EPB 4044 THE TEACHING & APPRECIATION OF LITERATUREI, Too, Sing America

By

Langston Hughes

AUTHOR’S BACKGROUND

James Mercer Langston Hughes was an African-American poet, novelist, playwright, short story writer and columnist, who were best-known for his work during the Renaissance.

During his years, he became one of the foremost interpreters of racial relationship in the United States.

He was also one of the earliest innovators of the new literary art form ‘”jazz poetry”, a poetry that demonstrates jazz-like rhythm or the feel of improvisation.

PERSONAL DETAILS

James Langston Hughes was born in Joplin, Missouri in 1902.

He was the second child of school teacher Carrie

(Caroline) Mercer Langston and her husband James Nathaniel Hughes.

Hughes never married and there have been irrelevant speculations about his sexuality.

Hughes died in Polyclinic Hospital in New York, on May 22, 1967, of complications after surgery.

EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND

Graduating from high school in June 1920

Hughes had entered the Columbia University, New York, in the early 1920s, majoring in engineering.

Unfortunately, he left the university in 1922 because of racial prejudice, and his interests revolved more around the neighborhood of Harlem.

In the year of 1925, Hughes enrolled in Lincoln University, a historically black university in Chester County, Pennsylvania.

In 1929 Hughes received his bachelor's degree.

WORK OF ART (1)

Poems: Crisis (1923-24) Alain Locke's anthology The New Negro (1925) Goodbye, Christ (1940s) Harlem (1956) The Panther and The Lash (1967)

WORK OF ART (2)

Books: The Weary Blues (1926) Montage of A Dream Deferred (1951) Pictorial History of Negro in America (1956) The Book of Negro Folklore (1958) with Arna

Bontemps

Autobiographical Books: The Big Sea (1940) I Wonder As I Wander (1956)

'Famous' biographies: Famous American Negroes (1954)

WORK OF ART (3)

Novels: Not Without Laughter (1930)

Comic Character: Jesse B. Semple, or "Simple," appeared in columns for

the Chicago Defender and the New York Post. Simple Speaks His Mind (1950) Simple’s Uncle Sam (1965)

WORK OF ART (4)

Short Stories: The Way of White Folks (1943) Laughing to Keep From Crying (1952) Something in Common (1963)

Plays:

The Mulatto (1935) Black Nativity

ERA OF THE POEM

When Langston Hughes wrote the poem "I, Too" (1932), African Americans were not accepted.

Blacks were discriminated against, killed violently, separated from using the same facilities and being in the same place as whites, just to name a few.

The division between whites and blacks was clearly prevalent, with whites faring on the better side of the spectrum.

Essentially, the United States of America was a racially discriminatory society reinforced by its racist laws.

Therefore, Langston Hughes took the initiative to speak his mind via poetry, and this piece shows that.

SYNOPSIS

“I, too, Sing America” is about slavery and how African-American black people were treated badly. Although it is about this, the narrator gives out a positive impact on the read, too which makes them think about how they can hope for the future.

The author doesn't only suggest that he is getting stronger physically but also mentally which states that he doesn't take the slavery personal and hopes for tomorrow where he knows it will be better and he believes that slavery will be stopped, and white people will see how beautiful his people are and appreciate them.

The poem tells how color doesn’t mean anything and they all are the same. It is also about uniting America and how everyone is family even if they have a different skin tone, they are all brothers and sisters.

FIRST STANZA

I am the darker brother.They send me to eat in the kitchenWhen company comes,But I laugh,And eat well,And grow strong.

details how Hughes is treated unequally.

 If guests arrive at wherever Hughes is situated, he is "sent" to eat in the kitchen, rather than at the table with guests. However, rather than see this as a downside, Hughes views it as empowerment.

After all, the person who eats in the kitchen has a greater selection to choose from, and thus Hughes will eat his fill, all the while laughing at the idiocy of those who think they are hurting him.

SECOND STANZA

Tomorrow,

I'll be at the table

When company comes.

Nobody'll dare

Say to me,

"Eat in the kitchen,"

Then.

Hughes explains how eating in the kitchen will help him further:

All this time that Hughes has been eating in the kitchen has paid off, and he now has the capability to eat at the dinner table.

Again, Hughes takes something that is meant to treat him with inequality and rather than being hurt by it, he actually uses it as a weapon to bolster himself.

THIRD STANZA

Besides,

They'll see how beautiful I am

And be ashamed—

 

I, too, am America.

Not only will Hughes be "beautiful" because he has grown so well by eating in the kitchen but he will also be "beautiful" for standing up to the idea that he "has to" eat in the kitchen.

