Langston Hughes is known as one of the most influential African American poets, and he has a large collection of works that still influence African American society today. One of his most famous works is “Negro,” which is a poem that highlights African American identity through the personification of African American heritage. The narrator is the personified figure that connects African Americans by explaining historical allusions that contributed to African American heritage and culture. This personified narrator serves to enhance and clarify the theme of unified heritage among African Americans text as a whole by connecting recorded experiences by Africans and African Americans of the past and present, highlighting the history of African
One of the main statement of Langston Hughes “Let America be America Again” is the inequality between majorities and minorities. The theoretical concept of this term paper looks into Postcolonial-Criticism, especially cultural differences and the American Civil Rights Movement as well as African-American studies. If you read a poem like “Let America Be America Again” the first question which will come to your mind will probably be the question of whether there was segregation, inequality and discrimination of minorities at this specific time. In the fifth stanza of the poem Hughes names groups which were discriminated, namely African-Americans, American-Indians and immigrants in general. To further understand this issue I looked into Marxism and the most important movement at this time, the Harlem Renaissance.
Instead of saying “We are all humans” as Hughes did in the story, in this poem, he has a more modest but no less veritable pronouncement: we are all Americans. The poem smacks with pride – and rightfully so – as much as it flowers with confidence and firmness. With the bold statements captured in this poem, Hughes was able to assert the face of the Black American and hoped, if not foretold a future when they, the “darker brother,” and their “whiter” brothers we can presume they have, will be under a single name: all as
In "Anthem" by Ayn Rand, there's a big similarity between the society of The Brotherhood and the Declaration of Independence.In the Declaration of Independence it says that all men are created equal and in Anthem all men are really created equally.The men in Anthem are created so equally that they refer to themselves as "we" because, almost is as if they're an individual.Although the main purpose of the Declaration of Independence was the Americans separating from the British after realizing that the British country is small,we can see that some of the ideals in the Declaration of Independence are tantamount to those in Anthem.Anthem reveals that Equality isn't the same to the others in the story which makes him stand out in being the equal to all of them, which is quite ironic because his name is Equality.In the Declaration of Independence there's a sense of liberty when it was written
Langston Hughes’ The Negro Speaks of Rivers is a poem that dramatizes the conflict that occurred during the Harlem Renaissance era. I am able to see that Hughes had an dynamic and intense meaning for this specific poem. We are able to see that African Americans played a vital part in history. In this poem we are able to see our speaker break down the heritage and history of African Americans. There are many different references made throughout this poem starting with the Middle East civilization and ending with images of slavery viewed from the Mississippi River.
Jean Toomer’s “Georgia Dusk” reveals the remaining influence of slavery on a newly freed African American society. The title is especially relevant within Toomer’s poem, as it signifies a motif that exhibits lightness and darkness within the poem. “Georgia Dusk” signifies this fusion through the word “dusk”, or the time when day transforms into night. This has a possible relation to Toomer’s identity as a mixed-race person, in that he has several racial identities. Thus, the title could signify Toomer’s relations to both African American and white society.
When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” (King pg 262). This elevates the audience’s understanding of his cause. The strong language used in the speech is very persuasive and makes you feel inspired to make a difference in the world. Another emotionally appealing technique that king uses is repetition.
The Harlem Renaissance and Post Modernism time periods are very different. So many things happened during their time period like the Great Depression, WWII, and the African American civil rights movements. However in the midst of all this worldly change the lesser known changes have occurred in literature. The Harlem Renaissance tends to focus on inspiring people and the struggle of people unified by a race, but Postmodernism focuses on the feelings and the attitude of humanity. First, the Harlem Renaissance occurred around the time of the African American civil rights movement.
Since McKay describes his country as a person rather than a thing, it makes the poem more emotional which adds to the severity of his hardships. Even though it seems as if McKay’s relationship with America is toxic, he also experiences joy through her. McKay describes a glimpse of hope when he writes, “Her bigness sweeps my being like a flood” (7). The promises of America and her greatness seem to provide the poet with a sense of fascination. He is entangled by her grandeur even when she wrongs him.
In this sense, the American Dream that stirs him is rooted on the “oasis of freedom and justice”. If we consider his speech, above all, a testimony of truth, we are not wrong. Taking into consideration the fact that even nowadays people of any race, but more particularly the black race has to encounter various forms of discrimination, his speech is valid even in the present days. Although the Declaration of Independence claims that all men are equal before God and have the rights for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, it is the Afro-American race that suffers from the white people’s malformed prejudices. One of the most derogatory laws in the 19th century American history can be considered the Jim Craw laws regarding Afro-Americans.