See more
What is the main idea of each stanza in Theme for English B?
Major Themes in “Theme for English B”: Identity, creativity, and racism are major themes of this poem. Right from the beginning, the black speaker struggles to come up to the expectations of his white professor.
Which statement is the best statement of a major Theme of Theme for English B?
Which statement is the best statement of a major theme of "Theme for English B"? America's educational system is a bastion of equality in a nation otherwise beset by vast inequality.
Why is it called Theme for English B?
As we know from his mention of Bessie Smith and Bach in line 24, the speaker of this poem likes music. So, perhaps, the speaker is relating his page to themes in literature, and themes in music. After all, the two are similar.
What is the Theme of Hughes poem?
Hughes uses poetry to convey the messages of equality, racial justice, and democracy. He celebrates the history, folkways, and real lives of his people. His poems are highly subjective, impassioned, and refreshingly powerful. They portray the dignity, resilience, struggle, and soulfulness of his people.
What means English B?
English B is about developing your ability to speak and write in English, using the right words for the situation you are in: to communicate effectively.
In what ways does the speaker define himself in Theme for English B?
The speaker of “Theme for English B” self-identifies as a black person, “the only colored student in my class.” For the first half of the poem, the speaker emphasizes the ways in which his ethnicity separates him, physically and figuratively, from his white classmates and professor.
What is the mood of the poem Theme for English B?
The mood of this poem is very inspiring. Hughes writes how he is very accepting to the fact that he's African-American. It's inspiring because, if he is happy with who he is-even being treated unfairly-then we should learn to love ourselves.
What kind of poem is Theme for English B?
free verse“Theme for English B” is written in free verse—it stays the track of no one rhythmic pattern; it has no regular rhyme scheme. It does, however, establish patterns. The instructor's homework assignment, for instance, is in an aabb rhyme pattern.
How does Theme for English B relate to the Harlem Renaissance?
Both poems are similar because both of the poems the speaker talks about human connections, seeking equality, and both were during the Harlem Renaissance. Hughes's poem is different from Cullen's poem because Hughes speaks about being different racially, and Hughes' theme is race and diversity.
What is the Theme of a poem?
The theme of a poem is the message an author wants to communicate through the piece. The theme differs from the main idea because the main idea describes what the text is mostly about.
Which Theme is expressed most often Langston Hughes?
Which theme is expressed most often Langston Hughes' poetry? Much of Hughes' poetry addresses the experience of being black in the United States, as well as universal questions of identity and where people belong in the modern world.
When was the theme for English B written?
Historical Context. “Theme for English B” was likely written in the late 1940s or early 1950s, a time of transformation in American society. Many African Americans had served bravely in World War II, giving their lives to their country.
Who wrote the theme for English B?
Ask a question. “Theme for English B” was published the American poet Langston Hughes in 1951, toward the end of Hughes’s career. The poem is a dramatic monologue written in the voice of a twenty-two-year-old black college student at Columbia University in New York City.
How many lines are there in the theme for English B?
Form. “Theme for English B” is a dramatic monologue, written in the voice of a 22-year-old black college student. The poem has 41 lines, divided into five stanzas with very different lengths. Some stanzas, like the first and last, are just one line long; the fourth stanza, by contrast, is 25 lines long.
What is the symbol of the hill?
More generally, the symbol of the “hill” has an important place in American life. In 1630, John Winthrop, the first governor of Massachusetts, described the colony as a “shining city on a hill”—a model of Christian piety and virtue that, he hoped, would inspire the rest of the world.
When was the theme for English B first published?
Literary Context. “Theme for English B” was first published in 1951 as part of Langston Hughes’s 13th book of poetry, Montage of a Dream Deferred. The poem thus came relatively late in Hughes’s career (he died in 1967).
Does theme for English B have a rhyme scheme?
Generally speaking, “Theme for English B” is written in free verse: it doesn’t have meter or a set rhyme scheme, though the speaker will occasionally use a rhyme. The poem's exploratory, open-ended form reflects the unsettled, searching character of the speaker’s thinking.
What is the theme of English B?
“Theme for English B” is without a doubt one of Langston Hughes ’s most famous, beloved, and anthologized poems. He wrote it in 1951, the evening of his career, and it addresses one of his most ubiquitous themes – the American Dream. Thematically, "Theme for English B" resembles “American Heartbreak” and “Let America Be America Again.” The poem is written in free verse and lacks a systematic form or meter; its language is simple and casual, and it flows in a stream-of-consciousness style.
What does the lack of specific facts make the speaker’s experiences more universal?
The lack of more specific facts makes the speaker’s experiences more universal, and his claim that he and his teacher are a part of each other “simultaneously affirms a common experience with white America while also resisting the impulse to justify his life to that culture and reshape himself in that image.”.
Where did Tunc write about the Great Migration?
Tunc points out that the speaker writes about attending different schools in North Carolina before moving to New York, a pattern that traces the Great Migration of African Americans from their homes in the South to urban centers in the North like New York and Chicago.
What is the theme of English B?
‘Theme for English B’ is a poem by Langston Hughes that is a part of the literature of the Harlem Renaissance. It provides the view of a racist world as seen by a young man living in Harlem.
Who wrote the poem "Theme for English B"?
