The Weary Blues Langston Hughes By Denise Lewis

The Weary Blues Langston Hughes By: Denise Lewis

THEME • The major theme in The Weary Blues focuses on the important role that music plays in a persons life as well as the emotions that are felt through music.

ESSAY • Thesis: Langston Hughes illuminates how music can be another form of art used to express feelings by making a connection between the musician and the piano, colloquial blues terms and the performers strive to keep singing. • 1 st Topic Sentence: Throughout the poem there is a clear connection between the musician and the piano which reveals the true emotion of the musician. • 2 nd Topic Sentence: The elements of blues and jazz are used to exemplify the societal disposition and frustration of the piano player. • 3 rd Topic Sentence: Although the singer is growing tired of life, the music helps sustain him which conveys the power that music has in his life.

SHIFT • The shift occurs at line 19. Before that line the speaker is the man who is observing the musician play and he focuses on the movements of the mans body as well as his melancholy tone. In line 19 the speaker changes to the piano player himself and concentrates on the actual lyrics that are being brought to life through the music.

WORKS CITED • Hughes, Langston, and Arnold Rampersad. The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes. New York: Knopf : , 1994. Print. • Shmoop Editorial Team. "The Weary Blues Summary. " Shmoop. com. Shmoop University, Inc. , 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 21 Jan. 2015. <http: //www. shmoop. com/weary-blues/summary. html>. • The Weary Blues Themes - ENotes. com. "Enotes. com. Web. 21 Jan. 2015. <http: //www. enotes. com/topics/weary-blues/themes>.