2014 Group 88

In "One Friday Morning", Langston Hughes shows a very positive view of America. Even though Nancy Lee has all these great things that she earned taken away from her, she still believes in the purpose of America and she still loves the country even though it has taken the one thing that she had worked the hardest for. This is very different than Claude McKay's view on America in the poem "Enslaved". In this poem he talks about the race of black people being torn from their homes and being used and treated horrible and how his heart begins to turn to lead a with hatred and he talks about how black people have no home on this earth. He writes that he wants the white mans world of wonders to be swallowed into the earths vast tomb or roll upward like artificial smoke. He shjoews his hatred for white people and shows his hatred for america because of the white people.

"I have a dream", the famous speech spoken by Martin Luther King Jr., describes the dream that America will become a land of equality and justice. King said, "I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed." He also talks about how he hopes that one day people will not be discriminated because of the color of their skin. Instead, he said that people should be judged by the content of their character. In addition, King discussed, metaphorically, that African Americans were given a check that read insufficient funds. However, he believed that his race was not "insufficient" and that there was a vast amount of opportunities for them. "One Friday Morning" by Langston Hughes similarly describes the racial discrimination of African Americans and the dream that one day America would ring of freedom. Although Nancy Lee was supposed to receive the art award, her color prevented her from the honor. She was "insufficient" and was not granted the opportunity that a white would've been. Furthermore, Miss O'Shay said, "Those who deny you this scholarship do not know the meaning of those stars." The meaning that she was talking about was life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And in both the speech and short story, determination for these rights was strongly fought for.

One Friday Morning by Langston Hughes is very similar to How it Feels to be Coldered Me by Zora Neale Houston because the main characters feel discriminated at first, but realized that they shouldnt worry about it. Zora says, "Someone is always at my elbow reminding me that I am the granddaughter of slaves. It fails to register depression with me. ". She doesnt feel the need to get mad over what other people think. Nancy Lee in One Friday Morning is upset at first but realizes she doesnt need to be. "​One hand went to the heart, the other outstretched toward the flag. Three thousand voices spoke. Among them was the voice of a dark girl whose cheeks were suddenly wet with tears, "...one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." "That is the land we must make," she thought." She knows that she can make a change and diesnt need to worry about what other people think. They csn both change lives and be themselves.

This was written in the early part of Langston Hughes's career - around 1932

After reading "Harlem (dreams deferred)", and Dream Variations" by Langston Hughes, we concluded that the general message was: Never give up on dreams because determination can lead to great things. In "Dream Variations", Langston Hughes talks about how he wants to be free and live a more happy life, but he cannot because he is black of skin. Additionally a poem, "Harlem (Dreams Deferred)" was written 19 years after, but in this poem Hughe's views were completely different. He discusses that we should keep moving the goal of our dreams because if we don't, our dreams will "explode".

The two poems can relate to eachother because both poems are talking about had Hughes have dreams about rights and in "Dream Variations" it seems like hes talking about how he is an African American, doesn't have many rights. i bet Hughes wrote these poems because he knew that a lot of the blacks were giving up on the thoughts of having rights and be equals with the whites.

In MLK's Speech MLK talks about the "White Only" signs. This is also similar to Langston Hughes story "One Friday Morning." In "One Friday Morning", Nancy Lee has this talented beautiful water color painting however she cannot win the award because the award is for non-colored people or you can call it "White Only." Both of them have experience the same type of segregation, being labeled as color for pointless reasons, whether using a bathroom to winning an art reward. More towards the end MLK says "With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day." which is very similar to Nancy Lee's final thought "This is the land we must make." Both of them have felt the same type of segregation, and both want to make a change in America.

1. 14 lines 2. Rhyme Scheme 3. Change of thought 4. 10 syllables 5. Rhyme couplets

The poem "If We Must Die" by Claude McKay is a sonnet because 1) It has fourteen lines, 2) There is a change of thought between lines 8 and 9. The thought changed from a dark description of the wrong way to die to a call for people to die with dignity. 3) It has a rhyme scheme (A,B,A,B,C,D,C,D,E,F,E,F,G,G). 4) It only has one couplet that rhymes. "Like men we'll face the cowardly pack/Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back!" 5) Each line has ten syllables.

"If We Must Die" by Claude Mckay shows a striking resemblance to part of MLKs "I Have a Dream" Speech. While reading " We cannot walk alone. And as we walk,we must pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back." I couldn't help but think of this poem."Like men we'll face the murderous, cowardly pack, Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back!" In this poem he talks about how death is death and even if they cannot escape death, staying together will make them strong even after they're slain.MLK speaks of the same thing, they can all have the same aspiration to have equality,but if they do not stand up together nothing will be changed. MLK would have never been able to change the country without the support of millions on his side. This is true with many leaders who gain their power by grouping people and being the figure head of their change.

I like this poem because Langston Hughes is standing up for himself and talking more about equality. He sends a really strong message with just short and simple words.

