“Theme for English B” at surface value is the autobiography of a well-educated, twenty-two year old college student at Columbia University. This autobiography is in response to an assignment given by the student’s professor. The assignment provides a way for the speaker to address his feelings to his classmates about the unjust treatment he receives at school. This young man is African-American and although his references to his race could be taken as basic facts about himself, they mirror his struggles with the racism, inequality, and feelings of inadequacy he deals with. The poem’s author, Langston Hughes, uses his personal experiences from his childhood, his time spent in Harlem, and his time at Columbia University to create the main character in the poem.
The author, Langston Hughes, pulls experiences he had at Columbia and incorporates them into this poem to give the speaker life. Like the speaker, Hughes experienced racism during his time at Columbia due to the miniscule number of African-Americans at the school. Treated like a second-class citizen because of his race, Hughes struggled to find housing on campus, leading to his stay at the same Harlem YMCA that the speaker lives in (Dyson 8). Although there is no mention of hardship in finding a dorm in the poem, it is easy to assume that the speaker would have also had difficulty because of his race and because he is staying in the same place Hughes was once forced into. The description of the speaker’s walk home in lines eleven through fifteen provides the unfair lengths he had to go to because of Columbia not allowing African-Americans to live on campus (Dyson 8). The dorms at schools such as Columbia were not typically segregated so the rare African-American students t...
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...racter based on Hughes’ experiences during his life. The structure of “Theme for English B” is simple enough to allow average readers to understand the basic concepts but is also more complex in a way that readers must read deeper and more critically to connect Hughes to his piece.
Works Cited
Dyson, Cindy. "Hughes, Langston." Bloom's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 2 Feb. 2014.
Hughes, Langston. “Theme for English B.” Making Literature Matter: An Anthology for Readers and Writers. 5th ed. Ed. John Schilb and John Clifford. Boston: Bedford, 2012. 1054-55. Print.
“Langston Hughes.” Poets. Academy of American Poets, 1997. Web. 3 Feb. 2014.
Rummel, Jack. "A Lonely Youth." Chelsea House Biographies Online. Chelsea House. Web. 4
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Rummel, Jack. "Columbia and the Harlem Renaissance." Chelsea House Biographies Online.
Chelsea House. Web. 4 Feb. 2014.
Langston Hughes- Pessimism Thesis Statement: In the poems “Weary Blues”, “Song for a Dark Girl” and “Harlem” the author Langston Hughes uses the theme of pessimism through the loss of faith, dreams and hope. First, one can look at the theme of pessimism and the correlation to the loss of faith. One can see that in “Song for a Dark Girl” an African American girl is sadden by the loss of her love. For this young and innocent girl to have to lose someone she loved so young.
Hughes, Langston. “Theme for English B” The Norton Field Guide to Writing with Readings. Richard Bullock, Maureen Daly Goggin, eds. New York: W. W. Norton & Compant, 2010. 799-800. Print.
Berry, Faith. Langston Hughes Before and Beyond Harlem Connecticut: Lawrence Hill and Company Publishers, 1983
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.
Throughout African American history different individuals have made a significant impact that would forever change things. In the 1900s Harlem became the governing body for the birth of jazz and blues. This also open door for a new era called the Harlem Renaissance. During this time a poet name Langston Hughes was introduced. Langston Hughes created poetry that stood out to people. It had that jazzy vibe mixed with articulate language of choice. He could seize the minds of people with the soulfulness of his writing, and depict the struggles of what was going on with blacks. Some individuals see Langston Hughes as the inspired poet of the Harlem Renaissance time. Mr. Hughes used his body of work to compare and contrast things to create the groundwork for the Harlem Renaissance period.
“Theme for English B” and “Let American be American again” share some similar elements. These poems both written by Langston Hughes both explain about inequality. Theme for English B revolves around the separation of the black and white man; the differences within each race were segregation was at a high point. Let America be America again revolves around the concept that America is supposed to be the land of the free, but to another race or background; it’s a total opposite. (I guess that being colored doesn’t make me not like the other folks who are other races. - Theme for English B). ...
The poem “Theme for English B” tells a story of a man and his struggle to write to his instructor about deeper matters. The poem by Langston Hughes explains the situation of a colored man. Everyone sees that he is different but to himself he knows he is the same by heart. He writes from his heart and from his own perspective. He explains to his readers that everyone may seem him in a different light but he must know himself enough to make his own independent judgements.
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.
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.
The speech addresses the issues of racism as a barrier in culture, which is supposed to bring equality and inclusion to everyone. In the poem “The Theme for English B” by Langston Hughes, the author discusses the influence of dominant culture on a colored person in a school. Race is an aspect of dominant culture, and the color of your skin is a barrier between dominant culture and lesser cultures, and it can be overcome by the use of education. Race is an aspect of dominant culture, as it is a prejudgment of people’s classes and social standards by the assessment of their skin color. In “The Theme for English B” the author of the poem talks about dominant culture in a school setting from a colored student’s point of view.
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.
Theme for English B is a poem that shows the discrimination between white and black. The author tries to show the agony that blacks felt in the hands and white. The author thinks that nothing he does is good enough for the white professor because he is
When I first read Langston Hughes' poem "Theme for English B", I did not particularly like it. But after reading it a second time and discussing it in class, I came to appreciate the poem on several levels. The way Hughes describes the setting of Harlem/New York is brief, but evocative. He also gives us insight into the thoughts and emotions of the main character, the young "colored" student, and ends the piece with several thought provoking passages.
Langston Hughes was an activist for the African-American community and made significant artistic contributions to the Harlem Renaissance throughout his career. In one of his most famous poems, “Harlem [Dream Deferred]”, he addresses the limitations and oppression of African Americans after the Great Depression. Many African Americans dreamed of equality, but often times that dream became neglected and pushed aside. In his poem, Hughes responds to a question about a deferred dream with a series of vivid similes, inquiring what happens to a constantly ignored dream.
Langston Hughes once said in his poem, The Black Man Speaks, “I swear to the Lord / I still can't see / Why Democracy means / Everybody but me.” This quotation by Hughes is able to perfectly depict inequality which was just one of many struggles African Americans faced during Hughes’ time. Although literary critics felt that Langston Hughes portrayed an unattractive view of black life, the poems demonstrate reality. Hughes’ poetry contains many issues that typically plagued blacks at the time including racial abuse, lack of opportunity, and segregation.