THEME FOR ENGLISH B by Langston Hughes The

THEME FOR ENGLISH B by Langston Hughes

The instructor said, Go home and write a page tonight. And let that page come out of you— Then, it will be true. I wonder if it’s that simple? I am twenty-two, colored, born in Winston-Salem. I went to school there, then Durham, then here to this college on the hill above Harlem. I am the only colored student in my class. The steps from the hill lead down into Harlem, through a park, then I cross St. Nicholas, Eighth Avenue, Seventh, and I come to the Y, the Harlem Branch Y, where I take the elevator up to my room, sit down, and write this page:

Langston Hughes ■ Born on February 1, 1902, in Joplin Missouri ■ Died May 22, 1967 ■ As a kid he was primarily raised by his maternal grandmother ■ Attended Lincoln University and Columbia university ■ Active poet during the Harlem Renaissance

Form/Meter ■ The poem is a free verse poem with an irregular rhyme scheme an a rhythm that changes as the poem goes along

Allusions ■ There are several allusions made in this poem ■ Johann Sebastian Bach ■ Be. Bop Jazz (“Bop”) ■ Bessie Smith ■ The YMCA

Figurative Language ■ In the Poem, the usage of imagery and symbolism is ever present ■ Use of black and white polarization ■ Usage of irregular rhyme pattern "Go home and write a page tonight. And let that page come out of you. Then, it will be true. " ■ Personification: “and let that page come out of you”

Literary devices ■ Rhetorical Question: “will my page be colored that I write? ” ■ Assonance is used many times in the poem

Theme and Tone ■ The overall theme is that you are defined by your actions, not your physical qualities ■ The tone is Honest or the concept of Honesty and how it relates to race, the American dream, and school and the racial predispositions of the times

Additional Questions ■ What are some of the examples of literary devices presented in the poem? ■ What do you think is the message he is trying to convey in the poem?

Works Cited ■ Shmoop Editorial Team. "Theme for English B Poem Text. " Shmoop University, Inc. , 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 1 Mar. 2017. ■ Biography. com Editors. “Langston Hughes Biography. ” http: //www. biography. com/people/langston-hughes 9346313, A&E Television Networks, 27 Jan. 2015. Web.