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The Negro Speaks of Rivers
The rivers mentioned--the Euphrates, the Congo, the Nile, and the Mississippi--are all connected to the history of "the Negro." The rivers are metaphors for the history of the Negro; the three...
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The Negro Speaks of Rivers
Langston Hughes’ beautiful poem about the journeys that African-Americans have taken uses a metaphor to describe how the river, as a source of travel, is like “the flow of human blood in human...
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The Negro Speaks of Rivers
In his poem "The Negro Speaks of Rivers," Langston Hughes juxtaposes diction related to ancient times with images of youth and vitality. His purpose is to show that though the African race is...
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The Negro Speaks of Rivers
Langston Hughes's poem "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" connects the African-American race to rivers, especially ancient rivers, to show the value of the African race. Rivers fertilize soil and offer...
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The Negro Speaks of Rivers
Each of the four rivers mentioned in "The Negro Speaks of Rivers” by Langston Hughes is significant to the history of African Americans. Hughes writes about “the Euphrates when dawns were...
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The Negro Speaks of Rivers
A great question. The rivers work in several ways. Each of these reinforce the other, which is something you would want in a superior literary work. First, look at the specific rivers named. Hughes...
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We Real Cool
"We Real Cool" by Gwendolyn Brooks With her fourth volume of poetry, The Bean Eaters (1960), Gwendolyn Brooks, who was profoundly influenced by the work of Romantics John Keats and Percy Bysshe...
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The Negro Speaks of Rivers
The answer to this question is, of course, a matter of personal opinion. My own view is that such a goal is not nearly as necessary today as it was in 1920 when Langston Hughes wrote this poem....
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The Negro Speaks of Rivers
Like the poem, the answer to this question is a complex one. The poem succeeds in its attempt to have American society acknowledge African- Americans as owners of a culture given to the nation....
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The Negro Speaks of Rivers
Langston Hughes wrote and published his poem “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” at the age of nineteen after his high school graduation. He was inspired by the beauty of the Mississippi River as he...
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The Negro Speaks of Rivers
Written by Langston Hughes while on a train as he gazed out the window of the Pullman and saw the mighty Mississippi River, "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" is a poem whose theme is the role of rivers...
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The Negro Speaks of Rivers
Simply put, I am not sure the concept and idea of the poem works as well if it is written in paragraph form. I don't think that Hughes is trying to construct an essay, or some type of expository...
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The Negro Speaks of Rivers
In "The Negro Speaks of Rivers," Langston Hughes writes of rivers. Rivers are a life source and have existed throughout history. So shall the black man or woman exist throughout history. The first...
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The Negro Speaks of Rivers
I think that part of what makes each poet's expression unique in terms of what it means to be Black in America is that both poems feature the wide experience of what it means to be Black in...
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The Negro Speaks of Rivers
In comparing Langston Hughes' poem, "The Negro Speaks of Rivers," and Claude McKay's poem, "If We Must Die," the difference of the mood of the two poems is what strikes me most. McKay is...
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The Negro Speaks of Rivers
Langston Hughes' poem, "The Negro Speaks of Rivers," and Claude McKay's "If We Must Die" seem to have completely different themes and goals to me. McKay's poem clearly speaks of choosing an...
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The Negro Speaks of Rivers
"The Negro Speaks of Rivers" is one of Langston Hughes's most famous poems. He uses first-person point of view of a Negro person (it is never stated whether the narrator is male or female) in this...
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The Negro Speaks of Rivers
Much critical analysis of Hughes' poem lies in how there is a fusion of history and the experience of the individual. Hughes does an exemplary job of being able to link together the essence of...
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The Negro Speaks of Rivers
epollock's comments are very good, especially the opening focus on "human" history, not only African American history. This poem really interests me because it seems at once both racially specific...
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The Negro Speaks of Rivers
Langston Hughes has said of the poem "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" that: Many of my poems have been about the history of the Negro people. In this poem, 'The Negro Speaks of Rivers', I try to link,...
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The Negro Speaks of Rivers
As a preface to his poem, "The Negro Speaks of Rivers," Langston Hughes wrote, I had been in to dinner early that afternoon on the train. Now it was just sunset, and we crossed the Mississippi...
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The Negro Speaks of Rivers
These lines are part of the poem's essence. The idea of an individual, a Black individual, being a part of the world historical stage so as to be able to "know rivers ancient as the world," helps...
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The Negro Speaks of Rivers
It is not really possible for any of us to answer most of this question because we do not know what the rest of this unit has been about. That means that there is no way that we can know why these...
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The Negro Speaks of Rivers
I agree with the two previous posters and want to add a few more details about what there might be to appreciate in the Langston Hughes' poem "The Negro Speaks of Rivers." The speaker is...
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The Negro Speaks of Rivers
These are two very good poems to discuss together. I hadn't seen the connections before and appreciate your question. The speaker in Hughes' poem may be male, and the subject in Angelou's poem...
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The Negro Speaks of Rivers
The overall tone in the Hughes poem is one of solemn strength. The emotional connotation of the poem is that the description of the Black individual over history is one that has borne witness to...
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The Negro Speaks of Rivers
It is said that the idea for this poem came to Hughes when he crossed the Mississippi River on his way to visit his father.As an African American, the Mississippi would have been more than just a...