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Langston HughesA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
“The White Man’s Burden” by Rudyard Kipling (1899)
This poem was written about the Philippine-American War, and it promotes a colonial message of empire by urging Americans to engage in the annexation of The Philippines. The poem argues that white people are morally obligated to spread “civilization,” and that colonialism is the only way to spread progress to non-white lands. Though it will come at a steep cost to the colonizers, the poem’s speaker believes colonialism will ultimately benefit the world. This poem has a long history of being used to justify colonialism and white supremacy, and even upon publication, there was tremendous resistance to its message. “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” rejects Kipling’s message.
“Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes (1922)
This short poem embodies the same themes as “The Negro Speaks of Rivers.” The speaker is a mother who tells her son about the struggle of her life and the necessity of being strong and persevering. This poem demonstrates Hughes’s use of African American Vernacular English (AAVE), which is an English dialect created by African Americans and developed over the course of 400 years. The diction would have been striking to contemporary audiences, as most poetry did not use such dialects.
By Langston Hughes
Children’s Rhymes
Langston Hughes
Cora Unashamed
Langston Hughes
Dreams
Langston Hughes
Harlem
Langston Hughes
I look at the world
Langston Hughes
I, Too
Langston Hughes
Let America Be America Again
Langston Hughes
Me and the Mule
Langston Hughes
Mother to Son
Langston Hughes
Mulatto
Langston Hughes
Mule Bone: A Comedy of Negro Life
Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston
Not Without Laughter
Langston Hughes
Slave on the Block
Langston Hughes
Thank You, M'am
Langston Hughes
The Big Sea
Langston Hughes
Theme for English B
Langston Hughes
The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain
Langston Hughes
The Ways of White Folks
Langston Hughes
The Weary Blues
Langston Hughes
Tired
Langston Hughes