Langston+Hughes+Background,+Style+and+Poetry

Read the Author Study on pages 920 – 923.
 * Author Study – Langston Hughes ** [[file:LangstonHughesStyleandPoemQuestions.doc]]

This is ironic because Langston Hughes had never actually written a poem before. ||
 * **Question** || **Answer** ||
 * What kind of people did he write about? Why? || **Lower class people, ordinary, working people.** ||
 * What made him start writing poems? Why is that ironic? || He started writing poems when the students in his class voted him class poet.
 * How did he end up in Harlem? || went in 1921 to attend colunbia university ||
 * What were some of the jobs he held? || Cabin boy, writer, busboy ||
 * What role did he play in the Harlem Renaissance? || he was considered one of the leading voices in the harlem renaissance; "man of the people". ||
 * What kind of music did he incorporate into his poems? || He used Jazz and Blues ||
 * Explain whether or not he is considered an important Renaissance writer. || He was one of the earliest innovators of the new literary art form jazz poetry and many individuals saw him as a voice for the Harlem Renaissance, allowing others to express themselves freely, no matter what the black public or white public thought. ||

** Style: ** (page 938) // What stylistic devices appear frequently in Hughes’s work? // Dialect, irony, and imagery
 * Langston Hughes **

Building Background:


 * **Question** || **Answer** ||
 * How was Langston Hughes different from previous African-American poets? || He did not try to be like the white writers, he used his cultural backround to make his writings relate to the common African American. ||
 * What was “I, Too” written to protest? Explain why Hughes would want to protest. || This poem was meant to protest the fact that African Americans are not considered americans. this poem was mean to let its reader no that African American to are americans and deserve to be recognized. ||
 * How are “Harlem” and “Weary Blues” influenced by music? || These two poems are influenced by music because Hughes imitates the beats and rythms of blues amd jazz music. ||

“Negro Speaks of Rivers”:
 * **Question** || **Answer** ||
 * In Hughes’ poem “Negro Speaks”, he is visually attempting to represent: || Black people are from everywhere: they where there during creation, they are in Africa, they are also in America. ||
 * The primary aspect of African American literature demonstrated in “Negro Speaks of Rivers ” is: || roots/heritage ||

“I, Too”: // Think about: // They referes to the white people in society. The company in line 4 are white people who will soon be hiding in the kitchen because of their shame for the treatment of blacks. They speaker wants other poeple to recognize the themes of equality, empowerment and being American. ||  Speaker’s attitude toward that Topic: Topic of Poem: || patriotic, anger/strength, hope hopeful that one day he will get to sit at the "table" how the people in the "kitchen" have voice too; blacks are included in the group of common men (described by Walt Whitman) that also have voices ||
 * **Question** || **Answer** ||
 * What do you believe the poem is saying about America?
 * the first and last lines
 * the identities of the speaker and the “they,” in lines 3 and 16
 * what is meant by “when company comes,” in line 4
 * what the speaker wants other people to recognize || America was ashamed of Blacks so they where hidden away in the kitchen,
 * This poem is an allusion to what other American poem/poet? || Walt Whitman ||
 * In “I, Too,” the speaker’s tone is best described as:
 * The primary aspect of African American literature demonstrated in “I,Too ” is || Equality, empowerment and being American. ||

“Harlem” free of discrimination. || // Think about // : · The title · What the speaker’s dream might be and why it might “explode” · Experiences of dreams that have been “deferred” or postponed || The main themes expressed in this poem are equality/civil lierties and obsticales. || “Weary Blues”
 * **Question** || **Answer** ||
 * In “Harlem,” the “dream deferred” most likely refers to the: || The dream deferred is most likely referring to the dreams of black men to become
 * What is the poem’s main message or theme?
 * The primary aspect of African American literature demonstrated in “Harlem” is || The desire for freedom from discrimination. ||


 * **Question** || **Answer** ||
 * “The Weary Blues” attempts to emulate what in its form and meter? || Rhythm of Blues. ||
 * The primary aspect of African American literature demonstrated in “Weary Blues” is || Culture-Arts and Music ||