Why Is Langston Hughes Considered To Be America Again

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Let America Be America Again Langston Hughes, like numerous other 20th-century American literary giants, provided his own interpretation of the American Dream, which posited that success, prosperity, and contentment were attainable for anyone residing in or aspiring to reside in America. The fact that the 'dream' or ideal is not always met by the reality is something that he brilliantly expresses in this poem, which is one of his most well-known works. By virtue of his identity as an African-American writer, he provides a unique vantage point from which to examine the discrimination that Black Americans endure: Hughes describes how he always felt like an alien in America and how he never really felt like an American. But he broadens the scope …show more content…

The poem explores the contradiction between being a part of a disadvantaged community and the American dream. Hughes's comments served as the inspiration for the title of Lorraine Hansberry's play A Raisin in the Sun, which was written in 1959 and is about a Black family that is having a difficult time making ends meet. Martin Luther King Jr. made reference to it in a number of his sermons and speeches. The original idea for Harlem came from a longer poem called Montage of Dream Deferred that was meant to be a book. More than ninety poems set to a rhythmic accompaniment provide a vivid image of Jim Crow-era Harlem, the subject of the poem's concluding …show more content…

The eight-line poem Dreams is still often used as a motivational quote. I, Too — (1945). Hughes frequently delves into the experiences of African Americans residing in the United States, particularly in New York, during the early 1900s. He was inspired to write I, Too by his 1924 ordeal of being denied entry on multiple ships bound for the United States from Italy, all the while white sailors were warmly welcomed. Consequently, racial inequality is plainly an important subject in Hughes' poetry. I, too, am Hughes's direct attack on segregation. It is common to classify this poem as a protest poem. The poem deftly juggles its celebratory tone with its more sombre tone. Montage of a Dream Deferred Published as a book-length poem in 1951, this is a lengthier piece of Hughes's later work. This highly experimental poem by Langston Hughes takes its readers on a round-the-clock tour of his native Harlem in New York City, drawing inspiration from the syncopated rhythms and abrupt changes of direction typical of jazz to portray the complexity of contemporary urban life. Once again, the title alludes to the centrality of the dream motif—a favoured metaphor of Langston Hughes—in the poem, as Hughes juxtaposes the ideal with the actual

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