Read the excerpt from “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain”, pp. 1025-1026 to get a sense of the goals Langston Hughes set for himself as a writer. Also read the following two poems by Langston Hughes, “I Too” and “Theme for English B”, pp. 1019 and 1022 and 1023 respectively. Then answer the following question adapted from “Topics for Writing About Langston Hughes”, p.1035 in your textbook.
ASSIGNMENT: The poems “I Too” and “Theme for English B” both feature first person speakers. Compare and contrast the two speakers from each poem. How are they similar to and different from each other? To help you answer think about the following: Who is speaking in each poem? Does each speaker address a particular audience? What are the experiences of the speakers? How does each speaker unfold his experience? How do the structure and rhetorical features of each poem enhance the speakers? Structure and rhetorical features include things like rhyme (or absence of rhyme), figures of speech, imagery etc. See “Poetry: Key Terms”, your term sheet, for a refresher. You will also be reviewing the material in the Gale Ebook volumes of Poetry for Students. Here you will find much to support your thesis and you will cite information from these volumes throughout your paper.
Develop a thesis, your answer to the question of how the speakers compare to each other. Write down your observations. Then use the material from the Gale Ebook volumes to support your thesis.
