Theme For English B By Langston Hughes

The division between whites and blacks was clearly prevalent and the United States of America was a racially discriminatory society reinforced by its racist laws. Hughes took the initiative to speak his mind via poetry, resulting in his piece “I, Too”. In this poem, Hughes clearly signifies one thing: Just because his skin color is different from whites, does not mean that they get to sing the National Anthem louder. Arguing that all American citizens are the same, disregarding their skin color, Hughes applies in this poem a master-slave relationship. The assumed white master shows disrespect to his servant by sending him away whenever visitors come over, because he is ordered to eat secluded from the company. However he seems to not be faze by this and actually finds it funny, supported by “But I laugh” (5). Furthermore, not only does he find amusement in this unpleasant situation, but the isolation has a positive effect on him “And grow strong” (7), implying that even though he submits to his master, his spirit will not be diminished.

Poetry Analysis for the Theme for English B Langston Hughes the speaker and author of the poem “Theme for English B” uses figurative language, imagery, and tone to develop the theme of racial discrimination. The poem focuses on how he is different from a racial standpoint but is similar in the way he lives and is an American. Langston Hughes uses figurative language throughout his poem. “I feel and see and hear, Harlem, I hear you.”

In the closing lines of Theme for English B, Hughes communicates a tonal shift through the speaker’s confliction with his own identity. The tonal shift begins with the question, “So will my page be colored that I write?” (Ln 27). Hughes’ wordplay describes black ink hitting a white page, hinting at “black” being a category within writing, and creates doubt from the speaker as the speaker is unsure whether or not his writing will be supported by the instructor. When the speaker says, “ Being me, it will not be white,” he is admitting defeat and accepts his fate as being ostracized for being a black author.

Hughes diminishes a white man’s human agency by stating that all are equal and the same, no matter the skin tone, through “Theme for English B”. Hughes puts an emphasis throughout this passage that the white race, or white culture, should be just as equal to those with people of color. The speaker says “being me, it will not be white, but it will be a part of you instructor” (28-30), metaphorically saying that though he is colored himself, being himself with his actions is a part of his instructor and that they are no different since they enact upon similar actions. The idea of two different races being the same is comparable to living under the same roof with the same rules, creating them to be equal. The speaker emphasizes “I am a part of you” (32), with the equality that he, too, is American, even if it does not appear to be. Hughes utilizes diction, using short words rather than large vocabulary words, trying to point out the speaker’s idea of one being another. The breaks between the sentences serve as a pause in the speaker’s thoughts and writing. Though “being me” (28) is a disadvantage to the speaker within his human agency, he is still seen to be considered American, since he does live in America, although there may

For centuries, many people in the world come to the United States for looking for a dream, which they will have a better life. The “American Dream” is a standard phrase that people know what it is. And, the States give them a promise of freedom, and opportunities to get their dreams. Therefore, I think about the perspectives of a dream, and I ask myself: why do people work hard to get to a destination that they want? Before working hard, they have to have a real purpose, so they must have a dream.

One of the foremost poets of the Harlem Renaissance was Langston Hughes. Many of Hughes' poems are about the act of writing poetry, justifying African-American poets' right to speak and create verse, which was denied in previous eras. The act of literacy for African-Americans was depicted as a radical, self-conscious act in Hughes' output. This is explicitly seen in Hughes' poem "Theme for English B." The poem very literally portrays a young, African-American man (presumably Hughes himself) being given an assignment by a white teacher to write about himself. The poet is forced into a paradox he is in a white-run institution, using the language of whites, and yet he must speak about himself truthfully:

In the mid-twentieth century, white people still upheld the idea that they were "the superior race." They treated other races as if they were inferior, and they demoralized them. Black people had a difficult time finding their true identity because of this. Langston Hughes, a colored American poet, expresses this idea in his popular poem, "Theme for English B."

