Analysis Of Langston Hughes English Literature Essay

Analysis Of Langston Hughes English Literature Essay Change is hard to accept, but its also hard to bring. Change can be brought in a number of different ways; it can be brought through violence, speeches or words. Wars forced change through violence, Gandhi brought it through speeches and Hughes caused it by his poems. Winston Churchill once said, There is nothing wrong with change, if it is in the right direction. Winston Churchill believed in change as long as it was for the better. Langston Hughes also believed in the same change. He wanted to change America and make them accept African Americans as their own American brothers. Langston Hughes witnessed the racial prejudice against his community. He was terrified at the racial inequalities faced by African Americans, which influenced his poetry and made him dedicate his work to bringing change. Hughes changed his poetry style, during the Harlem Renaissance in 1920s, as he started to admire jazz music, manipulating his poetry towards music. During the early 1930s, Langston Hughes wa s largely influenced by The Great Depression. Hughes thoughts became pessimistic and his dreams became hopeless, as he started to express it in his poetic work. Hughes surroundings influenced his thoughts, which encouraged him to reflect it in his poetry. This caused Langston Hughes poetry to evolve from discussions of racial inequalities, to jazz poetry, and then to his pessimistic views on life. As a result from witnessing racial abuse, Langston Hughes decided not to be a bystander. Hughes started to reflect his surroundings in his work. He began to write in his poems the tough challenges faced by African Americans. Hughes based most of his work on the theme of social injustice. He expresses, in his poems, the racial inequalities faced by African Americans, as they were subject to low class and discrimination. His critics often objected that he portrayed lower-class aspects of life through his choice of subject matter, but Hughes often felt that he needed to communicate that, in order to convey his message. Hughes wanted to bring change through his poems; he wanted to show that Blacks are not really different from other ethnic groups. Hughes truly portrayed this through his poem I, Too Sing America. In this poem, he illustrates unimportance of blacks during that time when he writes, I am the darker brother / They send me to eat in the kitchen / When company comes (Hughes 2-4 ). Hughes first conveys the image of how blacks are treated. Then he continues on, Tomorrow, / Ill be at the table / When company comes. (Hughes 8-10). Hughes then shows the change that he strives to cause. The poem continues on to show that the change is accepted as, Theyll see how beautiful I am / And be ashamed (Hughes 16-17). Hughes then closes off the poem with, I, too, am America (Hughes 18) and shows that Blacks are not really different, as they are also American and sing the same national anthem as other Americans. Hughes expresses deep concern for the suffering that his community faced, through his poems, and aims to bring change. Later on during the 1920s, a new movement started in America known as the Harlem Renaissance. Most African Americans started to move from the rural agricultural South to the urban industrial North during 1914-1918. During this time many African American gathered in New York. Many settled in New York and in the district of Harlem. This movement brought many talented African Americans together. It also brought many good black musicians together, who publicized jazz music during that time. The Harlem Renaissance also brought many artistic Blacks who had their talents in art and literature. These African Americans found a new way to explore and experience black life in America. Many intellectual African American and artists challenged racism and rejected to mimic white American styles. These talented and intellectual artists celebrated their black dignity and creativity. This caused these African Americans to express their true feelings about the racism they faced, and their urge for fre edom and democratic rights. The African Americans explored their identities and celebrated their black culture, as they tried to renew it from the existing low class perception. With so many intellectual and talented figures, writers, artists, and poets started producing a variety of original work dealing with African-American life. These works then promoted and attracted many other blacks from all over the world and established a new cultural community within America. Hence, Langston Hughes became connected to the Harlem Renaissance. He quickly became known for his work during the Renaissance and led poetry division. He established a different style in his poetry and innovated jazz poetry in