Langston Hughes was an outstanding African American poet and playwright in the 20th century. In fact, Hughes’ focus on literary works that illustrated the lives and struggles of African Americans made him a key contributor to the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance was "an intellectual, social, and artistic eruption of African American culture and art" that took place in Harlem in the 1920s. The poem being analyzed is one of Langston Hughes's most prominent, and relatable poems. “Theme for English B”, is written in free verse with simple diction and depicts the racial issues and divide that existed at the time of its creation. Although “Theme for English B” was published three decades after the genesis of the Harlem Renaissance, it embodied …show more content…
With further reflection he begins to see traits he shares with his classmates, even though they were not as obvious at first glance. For instance, just like his classmates, he likes “to eat, sleep, drink, and be in love… to work, read, learn, and understand life” (21-22). As he examines himself, he concludes that he is not so different from the other students. In other words, he is of just as much value as any of them and has knowledge of his to share. The speaker goes on to say, “I guess being colored doesn’t make me not like the same things other folks like who are other races” (25-26). This suggests that even though they are of unfamiliar cultures they can all learn from one another, increasing the truth that they can discover because the differences they have grants each of them a unique perspective, and a personal truth that they can bring to every interaction they …show more content…
Speaking of his assignment, he says “So will my page be colored that I write” (27)? While colored can be interpreted as simply a racial category, it can also be interpreted as colors involved in typing or writing a paper. Therefore, the question, “will my page be colored that I write?” is a question of if his paper will be different from the others because of his color. The speaker goes on to say, “Being me, it will not be white/ But it will be a part of you, instructor/ You are white/ -- Yet a part of me, as I am a part of you/ That’s American” (30-34). The speaker suggests despite his race or the race of his peers, they are all American. Therefore, his experiences with racism, as well as those experiences and perspectives that connect him, his classmates and instructor together form what the speaker believes is a unique American identity. Although, the speaker acknowledges that his ethnicity does define him as a person, he accepts that it doesn’t encompass the entirely of who he
“Sometimes it seems to me that I have never really been a Negro, that I have been only a privileged spectator of their inner life; at other times I feel that I have been a coward, a deserter, and I am possessed by a strange longing for my mother 's people.” Thus encapsulates the painful dilemma of being of mixed race in America of James Weldon Johnson in his Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man. From thinking of himself as white because of the lightness of his skin, to finding that in fact he was colored, and the constant struggle to perhaps deny it, to the peculiar pride that sometimes reared its head and caused him to embrace his Negro blood, his narrative revealed his inner conflict and wavering ambivalence towards who
“I repeatedly forgot each of the realizations on this list until I wrote it down. For me, white privilege has turned out to be an elusive and fugitive subject. The pressure to avoid it is great, for in facing it I must give up the myth of meritocracy. If these things are true, this is not such a free country; one’s life is not what one makes it; many doors open for certain people through no virtues of their own.”
People of different ethnic backgrounds are influenced by both cultural and societal normalities to want to naturally return to their own ethnic groups. In Beverly Daniel Tatum’s book “Why Are All Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?” Tatum tries to explain why in even racially diverse schools, people of the same race tend to gravitate toward one another causing racial separation. Tatum claims that people of the same race, particularly black kids, are likely to turn toward people who understand their shared perspective. Although Tatum effectively uses a conversational tone and emotionally charged words, her overuse of biased interviews and experiences forces the reader to question the validity of her portrayal of race relations.
Since its founding, racial tensions have plagued the United States. Our history is one of racism and intolerance. From legal slavery in our first hundred years to fear mongering over Chinese immigrants, “No Irish Need Apply” to a presidential nominee threatening to deport 11 million illegal Latino immigrants, racism scourges our nation. How society sees a person’s race affects how they see themselves, how they see others of their own race, how they view other races, and their experiences growing up. In Zora Neale Hurston’s piece, “How It Feels to Be Colored Me,” she explains coming to know herself as “Zora” instead of “a little colored girl;” she explains how she is Zora of Orange County and it’s only in contrast to whites that she is colored. On the other hand, Anzaldúa’s piece “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” looks at life when no one recognizes your race, including those in it. While both Hurston’s “How It Feels to Be Colored Me” and Anzaldúa’s “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” deal with the differences in race and racial tensions in the US, they detail vastly different struggles faced by minorities.
...ows that just because your skin color is different from someones doesn’t mean you know what the person is like. If all the contents in each bag were emptied out, then re-stuffed, we wouldn’t know which bag had what. This suggested that peoples’ different races varied in their human character and personality.
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
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
Langston Hughes is one of the most famous poets of the Harlem Renaissance. He was born in Mississippi in 1902 and later moved to Ohio where he attended Central High School. When Hughes graduated high school he went to Mexico to visit his father and while crossing the Mississippi River he was inspired to write “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”, which was his first published poem when he was eighteen years old. When Hughes returned to the United States in 1924 the Harlem Renaissance was in “full swing”. In 1925 at the age of twenty-three Hughes received an award for his poem “The Weary Blues”, Hughes was famous for incorporating blues and jazz rhymes into his poetry, which is what he did in his poem “The Weary Blues”. Hughes was at a banquet where he received an award for his poem “The Weary Blues” and was asked by a man named Carl Van Vechten if he had enough poems to make a book. Hughes said yes and Van Vechten promised that he would find 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.