Hughes uses diction to show how the Negro mother was treated and discriminated as a slave. In the poem, the speaker uses diction to elaborate and display an image to future African American Children of today about the way she was treated as a slave. For example, the words “labored”, “slave”, “beaten”, and “mistreated” gives a sense of imagery to her targeted audience about the way African Americans were treated. The reason is because when the speaker stated “I am the one who labored as a slave, Beaten and mistreated for the work that I gave – Children sold away from me, I’m husband sold, too”, each word shows the hardship the Negro mother had to go through in order to survive towards liberty. The words “beaten” and “mistreated” displays how …show more content…
the African Americans were discriminated compared to White Americans. The use of diction changes the tone and mood of the poem itself from beginning to end. For example, the speaker displays a tone in which she is angry and enraged for what happened to her towards the beginning of the poem, although, she worked hard as a slave.
She then stated that her “Children sold away from me, I’m husband sold, too.” The mood of this line is painful because as a mother you cannot conceal your pain as your children and husband are taken away from you and sold to some other place. This shows the true and deep hardships that the speaker had to go through in this overwhelming time of her life. As a result, the speaker stated that there was “no safety, no love, no respect.” You can tell that when this troubling event happened to the speaker, she knew that there was no respect for her as a women and mother. It then goes on to show that as a slave, you were treated as if you had no existence left and that they did not care if they took your most precious belongs that has sentimental values to you as a human being. But towards the middle of the poem, there was a shift in tone to a more encouraging and optimistic tone. In this case, the diction also changes in the poem to words like “torch of tomorrow”, “a road to the light”, and “out of the darkness.” By changing the diction from the beginning to the end, the speaker wants to tell the future African American Children of today that there is hope and
faith. In other words, the diction responds to the negative mood and tone at the beginning of the poem to a more inspiring tone and mood.
Langston Hughes's stories deal with and serve as a commentary of conditions befalling African Americans during the Depression Era. As Ostrom explains, "To a great degree, his stories speak for those who are disenfranchised, cheated, abused, or ignored because of race or class." (51) Hughes's stories speak of the downtrodden African-Americans neglected and overlooked by a prejudiced society. The recurring theme of powerlessness leads to violence is exemplified by the actions of Sargeant in "On the Road", old man Oyster in "Gumption", and the robber in "Why, You Reckon?"
Racism and discrimination are problems many African Americans had to face in the 1940s; Hughes uses this aspect as the major theme in his poem “Ballad of the Landlord.” It is apparent that the tenant is discriminated against by the landlord, the police and the newspaper. For example, the newspaper shows only one side of the issue especially in the headline: “MAN THREATENS LANDLORD” (31). The tenant’s reasons for threatening the landlord were valid, although not legal, because the landlord treated the tenant unfairly by not fixing the house the tenant was renting. The tenant was angry, as expected, because the landlord was being prejudice against the tenant and refusing to fix his living conditions. The landlord would possibly have fixed the house if the tenant were white, and all problems could have been avoided had race issues not be...
Iteshia Goss Pro. Beckham English 102-803 9-16-15 “Theme for English B” “Theme for English B” by Langston Hughes is a blank verse that mainly focus on how this young black student, connecting as an individual who struggled with an entire race. In this poem the young black student instructor told them to write a paper and stated “And let that page come out of you”. Stating that you should just write what’s on your mind. The poem is more a critical thinking skill.
Harlem, An Analysis of a Langston Hughes Poem. The short but inspirational poem "Harlem" by Langston Hughes addresses what happens to aspirations that are postponed or lost. The brief, mind provoking questions posed throughout the poem allow the readers to reflect on the effects of delaying our dreams. In addition, the questions give indications about Hughes' views on deferred dreams.
...angston Hughes writes a short 33-line poem that simply shows the barriers between races in the time period when racism was still practiced through segregation and discrimination. The poem captures the African American tenant’s frustrations towards the landlord as well as the racism shown by the landlord. The poem is a great illustration of the time period, and it shows just how relevant discrimination was in every day life in the nineteen-forties. It is important for the author to use literary devices to help better illustrate his point. Each literary device in the poem helps develop the author’s intent: to increase awareness of the racism in the society in the time period.
The human brain is capable of many things, maybe curing cancer, memorizing a number of seconds in a year but, I believe the most incredible thing the brain can do is influence others with simple words and thoughts. Literature is one of the greatest things to ever be created but, my favorite subsection of literature would be Poetry. Poetry is sensual, creative, and diverse, it can be perceived in many ways depending on a person 's thoughts and standpoints. Langston Hughes was and, still is one of the most inspirational poets who has ever lived. Langston’s life has set the standard for many other writers and, poets, his creativity, and life has served it’s purpose in the literature world.
James Mercer Langston Hughes, commonly known as Langston Hughes, was an influential African American writer during the 1920s, a time marked by pervasive racial discrimination. He is best known for his contributions to the Harlem Renaissance. Despite a difficult childhood, Hughes overcame his struggles and became a renowned poet of the Renaissance, a legacy that will continue to inspire future generations. Langston Hughes was born on February 1, 1902, in Joplin, Missouri. His parents, James Hughes and Carrie Langston, divorced when he was very young.