Through his poem “Theme for English B”, Langston Hughes expresses his will to exterminate discrimination by proving that despite different skin colors, Americans all share similarities and learn from each other. Langston wrote the poem in 1900, when black Americans were not considered Americans. He talks about a black student being assigned to write a paper about himself. The audience is thus the student’s professor – the representation of the white Americans. Since the professor said: “let that page come out of you---Then, it will be true.”, the student began wondering “if it’s that simple”. He then describes himself to explain why it isn’t simple: he is “twenty-two”, “the only colored in class”, and lives in the poor community Harlem.

Langston Hughes is an extremely successful and well known black writer who emerged from the Harlem Renaissance (“Langston Hughes” 792). He is recognized for his poetry and like many other writers from the Harlem Renaissance, lived most of his life outside of Harlem (“Langston Hughes” 792). His personal experiences and opinions inspire his writing intricately. Unlike other writers of his time, Hughes expresses his discontent with black oppression and focuses on the hardships of his people. Hughes’ heartfelt concern for his people’s struggle evokes the reader’s emotion. His appreciation for black music and culture is evident in his work as well. Langston Hughes is a complex poet whose profound works provide insight into all aspects of black

“The Harlem Renaissance was a time where the Afro-American came of age; he became self-assertive and racially conscious… he proclaimed himself to be a man and deserving respect. Those Afro-Americans who were part of that time period saw themselves as principals in that moment of transformation from old to new” (Huggins 3). African Americans migrated to the North in great numbers to seek better lives than in the South as the northern economy was booming and industrial jobs were numerous. This movement brought new ideas and talents that shifted the culture forever. Black writers, such as Langston Hughes, used their work to claim a place for themselves and to demand self-respect in society. Poems that Langston Hughes wrote captured the essence of the complexity of a life that mixes joy and frustration of black American life through the incorporation of jazz and blues in order to examine the paradox of being black in mostly white America, the land of the not quite free.

In Langston Hughes poem “Theme for English B,” the speaker self-identifies as a black person in an all-white school. The speaker emphasizes “I am the only colored student in my class,” his ethnicity plays a role in separating him both physically and metaphorically from his classmates and professor. He explains in detail the great distance he must travel every day in order to attend school, from the hill, into Harlem, through a park and his final destination, home. The speaker addresses the freedom his classmates and professor have because of the color of their skin. I feel that in this passage he is giving us a glimpse into the racial tensions afflicting all young black man attending college in contrast to the prominently white students of

In two of his poems, Theme for English B and I Too, Langston Hughes was able to depict the idea that African Americans are no different, but are American just like anyone else. He wanted to show the importance of melding cultures

As time has passed humanity still tends to separate each other based on our racial being rather than seeing each other as one human race. Langston Hughes’s, “A New Song,” published in 1938 introduces the idea of a new vision of social relations in American society. Hughes’s original version of this poem written in 1933, does not encompass his growing anger on this subject that is dwelled upon in his published version. However, with Hughes’s powerful tone and word choice throughout his 1938 rendition, his reader is able to understand his urge to transform America into an interracial culture. (Central Idea) His poem voices the importance of transforming society into a multiethnic unity and working-class established through cultural ties between whites and blacks. (Thesis) Hughes voices this crucial need to change through his emphasis on African American’s past struggles as opposed to the new dream, his militant tone, and through expressing the role that the establishment of cultural ties plays in society.

In Hughes poems, he talks about the dilemma of the difference between black and white from a prejudice state of mind. “Well, I like to eat, sleep, drink, and be in love. I like to work, read, learn, and understand life. I like a pipe for a Christmas present, or records-Bessie, bop, or Bach. I guess being colored doesn’t make me not like the same things other folks like who are other races” (Theme for English B, Ln 20-25), Hughes explains in Theme for English B, that his life is no different than his white professor’s life, and his likes, and

My people is one of Langston Hughes’ poems which is about working class black African American people. In this poem, he compared the beauty of nature to the beauty of his people. My people is a very short poem, built in three stanzas which consist of two lines in each stanza. This poem was written in simple language, therefore, the readers can easily understand what he is trying to convey. I believe, beneath its simple words, this poem depicts the beauty of working class black African American people that go beyond the beauty of physical appearance.