I Too, Sing America

Gina Monlyn

Prof. Leslie Watley

African American Literature

26 June 2017

Personal Connections Essay: Part 3

Traditional

I, Too, Sing America

        I, Too, by Langston Hughes was published 1945.   The young black man is expressing his feelings on racism.  He expresses he is a “darker brother” who is directed to the kitchen when the white guest visits the house as if he is a slave, but he too, sing America (Hughes, p. 1309, Vol. 1).  He knows he has grown strong; therefore, he laughs it off.   Hughes uses explicit imagery, precise language, and sounds to express his feeling about racism. I believe Langston Hughes is speaking from the heart in I, Too, as the poem is full of emotions which feel genuine and heartfelt.

  I, Too, is about the struggles of discrimination and the injustice of racism an African American has to deal with. Langston Hughes, a great and world-renowned poet/author, devoted his career to the struggles, discrimination, inequalities, dreams, and racial injustices of African American people by proudly speaking out about it his works.  He is treated as if he is less than human and is an embarrassment to the white race and is made to feel inferior.  

In the second stanza, the ‘darker brother” can take a peep into the future and predicts in “tomorrow” I will be at the table when company comes.  Nobody’ll dare say to me, eat in the kitchen (Hughes, p. 1308, Vol. 1).  This line symbolizes hope for the future when there will be no more discrimination as he is optimistic that one day he will overcome and be free of discrimination.  He uses metaphors and symbolism to compare eating in the kitchen to the suppression of African Americans during the civil war.  By using these literary devices, Hughes can take the concept of eating in the kitchen and attributes it to a much large scale of suppression which was held in America during the civil rights movement. When Hughes says I, Too, I believe he is saying that they both, black and white are in the same place, which is America so, why can’t he be treated the same.

Nontraditional

Mother to Son by Langston Hughes

    Langston Hughes’ “Mother to Son” is a moving poem of a mother encouraging her son never to give up and to keep moving forward.  Hughes skillfully uses literary devices such as metaphors, symbolism, colloquial and vernacular language, and repetition.  There are instances of alliteration being used with ‘d’ and ‘s’ in Don’t you set down on the steps” (Hughes, p. 105, Vol. 1).   To show that the mother has not had a perfect life “Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair is mentioned twice (Hughes, p. 1305, Vol. 1).  He manages to present a mother being loving to her son yet firm when telling him about life.  In this poem, the mother tells her son about life and challenges she has faced and instructed him not give up on life.  She explains life is full of hurdles, but with courage, perseverance, and determination he can overcome them.