...Theme for English B The path to wisdom is a winding road that often digresses from a sole reliability on schooling, which allows for individuals to be shaped by a vast array of influences, such as social interactions and cultural environments. In his “Theme for English B,” poet Langston Hughes speaks on the ethnical and cultural differences that appear to divide us, while on the contrary these discrepancies are nominal and all of mankind is interconnected through an inseparable bond. While a racial disparity in the classroom creates a sense of remoteness for Hughes initially, he later finds that as humans there is an inalienable connection between all humans. Although individuals may be disjointed due to skin tone or age, these hindrances should not prevent an exchange of knowledge and an incorporation of others into oneself. Hughes utilizes first person in order to immerse the reader into a personal experience where it is effortless for the reader to become absorbed into the environment that the speaker is portraying. Due to Hughes’ ethnicity he is able to provide a unique point of view, which provides a glimpse into the perspective of a young African-American man as he transitions into university in Harlem. The foundational qualities of the speaker that will influence his angle are established through aspects such as “I am the only colored student in my class” and “I’m what I feel and see and hear, Harlem, I hear you”. The most resounding and physical of the previous remarks...
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...Analysis of a Poem: “THEME FOR ENGLISH B” by Langston Hughes Theme for English B was written by Langston Hughes. Langston Hughes has inspired the hearts and paved the way for many African American poets. James Mercer Langston Hughes was an American poet and playwright whose African American themes made him a primary contributor to the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s.The Harlem Renaissance was the name given to the cultural, social, artistic explosion which took place in Harlem between the end of World War 1 and the middle of the 1930s. Langston Hughes was born February 1, 1902 in Joplin, Missouri. He passed away in New York City on May 22, 1967 at the age of 65. Langston Hughes was a notorious American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist. Langston Hughes was best known as a leader of the Harlem Renaissance. Most of Hughes best work was written during the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s. His poetry made a huge contribution to the African American culture and the entire world. As I begin to ponder about ‘’Theme for English B’’ (an assignment given by Hughes’ Professor for students to write a paper), I try to imagine how things were back then. The poem starts off referencing a 22 year old colored man who is making his way towards the Harlem Branch Y, where he begins to write an essay. This poem, “Theme for English B” allows Langston Hughes to tackle the biggest issues on his world during this period of time; a world where black people were subjected...
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...Sarah Huber 2/11/2015 English 9 4AC Literary Analysis Langston Hughes’ poem “Theme for English B” urges an individual to consider that African Americans and White people are not as different as they have been claimed to be in the past. Hughes poem uses punctuation and repetition to emphasize the theme everyone is alike no matter the skin color. Langston Hughes uses the literary element of repetition it is used to draw emphasis to statements about the theme. The theme equality is made evident in line twenty-one which states “Well I eat, sleep, drink and be in love”. This quote illustrates the theme of equality because all Americans no matter the color of their skin can relate to this quote. All African Americans and Caucasian Americans can say that they eat, they drink, and they feel love. Those facts are not only applicable to Caucasian...
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...The Civil Rights movement began in the mid 1950’s and spanned into the late 1960’s. This was a tumultuous time for African Americans, in that they were fighting for their rights. During and before this time period, Mr. Langston Hughes wrote several poems about the disparity between race in America. Through vivid imagery, Langston Hughes comments on the nuances of being African American in America in the era of the Civil Rights Movement. In “Theme for English B”, Hughes discusses both the differences and similarities between white and black americans. Hughes paints the reader a great physical and figurative picture of the disparities between the two races by describing the speaker’s college experience. The speaker starts off the poem by highlighting the differences between the white professor, his white classmates, and himself. He says that the speaker is the “only colored student in [his college] class” in a college “on the hill above Harlem”. Harlem is a predominately African American community in New York. It is symbolic that this predominately white college is situated on a hill above the predominately black community of Harlem. Even though the Civil Rights Movement had begun, African Americans still had a long way to go to be able to get up to the “college on the hill” where the white...
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...players). According to the type of event referred to, the verb is combined with a number of arguments (including complements and the subject) that goes from zero to three (rarely four). For each verb the information specified in the lexicon includes a) the type of verb, b) the thematic roles that are assigned to its arguments, c) what is the hierarchy of the arguments (with the associated theta-role), d) whether they assign case to one or more arguments. It is crucial when learning a foreign language to realize that while the meaning of the verb, namely the event type and, as a consequence, the theta-roles assigne by it can be the same in L1 (our native language) and L2 (our foreign language), the hierarchy of the arguments may be very different. Let us make a very well-known example of the Italian – English contrast: (1) a. b. John likes potatoes. A Gianni piacciono le patate. Like and piacere express the same kind of event. It is a psychological state (of pleasure) which has two theta-roles: the EXPERIENCER of the pleasure and the THEME of the pleasure. In both languages the EXPERIENCER is animate and the THEME is not animate. But in English the EXPERIENCER is the subject while in Italian the subject is the THEME. Notice that this does not even imply that the word order is different in the two...
