Langston Hughes was a writer, poet and leader of the Harlem Renaissance, which is known as the flowering of African American music, art, dance, philosophy and most importantly, literature. Literature from the Harlem Renaissance inspired an additional famous writer and poet, Maya Angelou. Both wrote exceptional poems such as Hughes’ “I, Too, Sing America” and Angelou’s “Still I Rise”. Despite being from the same genre, they can be contrasted, compared and analyzed.
In Hughes’ poem, he specifically mentions the mistreatment and oppression of African- Americans, but he also indicates he has hope for the future and explains the beauty of blacks; he focuses in on besting maltreatment. Similarly, in Angelou’s poem, her focus is African-Americans are overcoming and prevailing in their hardships. She specifically mentions walking as if she had oil wells in her living room and dancing as if she had diamonds in her lap. This simply shows the personality of Angelou and her pride of being black and coming from such strong roots. Hughes sets the scene by …show more content…
Both “I, Too, Sing America” and “Still I Rise” are directed toward American society to show the inequality in society and to inspire all minorities, not just African Americans. In “Still I Rise” and “I, Too, Sing America”, Hughes and Angelou allow us to see a glimpse of their era and learn from their wise words of which they extracted from black history. No matter what the ethnicity of the reader, the reader can get a sense of inspiration when they witness how African Americans were able to overcome discrimination in society. They are differing poems, but carry a similar message, treat others fairly and love
In Hughes’ poem, he specifically mentions the mistreatment and oppression of African- Americans, but he also indicates he has hope for the future and explains the beauty of blacks; he focuses in on besting maltreatment. Similarly, in Angelou’s poem, her focus is African-Americans are overcoming and prevailing in their hardships. She specifically mentions walking as if she had oil wells in her living room and dancing as if she had diamonds in her lap. This simply shows the personality of Angelou and her pride of being black and coming from such strong roots. Hughes sets the scene by …show more content…
Both “I, Too, Sing America” and “Still I Rise” are directed toward American society to show the inequality in society and to inspire all minorities, not just African Americans. In “Still I Rise” and “I, Too, Sing America”, Hughes and Angelou allow us to see a glimpse of their era and learn from their wise words of which they extracted from black history. No matter what the ethnicity of the reader, the reader can get a sense of inspiration when they witness how African Americans were able to overcome discrimination in society. They are differing poems, but carry a similar message, treat others fairly and love