...A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry is the first broadway play written by a black woman. The play is about the dreams of Younger family, a black family who lives in south side of Chicago and the obstacles of making their dreams come true during the Segregation era. The title of Hansberry's play comes from a line of a Langston Hughes poem "Harlem". In his poem, Hughes asks the audience what will happen if we defer or lost our dream. “ Will it dry? Will it rot? Will it fester? Will it sag? Or will it explode?” With her play A Raisin in the Sun, Hansberry tries to answer Hughes' questions in his poem. After reading Langston Hughes' biography, we know that Langston Hughes works very hard to reach his success. He grabs every opportunity...
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... Langston Hughes and The Weary Blues Langston Hughes was recognized as a significant literary figure during the 1920s, a period known as the "Harlem Renaissance" because of the number of emerging black writers. After graduating from high school, Hughes went to Mexico to visit his father, in hopes to convince his father that he should pay for his college education at Columbia University in New York City. On his way to Mexico on the train, while thinking about his past and his future, Hughes wrote the famous poem, "The Negro Speaks of Rivers." After arriving in Mexico, the tension between Hughes and his father was strong. Hughes wanted to be a writer; his father wanted him to be an engineer. After Hughes sent some of his poetry to what was known as the “Brownies” Book and “Crisis” magazines, it was accepted. his father was impressed enough to agree to pay for a year at Columbia University. It was there at Columbia University were he begin releasing more poems that he had written. Hughes embraced crafting blues music into his poetry because it expressed the worries of the common man in a simple and direct manner. Blues songs feature heavy repetition, and singers often seem to be laughing and crying at the same time. One of his best works was the poem “The Weary Blues” which came in first place in a section of a literary contest in an Opportunity magazine published in 1925. The title itself gives an example on how Hughes wanted to give the reader an...
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...Salvation As, a team we realized that Langston Hughes was bias when it came to his belief in faith. Langston was a young boy who was searching for things in his life and some things he had no understanding of. His father, James Nathanial Hughes, left his family and later divorced [Langston's mother], going to Cuba, and then Mexico, seeking to escape the enduring racism in the United States ("The Biography of Langston Hughes," n.d.). This was the beginning of a young boy who felt lost and confused. Hughes was looking for acceptance from a father who was in and out of his life, with little support of his dreams. “Salvation” has a tone of a young boy who was un-trusting of adults. During a church revival (refreshing, getting rid of sins, and being saved) Langston was surrounded by older members of the church, the congregations, and young lambs, who may have had prior experience of waiting on the Holy Ghost or Jesus to come save them. Langston didn’t get that experience, he felt as if he was being lied to about Jesus and what he does. This brought back memories of not being saved by his family. As, a team we can agree that as children, we are very innocent and trusting and always ready to please the "elders" because we know they are wiser. We want to be seen as good in their eyes. With this in mind, it's not hard to understand why Langston wanted so bad not to disappoint his aunt at church. Something that stuck out was when Langston says, "I'd better lie, too and say that Jesus...
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...Langston Hughes (1902-1967) Langston Hughes was the first African American writer in the United States to earn a living as a writer. He was born in Joplin, Missouri, and because of his parents’ separation he lived in several places including places in the American mid-west and Mexico. He attended Columbia University, but stopped his studies because of the discrimination he experienced at the hands of his white counterparts. Hughes was a prolific writer and his themes were driven by the racial oppression that he witnessed all around him and that he experienced first hand as well. Hughes was a prominent member of the Harlem Renaissance, which was a time in America when African Americans experienced a flowering of intellectual and cultural activities in the African American communities in Harlem, New York. Alain Locke referred to this era as the New Negro Movement. During this time, Langston Hughes and other African writers’ words were full of protest and great expressions of the social injustices that were bestowed upon African Americans. Langston Hughes often wrote about the second class citizenship status that African Americans experienced, and the ills of segregation were key themes in his writings. His writings not only voiced protest, but the theme of rejection was present in his writings. He wrote about his personal rejection from everywhere when searching for work....
