Langston Hughes was an African American writer born in the early 20th century. He became a well-known and important author by discussing themes concerning race and politics from a young age in various genres, for example poetry. In a varying degree of colloquial language and a jazz inspired rhythm, Hughes conveyed his messages to his audience through a lifetime long career of writing that began around the time he published the poem “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” which in this essay will be interpreted and discussed.
“The Negro Speaks of Rivers” from 1921 was one of the first published works by the still very young man, yet it is considered to be one of his best (Emanuel, 1967, p. 173). Though he was only nineteen years old when the poem was published in The Crisis, he is conveying an understanding and knowledge of history and emotion that …show more content…
In “Mother to Son,” we encounter ungrammatical language such as “’Cause you finds it kinder hard” (Hughes, 2013, p. 1039), which functions as a means with the effect of personalizing and making more oral a message conveyed from a mother to a son. It is also a means to convey the African American culture, and maybe to contrast it from with the regular language of the country in which the race is placed. This can help us understand why he Hughes would not use the same means technique in “The Negro Speaks of Rivers.” The poem is also dealing deals with the Negritude and the culture of African American people, but it is less focused on the persons belonging to the culture, and more on the history and how they belong to both to Africa and America. In a case like this, a very colloquial language could take away the credibility of the writer, who is trying to convey the message of his knowledge of history and African American
“The Negro Speaks of Rivers” from 1921 was one of the first published works by the still very young man, yet it is considered to be one of his best (Emanuel, 1967, p. 173). Though he was only nineteen years old when the poem was published in The Crisis, he is conveying an understanding and knowledge of history and emotion that …show more content…
In “Mother to Son,” we encounter ungrammatical language such as “’Cause you finds it kinder hard” (Hughes, 2013, p. 1039), which functions as a means with the effect of personalizing and making more oral a message conveyed from a mother to a son. It is also a means to convey the African American culture, and maybe to contrast it from with the regular language of the country in which the race is placed. This can help us understand why he Hughes would not use the same means technique in “The Negro Speaks of Rivers.” The poem is also dealing deals with the Negritude and the culture of African American people, but it is less focused on the persons belonging to the culture, and more on the history and how they belong to both to Africa and America. In a case like this, a very colloquial language could take away the credibility of the writer, who is trying to convey the message of his knowledge of history and African American