In the poem "I, Too" By Langston Hughes he brings a real positive message about America saying how "I, Too am America." And how everyone is equal and everyone is America. He also says how he is the darker brother but how he also sings America. "I, Too Sing America." He brings this message about how everyone sings and is America no matter how they look. The poem that is more negative torwards America is "America" by Claud McKay. Claud starts off "Although she feeds me bread of bitterness, And sinks into my throat her tiger's tooth, Stealing my breath of life, I will confess." Claud is referring she to America, and how she does all this to him. He describes all the harsh things Claud has witnessed. He also talks how he feels about America and how he is scared almost. "I stand within her walls with not a shred Of terror, malice, not a word of jeer." Claud and Langstons poems have very different views in their poems. One is scared of America, and one feels he is America.

After reading poems written by Claude McKay and Langston Hughes, I observed a sense of emotion toward America. In some, for example, the poet's tone was harsh and grim. But in others, there was a feeling of hope and revival. The two poems I have chosen to discuss were written by people with very different beliefs of America, and we can see their opposite feelings through the writing they compose. In "I, Too", Langston Hughes wrote positively about the "tomorrow" of America. He described how he, as the darker brother, was always put in the kitchen when company came. And although throughout the poem Hughes talked about the inequality of America, he never seemed to give up hope. He wrote that he ate well and grew stronger because he had faith that one day he would be able to dine at the table when company came, "They'll see how beautiful I am." While "I, Too" is uplifting and exhibits trust in American equality, other poets portrayed their feelings in a more bitter way. Claude McKay, for instance, wrote in "Enslaved", "My heart grows sick with hate, becomes as lead/ For this my race that has no home on earth." As you can see, McKay's words have a harsher edge to them. Throughout the poem, he continued to write boldly and with a strong hate of America's injustice. Although Hughes and McKay had different ways of presenting their hopes, we, as readers, could identify the goal they both wished to portray: freedom and equality in America.

I think this picture shows the African Americans celebrating with music and the arts that they now have freedom to express. They seem happy and hopeful of the future now that they were free.

"Let America be America again" by Langston Hughes and "From Slavery to Reconstruction "by Aaron Douglas These work of writing and art, both by different men but in the same time period, depict America as a great hope or a great oppression. In the picture, " From Slavery to Reconstruction" There seems to be a bright source, just like most of his paintings. I believe if he wanted to show America being a terrible nation, he would have made the whole painting dark and gloomy, therefore making people interpret that there is no light, thus no hope. In" Let America Be America Again" He talks about how America is a faux, filled with ulterior motives, and a place where dreams are let down.He also says that they should just let America be what it was seen as in the eyes of dreamers. But he damped the notion when he said in pasrtheseses " ( it was never America for me)" . Both these pieces paint two entire different pictures of America. This shows that the outlook people have on America varies from their experience with the people and the politics.

This was written in the early part of Langston Hughes's career - around 1932.

Dreams by Langston Hughes gives a positive message to never give up on dreams and never lose hope. He wants to remind americans to never lose hope and always follow their path of what they have always wanted to do. In th white city by Claude McKay he seems to be unsure of his dreams and questioning his dreams. That sends a negative message tha you shouldnt follow your dreams of what you have always wanted to do with your life.

In "dawn in New York" by Claude McKay, he sees the dawn of the sun over Manhattan is crimson-tinted and how the domes are cheerful. his spirit rises every day he sais because of this event. In December 1919 by Claude he talks about how much he missed his mother and how he had been feeling pain for ten long years.

What does the title of this poem suggest about McKay's audience? What is McKay's literal message? What is his figurative message?

This poem is very positive because Claude McKay is describing how the north is a beuatiful place. Then he goes on to say that the winter gets boring but then it blooms into a great bright beautiful accepting spring. On the other hand, "One Friday Morning" by Langston Hughes refelects on America negativley saying how America discriminates against African Americans and how it reflects on its culture and doesn't accept them into society.

America is portrayed in a positive sense in "To One Coming North" by Claude McKay. McKay describes America's faults, but later explains how the faults make it different from his home and therefore better. McKay explains this when he says: "But oh! more than the changeless southern isles/ When Spring has shed upon the earth her charm/ You'll love the Northland wreathed in golden smiles/ By the miraculous sun turned glad and warm." However, Langston Hughes disagrees with Claude McKay's view on America in his poem "Let America Be America Again". Hughes uses an opposite view as McKay, he explains all the good values America has, but doesn't follow. "O, let my land be a land where Liberty/Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath/ But opportunity is real, and life is free/ Equality is in the air we breathe./ (There's never been equality for me/ Nor freedom in this "homeland of the free.")" Both poems effectively describe what it was like to live during the Harlem Renaissance, but the author's outlook on life are quite different.

I chose this poem because it although was written after the time of slavery, Langston Hughes still thinks that America is not completely fee, America is not America to him, there is no equality for him, this poem expresses his feelings of America

Let America be America by Langston Hughes s very opposite to Claude McKay's To One coming north. This is because McKay says such good things about the north and all this equality, but Hughes disagrees, he says that America is a free place but not to him, he has no equality there, freedom does not spread to him. Their points of view are very different.

