Langston Hughes

TPCASST - "Cross"

KEY:

*allusion

*repetition

*letters represent the rhyme scheme

( - ) = no rhyme scheme

My old man's a white old man ( - )

And my old mother's black. ( a )

If ever I cursed my white old man

I take my curses back. ( a )

If ever I cursed my black old mother ( - )

And wished she were in hell, ( b )

I'm sorry for that evil wish ( - )

And now I wish her well ( b )

My old man died in a fine big house. ( - )

My ma died in a shack. ( a )

I wonder where I'm going to die, ( - )

Being neither white nor black? ( a )

Title: The title has a religious meaning, or perhaps pertains to death.

Paraphrase: The speaker had a white father and a black mother. Looking back on it, he takes back all the curses that he uttered about his father or his mother. While his father died relatively wealthy, his mother died poor.

Connotation:

Form - There is no set form.

Imagery - Present throughout the poem, when the speaker describes his parents ("My old man's a white old man / And my old mother's black" lines 1-2) and also in the last verses, when the speaker describes where the died ("My old man died in a fine big house. / My ma died in a shack" (lines 9-10).

Symbolism - The different races of the parents symbolize the rights and privileges and the lack thereof. Indeed, the entirety of the poem itself symbolizes racism - while both the father and the mother were the speakers' parents, the black mother died in a miserable state while the white father died in a better state ("in a fine big house", line 9).

Figurative Language - (see above)

Speaker - Someone of mixed heritage, with a black mother and a white father, and who, at first, expressed anger but later forgave them ("If ever I cursed my white old man / I take my curses back. / If ever I cursed my black old mother... / And now I wish her well" lines 3-9).

Audience - Possibly a close acquaintance of the speaker, as the speaker reveals is heritage and his past actions, along with the fact that he asks the audience where he was going to die, "being neither white nor black" (line 12).

Attitude: The speaker's attitude seems to be skeptical, as he questions where he is going to die in the last verses

The author's attitude is pessimistic and also possibly disdainful, but on a lesser scale - although he apoligizes for any curses he threw upon his parents, the fact that he still questions where he will die reveals that he is still hung up on the burdens his parents gave him.

Shifts: There is a shift between line 9 and 10 - in the first verses, the speaker has a forgiving tone, apologizing for any curses that he had said upon his mother and father, and recognizes the fact that he is both black and white. However, after line 9, he abruptly points out almost aggressively that his father died wealthy while his mother died poor and questions where he is going to die, since he was neither white nor black.

Title: The title signifies the burden the speaker has to carry, much like Jesus carrying the cross, from having both a white and black parent. It also connects to the allusion of religion, also found in the mention of "hell" in line 6. The title also contradicts the line's closing verses - the cross usually signifies salvation, but in the last lines the speaker is uncertain about where he is going to die due to his race.

Theme: Race should not define who you are or ow you live your life.

TPCASST - "Dreams"

KEY:

*personification

*metaphor

*repetition

*letters represent the rhyme scheme

( - ) = no rhyme scheme

Hold fast to dreams ( - )

For if dreams die ( a )

Life is a broken-winged bird ( - )

That cannot fly. ( a )

Hold fast to dreams ( - )

For when dreams go ( b )

Life is a barren field ( - )

Frozen with snow. ( b )

Title: The title suggests that dreams are possibly important in life.

Paraphrase: Hold on to dreams, because if you let your own hopes and aspirations go life becomes pointless.

Connotation:

Form - There is no set form.

Imagery - Present throughout the poem, most prominent in lines 3-4 "Life is a broken-winged bird / That cannot fly" and lines 7-8 "Life is a barren field / Frozen with snow".

Symbolism - Although pretty straightforward, dreams symbolize ambitions and that barren fields and birds with broken wings represent life.

Figurative Language - (see above)

Speaker - Someone giving advice on the importance of dreams in life, possibly a person who wants others to learn from his mistakes

Audience - A younger group of people because the topic is hopes and ambitions - it is in the early stages of life and when you're at your prime where such things still hold importance

Attitude: The speaker's attitude seems to be hopeful, as he informs readers to never give up on dreams. However, his attitude can also be seen as regretful, as if the speaker himself had let go of his dreams and and was now telling others to not do what he did.

The poet's author's attitude is lyrical, as he seems to feel strongly about the topic of dreams and how important it is to hold on to them - otherwise, life becomes "a broken-winged bird / That cannot fly" (lines 3-4) and "a barren field / Frozen with snow" (lines 7-8).

