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Personification in harlem by langston hughes
Thematic concerns in Langston Hughes' poetry
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Dreams In 1951 Langston Hughes wrote the poem “dreams”. In this poem Langston Hughes is trying to emphasize the importance of having and following your dreams and their ability to empower, strengthen and sustain an individual's life. Through the use of personification, metaphors, and refrains he accomplishes his purpose of showing us a life without dreams is empty. Langston Hughes starts off using personification in his poem when he states “dreams die”. He says this in his second stanza with only a few words. I believe he used a select few words as a way to show the impact that dreams die if you don’t continue to chase your dreams. Hughes continues to use personification when he says “dreams go”. This use of personification is implying your
Dream Variations, also by Langston Hughes, is a strong poem that conveys his cultural identity. In this poem, Hughes uses the light and dark hours of the day to represent the cultures of white and black people. Hughes says, “To fling my arms wide in some place of the sun. To whirl and to dance till the white day is done. Then rest at cool evening beneath a tall tree while night comes on gently, Dark like me-That is my dream!” Hughes compares the daytime to the white man 's work day and correlates the night to himself and his race. This poem clearly conveys Hughes cultural
“All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them.” This quote from Walt Disney addressing the concept of achieving dreams is very accurate, and can be seen throughout literature today and in the past. Dreams can give people power or take away hope, and influence how people live their lives based upon whether they have the determination to attack their dreams or not; as seen through characters like the speaker in Harlem by Langston Hughes and Lena and Walter Younger in Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in The Sun.
“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 was an African American poet who emerged during the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance strongly influenced most of Langston Hughes’s writing. In such works as “Dream”, “Still Here”, “Dream Deferred”, and “Justice” you see the clear messages that are trying to be voiced through his work.
In life a person will have dreams to follow and choices to make, but they should never live in regret. By analyzing how Langston Hughes and Robert Frost use diction, imagery, and metaphor, it is clear that their poems reflect on life choices, dreams and regret. Though both poems have similar topics, their conclusions are somewhat different. Langston Hughes concludes that without dreams, life is meaningless, empty. On the other hand, Robert Frost concludes that life goes on because people usually don’t travel backwards. When someone makes a choice, he or she can’t usually go back in time and make a different choice. Frost is saying that people should never stick to the past but move forward with their lives and never look back.
Langston Hughes is a key figure in the vision of the American dream. In his writings, his African-American perspective gives an accurate vision of what the American dream means to a less fortunate minority. His poetry is very loud and emotional in conveying his idea of the African-American dream. Most of his poetry either states how the black man is being suppressed or is a wish, a plea for equality. He does not want the black man to be better than everyone else, but just to be treated equally.
In the year 1951, the critically acclaimed Langston Hughes wrote a poem that had more questions than answers for the African American population of the post WW2 period. Without hesitation Langston Hughes opens the poem with a question that automatically gets the reader pondering the thought of what a dream does if it is postponed till the future. Throughout the poem the author poses questions to the reader about the dream that is deferred. All possibilities are on the table in this eleven line poem that questions the negative or positive effects of the ambitious dream of the African American community. Langston Hughes, author of “Harlem”, puts into practice the use of similes and imagery to deliberate about what the African
During the early 1950’s America was racially segregated. Segregation played a tremendous role across the country, as Negros were separated through restrooms, schools, Workforce, and housing. Throughout this era, a wide range of events occurred which led this era to constantly being profoundly known for its impact on the development of America’s society. Langston Hughes was constantly reminded of his limited freedom and the challenges he dealt with, due to being an African American. Langston Hughes poem, “Harlem” describes the limitations of achieving the ideal “American Dream” amongst African Americans. Throughout the poem, Hughes primarily focuses towards the struggles African Americans faced daily, in order to achieve
“Harlem” by Langston Hughes is a poem that talks about what happens when we postpones our dreams. The poem is made up of a series of similes and it ends with a metaphor. The objective of the poem is to get us to think about what happens to a dream that is put off, postponed; what happens when we create our very own shelve of dreams? The “dream” refers to a goal in life, not the dreams we have while sleeping, but our deepest desires. There are many ways to understand this poem; it varies from person to person. Some may see this poem as talking about just dreams in general. Others may see it as African-American’s dreams.
An excellent example of musical imagery that Hughes is famous for can be found in the author’s poem, “The Weary Blues”. In the first line the poet sets the tune, which is syncopate, then proceeds to give the beat of “rocking back and forth”. Hughes goes on to point toward the feeling of oppression by repeating synonyms of sad such as, “poor”, “moan”, “frowning” and “weary”, throughout the poem. Within the first three lines the author has implied a movement and a beat which suggests music and emotions. By doing this the reader is not only able to “hear” but also to “feel” the sadness of African Americans. Using only the art of language, Hughes merged the genres of art, poetry, and music
“Dreams” by Langston Hughes, uses powerful metaphors to enhance the poem and make it more relatable to the reader.
Dreams are central to human identity, they give lives a purpose, something to aspire to. These dreams are often lost in explanation and many writers have aimed to give life to a dream in writing. Langston Hughes does this brilliantly in the works As I Grew Older, Mother to Son, and Dreams. All three of these poems have a common use of powerful figurative language to communicate meaning.
Time passes by, leaving behind memories but dreams never fade. They are immortalised in ones’ souls. In the poem, “As I Grew Older” by Langston Hughes, the persona’s dreams are immortalised since his childhood although he faces numerous obstacles in achieving them. The poem is about one’s dream in life. In the quest of his journey, the persona encounters enormous number of challenges and barriers.
What does it mean to have a dream? Is it a foolish notion fueled by impulsive desires? Or is it a goal that makes life worth living? In the works of Langston Hughes,—“Mother to Son”, “Dream Deferred”, and “As I Grew Older”—he explores the very essence of what it means to have a dream. The presence of literary devices such as: imagery, motif, and an extended metaphor, clearly alludes to his personal struggles, which made him to question the merit of his dreams. The speaker emphasizes how the obstacles in-between ourselves and our dreams are a natural component of life as well as highlighting the importance of persevering otherwise, our dreams can and will wither away.
In our journey through life, we all have certain expectations of how we would like our lives to be. All of us strive to reach a certain level of self-actulization and acceptance. It could thus be said that all of us live a dream. Some of these individual dreams inevitably become the collective dream of many people. In "Harlem (A Dream Deferred)", Langston Hughes makes use of symbolism as well as powerful sensory imagery to show us the emotions that he and his people go through in their quest for freedom and equality. By using questions he builds the poem towards an exciting climax.