Langston Hughes Inspiration

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The well-known poet, author, and playwright, Langston Hughes, was born on February 1st, 1902 in Joplin Missouri. He had a rough start to life when his parents split up soon after his birth, and he was forced to live with his grandmother until she sadly passed away. From there he moved from place to place living with his mother and her newly found husband. Thankfully, he was able to attend school, where he was introduced to many famous poems and poets that gave him the inspiration to begin his career. He was one of the most influential and famous poets during the Harlem Renaissance. A poet's’ life experiences can dramatically shape the style or category of poems that they choose to create, especially during an important time period such as the …show more content…

Many of which may have reflected his life and his past life experiences. One of the famous poems that Hughes wrote is called, “Mother to Son”. This poem is a deep extended metaphor symbolizing the struggles of life. “Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair./ It’s had tacks in it,/ And splinters,” (Mother 2-5). This poem highlights rough times and how life doesn’t always work out the way it was planned. It could also relate back to the life experiences of Langston Hughes. Hughes went through a rough time in his life where his parents got divorced when he was young. He was left with no parents to care for him and had to live by the care of his grandmother. When his grandmother passed, Hughes was only a young teenager with his whole life ahead of him. This was a rough time in his life considering he had a move around from place to place until he finally settled in with his mother and her new husband. This was just one major setback to his life that may have caused difficulties later on. The poem can easily relate back to Hughes’ life because it describes how the small difficulties and setbacks in life can alter years to come, but in the long run can grow strength. Not conquering the little obstacles can make the larger obstacles impossible to overcome. This is not the end of the struggle for Hughes. There are many more problems that he encountered throughout his life

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    Langston Hughes was a large influence on the African-American population of America. Some of the ways he did this was how his poetry influenced Martin Luther King Jr. and the Harlem Renaissance. These caused the civil rights movement that resulted in African-Americans getting the rights that they deserved in the United States. Hughes was born in 1902 in Joplin, Missouri. His parents divorced when he was young and his grandmother raised him. She got him into literature and education; she was one of the most important influences on him. He moved around a lot when he was young, due to his parents divorce, but remained a good student and graduated high school. After this he traveled the world and worked in different places, all the things he saw in his travels influenced him. In 1924 he settled down in Harlem where he became one of the important figures in the Harlem Renaissance. He enjoyed listening to blues and jazz in clubs while he wrote his poetry. The music that he enjoyed greatly influenced the style and rhythm of his poetry. The poem “Dream Variations” by Hughes is about an average African-American who dreams of a world where African-Americans are not looked at or treated differently and they can rest peacefully. Yet in real life this was not so, black people and white people were not equal. And the world was not as forgiving and nice as in their dream. This poem is a good example of Hughes writing because it is typical of three things. The first is the common theme of the average life of an African-American and their struggles. Secondly, the style of his writing which is based on the rhythm of jazz and blues- he uses a lot of imagery and similes. Lastly, his influences which are his lonely childhood and growing up as an Afric...

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