Robert Frost and Langston Hughes were poets who wrote poetry to make it accessible to all readers. Frost’s works demonstrated a typical everyday life for him, which led Frost to use basic language and literary devices to get to the emotions of readers. Meanwhile, Langston Hughes used discrimination and culture to portray the experiences of African Americans. Although both poets are different in their style, both poets used universal values such as identity and meaning by using differing literary devices and writing styles in their poems. Robert Frost used his life experiences and identity to write many of his poems. With this being said, Frost grew in his poetic style and found himself writing poems that had themes revolving around the idea of nature. By doing this, Frost was able to make his poetry …show more content…
This metaphor demonstrates Frost’s attempt to create themes relating to human nature that almost everyone can relate to. Secondly, another one of Frost’s poems, “Nothing Gold Can Stay,” explores themes of innocence and nature. Frost personifies nature by describing nature's color as, “Her hardest hue to hold. Her early leaf’s a flower;” (Frost, Lines 2-3). His description of nature itself is beautiful and has a new life, but as things shift into gold it is now perfect. However, as the poem progresses, nature's perfect gold goes away and everything changes again. Frost employs themes of the beauty of nature and how life continues. All in all, Robert Frost’s decision to use literary devices such as metaphors and symbolism allows for universal themes such as identity and meaning to be created. Since Frost was able to produce elaborate themes, readers were able to connect to the poems and have them readily accessible at any time. On the other hand, Langston Hughes uses his story of being an African American male by deeply expressing his emotions and
1920’s Harlem was a time of contrast and contradiction, on one hand it was a hotbed of crime and vice and on the other it was a time of creativity and rebirth of literature and at this movement’s head was Langston Hughes. Hughes was a torchbearer for the Harlem Renaissance, a literary and musical movement that began in Harlem during the Roaring 20’s that promoted not only African-American culture in the mainstream, but gave African-Americans a sense of identity and pride.
The writings of the two authors, Langston Hughes and John Steinbeck address examples of how literature reflects society. Furthermore, the main idea is how the stated essential question related to modern day writers and how it reflected upon tragic events such as the great depression & racism toward Africans. For example in “Cora Unashamed” by Langston Hughes. He mentions how Africans had to go through hardships and were looked down upon, relating back to how literature was shaped. In the story, there is an African girl named Cora lived in an amoral time period where poverty was commonly encountered countless hardships. Near the end, Cora becomes pregnant and is looked down upon due to the fact she was uneducated and black when it is quoted
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.
Berry, Faith. Langston Hughes Before and Beyond Harlem Connecticut: Lawrence Hill and Company Publishers, 1983
“Poetry is the rhythmical creation of beauty in words.” –Edgar Allan Poe. Poetry is one of the world’s greatest wonders. It is a way to tell a story, raise awareness of a social or political issue, an expression of emotions, an outlet, and last but not least it is an art. Famous poet Langston Hughes uses his poetry as a musical art form to raise awareness of social injustices towards African-Americans during the time of the Harlem Renaissance. Although many poets share similarities with one another, Hughes creatively crafted his poetry in a way that was only unique to him during the 1920’s. He implemented different techniques and styles in his poetry that not only helped him excel during the 1920’s, but has also kept him relative in modern times. Famous poems of his such as a “Dream Deferred,” and “I, Too, Sing America” are still being studied and discussed today. Due to the cultural and historical events occurring during the 1920’s Langston Hughes was able to implement unique writing characteristics such as such as irregular use of form, cultural and historical referenced themes and musical influences such as Jazz and the blues that is demonstrative of his writing style. Langston Hughes use of distinct characteristics such as irregular use of form, cultural and historical referenced themes and musical influences such as Jazz and the blues helped highlight the plights of African-Americans during the Harlem Renaissance Era.
Langston Hughes- Pessimism Thesis Statement: In the poems “Weary Blues”, “Song for a Dark Girl” and “Harlem” the author Langston Hughes uses the theme of pessimism through the loss of faith, dreams and hope. First, one can look at the theme of pessimism and the correlation to the loss of faith. One can see that in “Song for a Dark Girl” an African American girl is sadden by the loss of her love. For this young and innocent girl to have to lose someone she loved so young.
