...Harlem Renaissance: 2. Which selection from the Harlem Renaissance offers the most hopeful message? Why? What is the selection’s message and how does the writer convey its message so effectively? What devices does he/she utilize? Theme for English B by Langston Hughes has the most hopeful message in my opinion, because he wasn’t negative about who he was. He explains a bit about himself, like where he is from and what he likes. He realizes that is he not so different from everyone else in the class and how he has the same value as any white person. I believe that Langston Hughes’ message is that no matter what skin color we are, we all learn from each other and we are all apart of each other, which makes us American. Hughes’ conveys this...
Words: 1740 - Pages: 7
...Prejudice in Langston Hughes’s, “On the Road” Slavery, in the United States, was formally abandoned in 1865 with the establishment of the Thirteenth Amendment. Still, racial discrimination of African-Americans proved to be prevalent throughout the country, and even in today’s society, continues to be a considerable issue. Langston Hughes’s short story “On the Road” is set in during the Great Depression, an economic meltdown in the United States. Many citizens lives turned into homelessness, starvation and pleading as they were left depending on shelters and the softheartedness of others in order for their survival. The central focus of Hughes’s story is the overwhelming emotional experiences faced by main character, Sargeant regarding racism, especially during the cruel economic circumstances he and thousands of others encountered. The story echoes a message of prejudice like that regularly faced by the African-American’s of Hughes’s generation. In the middle of a winter storm, Sargeant travels shelter to shelter simply to find a warm place to rest for the night only to be sent away repeatedly. He reaches the door of Reverend Dorset’s parsonage and he is no more hopeful that he will be taken in. Hughes captures the struggle of the African-American man in the initial thoughts of the Reverend during this scene in the story, “. . . standing there before him a big black man with snow on his face, a human piece of night with snow on his face — obviously unemployed” (446.) In...
Words: 891 - Pages: 4
...Luck by Langston Hughes is what my life is based off of. Growing up I believed everything was determined by luck and karma. As a child I had a theory that if you do something wrong than your luck will be crushed and a terrible thing may happen. Even now there are certain things that trigger this mindset, such as splitting a pole when walking with someone as well as spilling salt in a restaurant. Love is given to some people while others only get the love once they're in heaven. Although the poem is very short, it has a deep meaning. Some people in the world are fortunate to having a loving family and take the right path in like. On the other hand, there are people who grow up unlucky and have a family who won't give them the proper affection...
Words: 400 - Pages: 2
...Are you ready to get saved? "Salvation is a gift from god" whether it is true or not it is what we all learn in church. in the essay " salvation" Langston Hughes taught he was going to get saved but unfortunately Jesus did not come to his rescue. Whether they believe in god or not people secretly hope to be saved at least once in their life. The real question everybody is asking themselves is that does a belief in god do anything to have with salvation? If so what is their relationship? Salvation is the deliverance from sin. In a Christianity sense, salvation is when a person accepts the Jesus Christ as their savior, and they believe that he died for the sins of Christians. When you are being saved you have to give not only your body to God,...
Words: 428 - Pages: 2
...Salvation", Langston Hughes Langston Hughes paints a picture of himself as a little boy whose decisions at a church revival directly reflect mans own instinctive behavioral tendencies for obedience. A young Langston whose congregation wants him to go up and get saved, gives into obedience and ventures to the altar as if he has seen the light of the Holy Spirit. Hughes goes on to say: " So I decided that maybe to save further trouble, I'd rather lie, too, and say that Jesus had come ,and get up and be saved ." In saying this, Langston has obviously overlooked his personal belief to meet the level of obedience laid out by the congregation. It leads us to fact that people may believe strongly in an idea or thought but will overlook that belief to be obedient. One can make a justified assumption that everyone in society has at one time or another overlooked his or her personal feelings to conform this occurrence whether it is instinctive or judgmental is one that each individual deals with a personal level. He was a young boy who wanted to see Jesus, who wanted to earn salvation, but when he couldn't see Jesus, when everyone else saw,he found himself in the terrible position of disappointing not only himself but everyone in his community.He finally "saved" himself by pretending to see Jesus . He was saved not by love of Jesus as a congregation or preacher intended but by pretending to be other that who he was. One wanders what would have happened if he didn't stepped forward...
