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Harlemania harlem renaissance
Harlemania harlem renaissance
Harlemania harlem renaissance
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Comparing the Poetry of Lanston Hughes and Countee Cullen Upon first glance the differences between Hughes and Cullen seem very clear. Hughes writes in rhythm, while Cullens writes in rhyme, but those are just the stylistic differences. Hughes and Cullen may write poems in a different style but they both write about similar themes. The time they wrote in was during the Harlem Renaissance, a time period when African Americans were discovering their heritage and trying to become accepted in the once white dominated society. The African Americans had their own cultures and their own style of music and writing but they wanted everyone to know they were still human, that they were still American, even though the differences in color were apparent. During this era African Americans were facing the challenges of accepting their heritage or ignoring outright to claim a different lifestyle for their day to day lives. Hughes and Cullen wrote poems that seemed to describe themselves, or African Americans, who had accepted their African Heritage and who also wanted to be a part of American heritage as well. These are some of the things they have in common, as well as what is different about them based on appearance, now I shall focus on each author individually and talk about how they are different afterwards. Lanston Hughes focuses more on rhythm then on rhyme, for example, the poem "The Weary Blues" reads like a blues song, which is what the poem is about. "Mother to Son" is a conversation a mother has to a child about what era life has been, and that no matter how hard life may seem, one should never give up climbing the "stairs". The poem seems to shift from good English to Black English and then back again, which to me shows... ... middle of paper ... ... different authors from two different ways of life could write poems in different styles about the same topics. Hughes with his blues infused poems and Cullen's with his "Negro spirit and Christian upbringing" (Ferguson), both of these men inspired hundreds of people and their work can still make an impact on those that read it. It sure did for me. I recommend these poems to anyone, and I hope that everyone can enjoy and appreciate them as much as I have. Works Cited Tracy, Steven C. Langston Hughes & The Blues. Illinois, 1988. Ferguson, Blanche E. Countee Cullen and the Negro Renaissance. New York, 1066 About Countee Cullen's Life. 21 Mar. 2001. Modern American Poetry. 11 Nov. 2003 http://www.poets.org/poets/poets.cfm?prmID=84 Langston Hughes. Apr 3, 2002. Poets.org 11 Nov. 2003 http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/a_f/cullen/life.htm
Langston Hughes was a large influence on the African-American population of America. Some of the ways he did this was how his poetry influenced Martin Luther King Jr. and the Harlem Renaissance. These caused the civil rights movement that resulted in African-Americans getting the rights that they deserved in the United States. Hughes was born in 1902 in Joplin, Missouri. His parents divorced when he was young and his grandmother raised him. She got him into literature and education; she was one of the most important influences on him. He moved around a lot when he was young, due to his parents divorce, but remained a good student and graduated high school. After this he traveled the world and worked in different places, all the things he saw in his travels influenced him. In 1924 he settled down in Harlem where he became one of the important figures in the Harlem Renaissance. He enjoyed listening to blues and jazz in clubs while he wrote his poetry. The music that he enjoyed greatly influenced the style and rhythm of his poetry. The poem “Dream Variations” by Hughes is about an average African-American who dreams of a world where African-Americans are not looked at or treated differently and they can rest peacefully. Yet in real life this was not so, black people and white people were not equal. And the world was not as forgiving and nice as in their dream. This poem is a good example of Hughes writing because it is typical of three things. The first is the common theme of the average life of an African-American and their struggles. Secondly, the style of his writing which is based on the rhythm of jazz and blues- he uses a lot of imagery and similes. Lastly, his influences which are his lonely childhood and growing up as an Afric...
The Negro Speaks of Rivers and Mother to Son, explained the importance of the woman, light and darkness and strength in the African-American community. Hughes made a very clear and concise statement in focusing on women and the power they hold, light and darkness, and strength. Did his poems properly display the feelings of African-American’s in that time period? It is apparent that Hughes felt a sense of pride in his culture and what they had to endure. After all “Life ain’t been no crystal stair!”(Norton, Line 2, 2028)
Fiehn, Terry, and Chris Corin. Communist Russia under Lenin and Stalin. London: John Murray, 2002. Print.
Corney, Frederick “What Is To Be Done With Soviet Russia? The Politics Of Proscription And Possibility.” Journal Of Policy History 21.3 (2009): 264 – 281. Political Science Complete. Web. 23 Nov. 2013.
In today’s modern view, poetry has become more than just paragraphs that rhyme at the end of each sentence. If the reader has an open mind and the ability to read in between the lines, they discover more than they have bargained for. Some poems might have stories of suffering or abuse, while others contain happy times and great joy. Regardless of what the poems contains, all poems display an expression. That very moment when the writer begins his mental journey with that pen and paper is where all feelings are let out. As poetry is continues to be written, the reader begins to see patterns within each poem. On the other hand, poems have nothing at all in common with one another. A good example of this is in two poems by a famous writer by the name of Langston Hughes. A well-known writer that still gets credit today for pomes like “ Theme for English B” and “Let American be American Again.”
