Langston Hughes Oppression

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Langston Hughes gained fame during the explosion of African-American artistic expression, a period called the “Harlem Renaissance”. Hughes was a prominent figure during the Harlem Renaissance, as he and many other African-American poets, novelists, artists and singers rose in popularity in this movement based out of Harlem, New York. The oppression of African-Americans served as an artistic inspiration for Hughes, with many of his poetry and stories dealing with the plight of African-Americans during the time of Jim Crow laws in the United States. The disdain for the oppression and discrimination Hughes experienced matches only the patriotism and adoration he felt for America, ‘the land of opportunity’. In his poem I, Too, Hughes explores the

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  • Tone Of I Too By Langston Hughes

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    “I, Too” by Langston Hughes is a song in which the speaker, as the collective voice of African Americans, imparts his vision of equality. He challenges the prevalent social injustice toward blacks and the subsequent prejudice they face and endure. Despite the poem's serious topic matter, it has an optimistic and confident tone, expressed through its syntax and diction.

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    “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.

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    During the 1920's and 30’s, America went through a period of astonishing artistic creativity, the majority of which was concentrated in one neighborhood of New York City, Harlem. The creators of this period of growth in the arts were African-American writers and other artists. Langston Hughes is considered to be one of the most influential writers of the period know as the Harlem Renaissance. With the use of blues and jazz Hughes managed to express a range of different themes all revolving around the Negro. He played a major role in the Harlem Renaissance, helping to create and express black culture. He also wrote of political views and ideas, racial inequality and his opinion on religion. I believe that Langston Hughes’ poetry helps to capture the era know as the Harlem Renaissance.

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  • Biography of Langston Hughes

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    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.

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  • How Does Langston Hughes Use A Direct Metaphor In Oppression

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    The poem, “Oppression” by Langston Hughes conveys his idea of what it is like to be oppressed. To begin, Hughes expresses that oppression removes what one may find most comforting. In the poem, Hughes writes, “Now dreams / Are not available / To the dreamers” (1-3). Dreamers long for their thoughts, it is when they are not able to have the freedom to dream that they start to feel trapped. That feeling is the direct metaphor Hughes uses to reveal what it is like to be opressed.

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  • Compare And Contrast Approaches To The Harlem Renaissance

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    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

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  • How Did Langston Hughes Struggle To Survive Segregation?

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    During the Harlem Renaissance, African-Americans faced the problem of segregation, but found a way to survive it. The Harlem Renaissance began in the 1920s and was a period of time where African-Americans migrated to Harlem in New York City to pursue their careers. One man who did this was Langston Hughes, a writer in his twenties who wrote jazz poetry. Also, there was Countee Cullen, another young writer who went to Harvard for a year. “I, Too”, by Langston Hughes, uses perspective and “Tableau”, by Countee Cullen, uses imagery to suggest that African-Americans went through a tough time being discriminated, but overall survived those hardships to become equal.

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    During the 1920’s, African American writers and musicians began an artistic community where they were able to express themselves in Harlem during an era of social conflict (Bloom p.12). Known for his writing, James Mercer Langston Hughes was one of the first contributors of jazz poetry during the Harlem Renaissance. Hughes was an novelist, playwright, and an American Poet. In 1921, Langston Hughes published his first poem, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”. Very pleased with Hughes work, Nicholas Vachel Lindsay (an American poet) advertised his work, which led to the first publication of his book in 1926. From then, Hughes continued his journey through writing by publishing poems and plays. In the works, “As I Grew Older,” “Harlem,” and “Let

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    Langston Hughes illustrates the current condition of black society in America as well as expressed his love for it. He compares the strength and perseverance of black Americans to that of the “ancient, dusky rivers” he speaks of in the poem. It celebrates heritage as well as illustrates the history African Americans. Despite the hardships, black people came up from the depths of grief and survived. Their history flows through the cracks of the earth like a river.

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