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...Langston Hughes’s Theme for English B and Sherman Alexie’s On the Amtrak from Boston to New York City LTRE 421 July 13, 2016 The subject in Theme for English B a 22-year-old man who is trying to find out exactly who he is. The teacher tells him to go home and write a page tonight; this page should come from himself and be true. The speaker wonders if it is that simple. Is something true simply because it comes out of one person's self? Is truth the same thing for a black youth like him as it is for the white professor? In the poem On the Amtrak from Boston to New York City the author introduces two characters from different walks of life, which are brought together on an Amtrak from Boston to New York. Even though these two characters are on the same Amtrak, their cultural perspectives and differences separate them. The poem also offers commentary on the history of Native Americans versus the history of white Americans. Both of these poems contain historical context relating to race in America. In Theme for English B, wrapped up in the speaker's search for his identity is the idea of his race. He's black, born in the South, but now lives in Harlem. As this man is trying to find out who he is, America is full of racial tension, and hasn't really reached a stable identity itself. He's the only black person in his class, and that includes his instructor. When he sits down to write a page that's supposed to be true, he can't help but feel that, when people aren't equally...
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...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 professor do not think I am a part of them. In a word, white person cannot really accept and respect black during Hughes’ times. Hughes shares his own experience to tell whole community...
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...Compare and Contrast Langston Hughes’ ‘Theme for English B’ with Countee Cullen’s ‘Yet Do I Marvel’ The following essay will examine two poems: Langston Hughes’ ‘Theme for English B’ and Countee Cullen’s ‘Yet Do I Marvel’, with particular focus on the poetic conventions used and themes that appear within each poem. Both poems deal with issues related to race, and were both published in 1925 during The Harlem Renaissance, which was a period of growth within Literature for African American writers. Within both poems, there seems to be a questioning of authority, with the instructor in Hughes’ ‘Theme for English B’ and a questioning of God within Cullen’s ‘Yet Do I Marvel’. The speaker, a twenty two year old Black student, begins the poem ‘Theme for English B’ by explaining what he has been instructed to do for his assignment ‘The instructor said, Go home and write a page tonight. And let that page...
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...yMacmillan Study Companions Sharon R. Wilson-Strann POETRY FOR THE CSEC® ENGLISH B EXAMINATION Second edition Prescribed list for 2012–2017 CSEC® is a registered trademark of the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) POETRY FOR THE CSEC® ENGLISH B EXAMINATION is an independent publication and has not been authorised, sponsored, or otherwise approved by CXC. CSEC Study Comp Poetry 2nd Ed_2011.indd i 9/6/11 4:31 PM Macmillan Education Between Towns Road, Oxford OX4 3PP A division of Macmillan Publishers Limited Companies and representatives throughout the world www.macmillan-caribbean.com ISBN: 978-0-230-41802-8 Text © Sharon R. Wilson-Strann 2011 Design and illustration © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2011 First published 2008 This edition published 2011 All rights reserved; no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers. These materials may contain links for third party websites. We have no control over, and are not responsible for, the contents of such third party websites. Please use care when accessing them. Designed by Mike Brain Graphic Design Ltd Typeset by E Clicks Enterprise, Malaysia Cover design by Clare Webber Cover photo by Jenny Palmer The author and publishers are grateful for permission to reprint the following copyright material: Bloodaxe Books for the poem...
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...One of the themes in the works of Langston Hughes is inclusiveness. Inclusiveness is defined as including all parts of society and treating individuals fairly. Hughes started writing during the Harlem Renaissance, which was a new African American movement during the 1920’s and 1930’s. Hughes focused on modern, urban African American lifestyles and ultimately wanted fairness. During the Harlem Renaissance, most writers got inspiration from music and theatre. Some events that happened during this time would include African Americans being honored for their literary works which increasingly made this phase of literature. In result we have Hughes work. Inclusiveness is one of the themes throughout Hughes work, but specifically “I, too”, “Democracy”, and “Theme for English B” stand out strongly for describing how fairness and being included was a huge priority for African American’s during this time. In the poem, I, Too, Hughes portrays the idea of every race being equal. From the poem, Hughes says, “…they send me to eat in the kitchen when company comes…” (3-4), meaning that the African Americans were excluded from the guests of the house because they were not equal. Hughes portrays power and...
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...Knowledge and Individual Power When someone hears the words “Knowledge and Individual Power” what might come to mind is the well-said and overused quote “ Knowledge is Power”. With these different poems is it is important to notice that although they might share a common theme of knowledge gaining and personal and individual empowerment within ones self, they are just that, representations of individuals own power. The three poems I am choosing to make examples of because after reading them they have stood out to me in concern with the topic of Knowledge and Individual Power, are “Theme for English B” by Langston Hughes, “Much Madness is Divine Sense” by Emily Dickinson and “Crazy Courage” by Alma Villanueva. These poems all in my opinion convey knowledge that helps can help and can also be essential to growth and a persons individual power. With the same topics or themes being portrayed they are simply just portrayed in different ways. In the poem by Langston Hughes “Theme for English B”, you can discover that personal experience and knowledge are things that people acquire in different ways, for each person and happen sometimes unusually. In this work of writing he makes a point for everyone to know that he is basically the only colored student in his class. He uses the classroom almost like a baseline and uses it to show that they are all separate parts that come together as whole, therefore making these “parts” all equal no matter race, age, size or other characteristics...
