The Development Of Jazz, Blues And Literature

Langston Hughes is an American poet that is well known for his social life, novels, playwrights and most of all his heartfelt poems. Hughes proper understanding of how to articulate a visual through his words, is exactly what made him the novelty he is. Not only was Hughes an American poet, he was also an African American poet, typically expressing emotions and beliefs of the Harlem Renaissance dating back to the late 1930ś (Berry & Dace, 2000, p. 356). Expressing the struggle felt by the African American community post-slavery, in his poem Trumpet Player, Langston Hughes sheds light on how music was embraced and used within their people.

This paper examines the perspective of Langston Hughes and how his style of writing is. It looks at how several interrelated themes run through the poetry of Langston Hughes, all of which have to do with being black in America and surviving in spite of immense difficulties. Langston Hughes is one of the most influential writers because his style of work not only captured the situation of African Americans; it also grabbed the attention of other races with the use of literary elements and other stylistic qualities. Langston Hughes became well known for his way of interpreting music into his work of writing, which readers love and enjoy today.

     Langston Hughes was one of the most important writers and thinkers of the Harlem Renaissance. Hughes creative intellect was influenced by his life in New York City’s Harlem neighborhood. Hughes had a very strong sense of racial pride. Through his works he promoted racial equality and celebrated the African American culture. It was in Lincoln, Illinois that Hughes started to write his poetry. In November 1924, he moved to Washington D.C. where he published his first book of poetry. Hughes is known for his insightful, colorful portrayals of black life in America. Langston is also known for his commitment to jazz. Hughes refused to distinguish between his personal and common understandings of black America. He

The well known poet Langston Hughes was an inspiring character during the Harlem Renaissance to provide a push for the black communities to fight for the rights they deserved. Hughes wrote his poetry to deliver important messages and provide support to the movements. When he was at a young age a teacher introduced him to poets Carl Sandburg and Walt Whitman, and they inspired him to start his own. Being a “darker brother,” as he called blacks, he experienced and wanted his rights, and that inspired him. Although literary critics felt that Langston Hughes portrayed an unattractive view of black life, the poems demonstrate reality. Hughes used the Blues and Jazz to add effect to his work as well as his extravagant word use and literary

Langston Hughes was one of the great writers of his time. He was named the “most renowned African American poet of the 20th century” (McLaren). Through his writing he made many contributions to following generations by writing about African American issues in creative ways including the use of blues and jazz. Langston Hughes captured the scene of Harlem life in the early 20th century significantly influencing American Literature. He once explained that his writing was an attempt to “explain and illuminate the Negro condition in America” (Daniel 760). To fulfill this task, he wrote 15 volumes of poetry, six novels, three books, 11 plays, and a variety of non-fiction work (Daniel 760). He also edited over 50 books in his time (McKay).

Langston Hughes was someone who never gave up on his dream. He was an African-American born in Missouri in 1902. He received his education at Columbia University and later went on to go to Lincoln University. Although he is most well known for being a poet, he held a variety of other jobs ranging from a busboy to a columnist in his early years. In the 1920s America entered the Harlem Renaissance, a time of appreciation for black heritage. It was at this point in history that he became an important writer. The reason he was so important to this time in history is because his writing, “offers a transcription of urban life through a portrayals of the speech habits attitudes and feelings of an oppressed people. The poems do more, however, than

Langston Hughes was a successful African-American poet of the Harlem renaissance in the 20th century. Hughes' had a simple and cultured writing style. "Harlem" is filled with rhythm, jazz, blues, imagery, and evokes vivid images within the mind. The poem focuses on what could happen to deferred dreams. Hughes' aim is to make it clear that if you postpone your dreams you might not get another chance to attain it--so take those dreams and run. Each question associates with negative effects of deferred dreams. The imagery from the poem causes the reader to be pulled in by the writer's words.