Shifts: none

Title: The title signifies the connotative meaning of the word "dreams" - on an interpretive level, "dreams" throughout the poem signify hopes and aspirations and the underlying message to never give up on them.

Theme: Without dreams and hopes, life is insignificant.

TPCASST - "Harlem"

KEY:

*simile

*alliteration

*personification

*letters represent the rhyme scheme

( - ) = no rhyme scheme

What happens to a dream deferred? ( - )

Does it dry up ( - )

like a raisin in the sun? ( a )

Or fester like a sore— ( - )

And then run? ( a )

Does it stink like rotten meat? ( b )

Or crust and sugar over— ( - )

like a syrupy sweet? ( b )

Maybe it just sags ( - )

like a heavy load. ( c )

Or does it explode? ( c )

Title: The title describes a city in New York. Maybe it symbolizes the cultural movement of the Harlem Renaissance.

Paraphrase: The speaker questions what happens to a postponed dream. Does it shrivel like a raisin or rot like meat, or does it become sugary like a sweet? He asks whether the dream will sag or explode.

Connotation:

Form - There is no set form.

Imagery - Present throughout the poem - the author connects the idea of a postponed dream to objects who rot over time. Some powerful visual imagery occurs in lines 2-4 ("Does it dry up / like a raisin in the sun? / Or fester like a sore- / And then run?") and lines 9-10 ("Maybe it just sags / like a heavy load."), and some olfactory imagery in lines 6-8 ("Does it stink like rotten meat?/ Or crust and sugar over-/ like a syrupy sweet?")

Symbolism - The deferred dream symbolizes postponed hopes and the putting away of what you truly want to do in life. The explosion symbolizes the pain and missed chance in the end.ON the other hand, the deferred dreams might also symbolize human rights and the explosion symbolizing violence.

Figurative Language - (see above)

Speaker - Someone who is criticizing those who are putting their dream on hold and attempting to make them realize that dreams will disappear over time.

Audience - Anyone with dreams and has decided to postpone them; possibly a more younger audience, as those who are older might not have the same ambitions they did when they were in their prime

Attitude: The speaker's attitude is inquisitive and fanciful, thinking up of what happens to postponed dreams in odd ways (i.e. rotten meat, syrup sweat, heavy load).

The author's attitude is judgemental, ridiculing even and sarcastic in the connections he makes with postponed dreams to festered sores and rotten meat.

Shifts: There is a shift between line 10 and the final verse. While the earlier comparisons are more light-hearted, with similes to rotten meat and sores, the last comparison - "Or does it explode?" (line 11) - has a more serious undertone to it. If you put off your ambitions, will it ignite and not only destroy your dream but also bring you down with it?

Title: The title might be a reference to the fact that, at least in Hughes' position, Harlem was a place of dreams and aspirations for ambitious African-American writers. To Hughes, those who did not participate in the cultural movement with the excuse of putting it off for later might be the audience for the poem - if you postpone that dream now, it might explode and you'll miss your chance. Indeed, another perspective to the poem is that if people (African-Americans, in this case) are not given their rights,, or their dreams are deferred, their passivity might turn into violence (hence the explosion in the last verse).

Theme: Putting off you truly want to do in life will only hurt you in the end.

TPCASST - "Mother to Son"

KEY:

*extended metaphor between crystal stair and life

*imagery

*no rhyme scheme ( - )

( - ) Well, son, I’ll tell you:

Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.

It’s had tacks in it,

And splinters,

And boards torn up,

And places with no carpet on the floor—

Bare.

But all the time

I’se been a-climbin’ on,

And reachin’ landin’s,

And turnin’ corners,

And sometimes goin’ in the dark

Where there ain’t been no light.

So boy, don’t you turn back.

Don’t you set down on the steps

’Cause you finds it’s kinder hard.

Don’t you fall now—

For I’se still goin’, honey,

I’se still climbin’,

And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.

Title: The title sets the poem up for an interaction between a mother and her son.

Paraphrase: This is a conversation from a mother to her son. Life, she tells him, was not easy - but it is through persistence that the mother made it through Therefore, as word of advice, the mother tells the boy to never give up , as the mother was still climbing the stairs of life.

Connotation:

Form - Free verse, Dramatic Monologue

Imagery - (see above)

Symbolism - The crystal stair symbolizes the journey of life - this is also an extended metaphor in the poem.

Figurative Language - (see above)

Speaker - A mother giving advice to her son.

Audience - The son, who is listening to his mom.

