African American Cultural Identity Analysis
Cultural Identity for African Americans (Comparison and contrast between Hughes, Clifton and McElroy and their ideas of cultural identity.) People have different ideas as to what it means to be of another race. Many individuals believe that race should have no affect on their lives today. People who have the same qualifications shouldn't be persecuted because of their skin color. Cultural identity is how people live in response to their surroundings and beliefs. For example, people that grow up in the heart of Tokyo are bound to be different and think differently than those who grow up in a idyllic setting such as Worland. Langston Hughes, Colleen McElroy, and Lucille Clifton all have different standings on the cultural standings of their times. Langston Hughes has the idea that people need to forgive the past and move on while remembering their past as stated in his poems, I, Too, Dream Variations, Refugee in America, and The negro Speaks of Rivers. Hughes was an African American poet who was very influential during the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance is noted today for it's belief in the celebration of African American heritage. Hughes fit in perfectly here. “I am the darker brother. They send me to eat in the kitchen when company comes, but I laugh, and eat well, and grow strong,” …show more content…
Lucille Clifton became interested in writing at a young age and had her first book of poems published in 1969. Her pieces focused mainly on African American Heritage and culture. In her text, Study the Masters, Lucille said, “If you had heard her chanting as she ironed you would understand form and line and discipline and order and America,” (pg. 915, line 12). A major theme of this poem is that although historical precedence is necessary, society still needs to learn to make their own
My Identity And African American Identity
1601 Words | 7 PagesWhen filling out a questionnaire, it is only a matter of time before I come across the predictable: what is your race/ethnicity? I do not have to think long nor hard about my answer. In fact, I do not hesitate to pencil in African American. Why is that? It could very well be that at a glance my skin tone and accent is enough for people to quickly label me as such thus reaffirming my identity.
How Did Langston Hughes Contribute To The Harlem Renaissance
588 Words | 3 PagesThese names include Langston Hughes, Aaron Douglas, and Marcus Garvey. Langston Hughes’ poetry made a big impact on the Harlem Renaissance. Hughes’ writings were very well-known during the Harlem Renaissance, and his writings included poetry, plays, and novels. Hughes’ writings were important because it “confronted racial stereotypes, protested social conditions, and expanded African America's image of itself” (West). During this time, black people dealt with hate and segregation.
Langston Hughes Exile In America
919 Words | 4 PagesWhere he “Bathed in the Euphrates,” built his “hut near the Congo,” “Looked upon the Nile,” and “Heard the singing of the Mississippi,”. Secondly you read “I, Too” and as you read you can see that hughes is still speaking in the tone of an African American but is in the phase of being a slave. For they send him “to eat in the kitchen When company comes,” since slaves were never given to the privilege to eat at the table. They were to just work and stay low-key. But the slave knows that one day they will no longer be oppressed and will “be at the table When company comes.”
African American Culture In Langston Hughes And We Wear The Mask
802 Words | 4 PagesThe Harlem Renaissance was a period in American history, which occurred in the 1920s in Harlem, New York. The cultural movement was an opportunity for African Americans to celebrate their heritage through intellectual and artistic works. Langston Hughes, a famous poet, was a product of the Harlem Renaissance. One notable piece of literature by Hughes is “Dream Deferred”. However, the discussion of African American culture isn’t limited to the 1920s.
African Americans During The Harlem Renaissance
470 Words | 2 PagesThe struggle of the African American people was shown through the stories they told and wrote. An example is a story written by Langston Hughes titled, I, Too “Tomorrow, I’ll be at the table When company comes. Nobody’ll dare Say to me, ‘Eat in the kitchen,’ Then.” (Hughes 8-14). Langston Hughes through this story communicates that he will start being seen as an equal
Harlem Renaissance By Zora Neale Hurston Analysis
470 Words | 2 PagesExploring African American culture and their unique heritage is another common theme of writers from the Harlem Renaissance era. In Langston Hughes’ “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”, Hughes focuses on the long history of African American race and its roots. Hughes writes, “I’ve known rivers as ancient as the world and older than the blood in human veins.” In the following stanza it says, “My soul has grown deep like the rivers.” These lines symbolizes African American culture’s rich, proud history filled with
How Did Langston Hughes Influence Society
1205 Words | 5 PagesThere are so many writers and people who do not write also that look up to him. He accepted the challenge of expressing the heart and soul of African Americans. Keenly aware of racism, Hughes visioned a nation where domestic problems could be realized. Hughes in his poetry, expressed his own reactions to incidents in his life and in the world at large. Langston Hughes left such a lasting impression on poetry , black culture, and the people in his life, that he changed the way they lived with the spirit and soul he put into his
Influence On Langston Hughes
142 Words | 1 PagesAt a young age children are greatly influenced by the chief adult figures in their life. For Hughes’s early years his central figure was his grandmother who instilled in him the character seen throughout his life and in his writing. Hughes’s love for his people originated from the stories she told him about his grandfather and uncles who had been abolitionist. Hughes expressed that his grandmother would mostly enjoy talking about her father who apprenticed numerous slaves to himself in order to set them free. His family’s potent tongue came from his great grandpa’s generosity and equality towards Negroes.
