Langston Hughes creates this poem by incorporating crucial details, words, and images to prove his point on the paradox he has created in the two worlds he identifies in his writing. Hughes reveals his inferior stature in the college he attends by stating he is the only “colored” male in his class. Not only that, Hughes takes time to explain that he returns home from the college by going “down into Harlem,” and traveling “up” to his room. The meticulous use of “down” and “up” emphasizes the transition from his inferior status at the white- dominated college to the his sanctity and dominance in his room writing his paper. Although he uses similar terms for describing where his college and home is located, his goal seems to state how he truly