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...Prof. Sun English 1102 “Mother to Son” Langston Hughes Langston Hughes' moving poem "Mother to Son" empowers not only the son, but also the reader with precious words of wisdom. Through the skillful use of literary devices such as informal language, symbolism, metaphors, repetition, as well as clever use of format, Hughes manages to assemble up the image of a mother lovingly, yet firmly, talking to her son about life. This poem is an advice from a mother to son about life that will be challenging and do not think about giving it up. Langston Hughes was born on February 1, 1902, in Joplin, Missouri. He published his first poem in 1921. He attended Columbia University, but left after one year to travel. His poetry was later promoted by Vachel Lindsay, and Hughes published his first book in 1926. He went on to write countless works of poetry, prose and plays, as well as a popular column for the Chicago Defender. He died on May 22, 1967. The theme that this poet conveyed in the poem is determination to live without ever thinking giving up although the obstacles are harsh. Besides, it also emphasize regarding the struggle for life that the one will experience but still have the strength to face it day by day. It also shows about affection and as motivation of a mother to son that takes care of his son and gives advice so that the son will somehow be prepared to face the life. The poem consists of four stanzas. In the first stanza, the speaker describes his position. He has...
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...Langston Hughes’s early life was influenced by disruption and restlessness. According to Contemporary Black Biography Volume 4, Hughes was born on February 1, 1902 in Joplin, Missouri; to a prominent black family that extremely conscious of its responsibilities to “The Race”. His father, James Hughes, who studied as a lawyer, had to leave his family because of racial discrimination of an all-white examining board to settle eventually in Mexico, where he became a wealthy businessman. His mother Carrie traveled from city to city in search of better paying jobs. His parents soon divorced thereafter. As a result, Hughes then was raised by his maternal grandmother, Mary Langston in Lawrence, Kansas. After two years after his grandmother’s death in 1912, he lived with a family named the Reeds in Lawrence. Later, in 1914 Hughes follow his mother and stepfather to Lincoln, Illinois then to Cleveland, Ohio. While he attended grammar school in Lincoln, he was elected as class poet. He later began to write his first poems in Cleveland. Besides three poems above, “Harlem” is also a very famous poem by Langston Hughes. It expresses the dream of having equality of black people, from eating in the same table, using the same restroom, to living in the same area with whites. The poem also demonstrates the frustration of blacks when they got racism. [quotes]. Overall, it gives out the hope and future for blacks. The poem ends by asking a question, “Or does it explode?” as to answer for the world...
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...Nancy D. Jimenez Ms. Kanavy English 1302 September 20th 2013 Mulatto: A Play Portraying Life In The South In his two act play Mulatto, Hughes portraits the life of southern blacks in the 1930’s and their struggle to be acknowledged as equals. The play describes a white man torn between two worlds; a black woman suffering, like any mother would, over the misbehavior of her child, and finally a black man in the quest for acknowledgement. And the series of events that lead to the death of the two men. It shows specially the struggle of a young man in the middle of a clash of two ethnic groups. We can also see Hughes reflected in his character Robert. As the play starts the first character we find is the white plantation owner, Mr. Norwood. Norwood is the father of five children, William, Sallie, Robert, John, and Bertha who he has with his mistress Cora Lewis. He is torn between the not so evident love for his children and the pressure of society. As we hear him speaking to Cora we see he does love his children but also has to be strict with them, especially with Robert. Norwood points this out in his speech to Cora: Cora, if you want that hardheaded yellow son of yours to get along around here, he’d better listen to me. He’s no more than any other black buck on this plantation. How’s Talbot going to keep the rest of those darkies working right if that boy’s allowed to set that kind of an example? Just because Bert’s your son, and I’ve been damn fool...
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...2016 The Poem I, Too, by Langston Hughes, is a literary classic. It illustrates the societal struggles America has been through and reflects a common perception about a class of people in that day. Students can use this poem to learn about social issues and societal norms of 1925 while also developing an opinion about how to treat other people in everyday life. Middle school students have the mental capacity to understand conflicts and racial indiscretion. These activities can help the students to create a resolution in common problems they may face in life as well. Langston Hughes, "I Too" is a Common Core reading from Appendix B. “Hughes, Langston. “I, Too, Sing America.” The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes. New York: Knopf, 1994. (1925)” (Common Core, 2016). —From The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes, edited by Arnold Rampersad (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1994), p. 46. Platform Strategy | Activity | Reading Supplementary Texts"Practitioners can use lyrics from popular music as supplementary texts to engage students in a discussion about race, gender, religion, politics, etc." (UNC- Chapel Hill School of Education, 2016). Using accessible supplementary materials will help to open the understanding of the students and provide then with a more analytical perspective of the poem. The song is essentially a poem. Students can reflect on the meaning of the song and connect it to the social environment in the times of Langston Hughes. | Usher - Chainshttps://www...
