2013 Langston Hughes’s Harlem James Mercer Langston Hughes was an American poet‚ social activist‚ novelist‚ playwright‚ and columnist. He was one of the earliest innovators of the then-new literary art form called jazz poetry. Hughes is best known as a leader of the Harlem Renaissance. Langston Hughes has many poems; some of his famous poems are Dreams‚ As I Grew Older‚ Mother to Son‚ and my favorite Harlem. He famously wrote about the period that "the negro was in vogue." James Langston Hughes
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“50-50” by Langston Hughes In the poem “50-50” by Langston Hughes‚ the theme is about a lonely woman seeking love. She might be a young woman who left her family in the South and moved North during the Great Migration for better opportunities‚ and that might be the reason why she feels she is all alone in this world. Or‚ she might be a widow or someone who has lost a partner‚ or boyfriend. She feels she is all alone because she has no man in her life. The monologue has a dual persona
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Langston Hughes stands as a towering figure in the landscape of American literature‚ embodying the spirit of the Harlem Renaissance and leaving an indelible mark on the fabric of cultural and literary history. Born in the early 20th century‚ Hughes navigated the complexities of African American identity through his prolific output of poetry‚ plays‚ and essays. His work‚ deeply rooted in the African American experience‚ resonated with themes of racial pride‚ social injustice‚ and the universal quest
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The poem “Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes is written in the voice of a mother giving advice to her son. In it‚ she compares her life to a rough and hard-to-navigate stairway that his not been “no crystal stair‚” but she encourages him to keep going anyway (2‚ 20). Hughes gives her a very down-to-earth vocabulary to reinforce that she has had to work her way through life without the benefits of higher education‚ ease of profession‚ or even much help. Phrases like “Well‚ son‚ I’ll tell you‚” and
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“Salvation” Langston Hughes Finds God in His Essay “Salvation” In Langston Hughes’ essay “Salvation‚” the author recounts how his failure to “see” Jesus and be outwardly saved results in a deeper‚ more stirring revelation: that only he---and not Jesus---can save his soul. Although Hughes devotes much of his essay to parodying the salvation experiences and apparent hypocrisy of other church members‚ and he tells us that the church building is stuffy‚ uncomfortable‚ hot and boring
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Explication of Langston Hughes ’ "Mother to Son" Langston Hughes once stated in his own words that his whole purpose for writing was‚ "to explain and illuminate the Negro condition in America." In the poem "Mother to Son"‚ he denotes his belief on racism in America. In "Mother to Son"‚ a mother is giving advice to her son about life from her perspective and experiences. She wants her son to keep striving on what he believes and to have a more prosperous life than what she had. Langston Hughes was born
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The speaker of the poem is by the author Langston Hughes himself. This is a lyric poem because it expresses Langston’s emotions towards the river. By identifying the speaker‚ it allows the reader to understand that the speaker is using the river as a metaphor for representing life. In this poem‚ the speaker and the author are the same. The subject of the poem is the slavery‚ and the emotions the speaker expressed is happiness and love because of civilization. In the poem‚ the poet used imagery
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In the Langston Hughes poem‚ “Open Letter to the South”‚ is about workers needing to unify despite their color. He also talks about how together they will be stronger and more powerful; together they can rise and get rid of the plow and time clock of the past. He wants everyone to forget about being separate and look at becoming equal. When people are separate‚ they are not as strong‚ but equality brings everyone together and gives more strength and power to everyone. “Let us become …. One single
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First‚ Hughes uses repetition in the poem. He repeats‚ “I’se still climbing” at the beginning‚ and towards the end. By repeating this‚ the mother is ensuring herself that her son understands that life is tough‚ and her still fighting her way through life supports her claim of “Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair”. This repetition creates the raw style. Even though many challenging events passed between these two lines‚ from the beginning to the end‚ such as “going through the dark”‚ the son‚
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multiple moments in history about racial segregation between white and black people. Even after the Civil War‚ discrimination is a element embedded into the mindset of every white American. Jim Crow laws were created in order to separate facilities from being shared between the two races‚ commonly referred to as “separate but equal.” World War 2 happened with Nazi Germans started taking over Europe with the mindset of ridding Jews‚ and with Japanese bombing Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. With the war coming closer
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