"Let America Be America Again" By Langston Hughes is a negative poem. Criticizing the way America treats its lower class but vital citizens, this poem uses quotes from famous documents like the Declaration of Independence to show that America never achieved its dream of equality. A positive counter-image is seen in Aaron Douglas's "Song of the Towers". In the foreground of this painting, a man stands on a bridge made of a gear in front of a row of towers. Between two towers, the statue of liberty is visible, shining a bright light on the man.

In this poem hes talking about how coming to america and taking on a new culture has made him loose his anstesteral roots and how he feels lost and an outcast.

This poem shows a negative view of America because Claude McKay feels as if he was taken away from his home and a part of him was lost forever. In one friday morning by Langston Hughes he says that America discriminates but they have to make the best of what they have so this shows a positive view of America.

In this poem Claude McKay describes how even though America seems to hate him a lot, he uses that hate as fuel to rise up against

I like this poem because it shows how bad slavery really was and that it was wrong to take peoples "human-hood" away from them. Claude is standing up for himeself and for his people with pride and dignity.

In "One Friday Morning", Langston uhughes shows a very positive view of America. Even though Nancy Lee has all these great things that she earned taken away from her, she still believes in the purpose of America and she still loves the country even though it has taken the one thing that she had worked the hardest for. This is very different than Claude McKay's view on America in the poem "Enslaved". In this poem he talks about the race of black people being torn from their homes and being used and treated horrible and how his heart begins to turn to lead a with hatred and he talks about how black people have no home on this earth. He writes that he wants the white mans world of wonders to be swallowed into the earths vast tomb or roll upward like artificial smoke. He shjoews his hatred for white people and shows his hatred for america because of the white people.

This poem is about the beauty of the north in spring.

In the poem spring in New Hampshire Claude McKay describes the beauty of America and all of the things it has to offer. But in Let America be America Again Langston Hughes describes the things that America has done wrong and how it should stop descriminating.

In "Aspiration", painted by Aaron Douglas, an idea of hope is depicted. After observing the image, I noticed that the people on the foreground are handcuffed. This leads me to the conclusion that they are slaves. Also, everyone seems to be reaching/pointing toward an illuminated, well-built building. Light usually symbolizes hope, so I presume that the it gives the slaves a glimmer of freedom. Finally, I observed that there is a large star in the direction that the people are pointing. In the Underground railroad, the North Star led the slaves to freedom. So again, Douglas illustrated hope through a sort of light.

Paintings by Aaron Douglas show a pattern of freedom, escape from slavery, this pattern is shown by a bright star which slaves followed through the Underground Railroad when they were escaping. This light gives them hope, hope radiates from the center of the picture and the slaves below raise their arms in praise and excitement. This optimism is bright in comparison to the negativity in the poem "Enslaved" by Claude McKay. "For weary centuries despised, oppressed, Enslaved and lynched, denied a human place In the great life line of the Christian West; And in the Black Land disinherited" Says Claude McKay as he speaks of his people, who were wrongly treated for their colors and cultures. They were rejected their god given rights and mistreated under the hands of the Christian West. This negative poem shows the cruelty and disgust of slavery in America, and reflects how Claude McKay thinks of it.

I chose this poem because I liked how he used a wall to show something keeping him from accomplishing his dreams.

"As I Grew Older" was Langston's Hughes' dream for the sun, the sky, freedom, equality. But in it, he was hindered, by a wall, that he could not pass, his enemies, the people who discriminated him. "And then the wall rose, Rose slowly, Slowly, Between me and my dream. Rose until it touched the sky- The wall. Shadow. I am black. I lie down in the shadow. No longer the light of my dream before me" But going back to the beginning of the poem, Langston seems to have lost hope, he has almost forgotten his dream, his desire to be the same as everyone else. So he fights on... Find my dream! "Help me to shatter this darkness, To smash this night, To break this shadow Into a thousand lights of sun, Into a thousand whirling dreams Of sun" He fights for what he thinks is right, he fights not for himself, but for people who feel the way he does, his dream speaks for everyone.

In both of these poems Langston is talking about how he had a dream and that he is trying to achieve his dreams, but also how it feels to be without dream. In "As I Grew Older", Langston describes how a dark wall blocks the light-hope-of his dream. He then describes how he broke through the wall and saw the light of his dream again. In "Dreams", Langston describes how it feels to be without a dream suggesting that he has been through that time and has come through and can see his dream again.

This was written later in Langston Hughes' career - around 1951.

I think this poem is about giving up on your dreams and describing what can happen to your dreams. "What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?". -Jack & Ben

This poem is different from Dreams Varriations because they are a 19 year difference from when they were written. Harlem deferred was written in 1951 and Dreams variations was written in 1932. Dreams variations seems much more sophisticated with the language it uses and Harlem deferred seems much more simple and uses language that is easy to understand.

This picture represents hope because if you keep moving you will make it to your goal. Also the are try to reach New York and they finally see the city.

This painting also represents similar traits as "Into Bondage", shows slavery and African-American history. Also represents hope, the man is standing with an instrument and light is shining down. Hope through music.