Words: 4848 - Pages: 20
...did not block Langston Hughes’ career, and he earned his applause and approval by his consummate writings. Joplin, Missouri is the place where Carrie Langston born down Langston Hughes in 1902. Before his twelve birthday he had lived in six different American cities. Before he published his first book, he had already experienced all kinds of jobs, and traveled to many countries (“Langston Hughes” Poetry Foundation)....
Words: 1311 - Pages: 6
...The Evolution of Langston Hughes In the 1900s America was constantly evolving. Langston Hughes, an African American poet, wrote poems about civil rights, hope, and the American dream that inspired other African Americans to fight for equality in the 1900s. Hughes wrote during a time period that African Americans were not treated equally. In 1964 the Civil Rights Act was signed creating equality and ending segregation for African Americans. As America changed, Hughes perspective on America and equality evolved affecting his writing. In the beginning of Hughes’s writing career he was critical of America, but was inspiring to the lower class. For example, In “Let America Be America Again”, by Langston Hughes, he states, “There’s never been equality...
Words: 402 - Pages: 2
...to the mid 1930s, talent began to overflow within this newfound culture of the black community in Harlem, as prominent figures—Langston Hughes ( The most prolific writer of the Harlem Renaissance. He casted off the influences of white poets and wrote with the rhythmic meter of blues and jazz), Claude McKay (urged African Americans to stand up for their rights in his powerful verses),Billie Holiday (Billie Holiday was one of the most influential jazz singers of all time. She had a thriving career for many years before she lost her battle with addiction), and Jean Toomer wrote plays and short stories, as well as poems, to capture the spirit of his times), to name a few—pushed art to its limit as a form of expression and representation. These are some of the famous African Americans who shaped the influential movement known as the Harlem Renaissance. During this period Harlem was a cultural center, drawing black writers, artists, musicians, photographers, poets, and scholars. In November 1924, Langston Hughes returned to the United States and worked various jobs. In 1925, he was working as a busboy in a Washington, D.C. hotel restaurant when he met American poet Vachel Lindsay. Hughes showed some of his poems to Lindsay, who was impressed enough to use his connections to promote Hughes’s poetry and ultimately bring it to a wider audience. In 1925, Hughes’s poem “The Weary Blues” won first prize in the Opportunity magazine literary competition, and Hughes also received a scholarship...
Words: 806 - Pages: 4
...I will focus this discussion board posting on Langston Hughes. He was born in Joplin, Missouri. Hughes is known as the leader of the Harlem Renaissance in New York City. He traveled to New York in 1921 to attend Columbia University. In 1922, Langston became a seaman and a cook’s helper on a tramp steamer to Africa and Europe. Later on, he returned to the United States and went to Washington, D.C to work as a busboy. In 1925, a poet by the name of Vachel Lindsay “discovered” Langston Hughes. Moreover, Vachel admired Hughes’s poems, and he told Hughes to dedicate himself to literature and writing. However, Hughes started writing before in grammar school. He also published two poems in high school in magazines. The Weary Blues and Fine Clothes...
Words: 331 - Pages: 2
...The use of first person not only allows the reader to understand the history of African-Americans, but it connects Hughes’s life to the writing. It made the poem more personable and related African-Americans from the past and during the Harlem Renaissance. The first line of the poem is “I’ve known rivers” (“Langston” Magill’s 1169). This suggests the idea that Hughes has seen and experienced many things in his life so far. It could also be Hughes’s way of reflecting through his grandmother’s life. This is also true for all Harlem Renaissance writers. They have all experienced the harsh ideas of segregation. They took their experiences and boldly chose to write about them. In addition to the effect of first person, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”...
