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Experiences during adolescence stage
Development of the role of a teacher
Struggles and challenges in langston hughes life
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Recommended: Experiences during adolescence stage
“See life for me aint me been no crystal stair it’s had splinters and tackler, but I keep moving on” as the mother in Langston Hughes poem, Crystal Stair, explained to her son. Life is so full of adventures, shaping personalities with joy and heartaches. Many of which, have turned out to have a great impact on my life. There are many things that has shaped my personality, such as emotional situations, death, and college. All playing a very important role in creating and fighting to be who I am today. As a child, I had the rage of the mightiest lion with eyes cold as the winter storms. I have had my share in the making of chronicles of a Lifetime story. The one when the teenager goes through an assortment of situations that led to many nights …show more content…
After, she passed, life seemed darker for awhile. Perhaps, losing loved ones, are physical and mental blows, that I can’t seem to get away from. I would cry for days with wondering thoughts on how I could have saved them. As family and friends disappeared whether by death or just lack of communications in friendships, it had negatively affected me, wondering when will the last day be. However, as I begun to face the realities of life, I am learning that you enjoy life today and focus on whatever comes when it comes. College was the biggest influence in my life, so many things transpired. For some reason, I was free there, free to be whomever, I wanted, since no one knew me. I could change from being the introvert around others, so that I would not be judged. It was in college, that I began finding what did or didn’t work for me. I was embraced by friendships that boosted my confidence and provided reassurance. I finally began to find my identity and I was excited about it. Maybe, two years after graduation, I began subbing as a middle school math teacher. It was then that I found my true passion in life, …show more content…
I think that I missed many of Erik Erikson’s development stages according to their age descriptions such as mistrust vs trust. It’s for me to trust someone to an extent, I would always think of the things they could do to harm me. As many teenagers and young adults, I also struggle with identity. Often wondering who I were, how did I fit in and would my peers like me. Erikson’s stages and explanations provided me with possible reasoning for some of the situations I may face, and how I can counterbalance them. Sigmund Freud also made an impact in understanding the emotional issues faced as a child and the aggression presented towards my mother. Oh, God, I wrote in journals about how she was so mean and how I wish she would do things differently. Although, she was my only consistent caregiver at the time, I only wanted to be around my father. In conclusion, you can’t change what happens in life, just want to be aware of my mistakes, so that I will not repeat them. I tell my students, make sure every choice that you make today, will be the decision you’re okay with tomorrow. Life is not perfect, so I am learning to not freak out about situations that I can’t control. I listen to gospel music for comfort, pray and thank God for getting me through it. I also reflect back over my favorite poem, Footprints in the Sand. The poem by Mary Stevenson
1920’s Harlem was a time of contrast and contradiction, on one hand it was a hotbed of crime and vice and on the other it was a time of creativity and rebirth of literature and at this movement’s head was Langston Hughes. Hughes was a torchbearer for the Harlem Renaissance, a literary and musical movement that began in Harlem during the Roaring 20’s that promoted not only African-American culture in the mainstream, but gave African-Americans a sense of identity and pride.
Erik Erikson developed the psychosocial theory, and “he describes our social experiences during our whole life span using eight different stages” (Cherry 2015). The first four stages are “trust vs. mistrust; which describes how the child needs to be able to trust their adult figures, autonomy vs. shame and doubt; which is about person control, initiative vs. guilt; which is about children learning to lead others, industry vs. inferiority; which is about gaining a sense of pride in things” (Cherry 2015). The final four stages are “identity vs. confusion; which begins the sense of self, intimacy vs. isolation; which explores personal relationships, generativity vs. stagnation; which focuses on career and family, and the final stage being integrity vs. despair; which describes reflecting back on life” (Cherry
Langston Hughes paint a picture of himself, as he goes on to thirteen in church but finds himself directly reflecting on mans own instinctive behavior for obedience. A congregation who wants him to go up and get saved, gives into obedience and goes to the altar as if he has seen the light of the Holy Spirit itself. "won't you come? Wont you come to jesus? Young lambs, wont you come?" As the preacher stilling there with open arms, girls crying, kids standing that they have felt the power force of the holy spirit through there body. There, Langston, sits not feeling anything but himself sitting in a hot church waiting for this unknown pheumona to come and touch his inner soul only to find out that the Holy Spirit isn't coming for him at all.
She starts here with telling her son how hard life has been for her with the mentioning of the metaphor ‘crystal stair’, which is a reference of wealth and reaching the top.
