Langston Hughes' 'Theme for English B'

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Austin Groveman Professor Burns English 101 6-18-14 Self-Discovery “Theme for English B” a poem written by one of the major figures of the Harlem Renaissance, Langston Hughes was a leading voice in the African-American literature. Hughes being from an era that society was still centralized around discrimination and prejudice conveys his personal feelings into his poems, which through his experiences and internal factors within him can be recognized in his tone and theme for the poem “Theme for English B”. Truly successful authors have the ability to express the experiences and feelings that are within a person who is bound by social and economic tension, without actually having to simply describe it. Within each line of Hughes poem there are a lot of underlining significance and meaning that reflects racial boundaries for a young African-American during this time, while enlightening the reader with a out of sight message no matter black or white we are the same, as well as an omnipresent reach for the American dream with social awareness that can be obtained by the later confident fictitious persona. When we read the opening line of Hughes poem “The instructor said …And let the page come out of you-Then, it will be true” (1-5. 123). We acknowledge that the literal assignment given from the speaker’s instructor will have some meaning behind this paper, and that it would be simple to let the words embrace the paper to be written from an easy perspective. Right after we see that this somewhat simple task is a great deal more difficult and meaningful to this writer. By not knowing who the speaker is first we consider the feelings of self-doubt, from reading “I wonder if it’s that simple?” (6). With this question of doubt we ponder the speakers feelings and thoughts, not only about the task to write a paper for his instructor but what it actually means

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