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Biography.com Editors. "Langston Hughes." Biography.com. A&E Networks Television, 27 Jan. 2015. Web. 06 Apr. 2017.

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Biography.com Editors. "Langston Hughes." Biography.com. A&E Networks Television, 27 Jan. 2015. Web. 06 Apr. 2017.

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"Langston Hughes." Poets.org. Academy of American Poets, 01 Aug. 2016. Web. 06 Apr. 2017.

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"Langston Hughes." Poets.org. Academy of American Poets, 01 Aug. 2016. Web. 06 Apr. 2017.

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"Langston Hughes Biography: African-American History: Crossing Boundaries: Kansas Humanities Council." Langston Hughes Biography: African-American History: Crossing Boundaries: Kansas Humanities Council. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Apr. 2017.

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"Langston Hughes Biography: African-American History: Crossing Boundaries: Kansas Humanities Council." Langston Hughes Biography: African-American History: Crossing Boundaries: Kansas Humanities Council. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Apr. 2017.

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Hughes, Langston. "I, Too." Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, n.d. Web. 06 Apr. 2017.

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Hughes, Langston. "I, Too." Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, n.d. Web. 06 Apr. 2017.

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 Hughes, Langston. "Life Is Fine." Poets.org. Academy of American Poets, 04 Aug. 2014. Web. 06 Apr. 2017.

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 Hughes, Langston. "Life Is Fine." Poets.org. Academy of American Poets, 04 Aug. 2014. Web. 06 Apr. 2017.

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Simile - A figure of speech involving the comparison of one thing with another thing of a different kind using like or as. "Fine as wine"(Hughes, 28). The author uses this to describe the man transforming from weakling to optimistic. This transformation throughout the poem was what the author wanted to focus on because he thought change was always possible.
Assonance - The repetition of the sound of a vowel. "Life is fine! Fine as wine! Life is fine!" (Hughes, 27). In this case the vowel "i" sound was continued on to repeat.
Diction - Word choice; can be formal or informal, abstract or concrete, plain or ornate, ordinary or technical. "If that water hadn't a-been so cold [...] So since I'm still here livin'" (Hughes, 7 & 19). The author chooses to use improper grammar in certain
Couplet - A pair of rhyming lines written in the same meter. For example Shakespeare ending his sonnets with couplets "I stood there and I hollered! I stood there and I cried!"(Hughes, 14-15) The author probably wanted to repeat these lines/phrases to bring on spotlight to the certain topic that was being described at the time. The author thought that the reader needed to feel the characters experience.
Paradox - A statement that seems to be contradictory but that actually reveals some element of truth."Cold in that water!..I guess I will live on."(Hughes, 9 and 20). The author uses paradox when the character wants to commit suicide but contradicts himself by saying its to cold. This action protects the character, but the reader can see that the characters intention was never really to kill himself.
Connotation - An association that word a word calls to mind in addition to it dictionary meaning."I'll be dogged"(Hughes, 25). Instead of the author using a word like determined he uses dogged because its a more exclusive word that fits better with the poem.

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Connotation - an association that a word calls to mind in addition to its dictionary meaning. "I am the darker brother" (Hughes, 2). The author is calling himself a brother, as in a part of the family, but also uses the term "darker," showing that he is different. He does not literally mean that he is the darker brother.
Allegory - a literary work with two or more levels of meaning: one literal level and one or more symbolic levels. "But I laugh, And eat well, And grow strong" (Hughes, 5-7). When the author eats well and grows strong, that means he is literally eating food and getting nutrients from it. The symbolic meaning is that he perseveres in the face of racism, getting stronger and more rugged as he gets used to being treated in such a way.
Symbol - a person, place, object, or activity that stands for something beyond itself. "They send me to eat in the kitchen When company comes" (Hughes, 3-4). This is symbolism for white power, showing that white people oppress the black community even during the time of Langston Hughes in the early to mid 1900's.
Free Verse - poetry which is not written in a traditional meter but is still rhythmical. There are five stanzas in the poem, all without a specific pattern or amount of lines. "I, too, sing America" (Hughes, 1). This is the first stanza which is only one line, while the second stanza is 6 lines, third stanza is 7 lines, and the fourth stanza is 3 lines. There is no solid pattern to be seen.
Exergasia - repetition of the same idea, changing either its words, its delivery, or the general treatment it is given. "I, too, sing America [...] I, too, am America" (Hughes, 1 & 18). The first and last line are the same idea with a changed word. Instead of just singing about his dream of a perfect America, he is claiming that America ti be his identity, showing his confidence in the future of the country.
Epanodos - repeating the main terms of an argument in the course of presenting it. "They send me to eat in the kitchen When company comes [...] I'll be at the table When company comes" (Hughes 3-4 & 9-10). The term "When company comes" is repeated in both lines, but the line corresponding to it changes completely. In the first one, he is forced to eat without the guests out of sight because he is a slave, but in the second one, he is claiming to be a normal man who eats with his guests.