Berry, Faith. Langston Hughes Before and Beyond Harlem Connecticut: Lawrence Hill and Company Publishers, 1983
He implemented eight psychosocial stages which includes trust versus mistrust. One example of the specified inclusions are infants. In order to come to a resolution for these feelings of insecurity, infants look towards their care givers for care and stability to fulfill their desired needs. With autonomy versus shame stage, children begin to assert their independence, utilizing their skills otherwise they will end up doubting their abilities. Initiative versus guilt is another stage where pre-scholars develop initiative by devising and carrying out bold plans. These people plan activities, developing a sense of initiative with others therefore feeling secure in their ability to lead and make decisions. The identity versus role confusion stage is noted as Erikson’s most popular. He characterized adolescence as a crucial and critical time of identity development. To achieve a sense of identity some adolescents attempt to define and explore who they are regarding their career choice, religion, political views, sexual orientation etc., figuring out a way to fit into society. According to Erikson, “the adolescent mind is essentially a mind or moratorium, a psychosocial stage between the morality learned by the child, and the ethics to be developed by the adult” (Erikson, 1963, p.245. As they go through the different sexual and
In Langston Hughes’ Salvation, he tells the story of how he was disappointed with God because he failed to save him and how this incident caused him to lose faith and become an atheist. The narrative begins when Hughes was twelve years old. He was going to church with his aunt for a big revival. His aunt told him how Jesus was going to save him. She told him that when he was going to be saved he was going to see a light and he would feel and see Jesus inside of him. Hughes being so young and naïve thought his aunt meant that he was literally going to see an actual light and that Jesus was going to be physically in front of him. Little did he know this was not going to be the case. Hughes then goes on about how the preacher brought all the young kids
“Theme for English B” at surface value is the autobiography of a well-educated, twenty-two year old college student at Columbia University. This autobiography is in response to an assignment given by the student’s professor. The assignment provides a way for the speaker to address his feelings to his classmates about the unjust treatment he receives at school. This young man is African-American and although his references to his race could be taken as basic facts about himself, they mirror his struggles with the racism, inequality, and feelings of inadequacy he deals with. The poem’s author, Langston Hughes, uses his personal experiences from his childhood, his time spent in Harlem, and his time at Columbia University to create the main character in the poem.
The Harlem Renaissance inspired, and was inspired by some of the greatest poets, musicians and artists of the century. Among these great minds, were the poets Langston Hughes, and Claude McKay. Though motivated by the same hardships, people, and events, the works of both Hughes, and McKay show glaring differences in the perspectives of the authors. Upon reading “Harlem” by Hughes, the audience may easily see the author’s more peaceful call to action. In contrast, after reading “If We Must Die,” one can infer that McKay prefers to call his audience to obvious (physical) action. Langston Hughes’s poem portrays a more passive overtone, while Claude McKay’s poem is more aggressive. There are, however, a few similarities between the two works of
Poetry was a big part of the Harlem Renaissance, especially black poetry. Poetry helped people get their emotions out and provided an outlet for many new and old African-Americans, and for Africans just arriving in the United States in Harlem. The Renaissance was filled with great poets including the great Langston Hughes. Hughes is the author of his own book The Weary Blues and the writer of the poems Not without Laughter and The Way of the White Folks. He believed in the beauty of the Africans, as stated on Shmoop “Hughes knew that black was beautiful.” He won the Harlem gold medal for literature for his literary work and helped shape the artists of the Harlem Renaissances contributions to the movement. Hughes was also the founder of three theaters meant as outlets for black actors and dramatists. The names of these theaters are the New Negro Theater, Langston Hughes Preforming Arts, and Black Arts (“Langston Hughes Founded Theaters”). Langston Hughes was a very popular and
Langston Hughes was a prominent artist of the Harlem Renaissance and one of the primary contributors during that time. His poetry empowered African Americans through their fight for racial equality. His prominence led to him being offered teaching positions at a number of colleges, but he rarely accepted. However, he did accept a position for three months in 1949 at the integrated Laboratory School of the University of Chicago as a Visiting Lecturer on Poetry. He concluded that teaching did not allow for adequate amount of time for creative writing.
For many years, African Americans were forced to live without a voice and many accepted the fact that they were seen as inferior to the white race. Although they were excluded from being a part of society, built up emotions constructed beautiful pieces of poetry that have become important aspects of today’s literature. Langston Hughes’, “ I Too, Sing America” and Claude Mckay’s, “The White House” will be looked at closely to determine how each poem portrays emotional discontent and conflicted emotional states.
The Work of Langston Hughes Langston Hughes is considered by many readers to be the most significant black poet of the twentieth century. He is described as 3.the beloved author of poems steeped in the richness of African American culture, poems that exude Hughes1s affection for black Americans across all divisions of region, class, and gender.2 (Rampersad 3). His writing was both depressing and uplifting at times. His poetry, spanning five decades from 1926 to 1967, reflected the changing black experience in America, from the Harlem Renaissance to the turbulent sixties. At the beginning of his career, he was surrounded by the Harlem Renaissance.
James Mercer Langston Hughes was born on February 1, 1902, in Joplin, Missouri. Hughes began writing poems when he was 18 years old he attended college at Columbia University. Hughes was a poet, novelist, and playwright whose was a big contributor to the New York, Harlem Renaissance in the 1920’s. Langston Hughes was raised by his grandmother until he was thirteen years old, when he moved to Lincoln, Illinois to live with his mother and her husband before moving completely settling in Cleveland,
“According to Erikson’s theory, every person must pass through a series of eight interrelated stages over the entire life cycle.” (“Erikson’s stages of development,” 2016). An example would be basic trust and mistrust. This stage is from birth up to a year old. A baby develops trust when being held, fed, or simply being touched. If the baby does not develop trust it will result in the baby having insecurity and mistrust. Another example would be identity vs role confusion, this stage is during adolescence. During this age adolescents begin to discover their identity, those who do not begin to try to be like others which is also known as “fitting