The Use of History in the Works of Hughes, Clifton and McElroy

(An analysis of how the authors Hughes, Clifton and McElroy and how they use history in their works.)
Each person wakes up and they have this experience where they remember the past. They remember the day before or something that happened to them. In their mind it is their history and it shows up in their day to day actions. Our history shapes us in different ways. If we grew up with an abusive parent, then our action might reflect on our experiences. Lives are a mixture of moments that have shaped us into who we are. Society is the same way. We have evolved to fit the time period. At one point we relied fully on the land, with the only cover up was a piece of animal skin. We hunted and grew all of the food we ate. As years have gone by we have found different way to make clothing and our food isn’t always directly hunted or gathered by the people who eat it. Society has evolved. And yes, at one point there was a thing called slaves. We would like to think that the United States is a wonderful country and has done nothing wrong. America is amazing, but we have to remember what we have done wrong, so we can prevent it from happening again. Slavery became one major part of the US history and it revealed itself when we take a look at the poetry found from that time period. Hughes, Clifton and McElroy all used their history and heritage in their poems through three different ways: coming out of oppression, working class and the mere history of the people.
Hughes discussed the social issues that occurred when the slaves stopped being oppressed. After the Civil War there were many hard feelings. White had to cope with not owning the people who worked for them and African American had to figure what they needed to. However people real...

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...e they come from, but people all face it differently. They all want to remember the past, but some are focused on the future. Ambitions of people can move a society forward and they want to prove to themselves that they can hold their own against white people. Some focus on society and the foundation of society. The workers is what builds up society and because of this, the world can’t live without African Americans or the working class. Lastly, we have to look to our history. People have to remember the past and what we have gone through. The past can protect us from making future mistakes and to remember all that has happened to ancestors. People love their heritage. It isn’t about the trials. Trials are painful, but it is remembering that people have done hard things and we can do hard things also. It is up to us to decide on what we have to do and never give up.