Poem Analysis Of Langston Hughes '

Carrie Cunningham
Mr. Ratzlaff
ENGL-249
April 24, 2015
Langston Hughes Poem Analysis The 1920s consisted of a time when ultimate freedom and creativity collided with music. The Blues have evolved throughout the years, however the 1920s were the Blue's early stages. By linking thoughts with music, the poet Langston Hughes was able to create a selection of poems which have a central theme of musical notions. The book Selected Poems of Langston Hughes addresses a variety of content such as home life, prejudice, north vs. south side, and unity of communities. Within the poems “Theme for English B” and “Deferred” a number of those common subjects can be spotted and by analyzing the poems it will be easier to decipher the intended meaning behind
From the lines it can be gathered that the speaker may be a simple person, who enjoyed school and expanding their knowledge, along with the fact that they were raised in a religious family. The next few lines seems to be the speaker having a realization that people of most races are essentially the same and may enjoy the same things in life. However, it could also give off the vibe that the speaker simply doesn't have enough money to buy items such as the more wealthy races, but that he/she still finds them desirable. Lines 27-28 are as follows: “So will my page be colored that I write?/ Being me, it will not be white”. Here, the speaker ponders what his classmates of another race may be writing their assignments about, as his may be considered totally different. The speaker then says that the paper he/she writes may become “a part of- (the)- instructor” (Line 30). Possibly meaning that the instructor will be moved by their writing or that the teacher will not be able to forget what they've read. The statements which follow continue to illustrate the idea of both races working together with peace, without prejudice. “Perhaps sometimes you don't want to be a part of me”(Line 34). Racism still lingers and haunts the speakers throughout their life. Both sides may not want anything to do with eachother at certain times, however, they
Lines 1-7 are narrated from the speaker's point of view and discuss the speaker's diverted path to a high school diploma. Lines 8-10 are as follows: “Maybe now I can have that white enamel stove/ I dreamed about when we first fell in love/ eighteen years ago”. The last line break makes it evident that the speaker is in awe of how fast time has passed. The following ten lines reiterate the fact that life got in the way of the speaker's dreams but those dreams still exist even if their “-daughter's married- (and their) -boy's most grown” (Lines 13-14). Lines 20-28 explain another dream, besides the “white enamel stove”, which got deferred and that was the dream of learning the language of France-French. The speaker has a combination of defeated and ecstatic lines. From the comment of “I'll never go to France” to then building up the idea of going to learn the language at night school. However, after noting the fact that he/she has a job which is over at 5, the speaker then goes to the observation that they will be done with their job in time to “wash and dress” (Lines 23-27). I was expecting the speaker to continue on the path of learning to speak French by talking about taking the night classes instead of changing the point of view by going home to wash and dress. It is almost as if the speaker still has the dream but feels as though it is not obtainable and through the words