their strengths to make america great. However, it does not talk about the contributions of africans. This is because people consider africans lowly or as simple property, not part of america even though they contribute a lot. When you take a look at both poems you can tell that Langston hughes had built his poem on top of Whitman's as a response. He used aspects such as theme, structure and diction to build upon Whitman's poem. One evidence that can prove this is theme. In Whitman's poem, “I hear America singing” Whitman says “I hear america singing, the varied chorus i hear… each singing what belongs to him or her and to no one else.” This quote says that America is built up by many different people with each of their different strengths. This captures the theme that america is built on the unique contributions of individual workers. In comparison In the poem “I too sing america” Hughes says “I am the darker brother... I, too, am america.” This quote expresses the how the theme changed. The new theme is you must not accept the chains of oppression and slavery. This shows that not just the white men are what makes america but it is everyone. No matter how people look. Whitman was positive and had set up what made america great but Hughes said was more negative and says america is forgetting its people. African americans are also a part of america not just a white majority. He hopes that one day, there will not be any more prejudice and all people would be considered a part of america. Another piece of evidence that can support the idea that Hughes built his poem from Whitman's is the structure.
Whitman's and Hughes poems are in free verse and have no rhyme scheme. The reason behind this is that the free verse is emphasizing freedom and equality. Whitman is talking about how america has freedom and this is what lets everyone contribute to what makes america so great. While Hughes says the african americans currently are not free. America promosies all with freedom but because of the color of some people's skin they are denied that freedom. However he will go against the restraints and hopes soon all will have the freedom and the right to be an american. Another thing is that Whitman uses long lines but each talks about the simple job each person contributes to america. However hughes uses short lines and his story expresses a complex meaning. This shows that he changed Whitman's poem to express the idea that even if a man looks differnt, should he be denied the rights of others. The short lines are also better because of the fact they help to emphasize the importance of each word because there is only a few words he can use to emphasize the importance and the message of his poem. It emphasizes the importance a lot better than Whitman's because of the fact it is not sugarcoated. The sugarcoating on Whitman's makes it more happy connotation but harder to understand the message. This makes it easier to see Hughes ambition and hopes of being treated like an …show more content…
american because that is what he is. The last piece of evidence that shows Whitman's poem influenced Hughes poem is Diction or word choice.
If you look at the titles of both poems Hughes poem is a direct response to Whitman's. Whitman's poem says “I hear america singing.” Hughes poem responds “I too sing america.” Hughes took Whitman's title which talks about hearing the voice of america and Hughes said all people even the colored are apart of the voice of america. That is because everyone contributes their carols and voice to america since they are a part of it. Not just the white men who have more power over the colored people. Another thing was that Whitman's poem was happy and had a good connotation as he used words like “carol, strong, blithe” while Hughes was more opposite and negative as he used words that would include things like “I am the darker brother”. The negative connotation creates a more darker mood in Hughes poem. This shows that america is not all rainbows. There is a bad part of America that needs to be fixed. In the end Hughes ends off his poem “Besides, They’ll see how beautiful I am. And Be Ashamed. The reason he says this at the end of the poem is to show that one day it will be different. There will be no discrimination between different colors and races. His ambition for writing the poem was to try to achieve equality. People will not be judged by the color of their skin or race but by their achievements. Everyone will be able to truely be considered an
american. Langston Hughes wrote his poem “I too sing america” as a direct response to Whitman's “I hear america singing”, which can been seen by the theme, structure, and diction. Theme setup the messages of the two stories, the structure helped emphasize freedom, and the diction helped to create a positive vs negative connotation to help create awareness of the problems. Throughout the poem Hughes tried to express that everyone is an american, no matter their race or skin. So their “carol” should also be a part of america, however they are being treated badly like property yet they are a part of america. In order to show people the negative Hughes decided to write a response to Whitman's poem “I sing america.”