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Analysis of the Langston Hughes poem
Langston hughes harlem poem analysis
Langston hughes harlem poem analysis
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Langston Hughes was dedicated to writing about the hardships and problems of African Americans. He wrote for and connected with the average, everyday African American. While he connected majorly with the African Americans, Langston also managed to attract attention from many white people too. In one of Langston’s poems titled, “Let America Be America Again”, he writes “And yet must be- the land where every man is free / The land that's mine- the poor man’s, Indian’s, Negro’s, Me.” (Lines 63-64). This poem tells how America was founded for the free. People could go there to live free lives and not be under ruling. Even though this is true for some, the poor men and Indians were not treated equally and the black people were enslaved. Even after
Langston Hughes wrote during a very critical time in American History, the Harlem Renaissance. Hughes wrote many poems, but most of his most captivating works centered around women and power that they hold. They also targeted light and darkness and strength. The Negro Speaks of Rivers and Mother to Son, both explain the importance of the woman, light and darkness and strength in the African-American community. They both go about it in different ways.
When reading the literature of Langston Hughes, I cant help but feeling energetically charged and inspired. Equality, freedom, empowerment, renaissance, justice and perseverance, are just a taste of the subject matter Hughes offers. He amplifies his voice and beliefs through his works which are firmly rooted in race pride and race feeling. Hughes committed himself both to writing and to writing mainly about African Americans. His early love for the “wonderful world of books” was sparked by loneliness and parental neglect. He would soon lose himself in the works of Walt Whitman, Paul Laurence, Carl Sandburg and other literary greats which would lead to enhancing his ever so growing style and grace of oeuvre. Such talent, character, and willpower could only come from one’s life experiences. Hughes had allot to owe to influences such as his grandmother and great uncle John Mercer Langston - a famous African American abolitionist. These influential individuals helped mold Hughes, and their affect shines brightly through his literary works of art.
The civil rights movement may have technically ended in the nineteen sixties, but America is still feeling the adverse effects of this dark time in history today. African Americans were the group of people most affected by the Civil Rights Act and continue to be today. Great pain and suffering, though, usually amounts to great literature. This period in American history was no exception. Langston Hughes was a prolific writer before, during, and after the Civil Rights Act and produced many classic poems for African American literature. Hughes uses theme, point of view, and historical context in his poems “I, Too” and “Theme for English B” to expand the views on African American culture to his audience members.
Because of that, his writing seems to manifest a greater meaning. He is part of the African-American race that is expressed in his writing. He writes about how he is currently oppressed, but this does not diminish his hope and will to become the equal man. Because he speaks from the point of view of an oppressed African-American, the poem’s struggles and future changes seem to be of greater importance than they ordinarily would. The point of view of being the oppressed African American is clearly evident in Langston Hughes’s writing.
“America the melting pot.” An expression used by many and often said in a prideful manner. We Americans like to think of ourselves as all accepting and welcoming to everyone, and while that may be true in general, discrimination still exist throughout the country. Fortunately, racism has significantly lowered thanks to the Civil rights movement. Each American can now express who they are without a major fear of contempt or prejudice. Prior to the Civil rights movement, racism ran rampant, particularly in the south. The Harlem renaissance, which took place throughout the 1920’s, helped spur the Civil Rights movement. It was around this time African Americans really started to push themselves forward in society. One successful poet of that time is Langston Hughes. Two of his well-known poems, “Theme for English B”, and “I, too America,” should be recognized for expression of the common thoughts and ideals of African Americans of the time who faced racial segregation. In “Theme for English B”, Hughes shows the reader that despite the lines drawn by society, he is an American and a part of his fellow man although there may be physical differences. “Yet a part of me, as I am a part of you. That’s American.” Hughes does a wonderful job in both his pieces depicting the racism of the time. He shows that no matter your background you are equal to those around you.
In conclusion, these two poems by Langston Hughes, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” and “I, Too Sing,” is a cry for equality and freedom in America. Although he was sent to the kitchen to eat when visitors came over, Hughes says that he eats well; he finds it amusing that while he was isolated he eats well. As in the last stanza of the poem, “I, too, am American,” this means that multiple races are involved in making up the faces of America.
Poems are expression of the human soul, and even though, is not everyone’s cup of tea when the individual finds that special poem it moves their soul one with the poet. There are many poets in the world, but the one that grab my attention the most was no other than Langston Hughes. It would be impossible for me to cover all the poems he wrote, but the one that grab my attention the most is called “Let America Be America Again.” It first appeared in “1938 pamphlet by Hughes entitled A New Song. Which was published by a socialist organization named the International Worker Order” (MLM) and later change back to its original name. I have never felt such an energy coming out of a poem like this one which is the reason that I instantly felt in love with it.
