Langston Hughes and the Harlem Renaissance

Paper Summary:

The paper describes Langston Hughes' background and his literary works. The paper relates that Hughes is best known for his poetry, that illustrated life in America during the early 1900s. The paper analyzes one of the poems from "Montage of a Dream Deferred," his first book-length poem. The paper points out that his poems did not fit any particular mold; he was following his own dream, like that noted in the poem. However, he did not defer his dream to the future, but lived it nearly his whole life as he pushed for African-American equality and the right for all blacks to be free every aspect of their lives.

From the Paper:

"Among Hughes works are at least eight books for young readers; several of them relate the history of black people and their contributions to America. He also wrote numerous poetry books and plays and edited many works. Some of them are humorous as well. More than any other black author, Hughes wrote truthfully about black life and its difficulties. He was criticized by both blacks and whites, but he was the first black American to live completely from his writing and public lectures (Gale)."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Farrell, Walter and Johnson, Patricia. A Poetic Interpretation of Urban Black Folk Culture: Langston Hughes and the Bepop Era. MELUS 8.3 (1981): 57-82.
• Dawson, Michae. A Black Counterpublic? Economic Earthquakes, Racial Agenda(s), and Black Politics. Black Public Sphere: 199-225.
• Gale. Contemporary Authors Online. 2003. 26 March, 2006.www.galenet.com/servlet/LitIndex.
• Hughes, Langston. Montage of a Dream Deferred. New York: Holt, 1951.
• Johnson, Charles. "Jazz Poetry and Blues." Critical Essays on Langston Hughes. Ed. James Nagel: 1986, 143-147.

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