Introducing. . . Mr. Langston Hughes

Description:

James Mercer Langston Hughes (1902-1967), born in Joplin, Missouri, became known as the "poet laureate of Harlem." His first, and possibly best known poem, The Negro Speaks of Rivers, was published shortly after his graduation from high school. After traveling to Africa and Europe, he settled in Harlem and became a leading figure in the Harlem Renaissance, writing and editing prose and drama as well as poetry, and publishing a newspaper column. Hughes claimed Walt Whitman, Carl Sandburg, and Paul Laurence Dunbar as his poetic influences. His poetry described eloquently the urban life of the Harlem in New York of the 1920s. Other poems Hughes wrote are "I,Too, Sing America," a poem based on Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass," "Dreams," "Harlem,” “Dream Variations,” “Mother to Son” "Let America Be America Again," and "Dream Deferred," a poem used by playwrite Lorraine Hansberry in her drama "A Raisin in the Sun." Stylistically, Hughes relies on free verse, internal rhyme schemes, rhetorical repetition, and metaphor for his poetry. He also co-wrote the play "Mule Bone" with writer Zora Neale Hurston. In addition to his poetry and dramas, Hughes wrote seminal essays; the most important one explored the role of the African-American artist as poet and as a person of color: "The Negro Artist and the RacialMountain" (1926), as a response to journalist George Schuyler's essay "Negro Art Hokum" (1926). Photographed in 1947.

The Rise of the Harlem Renaissance(03:22)

From 1919 to the early 1940s, Harlem experienced a rebirth of African American art, music, and literature. During this time there was a migration from the south to the north of African Americans who wanted higher wages, superior educational opportunities, and to escape racism. Affordable housing in Harlem made it an ideal place for southern African Americans and black immigrants to settle, and this new community promoted a sense of pride and hope.

Grade(s) : K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12, Post-Secondary, General, Adult © 2006 Discovery Channel School
Curriculum Standards

Name______Date______Block______

Langston Hughes-Harlem Renaissance Poet

Assignments:

Step 1 Read

Poem Assignment # / Poem Title / Assignment
#1 / Mother to Son / Analyze each poem using the TPCASTT Method
#2 / The Negro Speaks of Rivers
#3 / I, Too, Sing America
#4 / Dreams / Compare and contrast these two poems using the SIFT Method.
#5 / Dream Variations
#6 / Harlem / Compare and contrast these two poems using the DIBLS Method.
#7 / Dream Boogie

Step 2 Use the TPCASTT, SIFT or DIBLS Methods for Analysis of each poem by Hughes.

Step 3 Use Answer these questions when finished with all seven (7) poems.

1. When Hughes’ work first appeared, some black writers and critics were hostile, calling it sordid and vulgar.
What in his poetry might support or explain this reaction? This will entail going into the poetics of his pieces - look at his language, his rhythms, and mentally compare it to the poets we have studied so far. Again, this is not a subject matter answer – it is a poetics answer we are looking for. You will need to use your ACE strategy to cite examples from the pieces so you will want to use direct quotes to accomplish this answer thoroughly.

2. Much of Hughes poetry is concerned with the Dream.
Using lines from his poetry:

(a) define what the Dream is for Hughes?
(one poem literally says “That is my dream”)
(b) explain why he thinks it important to have dreams?

(c) explain what Hughes feels will happen if one does not have dreams?

Use the TPCASTT Method for Analysis of each poem

T / Title / What do the words of the title suggest to you?
What denotations (definition meaning) are presented in the title?
What connotations (figurative meaning) or associations do the words posses?
P / Paraphrase / Translate the poem in your own words. What is the poem about?
C / Connotation / What meaning does the poem have beyond the literal meaning?
Fill in the chart below.
Form / Diction / Imagery
Point of View / Details / Allusions
Symbolism / Figurative Language / Other Devices
(antithesis, apostrophe, sound devices, irony, oxymoron, paradox, pun, sarcasm, understatement)
A / Attitude / What is the speaker’s attitude?
How does the speaker feel about himself, about others, and about the subject?
What is the author’s attitude? How does the author feel about the speaker, about other characters, about the subject, and the reader?
S / Shifts / Where do the shifts in tone, setting, voice, etc. occur? Mark them with your highlighter.
Look for time and place, keywords, punctuation, stanza divisions, changes in length or rhyme, and sentence structure. What is the purpose of each shift? Annotate them on your poem next to the line they go with.
How do they contribute to effect and meaning? Annotate this on your poem.
T / Title / Reanalyze the title on an interpretive level.
What part does the title play in the overall interpretation of the poem?
T / Theme / List the subjects and the abstract ideas in the poem.
Then determine the overall theme.
The theme must be written in a complete sentence.

Assignment: Read the poem below and use the TPCASTT method of poetry analysis.

Poem #1

Mother to Son by Langston Hughes

  1. Well, son, I’ll tell you:
  2. Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.
  3. It’s had tacks in it,
  4. And splinters,
  5. And boards torn up,
  6. And places with no carpet on the floor—
  7. Bare.
  8. But all the time
  9. I’se been a-climbin’ on,
  10. And reachin’ landin’s,
  11. And turnin’ corners,
  12. And sometimes goin’ in the dark
  13. Where there ain’t been no light.
  14. So boy, don’t you turn back.
  15. Don’t you set down on the steps
  16. ’Cause you finds it’s kinder hard.
  17. Don’t you fall now—
  18. For I’se still goin’, honey,
  19. I’se still climbin’,
  20. And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.

