"Lansgton Hughes and Jesse B. Semple" In the early 1940s an African American writer by the name of Langston Hughes‚ who flourished during the Harlem Renaissance in New York‚ had established a character in his short story writings named Jesse B. Semple. Through these short stories he used this character to represent the black man of his times. However the question remains‚ is Jesse B. Semple an accurate representation of the black man of 1940s? This question can best be answered by looking at the
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still targets to get picked on for any little thing. There are some interesting literary elements Langston Hughes points out. Hughes uses literary devices such as simile‚ imagery‚ and anaphora to show the reader the theme of ill effects on African Americans in society. Through the use of simile‚ the author reveals the comparisons of a dream to rotten meat. In the poem‚ it says‚ “Does it stink like rotten meat?” (Hughes 6). This quote shows that a dream can sometimes be like a rotten meat unpleasant
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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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“Cora Unashamed is a short story by Langston Hughes. It is about Cora Jenkins‚ a black woman living in Melton with her parents. Cora works as a maid for a rich white family‚ the Studevants. Cora has a special bond with the family’s youngest daughter‚ Jessie. Jessie gets pregnant and her mother‚ Mrs. Art Studevant‚ forces her to get an abortion. Jessie then dies sick. The story is mainly about hypocrisy and discrimination‚ two elements of Hughes’ life which are also found in many of his poems. First
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The poem “Mother to Son‚” by Langston Hughes‚ is about a mother advising her son about life. She tells him that life is not easy and that he should not give up even when life is hard. Throughout the poem she uses an extended metaphor to compare life as a decayed stair. The mother expressed the hardship of life by saying‚ “And splinters‚ And boards torn up‚ And places with no carpet on the floor” (4-6). She describes the stair as an old and decayed stair that seems impossible to climb. Life is hard
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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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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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The exposition of this poem written by Langston Hughes is about life and death. Langston talks about committing suicide and how he attempted to kill himself many times. The narrator faces many challenges in his life such as a failed relationship .As I continued reading the poem the author renews his intentions on living‚ and finds out he is here on this earth for a reason. The speaker used the cold water as an excuse. He says he may sink if the water was not cold therefore‚ he might sink and die
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The “Trumpet Player” by Langston Hughes addresses the issues of slavery and discrimination that was going on in the United States. The poem means that no matter what your life is like‚ the memories of your past will always be with you‚ but if you can find something that comforts you and eases the pain‚ you can turn your pain and suffering into art. The lines “The Negro/with the trumpet at his lips‚” which are repeated in stanzas two and five‚ tell the reader that the poem is about an African American
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Origins of Poetry in Langston Hughes” the author‚ Arnold Rampersad‚ makes three very important points. As a whole‚ the essay addresses the evolution of Langston Hughes’ literary works and reveals why Hughes’ poetry changed the way it did. The most prominent point in the essay addresses Hughes’ personal connections with his works. Rampersad stresses the idea that Hughes drew his creativity from his unhappiness. Hughes himself claimed that he wrote best when he was at his worst. Hughes was very personal
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