Throughout African American history different individuals have made a significant impact that would forever change things. In the 1900s Harlem became the governing body for the birth of jazz and blues. This also open door for a new era called the Harlem Renaissance. During this time a poet name Langston Hughes was introduced. Langston Hughes created poetry that stood out to people. It had that jazzy vibe mixed with articulate language of choice. He could seize the minds of people with the soulfulness of his writing, and depict the struggles of what was going on with blacks. Some individuals see Langston Hughes as the inspired poet of the Harlem Renaissance time. Mr. Hughes used his body of work to compare and contrast things to create the groundwork for the Harlem Renaissance period.
James Mercer who we all knew as Langston Hughes, was born in Joplin, Missouri February 1, 1902. Right after Hughes was born his parents James Hughes and Carrie Langston, decided to separate. His father went his way and his mother she moved around a lot so his maternal grandmother raised him. Mary, Hughes grandmother had an impact that influenced him into writing poetry. After his grandmother passed he eventually went to stay with his mother where they got settled in Ohio. Hughes began writing poetry throughout his years in high school.
Langston Hughes 's stories deal of conditions befalling African Americans upholding in the Harlem Renaissance. His philosophy, dissimilar culture differences between policy and practice of separating people of different races, classes, or ethnicities relations for civil right moment. Hughes 's stories speak of the African-Americans as being overlooked by a biased society. Hughes 's poetry attempts to draw attention to the tragic history of African Americans, both in Africa and the United States, a viewpoints of his family’s diversity, for example, his white grandfather had staunchly insisted on marrying the black woman he loved because of the resistance against mixed relationships with whites and other races among the United States culture,
Turning points are by definition a time of decisive and often beneficial change. An example of this can be seen in the following line written by Langston Hughes, “I didn’t believe there was a Jesus anymore, since he didn’t come to help me” (130). That line comes from a story about Langston Hughes’s turning point with religion. The story spoke of when he needed salvation and how he expected to see a physical manifestation of Jesus. When he did not appear, he no longer believed in Jesus. While reading this story it was hard not to see the overlap into my own life. I too had a struggle with my religion that led to a major turning point in my life. Something I believe most people do, because we all have our ups and downs, but those shifts only happen after a cataclysmic event. For me, failing my Honors Algebra 2 class did that. After which of course, I was forced to open my eyes to behaviors that I needed to mend.
Langston Hughes (1902-1967) absorbed America. In doing so, he wrote about many issues critical to his time period, including The Renaissance, The Depression, World War II, the civil rights movement, the Black Power movement, Jazz, Blues, and Spirituality. Just as Hughes absorbed America, America absorbed the black poet in just about the only way its mindset allowed it to: by absorbing a black writer with all of the patronizing self-consciousness that that entails.
Robert Frost's work was originally published in England and later would be published in the US. He was also considered one of the most popular and respected poets of his century. Robert Frost created countless poems and plays, many of them containing similar themes. Some of the most popular themes found in his poems encompass isolation, death and everyday life. Robert Frost wrote many poems; however, one of his most popular themes involved isolation.
Langston Hughes was one of the great writers of his time. He was named the “most renowned African American poet of the 20th century” (McLaren). Through his writing he made many contributions to following generations by writing about African American issues in creative ways including the use of blues and jazz. Langston Hughes captured the scene of Harlem life in the early 20th century significantly influencing American Literature. He once explained that his writing was an attempt to “explain and illuminate the Negro condition in America” (Daniel 760). To fulfill this task, he wrote 15 volumes of poetry, six novels, three books, 11 plays, and a variety of non-fiction work (Daniel 760). He also edited over 50 books in his time (McKay).
When he was finally released from the grip of Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones, Roger had a choice. He could run out the front door, far from her and any repercussions, or he could stay, and wash his face as she asked. He chose to walk to the sink. Why do you think that he decided to stay? In “Thank You, Ma’am”, Langston Hughes communicates the story of a boy named Roger and his encounter with a lady named Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones.
After reading through the test a second time, a few conclusions can be made. First, Langston Hughes seems to be very serious about the story he is telling. One way we know this to be true is because of its personal nature. Hughes purposely includes his first name. Not only does he just give his name, the word “Langston” is a paragraph of its own.