langston hughes
History in Langston Hughes's "Negro" The topic of Langston Hughes's "Negro" deals with an extremelygeneral description of the history of African Americans or blacks from thepre-1922 era until 1922. Hughes lets the reader know about historicexperiences of blacks to show us the impact that blacks have had in pasteras. He touches on past, historical events, like the days of "Caesar" andthe "Belgians...in the Congo" (5 and 15). The murderous oppression thatHughes speaks about uncovered when he says, "They lynch me still inMississippi" (16). Hughes has made his poem more understandable by the useof such elements as setting and situation, speaker, tone and diction, The title, "Negro", explains two items in one word: who is thesubject and what the poem is about. Hughes identifies himself by saying,"I am a Negro" (1 and 17). Then Hughes describes the works of the Negro byusing the terms "slave," "worker," "singer," and "victims" (4, 7, 10, and14). The first example is a situation that has taken place in Africa;the second in the United States. Finally, Hughes uses repetition of thefirst and last stanza to conclude his poem. To thoroughly understand the
Hughes is possibly the speaker of the poem, but clearly this speakersymbolizes all blacks in America. To represent all blacks in America, Hughes chooses to use thepronoun "I. They lynch me still in Mississippi," we see hisreal feelings (16). Thinking, on the reader's behalf, plays a major part inunderstanding "Negro. Hughes wants everyone that reads this poem to understand itsmeaning; therefore, the diction that Hughes uses is very basic and easy tounderstand. Hughes uses numerous symbols in "Negro" to mirror the significanceof his images. A time when blacks were often treated badly because of their race. With the structure of the sentence arrangements, Hughes tells useither what has happened to blacks or what blacks have done; so all canunderstand his need to identify himself and describe in writing the realrecord of blacks. Thatis the acceptance of society's labeling of blacks. " The beginning of the original and final stanza is "I am aNegro"; Hughes is emphasizing to the reader the collective voice that he isusing (1 and 17). Instead of saying that he[Hughes]is a black man living in America, he simply says that "I am a Negro" (1 and17). Hughes makes use of the pronoun in "my Africa" toreveal the possessive emotional ties he has with Africa (3). However, weexperience the uncommonly true fear faced in the 1920s. The setting of "Negro" is 1922, the year in which it was written. He uses well recognized landmarks, that are familiar tous, to describe points of his interest such as building the "pyramids,""[making] mortar for the Woolworth Building," and "[making] ragtime" (5, 6,13).
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Acceptance Essays