The Poetry of Langston Hughes Langston Hughes was born at the turn of the century in America. Hughes spent a rootless childhood moving from place to place with his mother, who was separated from his father. During one year in high school, Hughes spent time with his father in Mexico, a light-skinned man who found an escape from racism while ranching. With aid from his father, Hughes attended Columbia University, but soon became disgusted with university life and immersed himself in his first love - the poetry and jazz and blues in Harlem. Hughes supported himself in odd jobs such as nightclub doorman and steward while he traveled to places as remote as West Africa, Italy, and Paris.
Revolutions have occurred since the dawn of time - it is common sense that when people do not get what they want, they will try to forcefully obtain it. These revolutions were caused for a multitude of reasons: for example, the longing for freedom, opposition to the current government, or because people were discontent with their current standard of living. Many revolutions did have one aspect in common, though: they were extremely violent and often led to the deaths of thousands of people. However, in the 1900s, a mostly nonviolent revolution appeared: the fight for racial equality. It was fronted mainly by people who fought against oppression through words and art. Although working in different mediums, the three artists and activists Aaron
Langston Hughes expresses his poems with the connection of jazz blues music and African Americans expressing themselves by dancing and following the beat to the music rhythm describing flashbacks of the past and comparing them to present day using imagery, figurative language describing and punctuation, which makes the reader think about African Americans in the past and how they are treated different today.
After reading the selection of poems by Langston Hughes the one that spoke to me was Mother to Son. This poem has a strong theme of how gruesome life could be in America prior to the Civil Rights Movement. The mother, who is the narrator of the poem, uses the image of a staircase to symbolize her life’s journey. Instead of the perfect staircase that would have been seen in Gatsby’s house, she often refers to the staircase by saying “Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.” Through her words she vividly describes her life experiences and challenges through the illustration of the staircase. The obstacle and challenges are heard in her figurative description of the staircase. She states that the staircase had tacks, splinters, and was lacking carpet. By describing the staircase this way she demonstrates that the staircase is a treacherous and dangerous place with many obstacles.
“On the Road”, by Langston Hughes is a short story that tells of a homeless man (Sargeant) struggling to find shelter from a snowstorm during the Great Depression. Turned away from every relief shelter, Sargeant decides it would be a great ideal to spend the night at a church. However, the church doors are lock. Determined that is the best place for him to sleep he tries to break down the church doors. After much effort, the doors finally break way, but before he could enter, he is pulled back by the police and with the help of by standers. Refusing to give up on his plans to sleep in the church he holds on to a pillar. The police beat him, but Sargeant continue to pull until the church crumbles down on top of them. Sargeant, get out from under
His work, “Aunt Sue’s Stories”, about his experiences with his grandmother, Mary Langston, goes to show the deep history Hughes’s family had with racial discrimination and their fight for racial equality and how Hughes’s was instilled with these beliefs as a child. These conversations with Hughes’s grandmother greatly influenced his political views as reflected in “Aunt Sue’s Stories”. After the young boy in the poem (taken as a young Hughes) being told of the slaves, “Singing sorrow songs…” and the child’s response, “And the dark faced child listening, / Knows that Aunt Sue’s stories are real stories. / He knows that Aunt Sue never got her stories / Out of any book at all, / But that they came / Right out of her own life.” (Hughes 722) shown in this work, from an early age, the importance of race in America was instilled in Hughes, and his grandmother’s stories had a lasting effect on him.
Hughes explains the awareness of the black uprising and racial breakdown stories of submission essential to African Americans about the time of slavery. Weakening the traditional idea of what negroes were forced to think their lives were like for the past three hundred years. Hughes’s Harlem Renaissance poetry not only condemns white oppression, but it also disproves the condition of being lower class which was pointed toward black people being left out of human history. After the Harlem Renaissance, Hughes left his trends of poetry to move on to a Marxist art prioritizing social and political narratives that reflected on the interest of his people. Hughes’s shift from folklore poetry to revolutionary poetry in the 1930’s, is explained in his poem “White Man” where racial conflicts between blacks and whites is replaced with class struggle of most economic exploration and capitalism
When analyzing the poem, “Life is Fine” by Langston Hughes, at first glance, it may seem like a short and simple poem about life. The poem is much more complex. The poem is about the obstacles that some people face in life and how to find the strength to persevere. This poem helps the reader appreciate life and encourages us to triumph over the most emotionally challenging obstacles rather than considering death as a solution. The character in the poem, although weak and confused at first, finds the strength to deal with the issues he is struggling with and comes to appreciate life, rather than turning to a tragic way out. The character makes a half-hearted attempt to take his life twice during the short poem because of the emotional pain of lost love, but fortunately, finds reasons why he shouldn’t. The character, although very confused, sees that there is good in his life and realizes that his lost love is not worth giving his life up for. Hughes had a tough childhood, being raised mostly by his grandmother. His poem “Life is Fine” very possibly was close to his heart considering he may have faced some of the same struggles he wrote of in his poems. Hughes has written other works such as biographies and short stories about life and its experiences and his works are valuable to readers in their lives as well (Norris). Throughout this poem, the character continuously tries to take their life but cannot do so because there are clearly more reasons to live than to die. This poem echoes the thoughts that people have about death when things get difficult and how they consider turning to death as the answer. Learning to deal with obstacles and appreciate every moment is a valuable skill in life. This poem is an inspiration...