Langston Hughes: The Limitations Of The American Dream

Langston Hughes, wrote “Refugee in America”, “I, Too”, and “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”. Hughes lived from February 1, 1902 – May 22, 1967 and was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. Hughes was also one of the earliest innovators of the literary art form, jazz poetry. My thesis for the connection of these three poems are that they all relate to oppression and the change that is to come one day.

This assignment, I'm going to discuss the poetry of Langston Hughes. This Harlem Renaissance was an early twentieth Century movements to be an artist. How they felt to be black and the meaning behind being black. How to be black, and how to be an American at the same time. Harlem Renaissance started after first War world, and didn't end until the Great Depression. The Harlem Renaissance was a political and social movement. It made literature so inspiring as well as poetry. Langston Hughes always compared the Africa American’s as Negros. However, John Green did state in his video, “like the white people.” Which he did say that he doesn't use those words. I kind of found that kind of humorous to me. I did find out that Langston

The idea that hardships may bring out of someone something they did not know they had within them is something that many people believe. American culture is one that admires resolve in the face of hardship as we believe that is when someone shines that most. However adversity does not always bring out something that was not being shown before but rather gives a new direction to talents that someone already has. Adversity may push some to recognize talents they did not they had, like for example taking an advance class in a subject they did not like but finding they are talented in understanding the subject. While adversity may help people discover a talent or build their character, adversity just mostly puts their talents to use in a different way or showcases people’s character.

What is the American Dream? Many people have tried to explain the dream, or how they feel about the dream. Most try to be all patriotic and country loving like Walt Whitman... But others like Langston Hughes reveal a darker side of the dream.

Langston Hughes' Poem, Let America be America Again, contributed to the Harlem Renaissance by promoting an equal America. This poem emphasized that the people who help build up America was not given fair enough treatment for what their people did. It shines light on how America was never the land of the free, but it will be when people take action. In the light of the Harlem Renaissance, people of all races were appreciating the same music and literature and this poem is one of many that were

It cannot be doubted that Langston Hughes is not just one of the most illustrious Black Writers but also one who had a very strong contribution to the early struggles of the Black Americans against discrimination and segregation in the country. Hughes exceptionally combined the power of his art and his political voice in advancing his stand to the pressing issues of his day, most notable of which was the assertion of the rights of Black Americans and of their stature in the economic, political and cultural spheres of society. This movement was then tagged as the Harlem Renaissance movement owing to the fact that it gained steam in Harlem, New York.

Langston Hughes was a poet, author, and civil rights movement leader who was born in Missouri, on February 1st, 1902. His most famous piece of work is his poem, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”. Hughes tells a story throughout the course of his writing, especially in two other poems called “I, Too” and “Refugee in America”. These three poems play hand in hand in figuring out Hughes life journey. His life journey helps people have an understanding about what others went through as well as reflecting on the past and changing it. There is a sense of underlying determination throughout the poems which carries into our lives, it gives us the message to work hard for what you want and it overall gives us hope for the future.

Langston Hughes was one the most well known names during the Harlem Renaissance. He was a writer whose pieces ranged from novels, to plays. He wrote short stories, children’s books, translations and anthologies as well. However, his most well known pieces were his poems. Langston's writing reflected the idea that black culture should be celebrated, because it is just as valuable as white culture. He advocated many of these beliefs in his pieces.

He was deemed the poet laureate of the Negro race. A title which the man who fueled the Harlem renaissance deserved. His work include “the blues imp playing”, “dreams variations”, “Harlem mulatto”, sale on the black and “tambourines to glory”. He used dialect frequently on his uniquely formed poetry and music was also extremely important in his life. Jazz and bebop were both important in the structure of his writing. Langston was one of the earliest innovators of the new literary from called jazz poetry. He famously wrote about the period “the negro was in vogue’. It was later paraphrased as when Harlem was in vogue. Hughes tried it depict the law life in their art that is the real lives on black in the lower social-economic stanza. His poetry and fiction portrayed the lives of working class blacks in America he portrayed as full of joy laughter and music. He stressed a racial consciousness and culture nationalism devoid of self-hate. His thoughts united people of African descent and American across the globe to encourage pride in their diverse black folk culture and back aesthetic. Langston achieved fame endurance as a poet during the burgeoning of the arts known as the Harlem renaissance. Donald B. Gibson noted in the introduction to Modern Black Poets: A Collection of Critical Essays that Hughes "has perhaps the greatest reputation (worldwide) that any black writer has ever had. Hughes differed from most of his predecessors among black poets, and (until recently) from those who followed him as well, in that he addressed his poetry to the people, specifically to black people. During the twenties when most American poets were turning inward, writing obscure and esoteric poetry to an ever decreasing audience of readers, Hughes was turning outward, using language and themes, attitudes and ideas familiar to anyone who had the ability simply to read. He has been, unlike most nonblack poets other than Walt

America is well known as the land of the free and the home opportunity. Although it is said everyone is equal in every way, that has not always been the case. Langston Hughes is a poet who tried to emphasize the idea of equality among all human beings. Hughes underlined the basis of the American Dream with what is and what should be in the societal era he lived in. In hindsight he believed his poems helped others realize the injustices that all minorities had to face during this era.

Langston 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.

Langston 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. Meanwhile, the readers can learn something for each of the poems and apply it to their life. They can also noticed how Langston Hughes’s poems often contains hope and noted the possibility that both white and black people can live together in peace and harmony. And the poems also represent the average person of colors’ life and their struggles and frustrations towards the white community throughout the twentieth century.

In his poem, A Dream Deferred, also known as Harlem, Hughes uses a single metaphor to clinch the end of the poem together. "Or does it explode?" This simple metaphor really evokes emotion and thoughts in every reader. His metaphor puts a final image to the struggle of oppression during the Civil Rights Movement and what happens to a black man or woman when a dream is deferred.

Langston 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. Therefore, the whole theme about this poem is everything is a mystery and a question and it will take years to potentially to find an answer.

Langston Hughes (1902-1967) is widely considered as one of the most successful African-American poets of all time. He was also a columnist, playwright, novelist, and social activist for African-American rights. Consequently, Hughes wrote all sorts of literature about 20th century African-Americans living in Harlem--a major black residential within the Manhattan borough of New York City--and soon became an extremely influential figure in the Harlem Renaissance, which was the rebirth movement of African-American culture in the arts during the 1920s. Hughes also had great admiration for music, and was inspired by a variety of genres/musicians such as boogie, Bach, jazz, and blues. His special love for blues music caused