Attitude: The speaker's attitude is forthright and almost indignant as the mother advises her son to continue on and to never give up because there are difficulties wherever you go in life.

The author's attitude is didactic and reflective, revealing to the reader that life is no "crystal stair" but like the mother, you still have to push on.

Shifts: There is a shift after line 7. The opening verses described the difficulties of life and how it is no crystal stair ("It's had tacks in it, / And splinters,/ And boards torn up", lines 3-5). After line 7 a more hopeful tone and one that is more commanding takes over as the mother tells the son that she was persistent despite the obstacles ("I'se been a-climbin' on, / And reachin' landin's,/ And turning' corners,", lines 9-11). She then urges her boy to not turn back, as she was able to trudge forward.

Title: The title reveals the conversation between the mother and son and the advice she gives.

Theme: Never give up while climbing the stairs of life.

TPCASST - "I, Too"

KEY:

*metaphor

*alliteration

*repetition

*letters represent the rhyme scheme

( - ) = no rhyme scheme

(-) I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother.

They send me to eat in the kitchen

When company comes,

But I laugh,

And eat well,

And grow strong.

Tomorrow,

I'll be at the table

When company comes.

Nobody'll dare

Say to me,

"Eat in the kitchen,"

Then.

Besides,

They'll see how beautiful I am

And be ashamed--

I, too, am America.

Title: The title sounds like a reference to Walt Whitman's "I, Too, Am America." - might be suggestive of adoration about American society.

Paraphrase: The speaker, an African-American, is facing racism and segregation - when company arrives, he is sent to eat in the kitchen. However, he knows that in the future he'll be at the same table as them and nobody would dare tell him to move. Indeed, they'll be too shocked at what they had failed to see about him (his beauty) - for he, too, is an American.

Connotation:

Form - Free verse

Imagery - Present throughout the poem - the author connects the idea of a postponed dream to objects who rot over time. Some powerful visual imagery occurs in lines 2-4 ("Does it dry up / like a raisin in the sun? / Or fester like a sore- / And then run?") and lines 9-10 ("Maybe it just sags / like a heavy load."), and some olfactory imagery in lines 6-8 ("Does it stink like rotten meat?/ Or crust and sugar over-/ like a syrupy sweet?")

Symbolism - The deferred dream symbolizes postponed hopes and the putting away of what you truly want to do in life. The explosion symbolizes the pain and missed chance in the end.ON the other hand, the deferred dreams might also symbolize human rights and the explosion symbolizing violence.

Figurative Language - (see above)

Speaker - An African-American worker, maybe a domestic servant, as "When company comes" (line 4), he is sent to eat in the kitchen.

Audience - The audience is most likely to every American. The poem itself is a proclamation, a statement declaring that the speaker is an American despite the fact that he is black.

Attitude: The speaker's attitude is optimistic and confident, as seen when he declares that "Tomorrow, / I'll be a the table" (lines 8-9) and that "Nobody'll dare / Say to me, / "Eat in the kitchen/ Then" (lines 11-14).

The author's attitude is satiric in the fact that, during this time period, such "overconfidence" that the speaker is showing might've been gawked at bur reveals the true meaning of equality. The author's tone is also reflective in that the poem reflects his innermost thoughts o n the issue of race and segregation.

Shifts: none

Title: The title is a reference to Walt Whitman's "I, Too, Am America" poem but in the perspective of the oppressed - although it differs from Whitman's in the unequality present from the speaker's point-of-view, it is similar in the hope and optimism for a better American society in the future.

Theme: True change begins in yourself.

TPCASST - "The Negro Speaks of Rivers"

KEY:

*allusion

*simile

*imagery

*personification

*letters represent the rhyme scheme

( - ) = no rhyme scheme

I’ve known rivers:

I’ve known rivers ancient as the world and older than the

flow of human blood in human veins.

My soul has grown deep like the rivers.

I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young.

I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep.

I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it.

I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln

went down to New Orleans, and I’ve seen its muddy

bosom turn all golden in the sunset.

I’ve known rivers:

Ancient, dusky rivers.

My soul has grown deep like the rivers.

Title: The title describes an African-American talking about rivers and possibly the importance of them in his daily life.

Paraphrase: The speaker says that he, or the African-Americans and their heritage have known rivers all their lives - they have bathed in the Euphrates, built huts near the Congo, looked upon the Nile, and heard the Missisippi when Abraham Lincoln made his down to New Orleans. Indeed, the speaker concludes with the statement that his spirit is as strong as the waters that his people have used for centuries.