his work. Hughes started to listen and admire blues and jazz music. He spent much time in blues and jazz clubs, which influenced him to write about jazz poetry. Hughes really enjoyed listening to jazz and wrote it in his poems, as he said, I tried to write poems like the songs they sang on Seventh Street(these songs) had the pulse beat of the people who keep on going. (Famous Poets and Poems, www.famouspoetsandpoems.com). Hughes changed his theme of his poetry and started to write in the spirit of jazz. Many of his poems were set to music and communicated operettas, a genre of opera. Hughes jazz poetry is usually represented through the poem The Weary Blues. In this poem Hughes talks about him listening to jazz as he writes, He played that sad raggy tune like a musical fool. Sweet Blues! Coming from a black mans soul O Blues! (Hughes 13-16). Hughes shows his love for jazz music during the Harlem Renaissance, as he changes the theme of his poetry and follows a transition to jazz poetry. Consecutively, The Great Depression brought an end to the Harlem Renaissance and the African American literary activities. It forced many of the talented and artistic African Americans to become full time labourers, as there was scarce of jobs. Many artists quit their literary work to make a living for themselves and to support their families. This destroyed the hopes and dreams of many artists of their freedom and rights. Some artists also became involved in radical politics, since they not only felt racial injustice, but they also suffered through job loss and lower wages. This made most intellectual poets hopeless about their survival and freedom. A struggle for life started as money and food become a big issue, and for the African Americans their colour was also another issue. It was hard for them to speak out, since they could not make a living from just literary work at a time like this, causing most to support radical politics for some hope. The Great Depression caused hopeles sness and people had negative views about their dreams, as it turned down hope for a bright future for the Black communities. This lead to people having pessimistic views on life and their life became more miserable as they continued to struggle and establish their dreams once again. However, Langston Hughes also suffered a lot from The Great Depression. His dreams of bringing change seemed hopeless now. Now that the literary activities had gone down, Hughes also struggled for survival. Langston Hughes poetry also changed during this time, as Hughes became interested in socialism. Hughes supported the Soviets ideologies of communism as there were no flaws of equality. The communistic economies presented struggle and poverty, but Hughes still believed in it since there was no racism or classes in society. Hughes took part in the communist party in the US, along with other Black figures. Seeing his dreams and of other Black artists become bleak, Hughes thoughts became pessimistic and were reflected in his poetry. In his poem Life Is Fine, Hughes writes his pessimistic thoughts, I took the elevator Sixteen floors above the ground. I thought about my baby And thought I would jump down (Hughes 10-13). In another poem Hughes writes about his dreams being put off as suggested by the title Dream Deferred, in which Hughes writes What happens to a dream deferred? / Does it dry up / Like a raisin in the sun? (Hughes 1-3). This shows that Hughes became hopeless about his dreams coming true, as they were belated due to The Great Depression. Hughes thoughts became pessimistic as his hopes for his dreams turned bleak, but he still retains some hope to keep him on track and to keep him writing his poems. In conclusion, Hughes brings a major change in the eyes of Americans, through his influential and powerful poetry. He witnesses the social injustice faced by African Americans, finds his admiration in jazz music, and suffers pessimistic thoughts and weakened hope through the 1930s. Langston Hughes reflects the ambience in his poetry, as his themes change according to his feelings, thoughts and setting. Hughes poetry emerges from examination of social injustice, followed by jazz poetry, and then to his pessimistic views on life. Hughes plans of bringing change are revealed in his poems and become his dreams. They are however, shunned as he faces the Great Depression and the suffering it causes to his community. His dreams are deferred and his hopes of bringing change among his people diminish. He learns from his experience and relates it in his poem Dreams, as he writes, Hold fast to dreams for if dreams die / life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly. (Hughes 1-2). Langston Hughes teaches his readers and admirers to fight their dreams and to not let them delay, as dreams become your success to life.

