The great advantage of poetry is that with the right choice of words, it can capture a whole scene in just one line of a stanza. It has the ability to offer hope from a painful experience and is something that a person can identify with; almost as if the poet and the reader become one. In his two poems, “Mother to Son” and “Harlem”, Langston Hughes, shines light on the life and struggles of African-Americans (“The Poetry”). While the theme of both poems is centered on perseverance, Hughes skillfully uses figurative language, tone, and form and structure differently in each poem to depict the same message.
In the poem “Mother to Son”, Hughes painted a picture of a loving yet firm middle-aged mother. From beginning to end, the mother is having a heart-to-heart conversation with her son. In the conversation, she is giving her son advice on how to handle the trials he has been and will be facing in life. Hughes lived in a time where blacks and whites were not equal (“The Poetry”). By the language used and descriptions of experiences the mother went through, readers would assume that this is an African American family from the South (Bass 60). The southern dialect, shown by dropping “g” in words such as “climbin” or “turnin” and knowledge of the time period the poem was written in, one could assume that the mother had no formal education However, what she lacked in formal education, she made up for in life experiences and shared that with her son.
In his poem “Harlem” Hughes expressed his anger on the inequality of African Americans. He seen the danger in them not being equal and strongly resented how the wants and needs of the blacks were seen as unimportant (--- 74). “Harlem” questions the reader about dreams; asking what happe...
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...ryone. And as we let our own lights shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
We all must also take heed to the advice the mother in “Mother to Son” gave to her son. The advice is simple but relatable: in order to overcome the hurdles of life, a person must possess courage and determination.
Works Cited
"The Poetry of Langston Hughes." SIRS Renaissance. 19 May 2004: n.p. SIRS Renaissance. Web. 6 Mar 2012.
Bass, Ramona and Arnold Rampersad ed. The Collected Works of Langston Hughes. 1. Columbia, Missouri: University of Missouri Press, 2001. Print.
---. The Collected Works of Langston Hughes. 3. Columbia, Missouri: University of Missouri Press, 2001. Print.
Grimes, Linda Sue. “Hughes' Harlem - A Dream Deferred.” N.p. 7 Feb. 2007. Web. 16 Mar. 2012
"A Centennial Tribute to Langston Hughes." Library System - Howard University. Howard University, n.d. Web. 13 Jan. 2014.
The author of “Mother to Son”, Langston Hughes, displays the attitude of hopefulness in the poem to show that life will not be easy for the son, but he should never give up because the mother did not. The author uses literary devices like figurative language, imagery, and diction. By using these literary devices, Hughes creates a sympathetic mood in the poem in order to emotionally draw in the reader.
Hughes, Langston. The Negro mother, and other dramatic recitations. Freeport, N.Y.: Books for Libraries Press, 1971. Print.
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
Hughes, a.k.a. Langston, a.k.a. “The Negro Speaks of Rivers.” The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed.
When looking at the Harlem Renaissance, readers can expect to discover many artists that pushed the exposure of Jazz, Blues, and African American literature to the American mainstream during the 1920’s – 1930’s. Langston Hughes is associated with the Harlem Renaissance for his literary works and activism. Zora Neale Hurtson, was also a writer associated with the Harlem Renaissance, her works are, to say the least are in contrast to Hughes’s work. I reason that the different styles of writing and thinking, that were contributed to the Harlem Renaissance is in regards to both author’s upbringing/childhood experiences. The two literary compositions that I will be reviewing are I, Too by Langston Hughes, (The Norton Anthology
Through the exemplary use of symbolism, Langston Hughes produced two poems that spoke to a singular idea: Black people have prevailed through trials and tribulations to carry on their legacy as a persevering people. From rivers to stairs, Hughes use of extended metaphor emphasizes the feeling of motion which epitomizes the determination of the people. Overall, the driving feeling of the poems coupled with their strong imagery produce two different works that solidify and validate one main idea.
Hughes, Langston “I, Too.” Poems, Poets, Poetry: An Introduction and Anthology. 3rd ed. Ed. Helen Vendler.
The "Langston Hughes" Poets.org. Academy of American Poets, n.d. Web. The Web. The Web. 03 Dec. 2013.
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
Critical Essays on Langston Hughes.
Hughes, Langston. “Harlem.” Literature for Composition. Ed. Sylvan Barnet, William Burto and William E. Cain.10th ed. New York: Pearson, 2014. 136. Print. 8 Apr. 2014.