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The theme of "Life is Fine" is love, and how far your willing to go for it. This is conveyed in the poem when Hughes says "I could've died for love" (Hughes, 17). Back then before the advancement of technology peoples focus was on their family. Hughes describes love as something to die for. The structure of this poem has six stanzas with a varied refrain at the end of each one. The author describes the man as drowning, but then the man comes up because the cold lake awakens him from his state of mind of death. The author also describes that the character is going threw something and that even though the author says "Though you may hear me holler," (Hughes, 19). It means that he can't kill himself although he screams and cry's. The poem was wrote in 1949 towards the ending middle and ending of Hughes life. Hughes must have had certain feelings at the time to write this poem because the tone of this poem was more depressing and intense.

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The theme of "I, Too" is freedom, which is conveyed in the poem when Hughes talks about being a normal, free man as if it were the future. "Tomorrow, I'll be at the table When company comes, Nobody'll dare Say to me, 'Eat in the kitchen,' Then" (Hughes, 8-14). Back in the days of slavery, slaves were meant to eat their dinner in the kitchen, away from the white guests of the family as a sign of respect, but Hughes is saying that he will eat dinner with the guests as if he was a normal human-being. The structure of the poem is written in free verse, meaning that there is no pattern; this could have been done on purpose to show that African-Americans can be free and do as they please. The meaning of this poem is that Hughes wants America to be the way it was intended, freedom for all, which is obviously not the case during the time of the poem. "I, too, sing America" (Hughes, 1). This means that Hughes, along with the rest of the African-American community, sings about their dream of a true, free America. The poem is set during a time of slavery in the 1800's, way before Hughes was born. He decided to use this point in history to show that America, even though slave-free, was still rampant with racism.

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I went down to the river, I set down on the bank. I tried to think but couldn’t, So I jumped in and sank. I came up once and hollered! I came up twice and cried! If that water hadn’t a-been so cold I might’ve sunk and died. But it was Cold in that water! It was cold! I took the elevator Sixteen floors above the ground. I thought about my baby And thought I would jump down. I stood there and I hollered! I stood there and I cried! If it hadn’t a-been so high I might’ve jumped and died. But it was High up there! It was high! So since I’m still here livin’, I guess I will live on. I could’ve died for love— But for livin’ I was born Though you may hear me holler, And you may see me cry— I’ll be dogged, sweet baby, If you gonna see me die. Life is fine! Fine as wine! Life is fine!

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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.

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On February 1, 1902, famous African-American poet James Mercer Langston Hughes was born to James Hughes and Caroline Mercer Langston Hughes in Joplin, Missouri. After a few years, his parents divorced, with his father moving to Mexico, forcing him to live with his grandmother. At the age of 13, he moved to Lincoln, Illinois with his mother and her husband, where he began writing poetry. He eventually moved to Cleveland, Ohio, and after graduating highschool, moved to Mexico for a year. He then went to Columbia University and in November 1924, moved to Washington, D.C., where his first poetry book, The Weary Blues, was published in 1926. Hughes wrote poems and books in a different way than the people of his time, he wanted to show the culture of an African-American, many times trying to make it seem like he was directly speaking to them. With this way of writing, Hughes won the Harmon gold medal for literature in 1930, with his first ever novel, Not Without Laughter. At the age of 65 years old, Langston Hughes died of causes from prostate cancer on May 22, 1967 in New York City. Even after his death, his works of literature still touch and inspire the people of today's world, fighting racism and spreading the culture of African-Americans.

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