It is a poem by Langston Hughes, and speaks about racial discrimination during early 20th century America. This article brings to you a ‘Theme for English B’ analysis along with its summary. It is a poem by Langston Hughes, and speaks about racial discrimination during early 20th century America.
Who is Langston Hughes?
He was one of the leaders of the Harlem Renaissance. He was a poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and a columnist. He was also one of the innovators of jazz poetry. he passed away on May 22, 1967.
What is the Harlem Renaissance?
Around the start of 20th century, Harlem, New York, was the epicenter of cultural renaissance, known as the ‘Harlem Renaissance’. This is also, on occasions, known as the ‘New Negro Movement’. Racial discrimination has been prevalent for long in many parts of the world. This has actively been opposed in the past as well as the present.
What is the theme of Langston Hughes's poem?
The first major theme of Langston Hughes's "Theme for English B" is education. The very title of the poem frames the work as an assignment for a university class. "English B" suggests the second semester of a first-year writing or literature course, one likely to be required of all students rather than an advanced course for English majors.
What is the theme of English B?
Langston Hughes's "Theme for English B" is what literary critics term "self-reflexive" or "self-referential," meaning that it is a poem that reflects on itself as a poem and on the act of the writing the poem, a characteristic typical of literary modernism, a movement that influenced the Harlem Renaissance, of which Hughes was part. The very title of the poem focuses the reader's attention on the act of writing and composition. The opening lines frame the poem as an assignment in a university writing course, offering first the professor's instructions to the students about writing and then the student's process as a writer, reflecting on that process in ways that complicate the act of writing by suggesting that there are specific obstacles faced by the Black writer in trying simultaneously to complete the assignment and to be true to his own identity. He worries about whether "my page be colored that I write" and struggles to understand if that will vitiate his work in some manner. In the end, though, he resolves the dilemma by suggesting that the common humanity of writer and reader is what enables successful writing and communication and concludes with the line "This is my page for English B." The conclusion serves as what some literary theorists would describe as a "performative utterance." In other words, the text before the readers is not just a poem about the page for English B but also is the page.
What are the three aspects of identity in the poem?
The narrator is described as "twenty-two, colored, born in Winston-Salem." Thus the reader is confronted with three separate aspects of identity: age, race, and geography .
What is the theme of the poem "Theme for English B"?
The poem's themes include race, place and the relationship between a student and teacher.
What does Hughes mean by "bessie"?
He compares what he has in common with his older white instructor, including getting a pipe as a Christmas gift and records including "Bessie, bop, or Bach." Bessie refers to Bessie Smith, "Empress of the Blues" in the 1920s. Bop is a style of jazz also popular at that time, and Bach refers to the classical composer.
How many times is the speaker colored?
The speaker mentions that he is "colored" four times. He lives at the Harlem YMCA and attends the "college on the hill above Harlem," which could refer to the City College of New York or Columbia University. He says, "I am the only colored student in my class.".
Who is the speaker of theme for English B?
The speaker of "Theme for English B" is a college student, but he is not Langston Hughes. Hughes was born in Joplin, Missouri, in 1902, not in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, as the poem says. He wrote the poem in 1946 and read it to audiences in Winston-Salem. The poem is set in an earlier time, likely the 1920s, when Hughes moved to Harlem in New York City and joined the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance was an African-American art and cultural movement in the early 20th century.
Who is Bessie Smith?
Jazz Biographies: Bessie Smith. Writer Bio. Amy Sterling Casil is an award-winning writer with a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from Chapman University in Orange, Calif. She is a professional author and college writing teacher, and has published 20 nonfiction books for schools and libraries.
What is the theme of the poem "Theme for English B"?
Nowhere is this challenge more evident than in Hughes’ poem “Theme for English B,” in which the black speaker of the poem reflects on his presence in an all-white English class, and how this experience is representative of a larger American experience.
What is the theme of English B?
The speaker of “Theme for English B” self-identifies as a black person, “the only colored student in my class.” For the first half of the poem, the speaker emphasizes the ways in which his ethnicity separates him, physically and figuratively, from his white classmates and professor. The speaker must travel a great distance every day simply to “this college on the hill above Harlem.” Additionally, the speaker hints at the ways in which his life is limited because of segregation, stating that his professor is “somewhat more free” because he is “older -- and white.” Hughes’ poem subtly comments on racial tensions that make attending college a more challenging endeavor for this black student as compared to his white classmates.
What is the theme of the poem "Black and White"?
A minor theme throughout the poem is the difficulties related to composing a piece that “will be true,” as the professor assigns. While “black” and “white” can be read as descriptors of the speaker and his classmates, they also refer to the main colors involved in typing or writing a paper: black ink on a white page.
Who wrote the theme for Harvard University?
Harvard University: Theme for English B by Langston Hughes. The Poetry Foundation: Langston Hughes. Writer Bio. Samuel Hamilton has been writing since 2002. His work has appeared in “The Penn,” “The Antithesis,” “New Growth Arts Review" and “Deek” magazine. Hamilton holds a Master of Arts in English education from the University of Pittsburgh, ...
What does the speaker like to do in the book "Racial Unity"?
Like them, he likes “to eat, sleep, drink, and be in love ./. I like to work, read, learn, and understand life.”.
