In Langston Hughes poems we see the use of free verse, open structure, in which Hughes gets his poems across in a more casual manner unlike other poets like Robert Frost whose use of rhythm and structure are present in every line. Hughes style of writing is focused on the way people of his time spoke and he expresses that in every poem where he tells a story in conversational manner. The poems that I chose by Hughes describe the history, the struggle, the future of African Americans with his use of imagery to convey optimism and give hope to the human spirit. Langston Hughes creates not only a poem but a live picture of the history of his people like in the poem “Negro” where he describes himself as “Black like the depths of my Africa” (3). Here he states cultural identity of his people and the pride of being black. One of the most consistent things that we see in Hughes poetry is his use of things that are in motion like: rivers, stairs, and roads to describe things, or people that change. In his poem “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” the use of rivers is used to describe the passing of time, “I’ve known rivers ancient as the world and older than the / flow of human blood in human veins” (2-3). Hughes word choice in every poem is essential to convey optimism of the human spirit even when he begins to describe the struggles that are faced with, they still have hope. We see this in the poem “Mother to Son” where we see a mother talking to her son and describing her painful life but she tells him, “So boy, don’t you turn back. / Don’t you set down on the steps” (14-15) to remind him that life is hard but you have to keep on moving. In the poem “Negro,” Hughes describes his ethnic background and takes control of the fact that he is colored, “I am a Negro: / Black as the night is black” (1-2). Here we see where he establishes his identity by the use of the word “Negro”