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Langston Hughes Bio

abraham_194672 — 2017-04-05 21:50:41 UTC

Langston was born on February 1, 1902. He lived in Lawrence, Kansas but had also lived in many other states and in Mexico. Hughes had enrolled at Columbia university in New York but he had already started his career as a poet before that. He launched his poetry with "The negro speaks of rivers" and he had committed to writing his poetry about African Americans. His main influences seemed to have been all African American poets mainly Walt Whitman and Carl Sandburg. In 1927 he had started his most important relationship which was with his wife. During the time of the well known world wars is when Hughes was at his peek he wrote some of his finest literature during that time. During that time it was very rough for him too because he was African American so some people might've been very racist or non supportive of an African American writing.

Dream Deferred

abraham_194672 — 2017-04-05 23:19:59 UTC

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up
Like a raisin in the sun?

Or fester like a sore--
And then run?

Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over--
like a syrup sweet?

Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

Mother to Son

abraham_194672 — 2017-04-05 23:30:14 UTC

Well, son, I'll tell you:
Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
It's had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor --
Bare.
But all the time
I'se been a-climbin' on,
And reachin' landin's,
And turnin' corners,
And sometimes goin' in the dark
Where there ain't been no light.
So boy, don't you turn back.
Don't you set down on the steps
'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.
Don't you fall now --
For I'se still goin', honey ,
I'se still climbin',
And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.

Lit Terms

abraham_194672 — 2017-04-05 23:54:23 UTC

Aphorism- a general truth or observation about life "Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?"
Analogy- a comparison made between two objects
"Does it stink like rotten meat" Deferred dream being compared to meat
Anaphora- the deliberate repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of several successive verses, clauses, or paragraphs "life for me ain't been no crystal stair"
Sadism- the tendency to derive pleasure, especially sexual gratification, from inflicting pain, suffering or humiliation on others "So boy, don't you turn back." don't turn back on your dreams
Fact- a statement that can be proved true or false by evidence "Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?" Raisins are dry in the sun
Figurative language- is writing or speech not meant to be interpreted literally "And sometimes goin' In the dark Where there ain't been no light." Dark can be interpreted as sadness and light as happiness

Mother to son explained

abraham_194672 — 2017-04-06 00:39:15 UTC

Mother to son was mainly about a mother telling her son that life is never easy. She explains that every step of the way in life their will be moments you want to give up but you should just keep fighting. For example, "It's had tacks in it, And splinters, And boards torn up," here she compares her life to stairs and tells him her life has had many bad events. But although life may not be good she tells him not to give up and keep going which she stated in the poem;"So boy, don't you turn back." She tells him their will come better days. This poem has transcendental ideology because it's showing the mothers knowledge of how culture can effect you out in the real world.

Deferred Dream explained

abraham_194672 — 2017-04-06 04:24:03 UTC

Deferred dream is mainly about what happens when you can't get what you dream of. It may just dry up. Hughes explains also how it can just fade away. "Or fester like a sore -- And then run?" Here he shows how you're dream will just go away and not everything is achievable. Next, "condemned racism and injustice,"(americaslibrary.gov) Here it shows that at the time their was a lot of racism which affected many African Americans in succeeding.

Works Cited

abraham_194672 — 2017-04-06 04:34:10 UTC

"Hughes's Life and Career--by Arnold Rampersad." Hughes's Life and Career--by Arnold Rampersad. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Apr. 2017. .

abraham_194672 — 2017-04-06 17:52:29 UTC

abraham_194672 — 2017-04-06 17:55:02 UTC

abraham_194672 — 2017-04-06 17:55:51 UTC