Langston Hughes

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that Langston Hughes employs the techniques of humor, imagery and rhythm to emphasize his points, proving himself to be a master at identifying with his African-American heritage. The author points out that Hughes often used jazz as an inspiration for his literary works by utilizing colloquial African-American dialects in a rhythmic pattern that echoes jazz as seen in his poem "The Weary Blues", which earned Hughes a first prize for poetry in 1925. The paper analyzes several of his poem---"The Weary Blues", "Song for a Dark Girl", "The Negro Speaks of Rivers", "Freedom Train" and "The Negro Artist" and "The Racial Mountain" and essays---"Temptation", "There Ought to be a Law" and "The Fun of Being Black".

From the Paper:

"In contrast to the serious nature of the African American plight, Jesse B. Simple allows Hughes to express his affirmation of the African American experience through humor. Maya Angelou states that Hughes' essays "helped us poke fun at the unjust, thereby weakening the power of injustice." Through humorous conversations with a fictional man, Hughes was able to comment on serious racial issues with a certain amount of ease. For instance, in his essay, "Temptation," Simple discusses the probability of Adam and Eve being black instead of white. He says, "If they had started out black, this world might not be in the fix it is today. Eve might not have paid that serpent no attention. I never did know a Negro yet that liked a snake" (Hughes 177). Through his unique sense of humor, Hughes proves his point that African Americans are just as capable as--even more capable than anyone else--of making a decision regarding their own fate."

More papers on Langston Hughes:

• Analytical Essay # 141518 : "Langston Hughes and his Works"
• Analytical Essay # 136006 : "Langston Hughes on Racism"
• Analytical Essay # 124827 : "Poetry of Langston Hughes"
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