During the early to mid-twentieth century Langston Hughes contributed vastly to a very significant cultural movement later to be named the “Harlem Renaissance.” At the time it was named the “New Negro Movement,” which involved African Americans in creating and expressing their words through literature and art. Hughes contributed in a variety of different aspects including plays, poems, short stories, novels and even jazz. He was even different from other notable black poets at the time in the way that he shared personal experiences rather than the ordinary everyday experiences of black America. His racial pride helped mold American politics and literature into what it is today.
The poem opens a thought of the American Dream, about what he wants America to be, and his hope for the country. The beginning line of the poem entails that America has to be the same America it once was, to me it’s a lie. America back then practiced slavery and oppression, it destroyed the lands of people to build their own homes. The ideal of an “America” was all a dream. It’s what they wanted for their America to be. We as people should be able to rise up and redefine the American equality and take back our land. The poem serves a powerful message of equality. The theme of this poem is against injustice and inequalities that exist in America and that can corrupt the American dream. All characters in the novels we read for the semester i.e. The African, Quick skills, and Tucker, have a lot of similarities with the poem, “Let America Be America Again”. They led their people to freedom by fighting against slavery and restrictions. The African escaped from his master. The African vowed to be free and never be enslaved again. Quickskill came to liberate the fellow slaves, who were enslaved in his master 's plantation. Tucker realized that he had some worth, and wanted freedom for his family. All three of these characters laid their lives on the line for their fellow men. They would rather prefer to die with dignity rather than become a white man’s property. They wanted
Langston Hughes is considered one of the greatest African American poets to live in the last century. Langston Hughes wrote poems over oppression from 1926-1964, he wrote many poems, jazzes, blues, and spirituals. Langston Hughes uses America as symbolism to represent that America represents more than a country and it represents “The American Dream” and freedom.
Langston Hughes is known for his contribution to the Harlem Renaissance and poetry. His poetry revealed the dignity and beauty in ordinary black life. His poetry made him one of the innovators of Jazz poetry. He is the very first African American writer in America to earn a living from writing. He writes about speaking out against the racial oppression he witnessed around him and how he was proud to be an African American.
During the 1920's and 30’s, America went through a period of astonishing artistic creativity, the majority of which was concentrated in one neighborhood of New York City, Harlem. The creators of this period of growth in the arts were African-American writers and other artists. Langston Hughes is considered to be one of the most influential writers of the period know as the Harlem Renaissance. With the use of blues and jazz Hughes managed to express a range of different themes all revolving around the Negro. He played a major role in the Harlem Renaissance, helping to create and express black culture. He also wrote of political views and ideas, racial inequality and his opinion on religion. I believe that Langston Hughes’ poetry helps to capture the era know as the Harlem Renaissance.
Langston Hughes was probably the most well-known literary force during the Harlem Renaissance. He was one of the first known black artists to stress a need for his contemporaries to embrace the black jazz culture of the 1920s, as well as the cultural roots in Africa and not-so-distant memory of enslavement in the United States. In formal aspects, Hughes was innovative in that other writers of the Harlem Renaissance stuck with existing literary conventions, while Hughes wrote several poems and stories inspired by the improvised, oral traditions of black culture (Baym, 2221). Proud of his cultural identity, but saddened and angry about racial injustice, the content of much of Hughes’ work is filled with conflict between simply doing as one is told as a black member of society and standing up for injustice and being proud of one’s identity. This relates to a common theme in many of Hughes’ poems: that dignity is something that has to be fought for by those who are held back by segregation, poverty, and racial bigotry.
In Let America be America Again, Langston Hughes employs literary devices such as repetition and metaphors to convey the emotions of his hope, that one day America will return to the country of freedom it once was. Hughes starts the poem revealing that “equality is in the air we breathe”. He contradicts this within the first few stanzas of the poem, repeating phrases similar to “America never was America to me”. By constantly demonstrating his feelings of disappointment about the country, he calls home, he is able to express his longing for it to be the place he once remembers. Hughes is also able to convey his dissatisfaction with America’s ability to handle issues regarding equality within social statuses. Hughes states, “I am the young man,
Langston Hughes’s poem “I Dream A World” grants a voice to any person, who has been exposed to a life in racial prejudice and inequality, including the writer. That voice belongs to any black person, who has lived the poorer than poor life. This life was full of consistent violation of basic human rights, full of frustration, and overflowing with hopelessness. Upon closer examination, the situation of the poem uncovers the painstakingly raw yearning for humanity and equality.