Connotation:

Form - Free verse, Dramatic Monologue

Imagery - (see above)

Symbolism - The "I" in the poem symbolizes all African-Americans and the rivers themselves represent their history and spirit.

Figurative Language - (see above)

Speaker - Possibly all African-Americans.

Audience - Anyone; maybe Americans who doubt the spirit of blacks

Attitude: The speaker's attitude is inquisitive and fanciful, thinking up of what happens to postponed dreams in odd ways (i.e. rotten meat, syrup sweat, heavy load).

The author's attitude is judgemental, ridiculing even and sarcastic in the connections he makes with postponed dreams to festered sores and rotten meat.

Shifts: none

Title: The title describes not only one African-American speaking of rivers but describes the extended metaphor of the all African-Americans and their history of the rivers, along with their spirit.

Theme: Nature, Perseverance, Race; The nature around you can influence your spirit.

Langston Hughes

presented by Gavin Wu

Works Cited

• “Langston Hughes.” Contemporary Heroes and Heroines. Vol. 2. Detroit: n.p., 1992. N. pag. Gale: Biography in Context. Web. 11 Nov. 2014. <http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/bic1/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow?failOverType=&query=&prodId=BIC1&windowstate=normal&contentModules=&display-query=&mode=view&displayGroupName=Reference&dviSelectedPage=&limiter=&u=lnoca_orange&currPage=&source=&disableHighlighting=true&displayGroups=&sortBy=&zid=&search_within_results=&p=BIC1&action=e&catId=GALE%7C00000000MPQT&activityType=&scanId=&documentId=GALE%7CK1607000131>.
• Lewis, Leon. “Langston Hughes.” Twentieth-Century Young Adult Writers. By Laura Standley Berger. Detroit: St. James, 1994. N. pag. Twentieth-Century Writers Series. Gale: Literature Resource Center. Web. 11 Nov. 2014. <http://go.galegroup.com/ps/retrieve.do?sgHitCountType=None&sort=RELEVANCE&inPS=true&prodId=LitRC&userGroupName=lnoca_orange&tabID=T001&searchId=R1&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&contentSegment=&searchType=BasicSearchForm&currentPosition=3&contentSet=GALE%7CH1420004147&&docId=GALE|H1420004147&docType=GALE&role=LitRC>.
• Rampersand, Arnold. “Langston Hughes.” Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History. N.p.: n.p., 2006. N. pag. Gale: Biography in Context. Web. 11 Nov. 2014. <http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/bic1/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow?failOverType=&query=&prodId=BIC1&windowstate=normal&contentModules=&display-query=&mode=view&displayGroupName=Reference&dviSelectedPage=&limiter=&u=lnoca_orange&currPage=&source=&disableHighlighting=&displayGroups=&sortBy=&zid=&search_within_results=&p=BIC1&action=e&catId=&activityType=&scanId=&documentId=GALE%7CK3444700629>.

Body, Themes & Style

Throughout his lifetime, Langston Hughes has written an extensive collection of literary works. Among these include gospel plays, such as Black Nativity (1961), an autobiography titled The Big Sea, and several short stories compiled into a collection called The Ways of White Folks. However, out of all these genres, Hughes considered himself a poet. It is estimated that he has written over 300 poems, compiled in The Weary Blues, Fine Clothes to the Jew, and Montage of a Dream Deferred. The body of his work and its central themes pertain to the day-to-day life of African-Americans. It is through his works where he offers a glimpse to the black culture that he had grown up in. Indeed, he was driven by a desire to “explain and illuminate the Negro condition in America,” and was able to do so through the combination of the blues and the language of the black community into poetry.

Influences & Impacts

Although a feeling of optimism and a spirit of hope is present in his poetry, Hughes delves into the grim topic of racial hatred that was overwhelmingly present in the society he lived in. Although he never went so far as to have a bitter tone towards such subjects, the themes of his poems often deal with American society, such as the theme of racism (such as in “Cross” and “I, Too”), wisdom (in “Mother to Son”), and aspirations (as in “As I Grew Older” and “Dreams”). Although Hughes implemented a majority of styles into his poetic works, it should be noted that like Carl Sandburg and Edgar Lee Masters, his poems sought to reach a wider audience rather than a small group of literary critics. His poems were meant for the people, verses that he hoped would inspire and tell the story of African-American life from his own experiences. As a result, Hughes’ poems often intermingle traditional English poetic forms with the street speech that had surrounded him growing up and through the voice of the black community. Much like Walt Whitman, one of Hughes’ favorite poets, Hughes sought for a singular American voice in his works. Indeed, his poems do not alienate readers with difficult language or an elite degree of literacy but rather depicts African-American issues in the frame of questioning humanity itself in an almost casual way.