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...Evolution of Langston Hughes Poetry “Life dosent frighten me at all.” -Langston Hughes Fear can be the enemy of creativity if one cannot overcome it. Some of the most well known people like John Milton and William Shakespeare overcame their past fears and learned to turn it into something they could express, like writing. Well-known Poets do not just make up poems as they go in life hoping they make it big. Most poets make poems on how they feel and what their passionate about. Langston Hughes is a great example of a writer who not only overcame his fears, but also learned how to express them through poetry. People who want to study the underlining meaning in Hughes work should first analyze what caused him to write his poems, by researching...
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...Kris Kringle Prof. Klump ENG 101 07/04/2021 Let America Be America Again America was once founded on certain principles and ideas; to live a life free from tyranny, to have opportunities for self development, and for equal treatment amongst all people regardless of societal status. Langston Hughes portrays how these qualities fail to exist during a specific time in America in a poem entitled “Let America Be America Again”. The speaker opens up the poem referring to America’s dream of freedom as simply that, a “dream it used to be” (Hughes 2). During a time of racial segregation and where slavery was used to produce, the majority of colored people faced intense hardships by the hand of wealthy, white slave owners. Born not into a land of freedom, but a land of enslavement, the speaker notes that “America never was America to me” (5). It would be difficult to fathom living in a world that preached about freedom and rights while practicing the opposite based on an individual’s skin pigmentation. The earlier populations of America consisted of a variety of ethnicities, from white, black, Native Americans and immigrants from across the globe. It was widely understood that the white man was in charge, with the rest of the population to do whatever their will. In the third stanza of this poem, the speaker notes that “equality is in the air we breathe” (14). It appears that the speaker has a heightened sense of what is truly most important in this life; that we are all living...
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...way is to read Langston Hughes’s works. Hughes writes lots of poetry about pursuing an American Spirit which realizes no discrimination, freedom and equality in the entire American society. Hughes hopes all African American can be respected by entire society. African Americans have relatively equal chances to compete with white people and have similar living condition as whites’ families which at least have a house and a car. The two poems of Hughes’ “I, Too” and “Theme for English B” describe Hughes’ desired American Spirit. In these two poems “ I, Too” and Theme for English B”, Hughes shares his experience as African American who lives under basic living condition, in hopes of encouraging more blacks to fight for equal rights. From the poem “I, too”, Hughes writes “I, too, sing America” (ln.1). As a common American people who learn American history and love American culture, although Hughes ’ancestry is African, he was born and grew up in the Unites States. Hughes also writes “I, too, am America” (ln.18). Although white people and black people have different skin color and background in the United States, they are all American. People can learn some idea about equality from Hughes. Hughes says when guests come to their home, white person can eat at the table but darker brother only can eat in the kitchen in the poem “I, Too”. From the poem “Theme for English B”, Hughes writes “Sometimes perhaps you don’t want to be a part of me” (li.29). Hughes states that a white...