Similarities Between Walt Whitman And Langston Hughes
397 Words | 2 PagesIn addition, Hughes’ writing spoke to more than just other African Americans as he “[used] languages… themes, attitudes and ideas familiar to anyone who [could] read,” (Historical Background). His writing inspired others like him to strive for their “American
Langston Hughes English B
1017 Words | 5 PagesLangston Hughes was a Black poet who wrote poems during the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s. One of his poems, “Theme for English B”, was written to compare a young, black man to his older, white teacher and peers during the 1930s. In this poem, Hughes uses punctuation, words, and phrases to help the reader understand how the narrator struggled with his identity during segregation in America. In comparison, I wrote my poem, “Theme for English 102”, to analyze my identity in America today.
Comparing Langston Hughes And Maya Angelou's Poetry
458 Words | 2 PagesThis viewpoint is very confident for the future and seems to allude to Hughes knowing that one day African Americans will be seen as equal to everyone else. Maya Angelou also has a well-known poem titled “Still I Rise” in which she talks about how even with everything going against her and all African Americans, they still overcome it all and stand strong. This poem is confident as well, but in a different way than Hughes’s poem. Hughes’s poem is confident that people will one day see him for who he is, but Angelou’s poem is confident because it accuses
My Cultural Identity Essay
753 Words | 4 PagesThe background of my cultural identity I am an African American female but that isn’t all there is to know me for. I am an African American girl who is very interactive with my religion and also my culture. Cultural identity can be hard to explain because some people don’t know what’s really in their culture and they fail to see , and understand it. I know what my cultural identity is because of my ethiopian flag, the baked macaroni, and the movie the lion king.
African American Culture: A Literary Analysis
1036 Words | 5 PagesMany slaves wrote about their personal thoughts during the years they were subjected to slavery, and by reading these works we can read about the achievements if individual African American writers whose oral tradition in song and story has given us form and substance to literature by black people since they first began writing in English. (Gates Jr. & Smith, 2014). A piece written by Hartford on August 4, 1778 was addressed to Miss Phillis Wheatley, Ethiopian Poetess in Boston who came from Africa at eight years old of age, and soon became acquainted with the gospel of Jesus Christ. “Fair wisdom’s ways are paths of peace, and they that walk therein, shall reap the joys that never cease, and Christ shall be their King” (p.91). The works these
How Did Langston Hughes Influence The Harlem Renaissance
674 Words | 3 PagesIt addressed the issues that were faced by African Americans in the United States during that time . Langston Hughes' poem encouraged people not to take the issue of democracy lightly and to fight for their rights. He did not directly talk about race, but a huge part of his work had to do with life for African Americans in the United States. Hughes was often criticized for portraying life in such a negative fashion. However, his writing was politicized, and as such, he sought to produce poems with a message.
Langston Hughes Racial Mountain
431 Words | 2 PagesThe “racial mountain” of which Langston Hughes writes about is the pressure put on Black artists and artist of color to remove their race from their work, and to be simple American. In addition, the racial mountain is the burden placed on the artist by those of their own race to portray the race in a respectable way. This this “racial mountain” that deeply influenced the artist of Hughes’ time still affects black artists and artist of color today. One way in which one can see that is through the aftermath of Beyoncé’s “Lemonade.” People accused Beyoncé of being racist, were upset at her inclusion of Malcolm X
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