Langston Hughes is an extremely successful and well known black writer who emerged from the Harlem Renaissance (“Langston Hughes” 792). He is recognized for his poetry and like many other writers from the Harlem Renaissance, lived most of his life outside of Harlem (“Langston Hughes” 792). His personal experiences and opinions inspire his writing intricately. Unlike other writers of his time, Hughes expresses his discontent with black oppression and focuses on the hardships of his people. Hughes’ heartfelt concern for his people’s struggle evokes the reader’s emotion. His appreciation for black music and culture is evident in his work as well. Langston Hughes is a complex poet whose profound works provide insight into all aspects of black

When we think of the African American culture, the first thing most people revert to is slavery. However, even after slavery ended, African Americans were not given the rights they were promised. They were treated wrongly and their true culture and identities were still widely misunderstood. During the period of Harlem Renaissance, the African American culture and the true identities of the people were revealed along with allowing the world to see them as more than just slaves and servants, but as actual people. Different poets, writers, musicians, and painters displayed the culture in their creative ways one of who is known as Langston Hughes. His works are credited and discussed worldwide till this day and will continue to do so in the future. During the Harlem Renaissance Langston

The Harlem Renaissance was an African-American creative and intellectual crusade that thrived throughout the 1920s and 1930s. The crusade was based in Harlem, New York, but its inspiration stretched throughout the country and even the world. After the Civil War, huge quantities of African-Americans traveled to northern metropolitan areas, like New York and Chicago. Harlem a neighborhood that was situated near Manhattan became one of the primary endpoint for many of these African Americans, and it was here that a distinctive way of life developed for this group. Harlem renaissance was and is about the outpouring of creating communication and self-expression in ones arts that came about with new opportunities since the moving up north. It was also a time of reawakening for many like the modernist movement claimed to be; it was also a time of self- consciousness of the rethinking of the African culture and a principle part for the search of racial identity. In other words, it was a cultural place where the blacks had a pride to express their art. (Hutchinson, 2017) Therefore, the Harlem Renaissance was a place of expression of pride for the culture of the black. It was where artists, photographers, writers and alike spoke about their work implicitly. I will be looking at two poets of this area in particular and they are Langston Hughes and Claude McKay. I will discuss what part they played as well as their importance within the literary movement along with the major themes of

“The Harlem Renaissance was a time where the Afro-American came of age; he became self-assertive and racially conscious… he proclaimed himself to be a man and deserving respect. Those Afro-Americans who were part of that time period saw themselves as principals in that moment of transformation from old to new” (Huggins 3). African Americans migrated to the North in great numbers to seek better lives than in the South as the northern economy was booming and industrial jobs were numerous. This movement brought new ideas and talents that shifted the culture forever. Black writers, such as Langston Hughes, used their work to claim a place for themselves and to demand self-respect in society. Poems that Langston Hughes wrote captured the essence of the complexity of a life that mixes joy and frustration of black American life through the incorporation of jazz and blues in order to examine the paradox of being black in mostly white America, the land of the not quite free.

Every cultural movement has its genesis and its icon. The genesis of mid-twentieth century America’s African cultural movement was Harlem, and out of love for Harlem and its people came its “poet laureate” Langston Hughes (Davis 276). One cannot conduct any scholarly investigation of Harlem without encountering a barrage of information regarding Langston Hughes. Likewise, one cannot study Langston Hughes without encountering Harlem. When Langston Hughes first experienced Harlem, he had a reaction that would profoundly impact his writing for the rest of his life: “I can never put into words the underground ride to Harlem. I went up the stairs and out into the bright September sunlight. Harlem! I stood there, dropped my bags, took a deep

Credited as being the most recognizable figure of the Harlem Renaissance, Langston Hughes played a vital role in the Modernist literary movement and the movement to revitalize African American culture in the early 20th century. Hughes’s poems reflect his personal struggle and the collective struggle of African Americans during this cultural revival.

As an African-American, his point of view, collectively synergized with this then-new literary art, catapulted his writings between the 1930s - 1960s. He is often credited as the leader of the Harlem Renaissance, and “famously wrote about the period that ‘the negro was in vogue.’” (Langston).

After the emancipation of the slaves, they had no idea what to do, so many of them headed north to a place called Harlem, where they they turned to some form of art. This period of time was called the Harlem Renaissance, many African American people started to take up the arts, such as writing, and music. An article titled “The Harlem Renaissance” says “The Harlem Renaissance was mostly a literary, and intellectual movement”(Steven Watson) One of the most influential and famous African American artists of this time period, was Langston Hughes. Hughes primarily wrote poems, many which are very famous and study throughout schools in America many years later. Hughes also wrote songs in the form of something called jazz poetry, jazz was a newly introduce and very popular music as the time. There are messages in many of Langston Hughes poem, in The Negro Speaks of Rivers, our souls need to grow deep like rivers, in I, Too, we are all Americans despite differences, in Dream Variations, people need to be accepting to others, Lastly in Refugee in America, we all want the same things.