Poems for Wednesday (pp.3-45)
Afro-American Fragment
The Negro Speaks of Rivers
Aunt Sue’s Stories
Negro
As I Grew Older
Dream Variations
The Weary Blues
Could Be
Early Evening Quarrel
Evil
Answer TWO of the following as a Comment
below:
1. Explain how Hughes uses poetry to discuss
the issue of racial identity in ONE of the poems above. What does it mean to be African-American
during the early 20th century?
How does the poem, like McKay’s America
(which we discussed in class) help us see through the eyes of an ‘outsider’
who belongs, yet doesn’t belong, in mainstream American society?
2. How does Hughes use dialect or the slang
of everyday speech to color his poetry?
Why is this important to him, even though many mainstream
readers/critics might reject it as ‘uncivilized’? How does this language help us read/hear the
poem itself? (you might consider that
Hughes was influenced by blues and jazz and wanted his poems to sound like this music).
3. In poems like “The Negro Speaks of
Rivers,” “Aunt Sue’s Stories,” and “Negro,” Hughes uses history or historical
events as a metaphor. How does this
work? How does history help us ‘see’ who
he is—and who his people are? Consider
how, in a poem like “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” the poet could have “bathed
in the Euprhates…raised the pyramids above [the Nile]…and “heard the singing of
the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln went down to New Orleans” (4).
4. In traditional literature/poetry, “white”
is a positive color and “black” a negative color. How does Hughes play with this tradition in
his poetry, and how does “black” become a very different metaphor in many of
these poems?
Kendall Dobbs:
ReplyDelete2. The dialect that Hughes uses sets his work apart from the normal. It allows him to put emphasis on words, phrases, and ideas that are important to his culture. Similar to Monet in painting, I feel as if Hughes didn’t write to fulfill the expectations that other people put on him and his poems. The ‘slang’ that he uses makes his poetry more authentic to the time. Hughes seems to want to reflect the world he lived in and to do that he had to us a certain dialect.
4. In “Negro”(pg. 8), Hughes uses the term “black” to play onto what ‘outsiders’ think AND to explain his own definition of black: “I am a Negro: Black as the night is black, Black like the depths of my Africa.” In this phrase, it seems that Hughes uses the word black to define Negro which is what would be expected from outsiders. Yet, the way that he writes the word in this “definition of Negro” seems to be a point of pride. He seems to be saying, “I am proud to be black, as black as the night. I am proud that my heritage is from Africa.” It seems that Hughes uses this word as a symbol of pride in his identity rather than a negative stereotype?
2. I think knowing his race and reading the poems make the reading easier. Poems usually have a rhythm of there own and putting these in tone bring out the flow in the poems. People may criticize but every one learns a language and it’s usually taught by one person and what works sticks.
ReplyDelete3. People write about what they know. In this case he wrote about where he came from and where he came to.
Casey Bear
Josh Coats
ReplyDelete2. I think the dialect Hughes uses is critical to portraying how people spoke during that time. Sometimes reading this dialect can be kind of hard to understand, but Hughes uses it so eloquently that it actually makes the reading easy to understand. Morning After is quite hysterical and I think the use of some grammar/dialect helps to capture the humor in the writing.
4. "As I Grew Older" --the connotation of black is very negative because Hughes uses it and compares it to a shadow that, I think, illustrates his dream becoming less visible. I think the third stanza, "Shadow. I am black.", is him almost talking to this "wall" that's been build up and him finally saying aloud that his dreams have turned into shadows because he's black.
Stormee Chestra
ReplyDelete2. He uses his use of slang as an advantage that helps him set his writing apart from other authors. His use of slang puts emphasis on his words and makes the words more alive in a sense. He is proud of his heritage. He didn't write to impress other people, but he wrote to what he felt around him.
4. He explains that he is proud to be a black man and that what others see are darknees, hatred, etc. He uses the word "Negro" as a sense of pride. He's proud that his heritage is from Africa and that he is black as the night.
Number Two: Hughes uses dialect to keep the time period and culture more real, more alive. He is authentic in it's use. For example in "Feet O' Jesus" the way he uses the "O" and the "yo;" and even the term "Lordy" is more than likely what the actual words sang in the songs sang by the slaves that later developed into gospel. This would NOT be the same if changed to Oh, Your and Lord for example.
ReplyDeleteIn his poems and lyrics, Hughes portrays the term "black" as something not at all negative, but as a description that can make the reader "see" how beautiful someone is for example, or how it lends to the sweetness, such as in Aunt Sue. You can see her face and her hands and the softness of the child she is holding.
ReplyDeleteTeresa Buretta
ReplyDelete2) In the poem "Early Evening Quarrel" Hughes uses slang that would have been (and possibly still is) used in Harlem at the time he was writing. This made his work relatable to the people who lived there. He was intelligent and educated, but foremost he was African American, and wanted other African Americans to identity with him and for non-African Americans to recognize him for who and what he was.
3) Hughes' metaphors in these poems represent not only him but his people as a whole-their race, their history, their very identity. They were Americans, but they were also much more. Their history did not begin in America; it began at the dawn of time. Hughes identified strongly with this heritage.
Nikki Ennis
ReplyDelete2. I think Hughes uses slang in his poems to make it more relatable to his audience--other African Americans who have been uneducated for most of their lives. Its his way of connecting to them, and to his roots. I love that he does this, even though he was highly educated. I feel like its sort of his way of remembering where he came from, and speaking to those who also remember that way of life.
