Analysis Of Langston Hughes Theme For English B

Analysis of Langston Hughes’ poem “Theme for English B” Mr. Langston Hughes poem is a struggle to define identity. It is the recognition that the makeup of what is truly American comes from an unavoidable mixing of cultural influences. Mr. Hughes did not want to reject or discount White culture; on the contrary, he wanted to learn from it. Langston Hughes also recognized that it was a two-way street, and that African-Americans also had productive contributions to present to America from which our overall “American” culture would benefit. Langston Hughes was weary of the bitterness that surrounds the line between black and white. He envisioned an age in which the line would blur into an equally shared exchange of thoughts and ideas between races; acknowledging that once one looks beyond skin color, we are really not that different.

Brown’s poem “Long Gone” Dialect poetry is often not the easiest of reads, but Mr. Sterling Brown uses it in a way that makes the reader easily identify with the character, thus drawing them into the story. I thoroughly enjoyed this read because it speaks to the restless spirit that resides in most young men (and some old ones, too), and has certainly resided in me for most of my life. The poem illuminates the struggle between the need to “wander” and the broken hearts that are often left behind. A smile crossed my face as I sympathized with the fact that sometimes all it takes is “to hear de whistle blow” to activate that restless bone. I never feel as free as I do in the times when I “highball thu some country whah I never been”. Mr. Sterling A. Brown is indeed a master at stirring our inner feelings and