More handpicked essays just for you.
How has the music of slaves brought over from africa shaped modern american music
Langston Hughes themes in his writing
Langston hughes the weary blues essay
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
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).
James Mercer Langston Hughes was born in Joplin, Missouri February 1, 1902. He grew up in Lawrence, Kansas. His life was hard when he was young; his parents were separated with little money to go around, and he was very lonely. “Po’ Boy Blues” expresses how he felt during those times:
When I was home de
Sunshine seemed like gold.
Since I come up North de
Whole damn world's turned cold.
I was a good boy,
Never done no wrong.
Yes, I was a good boy,
Never done no wrong,
But this world is weary
An' de road is hard an' long.
Hughes lived with his relatives and moved around much throughout the first part of his life. He learned quickly to be independent. During part of his childhood, Hughes lived with his grandmother who taught him many stories and life lessons. At the age of 13, he moved back with his mother and her second husband in Illinois. Hughes entered Columbia University, New York in the fall of 1921. He soon abandoned his studies and in the fall of 1923, he sailed as a steward on a freighter, the S.S. West Hesseltine, to the West Coast of Africa where he learned about African culture.
Soon after, in 1924, he traveled to Paris to work as a cook’s helper at a nightclub that featured primarily African-American performers. Experiences there inspired him to experiment more with jazz and blues rhythms in his poetry (Rempersad 286). Leaving Paris a year later, he returned to the United States, where he worked menial jobs to support himself while writing poetry. Five years later, Hughes earned enough money to be able to attend and graduate from Lincoln University...
... middle of paper ...
...tively capture the scene of Harlem life.
Works Cited
Bell-Russel, Danna. Rev. of Library Journal, by Darralynn Hutson and Jamal Joseph. Hughes’ Harlem Dream. 2003 .
Beqilacqua, Winifred Farant. “Langston Hughes.” Dictionary of Literary Biography. 1989. Gale Group. 18 Apr. 2004 .
Daniel, Kathleen, et al, ed. Elements of Literature. 5th edition. Austin: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 2003. 760-67.
Dickinson, Donald D. “Langston Hughes.” American Writers. Supp. I, Part 1. Ed. Leonard Unger. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1979. 320-48.
Hart, James D. “Hughes, Langston.” The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 4th ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 1965. 393-94.
Martinson, Deborah. “Langston Hughes.” Dictionary of Literary Biography. 2000. Gale Group. 18 Apr. 2004 .
McKay, Nellie Y. “Hughes, Langston.” World Book Online Reference Center. 2004. World Book. 18 Apr. 2004 .
McLaren, Joseph. Rev. of Research in African Literatures, by Steven C. Tracy. Langston Hughes and the Blues. Fall 2003 .
Rapersad, Arnold. “Hughes, James Langston.” Dictionary of American Biography. Supp. Eight. Ed. John Garraty and Mark Carnes. New York: Charles Schribner’s Son, 1988. 285-89.
"A Centennial Tribute to Langston Hughes." Library System - Howard University. Howard University, n.d. Web. 13 Jan. 2014.
Hughes, Langston. The Negro mother, and other dramatic recitations. Freeport, N.Y.: Books for Libraries Press, 1971. Print.
For example, Rediker only mentions American president Martin Van Buren in the Amistad Rebellion after the victory in which a Connecticut circuit court ruled in favor of the African captives. Perhaps the author could more extensively discuss the political implications of the Amistad Rebellion in American politics. What we read in the book is “Martin Van Buren supported the Spanish crown.” Perhaps readers could benefit from a more in-depth discussion of how the political elite in the United States responded to the rebellion and the court cases that soon followed. Even though this is an unfortunate shortcoming of the book, it does not necessarily detract from the overall argument of the book - which is that the Amistad Rebellion drastically changed the institution of
Berry, Faith. Langston Hughes Before and Beyond Harlem Connecticut: Lawrence Hill and Company Publishers, 1983
Hughes, a.k.a. Langston, a.k.a. “Harlem [Dream Deferred]” The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Michael Meyer.
Hughes, Langston. “Militant.” History is a Weapon: A Selection of the Poetry of Langston Hughes, n.d. 29 April, 2014.
Langston Hughes parents then separated. Since his mother moved from city to city in search of work he lived in Lawrence, Kansas, with his grandmother named Mary Hughes. She fiercely opposed to racial discrimination. While growing up, Langston also stayed with friends of the family, James and Mary Reed. Living with his grandmother and the Reeds in all-white neighborhoods, he felt even more isolated.
Hughes, Langston “I, Too.” Poems, Poets, Poetry: An Introduction and Anthology. 3rd ed. Ed. Helen Vendler.
Whitaker, Charles. Langston Hughes: 100th birthday celebration of the poet of Black America, Ebony magazine, April 2002.
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.
Hughes, Langston. "Harlem (A Dream Deferred)." Literature and the Writing Process. Elizabeth McMahan, Susan X. Day, and Robert Funk. 6th ed. Upper Saddle River. Prentice, 2002. 534.
The Collection Poems of Langston Hughes, Rapersad, A. & Roessel, D. ( Eds.) (1995) , New York, Vintage Books
Rampersad, Arnold. The Life of Langston Hughes. Volume 1: 1902-1941. Oxford University Press, New York, 1986.
Hughes, a.k.a. Langston, a.k.a. The "Harlem". The [1951] Literature. 5th ed.