Theme for english b. Theme For English B Analysis 2022-11-15
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The poem "Theme for English B" by Langston Hughes is a deeply personal and introspective piece that explores themes of identity, race, and self-expression. At its core, the poem is a reflection on the experience of being a young, African American man studying English at a predominantly white university.
Throughout the poem, Hughes grapples with the complex and often conflicting aspects of his identity. On the one hand, he is proud of his African American heritage and the cultural traditions that come with it. At the same time, he recognizes that he is also deeply influenced by the dominant culture of the United States, which has shaped his language and ways of thinking. This tension is evident in lines such as "I am the only colored student in my class" and "I like to eat, sleep, drink, and be in love."
One of the most striking aspects of "Theme for English B" is Hughes's use of the pronoun "I." Throughout the poem, he repeatedly asserts his own subjectivity and agency, declaring "I am a part of the West" and "I am the only colored student in my class." This emphasis on the self is a powerful statement of Hughes's own identity and his refusal to be defined or limited by the expectations of others.
At the same time, Hughes is also aware of the limitations imposed on him by the racism and discrimination he encounters in his daily life. In lines such as "The white folks laugh" and "They'll see how beautiful I am," he speaks to the ways in which white society has historically sought to marginalize and belittle African Americans.
Despite these challenges, Hughes ultimately asserts his right to be heard and recognized as an individual. In the final lines of the poem, he writes "I guess being colored doesn't make me not like / The same things other folks like" and "All the writers, all the poets, all the artists" are "the same." In these lines, Hughes asserts his commonality with others and his belief that all people, regardless of race, have the right to be seen and heard.
Overall, "Theme for English B" is a poignant and thought-provoking exploration of the complexities of identity and self-expression. Through his powerful use of language and personal experience, Hughes gives voice to the struggles and triumphs of being a young, African American man in a predominantly white society.
Theme for English B Poem Summary and Analysis
These questions are not intended to elicit an answer, but rather to provide insight into the speaker's mindset and emphasize his state of mind as he considers his assignment. I hear New York, too. He lists personal information about himself, including his age, race, and educational background. Also, just because people are different races, it doesnt mean that they cant have the same interests. The speaker acknowledges that, despite race, he and his instructor will affect each other, and it is already happening.
What makes you do so much Jazz poems? In its day, however, it never shook its notoriety, even after bebop. Trying to prove her point, she gives evidence straight from the second stanza in which the student tells of his birth in Winston, Salem. The narrator, who wonders if his homework assignment is really simple, poses his question in a poem that seems to answer itâ the question comes from the midst of an uncomplicated bunch of words. His meditation on the assignment has led him to conclude that he is not one thing or another, but rather one thing and another. The internal rhyme has an almost sing-song sound to it, and provides a beautiful flow from line to line. Throughout the poem the speaker addresses his anxieties about how the class will go. This was a huge accomplishment for African American artists as well as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
By the end of the first stanza, however, both end-rhyme patterns have disappeared. Then he asks a satirical question: Will the paper be colored since he is writing it? The poem has eleven short lines in four stanzas, and all but one line are questions. He preaches this message because he believes the negro artist should be confident and not have to question who they are or what they represent. Jemie, Onwuchekwa, Langston Hughes: An Introduction to the Poetry, New York: Columbia University Press, 1976. Even though,⊠Dubois and the Color Line Hughes' piece "The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain" emphasizes the black artist and his creative force.
âTheme for English Bâ by Langston Hughes Analysis Essay Example
Hughes, Langston, I Wonder as I Wander, New York: Hill and Wang, 1956. As the only African-American student, he needs to break through the racist stereotypes such as music while also honoring his relationship with Harlem. Is poetry a space of privilege or an egalitarian realm? As the speaker comes to this decision in the end, the tone is final and the end rhyme becomes even, as though his decision is final and right. This is another symbolic reference to those social divisions, wherein the Black community of Harlem was seen as inferior to the white communities. Would they have me? These marks of effort will never, however, remove from the poem its accessibility. For Hughes, high art and the quotidianâsuch as social and aesthetic aimsâ were always and everywhere the same.
When he mentioned tomorrow he meant it as in the future and this⊠Mla Research Paper In this critical essay, the author Leon Lewis illustrates an overview of Langston Hughes overall work and what he represents as a literary writer. Forcing the reader to stop after such a short sentence draws attention to this factual statement and adds to the "otherness" and isolation created by this separation. The speaker is told to write a paper about himself. Using the form of the lyric also allows us, the readers, to get as close to this experience as language can permit. Doug served as department chair for his high school campus and as an AP reader. He has a bachelor's and master's degree in English.
Theme for English B by Langston Hughes Free Essay Example
And while I cannot identify with the racial divide so present in this poem, I like to think about how being white is assumed, and being black is not. Hughes then moves from answering his instructor to answering himself, as he ruminates on what makes him different from others. Rather than writing a page from himself that will be himself because he alone supposedly writes it, the student declares that no self is separable from the selves around it. The poem entitled Theme for English B was written thirty years or so after the birth of the Harlem Renaissance, but still embodies why the Renaissance had originated in the first place. Like the speaker, the nation's identity cannot be narrowly defined by one standard, but rather has a diverse spectrum of interests and backgrounds.
Yet he never wavered in his rather grand conception of the nature and purpose of poetry itself. The most prolific African-American writer of his time, Hughes published sixteen collections of poetry, two novels, seven collections of short stories, two autobiographical works, five nonfictional texts, and nine books for children during his lifetime. He started connecting with those around him, realizing that he was just like everyone else. The Big Sea: An Autobiography originally appeared in 1940 and I Wonder as I Wander: An Autobiographical Journey first came out in 1956. As the only African-American in this class, it is ironic that the speaker's college is so near Harlem, an area commonly known for its African-American population. Even though some of his work is appeal more towards young adult readers, his work is written to reach a wide spread of audience not just the literary privileged. Here the speaker underlines the fact that what is true for him might not be true for his instructor.
Stream of consciousness is a writing style in which the writing mimics a person's free-flowing thoughts and emotions. This is how he identifies himself outwardly to others. . At this point, the reader can imagine the student sitting up straighter at his desk and writing with more energy. Relative to these earlier traditions, bebop is a difficult style of musicâdifficult to master as a musician, difficult to dance or hum along with, and difficult to listen to. Or is there a communal component to poems? Hughes, Langston, Montage of a Dream Deferred, in Collected Poems, Vintage, 1994.