“I didn’t know the upper class Negroes well enough to write about them,” Hughes once said. “I knew only the people I had grown up with, and they weren’t people whose shoes were always shined, who had been to Harvard, or who had heard of Bach. But they seemed to me good people, too.” Indeed, much of Hughes’ poetry revolves around the daily lives of African-Americans, and it is through this perspective that Hughes truly revealed the essence of black culture. His two favorite poets, Carl Sandburg and Walt Whitman, along with the works of Vachel Lindsay and Edgar Lee Masters, not only inspired his style but also allowed him to pursue a wide audience rather than a literary elite. Another large impact that changed Hughes’ was the publication of The Weary Blues by Carl Van Vechten and his publisher Knopf. It could be said that it was Van Vechten and his exposure of Hughes which contributed the most to his initial popularity and literary career.

It was through the “workers, roustabouts, and singers, and job hunters on Lenox Avenue in New York, or Seventh Street in Washington or South State in Chicago”, however, lives whom Hughes had known and could relate to in his own life, that is the timepiece of his poetry. It is also through this view where Hughes explores the discrimination and racism of his age - although he faced criticism from his fellow African-Americans for his descriptions of everyday Black people, it was from these very people that Hughes was able to depict the inequality that was rampant throughout American society. Although never making a militant stand in terms of his views, Hughes’ voice and gentle storytelling in poems such as “I, Too” and “Dreams” attack the issue of racism just as effectively, or even more so, than the diatribes and rants that began to appear in the African-American literature in the late twentieth century. It can also be said that his constant moving around - from cities like Kansas to Cleveland and New York - and his eagerness to travel had the greatest impact on both his work and life. It was through the meeting of so many people in so many places that pushed his vision of a world where all races would one day live together in peace and harmony.

History

A brilliant poet and author, Langston Hughes was one of the most prominent figures of the early twentieth century Harlem Renaissance. Born in Joplin, Missouri on February 1st, 1902 to James and Carrie Langston Hughes, Hughes’ early life was one of constant migration. His father had left the family when Hughes was only a small child and his mother was busy finding work; his care fell under his grandmother, and he spent much of his childhood growing up in Lawrence, Kansas. As he grew older, Hughes’ interest in literature began to show - he wrote poetry in his high school newspaper in Cleveland, Ohio, and sought his father’s help in Mexico for financial help in enrolling at Columbia University and become a poet. Hughes withdrew from the university however, began immersing himself in the growing cultural movement of the Harlem Renaissance, and supported himself in various odd jobs (he worked as a mess man on ships in Africa and washed dishes in a Paris nightclub).

"I have discovered in life that there are ways of getting almost anywhere you want to go, if you really want to go."

- Langston Hughes

Although a writer of novels, magazine articles, and plays, Hughes had always considered himself a poet. His first published poem, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”, was published in 1921 while he was still studying at Columbia. His first breakthrough in poetry came in 1925 with the increasing popularity of his The Weary Blues. Fine Clothes to the The Jew, a collection of poems describing the lives of those at the bottom of society, was also published. Although praised by literary magazines, African-Americans condemned the work for degrading black people in the United States. However, in the 1930s Hughes began facing crises in terms of writing - as a remedy, he often travelled, and throughout the years visited countries such as China, Haiti, Japan, and Mexico. It was also during this time that he began developing a sense of political radicalism. Although not a member of the American Communist Party, Hughes saw the Soviet Union and its ideals as a symbol of hope for the rest of the world. These beliefs would result in backlash in his later years.

• born on February 1st, 1902.
• died on May 22nd, 1967.
• raised by his grandmother and family friends after his father left the family and his went to find work
• was a prominent figure in the Harlem Renaissance
• recognized as the "Laureate of Black America"
• his works reflect his ideal of "good people" and a hope in humanity but also deals with the subject of racism during his time

Throughout his literary career, Hughes endured the criticism from his fellow African-Americans and became a symbol for his people. His works were never as militant as the African-American writers in later years but rather told the stories of everyday African-American life. Through his poetry and gentle humor, Hughes revealed that no matter the skin color, we all play a beneficial part, no matter how big or small, in the game that we call life - to Hughes, this was what America was supposed to be.