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...Counteé Cullen Biography Counteé Cullen, an African-American, was born March 30, 1903. He’s location of birth is not a known fact but has said to be in Louisville, Kentucky, Baltimore, Maryland and New York City, New York. Cullen was raised by his grandmother, Elizabeth Porter, until she passed away in 1908. After her death, Cullen was adopted by Reverend Frederick Cullen and his wife. Cullen went to high school at Dewitt Clinton High where he edited the school paper. He didn’t discover his love of poetry until he saw that his English teacher had published a poem he had written for class in a magazine. Cullen began writing poetry that was recognizable during his high school years. He was seen to be an outstanding student; He graduated from New York University in 1925. Cullen’s first published book of poems was in 1925 named Colors. In 1926, Cullen graduated Harvard University with a Masters of Arts degree. After touring France, Cullen married Yolanda Du Bois, daughter of W.E.B Du Bois. They divorced two years later due to conflicting desires. Cullen began teaching English and French in 1934 at Frederick Douglas Junior High School. In 1940, he married Ida Mae Roberson, an old friend. Cullen dies in 1946 from gastrointestinal disorder. Cullen became one of the first poets to be published during that Harlem Renaissance. Cullen’s favorite poems came from the writer John Keats. Cullen’s many themes in his poems are often racism and disappointment. He had a close connection to...
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...whose feelings are all hurt about it. I have seen that the world is to the strong regardless of a little pigmentation more or less. No, I do not weep at the world--I am too busy sharpening my oyster knife. (153) As stated in the article titled, Zora Neale Hurston Biography, Hurston, “…was an outstanding folklorist, and anthropologist who worked to record the stories and tales of many cultures, including her own African-American heritage” (1). Many of Hurston’s writings, reflect protagonists of courageous African-American women, who stand-up to gender oppression, racial handicaps, and socioeconomics, dealt to them. Hurston, was a writer and contributor during the Harlem Renaissance era, however, her work was greatly under-appreciated during her lifetime. While living Hurston was criticized for her literary works not holding political themes or themes that unveiled the racism and oppression of African-Americans, as a whole. Zora Neale Hurston, moved to Harlem, New York during the mid-1920’s. According to the article titled Zora Neal Hurston Biography, it was there that she formed friendships with Langston Hughes and Countee Cullen. Though, Hurston had well-known associates and was fortunate enough to work with Hughes, on the play titled Mule-Bone: A Comedy of Negro Life, Hurston was not captured by the City and chose to move on. She went on to pursue her career in anthropology, traveling to Haiti to study the native peoples cultures and traditions. During her travels to Haiti...
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...Blacks World Spotlight: on the International Stage in the 1920s During World War I the United States bought nearly 200,000 African-American soldiers to France. Majority of the African American soldiers were from the southern region of the United States of America. Many Blacks stayed after the war, generating a permanent Black population in France. The ending of the First World War also marked the beginning of the New Negro Movement or Harlem Renaissance in the United States. During this time African Americans emerged as talented, creative intellectuals leaving their footprint on 1920s America. While much focus of the New Negro Movement is centered in the United States, it indeed was an international affair. The purpose of this research is to examine how a number of African Americans launched their creative debut from the international stage of Paris, France. Additional focus will center on black artists turning to Africa as a source and facture in the art. Last but not least, the effort of Author Schomburg to collect and house international works about blacks will be addressed. Utterly intrigued by African Americans and thoroughly consumed with their talents, the French displayed a respect for Blacks unseen in the United States. While a great number of African-American soldiers remain in Paris, many journeyed back to the United States. Those soldiers certainly were not greeted by change. The United States remained the same racially tensed nation. If there was any change, it...
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...variety of jobs to make ends meet. In his future book of essays Shadow and Act, Ellison described himself and several of his friends growing up as young Renaissance Men, people who looked to culture and intellectualism as a source of identity. A budding instrumentalist, Ellison took up the cornet at the age of 8 and years later, as a trumpeter, attended Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, where he studied music with his eye on becoming a symphony composer. In 1936, Ellison went to New York over the summer with the intent of earning enough money to pay for his college expenses, but ended up relocating. He started to work as a researcher and writer for the New York Federal Writers Program, and was befriended by writers Richard Wright, Langston Hughes and Alan Locke, who all mentored the fledgling scribe. During this period, Ellison began to publish some of his essays and short stories, and worked as managing editor for The Negro Quarterly. Writing `Invisible` Man` Ellison started writing what would become “The invisible Man” while at a friend’s farm in Vermont. The existential novel, published in1952, focused on an African- American civil rights worker from the south who, upon his move to New York, becomes increasingly alienated due to the racism he encounters. Upon its release, Invisible Man became a runway hit, remaining on bestseller lists for weeks and winning the National Book Award the following year. With millions of copies eventually...
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