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...that lasted from about 1750 to about 1870, characterized by reliance on the imagination and subjectivity of approach, freedom of thought and expression, and an idealization of nature. The term romantic first appeared in 18th-century English and originally meant “romancelike”—that is, resembling the fanciful character of medieval romances. II ORIGINS AND INSPIRATION By the late 18th century in France and Germany, literary taste began to turn from classical and neoclassical conventions (see Classic, Classical, and Classicism). Inspiration for the romantic approach initially came from two great shapers of thought, French philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau and German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. A The Romantic Spirit Rousseau established the cult of the individual and championed the freedom of the human spirit; his famous announcement was “I felt before I thought.” Goethe and his compatriots, philosopher and critic Johann Gottfried von Herder and historian Justus Möser, provided more formal precepts and collaborated on a group of essays entitled Von deutscher Art und Kunst (Of German Style and Art, 1773). In this work the authors extolled the romantic spirit as manifested in German folk songs, Gothic architecture, and the plays of English playwright William Shakespeare. Goethe sought to imitate Shakespeare's free and untrammeled style in his Götz von Berlichingen (1773; translated 1799), a historical drama about a 16th-century robber knight. The play, which justifies...
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...University of Alberta English 123: Literature in Global Perspective Section A8 Fall 2014 Mon/Wed/Fri 1:00-1:50 pm HC 2-11 Instructor: Dr. R. Fowler Office: Humanities Centre 4-75 email: rfowler@ualberta.ca Office Hours: Mon. 2:00-3:00; Wed. 10:00-10:45 (or by appointment) (appointments will also be scheduled for writing conferences) This course introduces students to post-secondary studies in English through world literatures in English. Focusing on materials from an array of historical and cultural contexts, it will address the intersections between culture, language, oral traditions, and literatures in a global perspective. Students will examine representative genres including poems, plays, novels, short stories, and essays from several countries, in order to appreciate the diversity of English, both spoken and written, as well as perspectives and cultures not their own. Learning outcomes and objectives include becoming stronger critical readers, academic writers and editors, as well as active, thinking participants of global cultures, appreciating the role of English within them. A minimum of 30% of class time will be devoted to writing instruction. This can take many forms, including graded written assignments, informal writing, writing workshops, free-writing exercises, stylistic analysis, research skills, peer editing, multiple drafts, and ungraded writing. Students will be required to write at least two essays which will be marked and...
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...current research in such areas as lexical studies, text linguistics and pragmatics to maintain a constant link between language, translation, and the social and cultural environment in which both language and translation operate. In Other Words examines various areas of language, ranging from the meaning of single words and expressions to grammatical categories and cultural contexts. Firmly grounded in modern linguistic theory, the book starts at a simple level and grows in complexity by widening its focus gradually. The author explains with clarity and precision the concepts and theoretical positions explored within each chapter and relates these to authentic examples of translated texts in a variety of languages, although a knowledge of English is all that is required to understand the examples presented. Each chapter ends with a series of practical exercises which provide the translator with an opportunity to test the relevance of the issues discussed. This combination of theoretical discussion and practical application provides a sound basis for the study of translation as a professional activity. Mona Baker is Chairman of the Education and Training Committee of the Institute of Translation and Interpreting. She has more than seventeen years’ experience as a translator and has taught at a number of academic institutions such as the University of Birmingham and the University of...
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...Langston Hughes : “Theme for English B” Fatbardha Mamudi English Composition 2 Miraim Klein South University Langston Hughes was raised by his grandmother. He started writing poems at a young age. His grandmother was very passionate about reading and writing and infused Hughes with her passion. Hughes studied at Columbia for a year, but dropped out because of the racism he experienced. He traveled to Africa and Europe. Later, Hughes settled in Harlem, New York in the 1920’s. He joined the literary movement named the Harlem Renaissance. Hughes focused on educating the world about the mistreatment of African Americans from the 1920’s-1960’s. The poem I chose to write my thesis on is “Theme For English B”. “Theme for English B” is the journey of a young student trying to discover who they are at a time when who they were was stripped from them. At the end, through a realization process, they like who they are. The poems speaker is the student. The poem started with a teacher assigning the students an English assignment to write about themselves. The student questions the professor’s assignment. On the contrary, it is easy for the professor to assign the writing assignment about who the students are because the professor knows who he is and he is white. On the other hand, the student doesn’t really know who he or she is because they are black. The writer raises the question of being unsure of who they are. They state things that they concretely know about themselves...
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