Preview

Langston Hughes the Negro Speaks of Rivers

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
634 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Langston Hughes the Negro Speaks of Rivers
1.What work or works are you writing on, and why did you choose to write on work or these works? Langston Hughes "the Negro Speaks of Rivers" 2. What critical question were you exploring in this essay? Did you find this question difficult to answer? What did this work mean and it was fairly easy to find. 3. How did your understanding of the work(s) about which you are writing change as you wrote this essay? If it did not change, why do you think that was? It didn't I knew what he was talking about from the beginning. 4. What did you find the hardest about your writing process for this essay? none 5. What do you see as the essay's strengths and why? Finding the inner meaning of the poem. 6. What do you see as the essay's weaknesses and why? None 7. What specific feedback would you like from your instructor? Helpful feedback on how to make this a better essay.

In Langston Hughes poem " The Negro Speaks of Rivers" gives an indepth look in the journey of African Americans to America. Hughes cleverly uses the water of the river as the origin of life. The "Negro Speaks of Rivers" follows the pilgrimage of African American life from the rivers of Africa to the Mississippi river which was a way to get slaves into the country. Langston subtly shows his hatred for slavery and racism back then by saying "My soul has grown deep like the rivers". As you read this verse for the first time you may assert that he has traveled and learned about rivers of the world. The next line states "ancient as the world and older than the flow of/ human blood in human veins." This verse has a deeper meaning and seems to have Langston Hughes identify his black skin with the first human known to earth. The line " I have known these rivers" is stated again only after he mentions Mississippi, New orleans, and Abraham Lincoln. He cleverly puts the line " My soul has grown deep like the rivers" towards the end of the poem which leads one to assume that he is no longer the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    I believe the writer could’ve crafted a much stronger essay if they thoroughly understood what the prompt was asking. It seemed as if they had an idea of what they were writing about but not enough understanding to go in to detail.…

    • 356 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Much like a Personal/Reflective Response Essay, this assignment asks you to read an essay critically, briefly summarize its main points, and respond to those main points or ideas. In this case, however, your audience is a more academic one.…

    • 488 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Langston Hughes was considered one of the principal and prominent voices of Harlem Renaissance during the 1920s and 1930s. His poetry encompasses heterogeneity of subject matters and motifs concerning working African-Americans who were excluded and deprived of power. His choice of theme was accentuated and manifested through the convergence of African-American vernacular and blues forms. My attempt is to analyze the implications of the most significant poems by first introducing the author, examining the relevance of the poems and then, contrast them with Richard Wright’s antagonistic perspective.…

    • 524 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Vulliamy essay 2

    • 1166 Words
    • 3 Pages

    This article was a bit hard for me to understand. I had trouble finding what I the authors meaning was. I had trouble with the counter argument and I felt I sidetracked. I am not all pleased with this essay. I asked for help from my family members. I discussed my intentions to write about and revised it with them. It actually left me feeling a lot more confused than when I first read the article and revised the summary with my peers.…

    • 1166 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Salsa: Dance Floor

    • 1924 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Please note! This is not an example of text written by our writers! Essaypedia.com is a database of essays that were collected at open web…

    • 1924 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    My goal when writing this paper is to get my opinion and perspective on the poem across to my classmates so they know where I stand, but also to remain broad enough in my writing so that my readers can compare their own response to mine. Maybe in doing that, I can help a fellow classmate or two who has a block and is stuck in the middle of the assignment.…

    • 1150 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In “To Negro Writers” Langston Hughes advised African American writers to expose the hardships and dilemmas which they faced daily. Hughes instructed writers to unveil the truth about the unfair treatments they were subject to. African Americans faced persecution in a variety of forms. Not only were African American citizens mistreated by groups such as religious organizations and the American Legion, African American soldiers were also disrespected simply for the color of their skin. Hughes told his readers that they must fight for themselves because no one else would fight for them. Hughes encouraged African American writers to establish a common ground with the working white class (who also faced struggles) so that they could unite in an…

    • 241 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Harlem Renaissance is known for many unique objectives, but one of the most important objectives that it was well known for is how many wonderful artists’ and writers came about during that time period. One of the most famous writers or what many consider a “prolific and versatile writer” (Beckman 65) was Langston Hughes. Langston Hughes was an American poet, novelist, and play writer whose African-American themes made him a primary contributor to the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s” (“Langston Hughes Bio.”). Hughes was born February 1, 1902, In Joplin Missouri and sadly died May 22, 1967. During his time he first started off writing about ordinary African Americans. He was said to be a “Major creative force in the Harlem Renaissance”…

