The author of choice Is Langston Hughes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The author of choice Is Langston Hughes - Essay Example By looking at works by DuBois, Booker T. Washington and Frederick Douglass, some of the history and literary context can be established while other authors such as Minnick and Wolfram help to provide insight into the technical elements, such as the use of dialect, used in Hughes’ writing. Spearman and Moore expand knowledge of Hughes the man as well as the lesser known writings while Mogan’s analysis of â€Å"Cubes† helps to illustrate the strong connections between Hughes’ poetry and the world around him. Hughes, Langston. (1995). The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes. New York: Vintage Classics. This book is exactly what it claims to be, a collection of poems written by Langston Hughes. What makes this book unique is that the editors have worked to gather together all of Hughes’ known poems and present them in chronological order by approximate composition date as well as in the final rendition as it had been left by Hughes. By presenting the poems in this way, the reader can begin to trace the prevalent themes of the major eras of Hughes’ life, including the ‘race’ poems, the ‘protest’ poems and the ‘children’s’ poems. At the same time, the concentrated presentation brings forward the sense of music that is built into Hughes’ work, preserving this element of the culture in the cadence and language used. This book is helpful to the present research in that it informs the reader of what was most important to Hughes a t differing stages of his life. In combination with his journalistic works when applicable, the poems highlight the differences between Hughes’ vision and those of his predecessors or contemporaries and captures the sound and cadence of the black people of Harlem at this point in history. By telling the story in their own ‘language’ or linguistic style, the poet is able to preserve more of the intended meaning and nuance expressed within his culture and therefore convey much