Essay On Langston Hughes
Among all of Langston Hughes’ poems exist a few stylistic techniques that represent his writing style. Themes of struggle and issues of his time, repetition, and allegory, are frequently seen throughout his poems. These things allowed him to convey powerful messages about the African-American experience in a unique and memorable way. They also enhanced both the depth and meaning of his literary works and allowed him to connect to his audience. Trapped by Skyler Kuplerski is a poem that also utilizes these three techniques. This essay will discuss these three techniques in both Langston Hughes poems and Trapped.
An important technique used by Langston Hughes are themes. His poems usually touch on topics like racism, injustice, African-American
…show more content…
The effect that this technique has is that it appeals to a specific audience which allows Langston Hughes to connect and relate to his audience. This can be comforting to the audience or it can be informative. I could also deepen the reader's understanding about the emotions of African-Americans when being discriminated against. Another example is in Mulatto. This poem explores the theme of racial identity, father-son relationship issues, acceptance, and the complexity of being biracial in a segregated society. This poem portrays the poor relationship between a white father and a biracial son. The son argues “I am your son, white man” while the father responds “you are my son! Like hell!” Overall the poem conveys the struggle of trying to get his fathers acceptance while also struggling to accept himself. The effect that this device has is that it evokes a sense of empathy on …show more content…
It is present in almost every poem that he has written. This device serves to add emphasis to a certain thing. For example in The Negro Speaks of Rivers the phrase “I’ve known rivers” is repeated multiple times. At the beginning of the poem, “I’ve known rivers ancient as the world older than the flow of human blood in human veins” is said to emphasize that he has known not just any river but ones that are older than humans. Ultimately emphasizing the fact that the narrator knows rivers better than anyone. This allows the readers to think more in depth about the poem and get a more in depth understanding. In the poem Trapped, the phrase “I was trapped” is repeated at the beginning of the poem, after some of the stanzas and at the end. The phrase at the beginning emphasizes how the child is trapped in a place in which they did not want to be in. Near the end of the poem, the phrase changes to “I wasn’t trapped” which signifies a revolutionary change in the cycle. At the end of the poem the phrase changes to “once again trapped” which has the effect of disappointment of being trapped in the cycle once again. The effect of this repetition is that it appeals to the reader’s emotions as the tone changes from despair to hopeful and back to despair again. This can deepen the understanding of the reader on the emotions kids go through when having to go back to school at the end of summer
Similarities Between Douglass And Langston Hughes
1690 Words | 7 PagesLangston Hughes's poetry often focused on the experiences
Langston Hughes Let America Be America Again: Poetry Analysis
476 Words | 2 PagesLangston Hughes uses poetry to speak on the topic of social injustice, something that he and many others view as important and that needs to be spoken about. He did this by writing three poems: “I Too”, “Democracy”, and “Let America Be America Again”. The poem “I Too" is about an African American man who is sent away into a kitchen because the house he worked for had company coming over. The man retaliates by deciding he is no longer going to leave for any company. The poem “Democracy” is about an African American man who is upset that others are telling him to be patient and wait but he is tired of waiting because he does not have the same rights as white men in America.
Let America Be America Again By Langston Hughes
744 Words | 3 PagesThis provides the reader with the ultimate message of the poem that Langston Hughes tries to get to the world. Langston Hughes claims that “There’s never been equality” in America, that it lacks freedom in this so-called homeland of the free (Hughes, Line 16). This goes back to Hughes' message on how African Americans had endured inequality by Hughes telling that they never had equality. The use of connotations in the poem allows readers to hold the feeling of appeal to the poem and to add more personal feelings to words. The topic that African Americans do not have equality affects readers by making them reflect on how lucky they do not have to deal with inequality.
How Did Walt Whitman Influence The Harlem Renaissance
1754 Words | 8 PagesThe main themes of Langston Hughes’ poetry is using simple language to bring his point across about politics and equality. The accessibility of his poetry allowed for, at a time where education was still a privilege and very much segregated, for people of every background to understand the message he was
Figurative Language In Harlem By Langston Hughes
394 Words | 2 PagesIn both of the poems Langston Hughes uses figurative language to convey the theme but in “Harlem” he stresses the importance of not putting off your dreams. While in the other poem he talks about perseverance. In the poem “Harlem” by Langston Hughes the theme of the poem is to not put off your dreams. Hughes uses simile and imagery to convey the theme of deferred dreams.
How Did Langston Hughes Influence The American Dream
922 Words | 4 PagesThe culture of most blacks was unwanted during this time. For this reason Hughes desired to make a change and illustrate such cultural identities in his poems. In doing this he caused a shift in ideas among all people. Although the change didn’t happen immediately it did eventually occur. With that said the African American people were given less of an opportunity at jobs, schooling, and most importantly culture.
How Does Langston Hughes Use Metaphors In I Too
864 Words | 4 PagesLangston Hughes speaks out against racism in the poem I, Too. He speaks about how it affects him and how change needs to be made. His goal in the poem is to inspire his audience to make a change in the way society treats African Americans. The author uses symbolism and metaphors to humanize society by portraying it as a household, in order to display to the reader the racial discriminations going on within the time period and what needs to change in the future.
The Negro Speaks Of Rivers Analysis
1409 Words | 6 PagesLangston Hughes poems “Harlem” and “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” are two poems that have a deeper meaning than a reader may notice. Hughes 's poem “Harlem” incorporates the use of similes to make a reader focus on the point Hughes is trying to make. In “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” Hughes shows how close he was to the rivers on a personal level. With those two main focuses highlighted throughout each poem, it creates an intriguing idea for a reader to comprehend. In these particular poems, Hughes’s use of an allusion, imagery, and symbolism in each poem paints a clear picture of what Hughes wants a reader to realize.