Hughes, James. Stalin, Siberia and the Crisis of the New Economic Policy . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004.
Morial, M. (2011, March 23). Stop the lies about the financial meltdown. Michigan Chronicle. Retrieved from: http://search.proquest.com.proxy1.ncu.edu
Definitions for curriculum are many and varied. Broad sweeping statements claim that curriculum is what is taught in various subjects and the amount of time given to each. While a more specific view is that curriculum are performance objectives for students that focus on specific skills or knowledge (Marsh, 2010). Marsh (2010, p. 93) defines curriculum as “an interrelated set of plans and experiences” that are completed at school. The curriculum used in education can have various interpretations, it may refer to the curriculum as a plan that encompasses all the learning that is planned and directed by the school. Cu...
Shelley, Louise I. “The Challenge of Crime and Corruption.” Russia’s Policy Challenges. Ed. Stephen Wegren. New York: M. E. Sharpe, 2003. 103-122.
Like most, the stories we hear as children leave lasting impacts in our heads and stay with us for lifetimes. Hughes was greatly influenced by the stories told by his grandmother as they instilled a sense of racial pride that would become a recurring theme in his works as well as become a staple in the Harlem Renaissance movement. During Hughes’ prominence in the 20’s, America was as prejudiced as ever and the African-American sense of pride and identity throughout the U.S. was at an all time low. Hughes took note of this and made it a common theme to put “the everyday black man” in most of his stories as well as using traditional “negro dialect” to better represent his African-American brethren. Also, at this time Hughes had major disagreements with members of the black middle class, such as W.E.B. DuBois for trying to assimilate and promote more european values and culture, whereas Hughes believed in holding fast to the traditions of the African-American people and avoid having their heritage be whitewashed by black intellectuals.
...racters get different endings, based on their different sexuality behaviors. The pure one got a happy life, but the dissipated one dead tragically. In MAXIMUM GAGA, Lara think virginity and dissoluteness are not contradictory, women can have both of them. In my own view, I’d agree with Stoker that virginity is precious, but it doesn’t mean Lara’s view is wrong. The dissoluteness and virginity can exist together, but not in my case. As what I said above, the female sexuality is a controversial topic. There is no exact answer for it. It always depends on individuals.
Hughes, who claimed Paul Lawrence Dunbar, Carl Sandburg, and Walt Whitman as his primary influences, is particularly known for his insightful, colorful portrayals of black life in America from the twenties through the sixties. He wrote novels, short stories and plays, as well as poetry, and is also known for his engagement with the world of jazz and the influence it had on his writing, as in "Montage of a Dream Deferred." His life and work were enormously important in shaping the artistic contributions of the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s. Unlike other notable black poets of the period—Claude McKay, Jean Toomer, and Countee Cullen—Hughes refused to differentiate between his personal experience and the common experience of black America. He wanted to tell the stories of his people in ways that reflected their actual culture, including both their suffering and their love of music, laughter, and language itself.
To start, the structure of the initial assignment that the student must focus on is given differently then the rest of the poem. The majority of the poem is written in free verse. These verses are typical of the jazz-poetry style that became popular during the Harlem Renaissance. The easy style of jazz-poetry gives a dialogue feel to the poem that the reader can connect with. “As it appears, Langston Hughes’s outstanding collection of poems exemplifies the greatest of those qualities of jazz and blues, and his talent truly makes these poems come alive in the same way that jazz and blues music comes alive for the audience as well as for the musicians” (Davidas 1). You truly begin to see the internal struggle the student is having with his assignment and how he is grappling with more then just an assignment for English
In 1902, Langston Hughes was born in Joplin, Missouri to his parents who eventually divorced and caused Hughes to live with his grandmother. His grandmother lived in Lawrence, Kansas, where he mainly grew up. Langston’s grandmother shared many stories with him as a young boy, about his family in the slavery days and how they had to fight for their freedom and how to end slavery. His grandmother introduced him to the "Bible" and "Crisis," the magazine. From stories told by his grandmother, it filled him with pride of who he was and his race. He then grew more into an interest in African American culture and history that he later wrote in many stories, autobiographies, histories, and poems.Hughes grandmother a few years later died, which resulted in him to live with family friends. This horrific event influenced him to take a stronger take on writing. It gave him more reason to write beautiful pieces in remembrance of his grandmother. It gave him the chance to shape his mind into a poetic state.
"From Autocracy to Oligarchy." The Structure of Soviet History: Essays and Documents. Ed. Ronald Grigor. Suny. New York: Oxford UP, 2003. 340-50. Print.