Character Analysis of Connie Essay

Then one day her family leaves her alone and she notices the boy in the car comes to her house and she finds out that he seems to know everything about her. He demands that Connie come to him and in then th story ends as Connie walks out the house toward the mysterious boy. Connie is sexually active, scared, and deceitful. Connie is sexually active. Oates states how Connie knows she is beautiful and she gets a great deal of attention from boys. Connie knows she is gorgeous, so when she goes out, she shows off her body more. When Connie meets the older boy in the resturant, she spends hours with him, and they went in an abandoned alley. Connie often states that she believes sex is a beautiful and fun feeling. Going with this stranger Connie has just met for hours implies she is sexually active in some way. What Oates is trying to say about young girls in general is that by showing off their bodies and meeting with older boys, sex will be pressured onto them. More young females will want to become more sexually active by assuming sex is all good and fun. Connie is scared. Connie does not seem to be afraid of anything. However, once this stranger appears at her house, she becomes a bit more frightened. Connie was always used to doing what she wanted with whomever she wanted. Along came Arnold, who commanded her to come to him and do things with him. Suddenly, Connie does not have the choice anymore. He threatens to harm her family so she is scared and cannot bring herself to even call for help. What Oates is trying to say about being scared is that one will not be scared until the option of deciding for one’s self gets taken away. Connie is deceitful. Connie’s mother often degrades Connie for being vain. Her mother does this because she is worried about Connie and knows Connie gets a great deal of attention from males. Connie’s mother knows what can happen to her if she does not start being careful. Connie still goes out grabbing the attention of boys even though her mother says otherwise. What Oates is trying to say is that children should always listen to their parents, or they may end up in danger. Oates tries to get the reader to understand that parents have been through it all, and children should learn to listen more. In the short story â€Å"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? † Oates shows that Connie is sexually active. She is sexually active because she shows off her body and is curious about sex. Connie is scared because she had no choice in what she wanted to do. Connie is deceitful because she did not care or listen to her mother.

Compare and contrast the distinguishing features of episode 2 of the mini series Changi and The Shoehorn Sonata

Gordon's Will is the 2nd episode of a six part series called Changi. The story is of one mans struggle to overcome and survive life in a POW camp. Gordon uses flash backs to reconstruct the past for the audience. Gordon (in the present time) has suffered a stroke and is having major medical and family troubles. Most of the show is shot in the POW camp where the secret nine live, a group of Gordon's friends that are also being held captive and that have formed an unbreakable and special bond. Midway through the show Gordon is asked to salute lieutenant Aso. When Gordon refuses, Aso commands Gordon to stand on a box until he is ready to salute, Gordon still refuses and stands on the box for three days, this is an example of Gordon's will to survive Changi with respect. There are many influential characters in Changi. ‘The Secret nine' are a ‘band of brothers' who without each other could not have emotionally survived the Changi POW camp. Gordon is the most influential character in the show, being that this episode is based on his time in the camp and life after it. Changi needed to use alot of dialogue because it is a television program. Australian slang such as ‘G, day', ‘bloody hell', ‘Japs' and ‘stick ya bib in' is used regularly throughout the show. Japanese is used throughout Changi wich gives the show a sence of urgency and helps to establish the setting. In the opening title you hear soothing/melodic music with a sudden burst of screaming, crying and wailing, this is symbolic of the pain and suffering Gordon (and other POW captives) had top survive. Changi is set around Gordon (an old man in the present and a young man in flashbacks). In the present Gordon is a lonely, old and sick man. In the Flashbacks Gordon was strong, stubborn, and willing to do anything in order to survive. The literal setting is a Japanese POW camp and a hospital, both places are symbolic of death. Many different camera techniques are used to develop the theme in Changi. Extreme close ups are used mainly in Changi to show fear and desperation on a characters face. In the second half of the show an extreme close up is used, it focuses on sweat that is dropping from Gordon's head when he is standing on the box, this was to show Gordon's determination to survive. On the Road to Gundagai is used as a theme song for the ‘secret 9'. Music was a coping mechanism for Gordon and his fellow prisoners so as to survive imprisonment with a stable mind. On the road to Gundagai was used because a lot of Australian people know and recognise that song. Both Changi and the Shoehorn Sonata have many similarities and many differences. In regards to the plot the Shoehorn Sonata and Changi are both about WW2 and being captured in a POW but are from two different perspective's (women's and men's). In regards to the characters in the texts both texts showed the main characters in the past and the present. In regards to the dialogue both texts use Japanese to give the show or play a sence of urgency and to define the setting clearly. IN regards to the setting both texts are very different; one is set in a hospital and the POW camp and the other is set in a television studio and a hotel. In regards to photography both texts use images to provoke the audience into feeling for the characters. Being a television series Changi has used photography every second of the show but being a play photography was used sparingly, but was still present. In regards to music/songs The Shoehorn Sonata used songs with lyrics that were symbolic of survival and Changi used a popular Australian song to symbolise ‘the secret 9's'will to survive. This essay has shown the distinguishing features of episode 2 of the mini series Changi and The Shoehorn Sonata, it then compared and contrasted them. Both texts dealt with a common theme of survival.

Walt Disney s Influence On - 1942 Words

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