Words: 407 - Pages: 2
...Langston Hughes was born on February 1, 1902, in Joplin, Missouri. He published his first poem in 1921. He attended Columbia University, but left after one year to travel. His poetry was later promoted by Vachel Lindsay, and Hughes published his first book in 1926. He went on to write countless works of poetry, prose and plays, as well as a popular column for the Chicago Defender. He died on May 22, 1967. CONTENTS Synopsis Early Life Growing Success A Continuing Life of Letters Death and Legacy QUOTES "An artist must be free to choose what he does, certainly, but he must also never be afraid to do what he might choose." – Langston Hughes « prev1 / 14next » Early Life James Mercer Langston Hughes was born on February 1, 1902, in Joplin, Missouri. His parents, James Hughes and Carrie Langston, separated soon after his birth, and his father moved to Mexico. While Hughes’s mother moved around during his youth, Hughes was raised primarily by his maternal grandmother, Mary, until she died in his early teens. From that point, he went to live with his mother, and they moved to several cities before eventually settling in Cleveland, Ohio. It was during this time that Hughes first began to write poetry, and that one of his teachers first introduced him to the poetry of Carl Sandburg and Walt Whitman, both whom Hughes would later cite as primary influences. Hughes was also a regular contributor to his school's literary magazine, and frequently submitted to other poetry...
Words: 565 - Pages: 3
...Langston Hughes is an american dream poet. Moreover he wrote realistic poetry about important themes in his culture. It affected society. Langston Hughes was born in February 1, 1902 at Joplin, Missouri and died in May 22, 1967 at New York. His parents, James Hughes and Carrie Langston, divorced as soon after his birth, and his father moved to Mexico. Langston Hughes first built to write poetry when his high school teacher showed him a poet named “Carl Sandburg” and “Walt Whitman”. Them both influenced him in poetry. He graduated in 1920 from high school. Langston Hughes was first known as an important poet during the 1920’s, a period known as the “Harlem Renaissance”. Specially Hughes had a lot of famous works. For instance “I Too” is also known as “I, Too, Sing America, it was titled “Epilogue” it appeared in 1926. It’s written in 5 stanzas. The poem symbolises “Racism”. The poem had a lot to do with Imagery, 1st person point of view, Attitude, also Theme. Hughes wrote “I Too” because of African Americans men slaves during...
Words: 594 - Pages: 3
...Langston Hughes was the most prominent African American poet of the twentieth century, a leading figure in the Harlem Renaissance, and an outspoken critic of racism and segregationist policies. In his poetry he strove to speak to, as well as for, the black masses while still making a living from his writing, which meant attracting white audiences, as well. One of his major innovations was to incorporate the African American vernacular and cultural traditions, including the rhythms of black music, into his poetry. Although the lecture circuit wearied him, he connected easily with live audiences and often read his works to the accompaniment of black musicians and singers. He may be best known as a poet, but he worked in nearly every literary genre and...
Words: 742 - Pages: 3
...The Harlem Renaissance, also known as the New Negro Movement started at the end of World War I, but only began to get recognized around 1924. The Harlem Renaissance was made up of chiefly writers and was considered a phenomenon. This movement started at a time when racism was still at large. African Americans had to deal with the KKK and other racial prejudices in society. The Harlem Renaissance was significant because it was the first time African Americans expressed their views on racism and their self-love for one another, using lyrical styles that was never seen before in African American writing. Two of the most prominent poets of the time were Arna Bontemps and Langston Hughes. The Harlem Renaissance happened fifty seven years after the Emancipation Proclamation. Previously, African Americans didn’t have much education or a chance to make their mark in the literary world. They didn’t have much of a chance because they were still looked upon as inferior. They were also thought not to have a distinct cultural heritage. The United States got involved in World War I in the year 1917. At that time, race riots were happening and lynchings were frequent. After World War I ended in 1918, African Americans started coming to the North hoping to escape the racist treatment in the South. Unfortunately, life in the North wasn’t that much greater. In the South, more and more race riots occurred and many black people were beaten and killed-- this was known as “Red Summer” (Anderson...
Words: 1333 - Pages: 6
...“I want to be a poet—not a Negro poet” (Hughes 348). In his essay “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain,” Langston Hughes covers many important points but his hook is one to mention. This hook focuses a lot on the main issue of the essay itself. The issue is that the negro poets want to write like the white poets implying that colored artists want to be white. This then leads to the fact that the white audiences turned to the artists of color and saw them as stereotypical entertainment mainly because these black artists were afraid of being themselves. Langston Hughes’s poem, “The Weary Blues” engages with themes of the Harlem Renaissance and the content of the poem expresses various issues Hughes discussed in “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain.” The poem, “The Weary Blues” is a powerful poem because it highlights the cultural traditions of the African American descent during a time of the Harlem Renaissance. The audience is able to...
Words: 1284 - Pages: 6
