The topic of racism and slavery date back centuries ago. It is an unimaginable thing to have known that it occurred for such an extensive amount of time in the past. But knowing that racism is still going on is unfortunate. During the mid-1950’s-60’s was when the Black community really felt the need to take charge and fight for their rights. Numerous amounts of young black men and women found ways to end racism. Some even sought out to write their feelings turning them into poetry. One of these people is Langston Hughes. Hughes is a very influential man who has written countless amounts of poetry. Another leading poet that has a major impact to further demolish racism is Maya Angelou. She too has written a multitude of poetry over the years, and continues to be a major role model for young, upcoming poets. In Harlem by Langston Hughes it displays to the audience about a dream deferred. In Still I Rise by Maya Angelou there’s a constant repetition of “still I rise” stating to the readers that no matter what struggles she or people may face in their life, you must rise to greatness. Harlem and Still I Rise reveal to the readers about the similarity of the civil rights movement about racism in their poetry and the fact that people should never give up on their dreams no matter what circumstances one may face.
In the poem of Harlem it is very short and precise for a reason which is to make the audience really think thoroughly and to generally show the fact that this poem was depicted during the days of racism. It leaves the readers truly analyzing about a dream to which they may have let get deferred.
“What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore—
And then run...
... middle of paper ...
... Angelou were those influential people. The poem of “Harlem” and “Still I Rise” display to the audience that they are both comparable as they show that they may have been broken down once before due to the need to end being segregated, but still they continue to reach to success. These poems make the readers even leave knowing that they can strive to their best potential, but also remembering the poem as a future reference in life. It shows to the audience that they can rise, achieve, and stay positive at is what yet to come.
Works Cited
Angelou, Maya. “Still I Rise.” Poets.org. The Academy of American Poets. 2014 Web. 4 Mar.
2014.
Hughes, Langston. “Harlem.” Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation. 2014 Web. 4 Mar.
2014.
Phillips, Harry. "An overview of “Harlem”." Poetry for Students. Detroit: Gale. Literature Resource Center. Web. 18 Mar. 2014.
That’s when I first gained an appreciation of the Harlem Renaissance, a time when African Americans rose to prominence in American culture. For the first time, they were taken seriously as artist, musicians, writers, athletes, and as political thinkers”(Kareem Abdul-Jabbar). African Americans writers during this time was capturing the beauty of black lives. Blacks were discovering many reasons to have pride in their race. Racial pride was helping them achieve equality in society. People were starting to write the way they wanted, instead of the ways whites wanted. Creating their
The speaker in “Harlem” is an African-American activist in Harlem who is fighting for rights of the African-Americans who live in Harlem. Although written by the same author, “Harlem” and “Harlem Night Song” have similarities and differences in literary devices, tone and mood. In “Harlem Night Song”, Hughes used non-consistent rhyme. In the poem, it states, “The Harlem roof-tops/Moon is shining./Night sky is blue./Stars are great drops/Of
As a poet who paved the way for African American artists to flourish in a white dominated world, Langston Hughes changed the face of writers during the era of the Harlem Renaissance. Hughes is the descendant of a mixed race and background, but he is considered the father of the “New Negro Movement.” His most noted piece of literature, “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain,” which was written in 1926, still applies to the youth and elderly of Blacks in America. As a young black woman in America’s 21st century, the realization has been made that not many things have changed in regards to the plight of the “Negro” in America. William Pickens said, “The new Negro is not really new; he is the same Negro under new conditions and subjected to new demands” (79). This quote claims that the Negro is neither new nor old but constantly evolving based upon new situations and predicaments. “The Negro Artists and the Racial Mountain” supports the statement that Black Americans are continuously scrutinized for assimilating into Western culture but are praised for embracing Pan-Africanism.
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.
“Harlem” by Langston Hughes is a poem that talks about what happens when we postpones our dreams. The poem is made up of a series of similes and it ends with a metaphor. The objective of the poem is to get us to think about what happens to a dream that is put off, postponed; what happens when we create our very own shelve of dreams? The “dream” refers to a goal in life, not the dreams we have while sleeping, but our deepest desires. There are many ways to understand this poem; it varies from person to person. Some may see this poem as talking about just dreams in general. Others may see it as African-American’s dreams.
This seminar paper will look at a poem written by Maya Angelou, Still I rise, 1978. An analysis of this poem will be provided, exploring the meaning of the poem and the language used to present a certain image to the audience.
In the end, we see that the poem Harlem is closely tied to the rash of disappointments that each member of the family faces. The central theme of the poem is tied directly to the family dynamic of the Youngers. Each member is too busy trying to bring happiness to the family in their own way that they forget to actually communicate with themselves in a positive way.
Hughes, a.k.a. Langston, a.k.a. “Harlem [Dream Deferred]” The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Michael Meyer.
...ss, representing the truth of the times. The majority of the problems influence only the one dreamer, however, the ending suggests that, when despair is everywhere, it may "explode" and cause social and political uprising. “Harlem” brings to light the anxiety between the need for Negro expression and the opposition to that need because of society’s subjugation of its black populace. His lines confront the racist and unjust attitude common in American society before the civil rights movement of the 1960s. it expresses the belief that black wishes and dreams were irrelevant should be ignored. His closing rhetorical question—“Or does [a dream deferred] explode?”—is aggressive, a testimony that the inhibition of black dreams might result in a revolution. It places the blame for this possible revolution on the domineering society that forces the deferment of the dream.
Hughes, Langston. "Harlem (A Dream Deferred)." Literature and the Writing Process. Elizabeth McMahan, Susan X. Day, and Robert Funk. 6th ed. Upper Saddle River. Prentice, 2002. 534.
“Harlem” was one of Hughes’s popular poems during the 1950’s. The poem itself is short in length, but it has a lot of meaning behind it. During this time, Hughes wanted to make a difference in poetry. He did not want to be labeled as the young man, only speaking to African Americans. He wanted everyone to understand his great work, regardless of color.
The poem “Negro” was written by Langston Hughes in 1958, where it was a time of African American development and the birth of the Civil Rights Movement. Langston Hughes, as a first person narrator, tells a story of what he has been through as a Negro, and the life he is proud to have had. He expresses his emotional experiences and makes the reader think about what exactly it was like to live his life during this time. By using specific words, this allows the reader to envision the different situations he has been put through. Starting off the poem with the statement “I am a Negro:” lets people know who he is, Hughes continues by saying, “Black as the night is black, Black like the depths of my Africa.”
the life of Harlem and knew that equality and freedom was definitely not present. The poem portrays
"Still I Rise by Maya Angelou." PoemHunter.Com - Thousands of poems and poets.. Poetry Search Engine. Web. 16 Feb. 2010. .
Still I Rise, written by Maya Angelou, was an inspiring poem about overcoming hardships and always looking forward to the future. The poem was centralized