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Diversity in English classrooms
Summary of theme for English by Langston Hughes
Diversity in English classrooms
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In 1951, Langston Hughes wrote “Theme for English B” using the persona of a 22-year old African American who had come to New York City as part of the post-World War II Great Migration. The set up for the poem is deceptively simple: the English professor has given the students an autobiographical assignment in jaunty rhyme, “Go home and write/ a page tonight” (2-3). Everybody has done assignments like this, and from a position of privilege, the teacher assumes that the students will easily be able to fulfill the work comfortably. This reminded me strongly of other assignments that weren’t so easy for students and put them on the spot, like asking a classmate to do a family tree when they were adopted from another country, or asking someone who is a religious minority to stand up and talk about their holiday traditions. Hughes’ narrator is a minority among his classmates, black when they are white, even though the City College of New York is in Harlem. He is also slightly older than they are, 22 when they are probably 18 in a freshman English class. The narrator, having move...
Hughes says, “They hung my black young lover / To a cross roads tree.” (3-4). One can see that the narrator, this young girl has just loss her lover. Her lover got lynched and this causes our reader to have a broken heart. One can see that due to society and racism
Throughout Hughes’ Not Without Laughter, we see the long-term effect of generations of prejudice and abuse against blacks. Over time, this prejudice manifested itself through the development of several social classes within the black community. Hughes’, through the eyes of young Sandy, shows us how the color of one’s skin, the church they attend, the level of education an individual attained, and the type of employment someone could find impacted their standing within the community and dictated the social class they belonged to. Tragically, decades of slavery and abuse resulted in a class system within the black community that was not built around seeking happiness or fulfillment but, equality through gaining the approval of whites.
In Postmodern Blackness, Hooks splits the postmodern African American into groups of two, the essentialist and nationalists. Hughes would fall into the essentialist category, in which they value history and tradition; salvaging their identity. Hooks doesn’t shy away from criticizing this way of understanding, clarifying that it may open up “our understanding of African-American experience” (pg 2513). She goes on to further examine that notion. Proclaiming that a critique on essentialism “allows African-American to acknowledge the way in which class mobility has altered collective black experience so that racism does not necessarily have the same impact on our lives.”(pg 2514)
Like the story would be hard to follow if it was set in a different time period or even a different part in the world, the reader would be so confused and lost. This story’s setting being in Harlem in the late 1930s makes the reader understand why the black people don’t like the white people. The reader feels pulled into this story as they read it because Hughes really makes you think about what’s going on.
Because of that, his writing seems to manifest a greater meaning. He is part of the African-American race that is expressed in his writing. He writes about how he is currently oppressed, but this does not diminish his hope and will to become the equal man. Because he speaks from the point of view of an oppressed African-American, the poem’s struggles and future changes seem to be of greater importance than they ordinarily would. The point of view of being the oppressed African American is clearly evident in Langston Hughes’s writing.
Early in the novel, the unnamed narrator of the novel delivered a high school graduation speech so profound, that his community invited him to deliver another speech to the prominent white members of the community. To the narrator, it appeared to be an excellent opportunity to bring together the African American and white community, with the narrator describing it as “a triumph for [their] whole community.” (Ellison 14). Unfortunately, this is not at all what it was. In fact, the white men blindfolded the narrator as well as the other African Americans present, and forced them to
“There’s never been equality for me, nor freedom in this “homeland of the free.” Hughes quickly puts himself as the one being oppressed. His reader quickly discover that he is portraying himse...
“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.
Of the few short stories penned by Hughes, one that stands out the most was his series of weekly writings from the Chicago Defender in the 1940’s about a middle aged black man and a narrator who would speak on a variety of issu...
Through the use of personification, Langston Hughes shows that learning is important is this story, the professor just teaches but langston is also teaching the professor that different races are equally important and that we are all the same. People in this time period were rude to black people back then then and they treated them like they were different, but Langston is trying to teach his professor that everyone is the same and know one deserves to be treated badly just from the color of their skin.”You are white--yet a part of me,as I am part of you. That's American”.This quote is langston saying that we are all the same and we are all american and nothing else is different. As a conclusion hughes was making a good point in the fact of
Hughes' racial identity was formed from both a myriad of influences that accumulated over his life and also by the shadows of events that happened before his birth. Hughes' young life was segmented into distinctly different times with distinctly different influence. Which relative he lived with and which city, state, or country he was residing in all seemed to be constantly changing and constantly dividing up his li...
The civil rights movement may have technically ended in the nineteen sixties, but America is still feeling the adverse effects of this dark time in history today. African Americans were the group of people most affected by the Civil Rights Act and continue to be today. Great pain and suffering, though, usually amounts to great literature. This period in American history was no exception. Langston Hughes was a prolific writer before, during, and after the Civil Rights Act and produced many classic poems for African American literature. Hughes uses theme, point of view, and historical context in his poems “I, Too” and “Theme for English B” to expand the views on African American culture to his audience members.
Aside from the mother’s race and gender, her lack of education also plays a role in the hardships in her life. Hughes makes her limited education apparent in his use of her vernacular. Words like “ain’t” and “I’se” (MS lines 4, 9) symbolize the fact that Mother is from a Black background and she does not have sufficient education. These limitations, however, do not keep her from persevering and keeping a positive paradigm. She wants her son to realize that, though they may not have the best education or a more advantageous skin color, they must strive to overcome these hardships to reach their higher potential.
This image is the author’s perspective on the treatment of “his people” in not only his hometown of Harlem, but also in his own homeland, the country in which he lives. The author’s dream of racial equality is portrayed as a “raisin in the sun,” which “stinks like rotten meat” (Hughes 506). Because Hughes presents such a blatantly honest and dark point of view such as this, it is apparent that the author’s goal is to ensure that the reader is compelled to face the issues and tragedies that are occurring in their country, compelled enough to take action. This method may have been quite effective in exposing the plight of African-Americans to Caucasians. It can be easily seen that Hughes chooses a non-violent and, almost passive method of evoking a change. While Hughes appears to be much less than proud of his homeland, it is apparent that he hopes for a future when he may feel equal to his fellow citizens, which is the basis of the “dream” that has been
Racism and discrimination are problems many African Americans had to face in the 1940s; Hughes uses this aspect as the major theme in his poem “Ballad of the Landlord.” It is apparent that the tenant is discriminated against by the landlord, the police and the newspaper. For example, the newspaper shows only one side of the issue especially in the headline: “MAN THREATENS LANDLORD” (31). The tenant’s reasons for threatening the landlord were valid, although not legal, because the landlord treated the tenant unfairly by not fixing the house the tenant was renting. The tenant was angry, as expected, because the landlord was being prejudice against the tenant and refusing to fix his living conditions. The landlord would possibly have fixed the house if the tenant were white, and all problems could have been avoided had race issues not be...