Assignment: Read the poem below and use the TPCASTT method of poetry analysis.

Poem #2

The Negro Speaks of Rivers
by Langston Hughes

  1. I've known rivers:
  2. I've known rivers ancient as the world and older than the
  3. flow of human blood in human veins.
  1. My soul has grown deep like the rivers.
  1. I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young.
  2. I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep.
  3. I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it.
  4. I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln
  5. went down to New Orleans, and I've seen its muddy
  6. bosom turn all golden in the sunset.
  1. I've known rivers:
  2. Ancient, dusky rivers.
  1. My soul has grown deep like the rivers.

Assignment: Read the poem below and use the TPCASTT method of poetry analysis.

Poem #3

I, Too, Sing America
by Langston Hughes

  1. I, too, sing America.
  1. I am the darker brother.
  2. They send me to eat in the kitchen
  3. When company comes,
  4. But I laugh,
  5. And eat well,
  6. And grow strong.
  1. Tomorrow,
  2. I'll be at the table
  3. When company comes.
  4. Nobody'll dare
  5. Say to me,
  6. "Eat in the kitchen,"
  7. Then.
  1. Besides,
  2. They'll see how beautiful I am
  3. And be ashamed--
  1. I, too, am America.

Assignment: Read the poems below and use the SIFT method of poetry analysis to compare and contrast the theme and meaning of each.

Poems #4 and #5

The key to unlocking theme and meaning in a piece of literature is through exploring how the writer uses literary elements and stylistic techniques. The following method allows younger readers to begin to practice literary analysis through “sift”-ing through the parts in order to comprehend the whole: symbols, images, figures of speech, tone and theme. This method is known as SIFT.
S / (symbol) / Examine the title and the text for symbolism.
I / (images) / Look for ways that the writer uses language to create sensory impressions and to evoke specific responses to characters, objects, events or situations. This about these questions:
  • What do I see, hear, taste, smell or feel?
  • What effect is the author trying to convey with these images?

F / (figures of speech) / Think about how the writer uses figures of speech such as similes metaphors, or personification, as well as other devices such as irony or allusion to convey effect and meaning.
T / (tone and theme) / A close examination of word choice, imagery, and detail reveals the narrator’s attitude or tone and contributes to the reader’s understanding.
In order to determine theme, you may want to:
  • Summarize the story.
  • List the subject or subjects that emerge from your summary.
  • Write a sentence about each subject listed based on insights gained from analyzing symbolism, imagery, figurative language, and other devices.
Think about the life-lessons that the main character learned or what lessons you have learned as a result of your reading.
Poem #4
Dreams by Langston Hughes
Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow. / Annotated Notes
an·no·tate (an′ə tāt′, an′ō-)
transitive verb, intransitive verbannotated -·tat′ed, annotating -·tat′·ing
to provide critical or explanatory notes for (a literary work, etc.)
Etymology: < L annotatus, pp. of annotaread-, to + notare, to note, mark / Poem #5
Dream Variations by Langston Hughes
To fling my arms wide
In some place of the sun,
To whirl and to dance
Till the white day is done.
Then rest at cool evening
Beneath a tall tree
While night comes on gently,
Dark like me--
That is my dream!
To fling my arms wide
In the face of the sun,
Dance! Whirl! Whirl!
Till the quick day is done.
Rest at pale evening . . .
A tall, slim tree . . .
Night coming tenderly
Black like me.

Assignment: Read the poems below and use the DIDLS method of poetry analysis to compare and contrast the tone for each poem and meaning of each.

Poems #6 and #7-Compare and contrast the two poems below by Langston Hughes

The key to unlocking tone in a piece of literature is through the following elements: diction, imagery, details, language, and syntax. These elements are also known as DIDLS.
D / (Diction) / Choose unusual and/or effective words from the passage. Evaluate the connotations of the words and write synonyms for each.
Then, decide what the word choice suggests about the character’s or narrator’s demeanor.
I / (Images) / Cite examples of imagery from the passage. Identify the sense appealed to, and interpret the meaning.
D / (Details) / List facts or the sequence of events from the passage.
L / (Language) / Determine the type of language used (formal, informal, clinical, jargon, literal, artificial, concrete, precise, pedantic, etc.). Site examples.
S / (Syntax) / How does sentence structure reveal the character’s attitude?
Poem #6
Harlem
by Langston Hughes
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 syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode? / Annotated Notes
an·no·tate (an′ə tāt′, an′ō-)
transitive verb, intransitive verbannotated -·tat′ed, annotating -·tat′·ing
to provide critical or explanatory notes for (a literary work, etc.)
Etymology: < L annotatus, pp. of annotaread-, to + notare, to note, mark / Poem #7 (memorize for extra credit)
Dream Boogie by Langston Hughes
Good morning, daddy!
Ain't you heard
The boogie-woogie rumble
Of a dream deferred?
Listen closely:
You'll hear their feet
Beating out and Beating out a --
You think
It's a happy beat?
Listen to it closely:
Ain't you heard
something underneath
like a --
What did I say?
Sure,
I'm happy!
Take it away!
Hey, pop!
Re-bop!
Mop!
Y-e-a-h!