Discussion Questions For Week 10/26

1. I found the poem Harlem by Langston Hughes to be full of similes. Langston uses several similes but at the same time they are used as a metaphor to create a bigger picture. The bigger picture focuses on the conditions of people whose dreams have been limited, put off, or lost in post-World War II Harlem. The raisin the poet talks about is a simile for the dreams. The last line "Or does it explode?" shows a feeling of frustration. All of these dreams have been put off and the more they get put off the more frustration that is created.


2. In Theme for English B by Langston Hughes there is one very apparent theme in the poem. The narrator which happens to be the college student seems to be having troubles in regards to identity. The poem asks who are we and how is it that we know who we are? The narrator asks himself this question and discovers that identity is a product of racial distinction. We are who we are not. Identity is something a community creates, whether that community be racially homogeneous or racially divided. In the class this community is racially divided but the narrator states that even though they are all different they are all connected. They are all striving for the same goal in the class. This is reassured when the narrator states “That's American./Sometimes perhaps you don't want to be a part of me./Nor do I often want to be a part of you./But we are, that's true!”