been easy adn she encourages her son to continue to fight on her behalf and for the betterment of others.
"I, Too" also explores one's need to overcome adversity. "I, Too" touches upon the issue of segregation and discrimination against African-Americans throughout history. In this poem, the narrator explains how he has been treated differently and how it has affected him. Because he is labeled as the "darker brother," he has been forced to hide in the kitchen. The narrator does not appear to mind this treatment and rather sees it as an opportunity to become…
Works Cited
Hughes, Langston. "Dream Deferred." Web. Accessed 28 March 2012.
-. "I, Too." Web. Accessed 28 March 2012.
-. "Mother to Son." Web. Accessed 28 March 2012.
In every stage and period in history, the black American is present, as demonstrated in the line of imagery repeatedly used in the poem, "My soul has grown deep like the rivers." The poem portrays the Negro as the cause rather than effect of human civilization. "The Negro" is a historical narrative of the life of the black American. Evidently, he had been present where human civilization thrived. Thus, human
Dream Variations by Langston Hughes Langston Hughes, born in 1902, in Joplin Missouri, in the middle of a segregated country that allowed its African-American population to develop up to a certain level, never above the lowest of the white classes, even in the happiest of cases. He wrote his poetry like a man who was proud to express his African-American descent and was the first to introduce the music rhythms of
Night funeral in Harlem: When the funeral was completely over and the boy's coffin was carried out to the hears, which drove too fast down the street, the streetlight even seemed like it was crying for the boy. He was well-loved by everyone, and their love made the funeral magnificent, even if things looked more poor. Connotation: The meaning behind the literal sense of the poem seems to be that
Expression of Meaning in the Poems of Langston Hughes and Robert Frost Every poet writes to express a certain meaning, but the means of expressing that meaning can differ significantly. Two poets that show the differences that can occur are Langston Hughes and Robert Frost. These two poets are especially interesting to compare because they are opposites in regards to how they express their meaning. Langston Hughes provides straightforward descriptions of
It was not easy to go to a university at that time. It was actually safer for some Blacks to stay in their neighborhood with what they were familiar with, than to go to college. This scenario here can be compared directly to Robert Frost's poem. Just as the narrator in "The Road Not Taken" makes the difficult choice of going one path and not going to the other,
Ethos is emphasized by presenting Aylmer as a successful scientist who abandoned his career in order to stay with his wife. Pathos emerges at the time when Aylmer is unable to sleep at night thinking that his wife is almost perfect and that he could actually make her perfect by putting his experience to use. Logos takes place when Aylmer performs a series of successful tests and actually goes as