    • 791 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Based on Hughes’ experience, it mirrored his phenomenal energy about darkness. The pride he felt in praising dark ladies and the excellence of dark individuals as a rule can be attached to his finding the inceptions of dark Americans in Africa and additionally to his later goes to Africa. Hughes observed dark to be delightful much sooner than the 1960s. Hughes additionally stated, rather intensely for his time, that dark individuals had assumed huge parts in history and that that importance was attached to their beginnings in Africa. Maybe his best-known verbalization of this feeling is caught in his ballad, "The Negro Speaks of Rivers," which at first showed up in the June 1921 issue of the NAACP's magazine Crisis—when Hughes was the age eighteen. Hughes had not set out to Africa before he composed the writing, however his solid statement that dark Americans had a place in the historical backdrop of the world was striking. As opposed to the conviction that blacks had contributed little to human progress, Hughes keeps up that blacks were available at the beginning of development. He envisions a collectivity of obscurity, one that represents the nearness of blacks at the support of human advancement, in the Fertile Crescent. Guaranteeing the Euphrates, the Nile, and the Congo as his own, as spots close where his kin lived, Hughes takes a position that is far from that of the individuals who state that blacks are without culture and without complete recorded roots. In any case, Hughes' conclusion in the ballad still resembles the sentimental. He envisions blacks building hovels and pyramids and being at one with nature. Despite the fact that the lyric might not have great improvement, what it imperative here is the acknowledgment by a youthful African American author of his positive binds to Africa. Hughes was by his self when…

    • 1303 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Annotated Bibliography

    • 1458 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Remember that this is not a complete essay, but it should give your reader a fairly good idea of what ideas you gained from your research.…

    • 1458 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Mla Research Paper

    • 1050 Words
    • 5 Pages

    In this critical essay, the author Leon Lewis illustrates an overview of Langston Hughes overall work and what he represents as a literary writer. Hughes is known as the “Laureate of Black America”, he has the desire to explain and illuminate the Negro condition in America. His work usually consists of rhymes and poems, and the language of the black community. Even though some of his work is appeal more towards young adult readers, his work is written to reach a wide spread of audience not just the literary privileged. Some of his influences include: Sandburg, Vachel Lindsay, and Edgar Lee Masters whose work is also directed at a broad spectrum of readers. His work addresses concerns and issues surrounding African-Americans and effects of racial hatred. Hughes always possesses an optimistic mood which reflects in his writing, he depicts racial issues in a way where he has hope in humanity and is illustrated positively. Even though,…

    • 1050 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Rubbish Has No Value

    • 1321 Words
    • 6 Pages

    I found this topic not very stimulating, and therefore struggle to get started with the essay and almost resented having to do it. But I persevered and have written an essay which won’t win any prizes but will hopefully gain a pass.…

    • 1321 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Harlem Renaissance Outline

    • 1215 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Langston Hughes believed that black artists should focus on the widespread and create individual “Negro” art. He famously wrote about the period that “the negro was in vogue”. Considered among the greatest poets in U.S. history, Hughes was one of the earliest innovators of jazz poetry, poetry that “demonstrates jazz-like rhythm”. His works often portrayed the lives of middle class African Americans. Hughes was a proponent of creating distinctive “Negro” art and not falling for the “urge within the race toward whiteness”…

    • 1215 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Langston Hughes

    • 1048 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Harlem Renaissance was a huge cultural movement for the culture of African Americans. Embracing the various aspects of art, many sought to envision what linked black peoples’ relationship to their heritage and to each other. Langston Hughes was one of the many founders of such a cultural movement. Hughes was very unique when it came to his use of jazz rhythms and dialect in portraying the life of urban blacks through his poetry, stories, and plays. By examining 2 poems by Langston Hughes, this essay will demonstrate how he criticized racism in Harlem, New York.…

    • 1048 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Paralegal Studies

    • 523 Words
    • 3 Pages

    1) Critique the essay and explain, point by point, what is wrong with the essay; and…

    • 523 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays