How Did Langston Hughes Write Theme For English B

Theme for English B “The Harlem Renaissance was a literary, artistic, and intellectual movement that kindled a new black cultural identity” (The Harlem Renaissance). In the Harlem Renaissance poem, Theme for English B by Langston Hughes, he uses imagery, rhyme, and alliteration to effectively demonstrate African – American struggle for equality. This poem was written during a time when colored people struggled a lot, and it shows that people may learn from each other no matter their ethnicity. In the Langston Hughes poem, he argues, be confident and know who you are, being a different color does not mean that a person is any different or does not think the same. First of all, Langston Hughes uses imagery to portray a typical day in the student’s life as he tries to make sense of his assignment. The student is also wanting his
instructor to get a better understanding of him as a person. He begins by saying, “I am twenty – two, colored, born in Winston – Salem… I am the only colored student in class” (lines 7 – 10). The student is describing where he’s from, as well as how everyone else in his class is white except for him. Being the only non – white student makes it even more difficult to have people relate to his struggles. As he’s walking back to his room, he’s noticing the little things that others might not care to look for. The student begins describing, “The steps from the hill lead down into Harlem, through a park…” (Lines 11 – 12). His journey home from class is crossing multiple streets, with names like ‘St. Nicholas’ and ‘Eighth Avenue,’ then he passes the ‘Harlem Branch YMCA,’ walks up a few stairs to his room. As a result, imagery helps create multiple scenes to a story to help understand it better. In addition, Langston Hughes uses rhyme to emphasize the student and instructors connection. When the student writes his essay, he’s curious if the page will define him. He begins by asking, “So will my page be colored that I write? Being me, it will not be white” (lines 27 – 28). The student’s saying that a page of paper is white, and with ink on it, it’ll be colored. The page will not be like it was written by a white person, but also because it’ll be written on. Then he’s trying to compare the instructor, his page, and him. His connection is him stating, “…and somewhat more free. This is my page for English B” (Lines 40 – 41). Hughes sees learning as a two way process, so he’s trying to show how they’re alike, even though they’re quite different. Since his instructor is white he had more opportunities than the colored student ever had. In the end, color doesn’t mean anything, because we’re all human. Finally, Langston Hughes uses alliteration to paint a picture of the student’s personality.
The student hears different sounds around him that he must enjoy, so he’s remembering what the sounds are to be able to add them into his essay. He starts by saying what he’s hearing, “ I hear you: hear you, hear me” (Line 18). He’s listening to everything go on around him in Harlem. All the birds chirping, cars driving by, sirens, children playing at the nearby park, he’s taking it all in. He never really noticed how much he loved all of those sounds in Harlem, until he had to write this essay. Then the student goes to talk about what he’s hoping to get for Christmas. He enthusiastically says, “I like a pipe for a Christmas present, or records – Bessie, bop, or Bach” (Lines 23 – 24). The student says his hopes for presents, and the records vary widely. Bessie Smith was a blues singer, bop was a kind of jazz, and Bach was a classical composer. All three of the musicians begin with a ‘B,’ so it makes it more fun to read aloud. In the end, everyone’s likes and dislikes differ from one another, so nobody should be judged for what they
like. In conclusion, in this Harlem Renaissance poem, Theme for English B, Langston Hughes describes the student’s journey as he’s writing his essay. As he’s writing, he says his instructor may not understand since he isn’t colored. So the instructor will never fully relate because he had more rights than the student. Therefore, society as a whole is very diverse, everyone has their own characteristics, but no matter what, we’re all human and we all have differences.