Moreover, the people who told Hughes to eat in the kitchen will be "ashamed" at just "how beautiful" Hughes has become, as well as ashamed at their mistake and treatment of him.

LITERARY DEVICES (1)

Persona Hughes uses a young African-American to show the

contrast of how the African-American thinks and how the white folks think.

Foreshadowing This poem told the future well before anyone thought

it would happen.

LITERARY DEVICES (2)

Metaphor His usage of "I" helps reiterate that he too is an

American and will not be let down by society nor will other African Americans. "I, Too" depicts the view of African Americans in the past and their strength to move forward.

Metaphors and symbols are used because they say what we want to say, more vividly and forcefully. In the line, “I am the darker brother,” the person is comparing himself to a family member.

LITERARY DEVICES (3)

Mood The tone changes throughout the poem. In the first line, the tone is patriotic. The line, “I, too,

sing America,” indicates the national anthem, and symbolizes unity throughout the nation.

In the next stanza, the tone is of anger and strength. The man is enraged at how he is treated, but he knows he is strong enough to fight back. This is shown in the line, “But I laugh,/ and eat well,/ And grow strong.”

The following stanza’s tone is of warning and caution.

LITERARY DEVICES (4)

Plot First off, chronology is used as well as framing, and

contrast. Hughes uses a young African-American to show the contrast of how the African-American thinks and how the white folks think. He mentions that he'll "be at the table", which shows this chronology.

It is showing forwards progress, which indicates the internal structure of the poem. He/she see's himself/herself as equal and he/she mentions that the whites will be "ashamed" which shows the contrast of thinking between the races.

This poem, in the end, is framed by "America" which is key to the poem. In "America", everyone eats "at the table", and no one is left out.

He associates America with Confidence and freedom. This organization shows the internal structure being used in this particular poem.

LITERARY DEVICES (5)

Theme The racial inequality "I, Too, Sing America" expresses a certain inequality

that African Americans felt during the time of racial discrimination.

This poem also conveys the fact that despite the differences of colour, all people living in America are Americans and have the right to be treated equally.

This poem talks about a blacks man wishes and hopes to live a life with equality.

LITERARY DEVICES (6)

Setting The poem is situated in America and describes a black

man’s personal experience with racial discrimination

Simile He associates America with Confidence and freedom

Connotative Meaning The word ‘brother’ connotes the intricacy and

intimacy that the blacks experience in relation to America, and their American counterparts

LITERARY DEVICES (7)

Symbol The symbolism in I too is the fact that even though he

has to eat in the kitchen and be treated as a second class citizen, he know the day is coming when he will be the master, so to speak.

He knows that he will not have to eat in the back forever.

So he just smiles and laughs it off, because he knows something that the master does not.

In time everything will change in his favour, and he takes pleasure in that thought.

LITERARY DEVICES (8)

Alliteration Alliteration is usually distinguished as and within from

the mere repetition of the same sound in positions other than the beginning of each word whether:

i. a consonant (consonance)

Examples:

"When the company comes" – repetition of the letter “m” and “n”

“Eat in the kitchen” – repetition of the letter “t”

ii. a vowel (assonance)

Example:

" They send me to eat in the kitchen" – repetition of the letter “e”

LITERARY DEVICES (9)

Imagery The use of imagery in this poem adds to the poem’s

effectiveness. The poet uses a lot of domestic images. The reader can picture the large house of a wealthy

family, the kitchen (the servant’s quarters) and the dining room

LITERARY DEVICES (10)

Irony The poem "I, Too" by Langston Hughes is an excellent

example of a poem using the word "I" as something other than its literal meaning. "I, Too" is about the segregation of African Americans, whites and how soon segregation will come to an end

The following lines of the second verse, "They send me to eat in the kitchen When company comes, But I laugh, and eat well, and grow strong." Those lines are his declaration of humour and sense of ironic humour. This verse has an ironic humour

MORAL VALUES

Blacks ought to have the same freedom as whites, and take a stand when need be.Hughes expresses his feelings by saying that blacks have equal rights too, like every white person in the world. The last line, "I, too, am America," is a perfect closure to an excellent poem.

The title - "I, Too" - has major importance, because it implicates that multiple races make up the face of America and not only whites.

Hughes celebrates America as well, but not an America that is but an America that is to come.Hughes’s democratic vistas are still on the distant horizon yet to arrive.

The poem "I, Too" shouts for equality and freedom. Hughes depicts a slave who receives horrible treatment from his master, because he is sent away to eat alone in the kitchen when visitors come. This disrespect precipitates strength from the servant who boldly decides to take control and plans to not eat in the kitchen when ordered to do so.