Langston Hughes Group at eNotes

Langston Hughes, the author of "Theme for English B," was born into a...

Wed, 9 Dec 2009 09:50:19 PST

Langston Hughes, the author of "Theme for English B," was born into a time when African Americans were beginning to move towards becoming educated in ways that had formerly been denied to their parents. Hughes writes about being the only colored person in his class. He is full of youth and desires and things to experience. He does not fully know himself yet. He is aware that he is still growing. However, he is also aware that the...

Can anybody help me analyze deeply the setting in "Theme for English B"...

Wed, 9 Dec 2009 09:21:29 PST

Can anybody help me analyze deeply the setting in "Theme for English B" by Langston Hughes please?

This is probably one of Hughes' most powerful works. The structure of...

Tue, 8 Dec 2009 03:00:16 PST

This is probably one of Hughes' most powerful works. The structure of it is four stanza-ed poem. The first stanza consists of an instructor's words, while the last one is a line consisting of the speaker's. The middle two are the speaker's own internal analysis of the subjective and external conditions experienced. There are some rhymes, but I don't see these are overall the most important elements. The theme of the poem explains the...

I have to give an explanation of the theme and structure in Theme for...

Mon, 7 Dec 2009 20:24:04 PST

I have to give an explanation of the theme and structure in Theme for English B, expanding it to the tone,so I'm confused.

Part of what makes this poem so powerful is the idea that individuals...

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 04:30:41 PST

Part of what makes this poem so powerful is the idea that individuals play a vital role in constructing their own sense of reality. The opening lines or the assignment takes this to a simple, yet alarmingly complex, level. When the instructor asks the students to essentially construct truth, it is at this point where Hughes takes off in his exploration. Indeed, part of this journey is to articulate what it means to be black in the social...

I think he's trying to say a few things: He's trying to say that at some...

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 21:32:44 PST

I think he's trying to say a few things: He's trying to say that at some level people of different races are not that different. But at the same time, he's not at all sure that what's true for him as a 22 year-old black person is the same as what's true for his older, white teacher. He's trying to say that white and black Americas (if they are separate things) are tied up with one another, somehow connected whether they want to be or not. So...

Read "Theme for English B" by Langston Hughes.

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 21:16:29 PST

Read "Theme for English B" by Langston Hughes.

It depends on the boy, I'm sure. Some 12-year-olds are much more mature...

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:29:12 PST

It depends on the boy, I'm sure. Some 12-year-olds are much more mature than others. In American culture, at risk of oversimplifying, we tend to view all children as completely lacking in self-understanding (and a number of other things) and thus we tend to see them as unable to make their own important decisions. According to the theories of Jean Piaget, however, some 12-year-olds have already reached the highest stage of cognitive...

Do you agree that a 12-year-old boy like Langston has the necessary...

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 18:19:47 PST

Do you agree that a 12-year-old boy like Langston has the necessary background knowledge to help him have a good assessment or self understanding?

The whole theme of Langston Hughes's "Mother to Son" is that it is...

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 20:54:01 PST

The whole theme of Langston Hughes's "Mother to Son" is that it is necessary to keep working hard, to keep climbing, in order to get ahead. The diction (choice of words) and imagery of the poem reinforce that. The central image of the poem is the stairway. This image encourages us to think about the upward progress that the mother wants her son to make. This image, with its talk of splinters, and twists and darkness reinforces the theme...

Explain how diction and imagery reinforce the theme of "Mother to Son"...

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 20:06:06 PST

Explain how diction and imagery reinforce the theme of "Mother to Son" by Langston Hughes.

What Langston Hughes is saying about the American Dream is that it is,...

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 11:48:15 PST

What Langston Hughes is saying about the American Dream is that it is, essentially, everything in life. Look at what he says about dreams -- if they die, then you have nothing, you can't fly, you're a field where nothing can grow. If you agree with what Hughes is saying, then you would say that a life without dreams, without the drive to get ahead and realize the American Dream, is a useless life that will never soar and will never produce...

What is the poem "Dreams" by Langston Hughes saying about the American...

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 11:33:01 PST

What is the poem "Dreams" by Langston Hughes saying about the American Dream?

I agree with the previous poster, but I would like to add that in...

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:47:37 PST

I agree with the previous poster, but I would like to add that in addition to the poetry, short stories, and plays that Hughes is best known for, he's also the author of a great number of essays, including his early essay "The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain." Like many African American artists before and after him, Hughes struggled with what it meant to be an American, a black man, and an artist. Many of his works seem very optimistic to...

To answer this question fully, I think it would be necessary to compare...

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 07:26:07 PST

To answer this question fully, I think it would be necessary to compare and contrast specific works. I don't have such works on hand at the moment, but I'm confident that I can make a generalization or two. The two writers both address racial discimination in the early 20th century, but they do so in different ways. Hughes is well known for his use of humor and subtle irony, his technigue, as he calls it in more than one place, of "laughing to...

How do Langston Hughes and Richard Wright address the idea of race in...

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 06:35:07 PST

How do Langston Hughes and Richard Wright address the idea of race in America? How would you describe the overall tone of their work?

The primary setting of the Revival is critical to Hughes' work. The...

Mon, 9 Nov 2009 16:02:48 PST

The primary setting of the Revival is critical to Hughes' work. The staging of it, the elevated platform where all the children who took the name of the Lord in order to be "saved," as well as the crowd and their expressions are all vital to the development of the story. The narrator is probably the most critical character, as we understand more of his own sense of spirituality and the perception of the world, in the process. Along with...

What significant roles do the setting and the supporting characters play...

Sun, 8 Nov 2009 17:33:06 PST

What significant roles do the setting and the supporting characters play in the story "Salvation" by Langston Hughes?

Oh poet, I am a friend of yours, and I say: If you are confronted with a...

Sun, 8 Nov 2009 10:32:15 PST

Oh poet, I am a friend of yours, and I say: If you are confronted with a wall that blocks you from getting to your dream which is on the other side of the wall, you have a number of choices: You can try to climb over the wall; you can try to dig under the wall; you can try to break down the wall; you can, in its dark, oppressive shadow, try to slowly chip away at the wall; or you can try to go around the wall. Or You can try to see the...

Imagine you are a friend of the black boy in the poem " AS I GREW OLDER...

Sun, 8 Nov 2009 07:25:32 PST

Imagine you are a friend of the black boy in the poem " AS I GREW OLDER " by Langston Hughes .How would you help him to find his dream?