4. Hughes is constantly comparing his skin to "darkness" and "night" throughout his poems. However, I don't think he's merely trying to replace the word "black". I think he's taking note of the underlying meaning of "black" to white society. They think "black" to mean "dark" --but not in color. They think of it more in a "good vs. evil" or "light vs. dark" way.
Stefan Schodlbauer
ReplyDelete2) I believe, that Hughes uses this can of dialect to emphasizes more about the period of time where the poems took place. The reader can feel how the author introduces to you a certain kind of "sense" about the time where the author lived. It is not easy to combined both things (dialect and sense), that is way Hughes is a great poet.
4) First of all, when we read poems we have to take into account the different meanings that each word can have. In this case, he uses the word "Negro" (in Spanish is black) to emphasizes where he came from (Africa). From my point of view, he feels proud to be called as Negro and he wants to tell the world that he is not shy because of that.
Nesha Pickens
ReplyDelete2) Hughes uses the dialect to express how proud he is of being African American. Hughes has his own way of expressing feelings with words and that's what sets him differently from others. The metaphors he uses helps people understand from his point of view. Adding humor to the poems is what makes it easier to read and understand where he is coming from.
4) Being "black " in those times were very challenging. Its considered negative and all people see is hatred. In his poems he uses the word "Negro" as being proud of who he is and where he came from. I feel he plays with tradition by taking the negative people see and turning it into something positive with a slight humor.
Amory Morgan
ReplyDelete2. Hughes' play on words is different than others. he has a different way of expressing the way that he feels. He uses different metaphors that different people can relate to and interpret differently. I feel like you can understand where he is coming from because he uses simple metaphors that when interpreted can be explained easily. Although you wouldn't be able to feel exactly what he felt you could see where he was coming from.
4. Black back then was extremely negative because that was just the time. How white deemed it fitting to be negative. Although in his poetry you could tell he was proud of who he was, you could also see the struggles of what he went through. He uses the metaphor " almost night, black like me"-- something like that. he says that proudly, but also you can feel what that must have meant back then.
3 Summer Junek
ReplyDeleteThe way Hughes uses his words speaks volumes of the stereotype that he writes to overcome. Not that he was ashamed but quite the opposite. The wisdom and passion was there in the style he wrote and his word usage the ignorance that was forced upon the slaves or African Americans of different earlier times as well who were made to teach themselves as best they could. Also at times he is quite the comedian the words he used were to fit in a way to express that.
2.) Langston Hughes was a prideful man and wasn't afraid to show it. He used this certain dialect to relate to a wider audience, those who are literate and those who aren't as much. Langston was showing that his dialect was because of his background that he grew up in. In a way, Langston uses this dialect in a witty way. He talks about everyday situations and puts it in a context that everyone can relate to and understand. Langston Hughes got his point across in a way that everyone could understand.
ReplyDelete4. Langston was breaking the color barriers that he thought should never have existed. He used the word "black" as a positive message, and makes the assumption that people are blind if they cant look past the color of a persons skin. In the poem, "Negro", Langston proclaims to the world that he is proud of his color and ethnicity, and clearly defines what a negro is. He sends the message that it isn't a bad thing to be black. He wouldn't want it any other way, and for a white person, they have to respect that. Langston reasons that "white" and "black" shouldn't be a way to define a person, but by his or her character, much like Martin Luther King. He isn't afraid to show his face, and is not ashamed of who he is, therefore respect is due to him and anybody else who is proud of who they are and where they came from.
Weston Haynes (Comment up top)
ReplyDeleteWalter Braxton Reeves
ReplyDelete2. In my opinion, Hughes uses his slang/language as a way to not only to connect with blacks at this time, but to also set his self away from other poets. I feel as if he wanted people to say, "He is a poet, but he is good at what he does, and he's BLACK!"
4. At this time in the world, it was ALWAYS known that "White" meant good, and "Black" meant bad/dark. Hughes used that to his advantage. He made it where black was cool and where it didn't necessarily mean "Bad". Hughes made the world take a step back and say, "Black isn't so bad, and its okay to be black" at a time where not very many people had the balls to do so.
Destiny Coley
ReplyDelete2. I believe that understanding their race makes reading the poetry easer to understand. While understanding his race, we could also be able to understand why he uses slang and also why his slang was so meaningful. This slang is important to him because he is clearly proud of who he is no matter what the world around him has to say. His dialect helps us to understand not only the meaning of something but also the feelings that he was feeling.
4. Although people may see most things black as dark or scary, in his work he portrays himself as filled with pride and just simply proud of his heritage. He does compare black skin to the night and darkness. Being black was probably one of the hardest things to do in this time period.
Cristian C. Nazario Cruz
ReplyDelete2. At the beginning was difficult to understand his poems because his slang. Knowing the afro American story make easier to understand his poems. His slang put emphasis to his poems. Like Monet, He didn’t paint for Impress other people, Hughes didn’t write poems for impress people, he wrote about what he had around.
4. Hughes compare a lot his skin color with the “night” and “darkness” throught his poems, but Hughes is proud of being black man. Negro is black in Spanish. Every time when he said the word “Negro” was a sense of pride.
Aimee Elmore
ReplyDelete3. In the poem "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" he talks about bathing in the Euphrates and he looked upon the Nile. He is showing that his people have history. It made have not been the same history, but it is history. They are people just like the white men.
4. He makes black seem like a positive thing. He compares it to positive things. Unlike back then it was compare to negative stuff.