Three Major Themes In Langston Hughes's Poetry
1089 Words | 5 PagesLangston Hughes was an American poem born in the early nineteen hundreds, who became known as the leader of the Harlem Renaissance. He published many poems that brought light to the life of people of color in the twentieth century. There are three poems that the speakers are used to portray three major themes of each poem. Racism, the American Dream, and Hopes are all the major themes that Hughes uses to highlight the average life of a person of color. Theme for English B,” “Harlem,” and “Let America Be America Again” were three of Hughes’s poems that was selected to underline the themes.
The Harlem Dancer Poem Analysis
706 Words | 3 PagesPoems can be analyzed in various ways ranging from their complexity to the emotions they convey to readers. The poems, “The Weary Blues” by Langston Hughes and “The Harlem Dancer” by Claude McKay will be analyzed based on their similarities and differences to name a few. The poems may describe different events; however the overall connection between the two can be identified by readers with deeper reading. Comparisons between the poems may easier to analyze and identify compared to the contrasts based on the reader’s perception. Overall, the concept and much more will reveal how the poems are connected and special in their own way.
What Is The Difference Between Langston Hughes Poetry And Racial Injustice
1046 Words | 5 PagesThe poem outlines Hughes’ personal experience of inequality as a black man to display the effects of racism in America. Using repetition, he highlights the fact that he is equal to white people, even though his skin color may be different. Within the lines, “well, I like to eat, sleep, drink, and be in love. / I like to work, read, learn, and understand life. / I like a pipe for a Christmas present” (Hughes 21-23), the repetition of the phrase “I like” emphasizes the fact that he shares so many interests and life experiences with white people, and reinforces the idea that he is equal to them.
Rhetorical Devices In The Negro Speaks Of Rivers By Langston Hughes
1413 Words | 6 PagesThroughout much of his poetry, Langston Hughes wrestles with complex notations of African American dreams, racism, and discrimination during the Harlem Renaissance. Through various poems, Hughes uses rhetorical devices to state his point of view. He tends to use metaphors, similes, imagery, and connotation abundantly to illustrate in what he strongly believes. Discrimination and racism were very popular during the time when Langston Hughes began to develop and publish his poems, so therefore his poems are mostly based on racism and discrimination, and the desire of an African American to live the American dream. Langston Hughes poems served as a voice for all African Americans greatly throughout his living life, and even after his death.
Langston Hughes Poetry Analysis
761 Words | 4 PagesLangston Hughes is an African American Poet who is very closely connected to his culture and expresses his feelings very thoroughly through his poetry in a jazz style. Langston Hughes is a modern poet who ignore the classical style of writing poetry and instead, in favor of oral and improve traditions of the Black culture. In majority of Langston’s poetry, many of his audience seems to take away a very strong message that many can apply to themselves or to others or his poems gives you an educational background of what’s going on in the African American community right now. For example, Langston Hughes writes a poetry piece called Afro American Fragment, which gives you a great breakdown of what an everyday African American person goes through considering that their whole history is basically taken away from them. Langston seems to show his audience that in books we never hear much about what contributions a African American person has done except for being brought to America and being a slave.
Subway Rush Hour Analysis
253 Words | 2 PagesThe Langston Hughes poems i read were Silver, End, Prayer, and Subway Rush hour. Silver really stood out to me and touched my emotions more than the rest of the poems. The theme of change and nature prevailing has a sense of hope. The poem represents the power of good as nature or life as the stronger force that will win the battle of good vs evil over time.
Bright Sun Langston Hughes
164 Words | 1 PagesLangston Hughes uses imagery in his poem to demonstrate how one’s childhood innocence and liberty to dream gradually diminishes when they become aware of the harsh reality and are restricted by oppressing forces. The poet speaker evokes the light imagery of the “bright … sun” in the reader’s minds while juxtaposing it with the dark imagery of the “thick walls” rising slowly which temporarily conceals his dreams. The bright sun represents the african american’s early years of blissful ignorance and the tender age where he can dream freely. However, as the poem progresses, the thick walls exemplify the prejudice he is subjected to due to his black origin, hence acting as the barrier that prevents him from attaining his dream. The poet appeals
More about Essay On Langston Hughes
Similarities Between Douglass And Langston Hughes
1690 Words | 7 PagesLangston Hughes Let America Be America Again: Poetry Analysis
476 Words | 2 PagesLet America Be America Again By Langston Hughes
744 Words | 3 PagesHow Did Walt Whitman Influence The Harlem Renaissance
1754 Words | 8 PagesFigurative Language In Harlem By Langston Hughes
394 Words | 2 PagesHow Did Langston Hughes Influence The American Dream
922 Words | 4 PagesHow Does Langston Hughes Use Metaphors In I Too
864 Words | 4 PagesThe Negro Speaks Of Rivers Analysis
1409 Words | 6 PagesThree Major Themes In Langston Hughes's Poetry
1089 Words | 5 PagesThe Harlem Dancer Poem Analysis
706 Words | 3 PagesWhat Is The Difference Between Langston Hughes Poetry And Racial Injustice
1046 Words | 5 PagesRhetorical Devices In The Negro Speaks Of Rivers By Langston Hughes
1413 Words | 6 PagesLangston Hughes Poetry Analysis
761 Words | 4 PagesSubway Rush Hour Analysis
253 Words | 2 PagesBright Sun Langston Hughes
164 Words | 1 Pages