Langston Hughes Uses Poetry as a Tool for Self Discovery :: Biography Biographies Essays

Langston Hughes Uses Poetry as a Tool for Self denudation When Langston Hughes was given this assignment by his college professor, he used it at a self disco actually tool. I think this poem is merely permit him dig into himself to find out who he really is, and what his role is in society. Go home and write a pageboy tonight. And let that page come out of you-- Then, it will be true. We could all trail advice from this instructor. I dont think that the professors words are to be taken actually literally, as I know some of the other close readings will discuss. I think that the reason this assignment was given was to allow the students, or Hughes himself, to name some of the things some himself that he had never known or approach before. Sometimes when we write for someone else or for a specific class, we concenter solely on what we are writing about and we tend to gag rule off any part of ourselves that would escape onto the pages. In contrast, when we write in a journal , or freewrite, we tend to let all of our emotions out, and it is a demeanor for some of us to deal with issues that are facing us, on a day to day basis. This is a way to get to know yourself better, and a way to deal with anger and unsettled emotions. Basically, I think the teacher cute this assignment to be simple. He or she merely wanted the next assignment to be more than personal, which Hughes took to that level if not beyond what was expected. From this poem I think we learn a lot about Hughes as a person, compared to some of his other works. Many of his other poems derive the black man as an entire society, and in this poem we underwrite the black man as Hughes himself, which to me, was very interesting. He lets us take a closer look into his life, and we are able to understand more of his heritage, and the things that inspire him, as a person, and as a writer. For example, in the very first stanza of the poem, he explains to us where he was born, where he was raised, and where he lives now, which is very important in understanding where someone gets their beliefs.