Langston Hughes I Too Analysis

Langston Hughes’ poem “I, Too” is about how African Americans are equal to Caucasians. In the poem, the narrator is saying he is American although he is not white, and is ready to claim his rights in the United States (“I, Too” 100-101). As the poem progresses, the narrator is trying to establish his identity as an American citizen who is worthy of that title (“I, Too” 100-101). Hughes expresses how each time he is cast out, he only becomes more determined, until he eventually demands to be an American citizen (“I, Too” 100-101). The narrator conveys how he not only wants to be equal to everyone else in America, but America’s greatness (“I, Too” 100-101).
Langston Hughes’ poem “Theme for English B,” was published in Montage of a Dream Deferred in 1951. “Theme for English B” is narrated by a twenty two year old
He lives in Harlem, a borough New York City. New York City is a big part of his life even though he is from North Carolina. He likes to ponder why he isn't treated as equal with the whites in America, even though he is “curious about life and knowledge, and a lover of all sorts of music, from baroque to jazz” (Cone), just like them.
In Langston Hughes’ “Theme for English B,” he uses metaphor to complement each aspect of his poem, which gives significance to the narrator and what he expresses to the readers. Hughes states “So will my page be colored that I write?/ Being me, it will not be white” (27-28). The white paper resembles a white man, and the aspect of writing it is that of being black. The white population felt that the black population soiled them, much like ink would on paper. Hughes defines what he hopes one day will be included in the definition of an American, due to the English class, the instructor and the narrator have become a part of each other. The teacher is white, but he is a part of the black student. “Hughes simultaneously affirms a common experience with white America while also resisting