Who am I? What will I do with my life? What am I supposed to do with my life? How am I important? These questions are common questions that most people ask themselves at one point during their lives that challenge their identities and what identity means to them. Some people are able to find the answer to these questions, and be satisfied with the answers they find; however, for those people who have faced various prejudices and hardships in their lives, these questions sometimes never have straight answers. Langston Hughes, the author of the poem, “Theme for English B,” wrote a poem about a young black student in a white school facing the question of identity. This student is trying to find his true self in the poem by expressing his voice to his instructor, but has trouble accomplishing this task. The main question that “Theme for English B,” raises about identity is what helps people to claim their identity; furthermore, after examining Hughes poem and the accompanying essay, identity is based on race and positions of authority.
In the poem, “Theme for English B,” written by Langston Hughes, the central question that Hughes embeds in his poem about identity is what factors help people to claim their identity. In the poem, the black student discusses various things that he believes might help him to discover who he is. For example, he states, “But I guess I’m what I feel and see and hear, Harlem, I hear you: hear you, hear me – we two – you, me, talk on this page, (I hear New York, too). Me – who? Well, I like to eat, sleep, drink, and be in love, I like to work, read, learn, and understand life. I like a pipe for a Christmas present, or records – Bessie, bop, or Bach. I guess being colored doesn’t make me not like the same things other folks like who are other races” (qtd. in Schilb and Clifford 1069). Furthermore, in the essay, “Critical Essay on ‘Theme for English B,’” the author, Chris Semansky, states that the black student in Hughes’s essay is trying to find his identity by examining both his similarities to others and by finding out his differences: “His search for difference, in this case, instead yields both similarities and differences, as he first lists relatively common human desires—“Well, I like to eat, sleep, drink, and be in love. / I like to work, read, learn, and understand life.”--then more personal preferences—“I like a pipe for a Christmas present, / or records--Bessie, bop, or Bach” (Semansky 2). After examining these sources from the poem and from the essay, it is clear that Hughes had intended to place this important question for his readers to examine and hopefully help them to identity for themselves. In the poem, the young, black student who feels out of place in an all-white school hope to claims his identity by identifying with different material things, such as what books, music, and even what he enjoys getting for Christmas. Furthermore, the young black student discusses how he identifies with the city Harlem, and how Harlem makes up a part of who he is as a person. The poem and the critical essay written about the poem are essential examples showing how people shape their identities based on what they like, and even the places they grew up. Believe it or not, the places people live have a big deciding factor in how we shape our identity because it becomes a part of our culture. And, our culture becomes a big deciding factor in how we decide to shape our identity. It is amazing how the things around us and the things that we interact with help us to choose who we want to be. In the poem, “Theme for English B,” written by Langston Hughes, the author embeds the important central message of how the things around us influence our identities.
After examining Hughes poem and the accompanying poem on race, it is clear that identity in this poem is based on the issue of race. In the poem, the student explains to his professor that he is the only black student in the class, and because of this, it could actually affect how he will write this essay: “I wonder if it’s that simple? I am twenty-two, colored, born in Winston-Salem. I went to school there, then Durham, then here to this college on the hill above Harlem. I am the only colored student in my class. The steps from the hill lead down from Harlem through a park, then I cross St. Nicholas, Eighth Avenue, Seventh, and I come to the Y, the Harlem Branch Y, where I take the elevator up to my room, sit down, and write this page” (qtd. in Schilb and Clifford 1069). Furthermore, in Chris Semansky’s essay, “Critical Essay on ‘Theme for English B,’” he explains that people take positions on important issues all of the time in life, and this can cause them to view life differently, just like the black student in Hughes’s poem: “He tells us that he is a black man who was born in the South (Winston-Salem, North Carolina) and is now attending a white school in the North (Columbia University in New York City).These differences alone complicate the assignment, as they highlight Hughes's feeling of alienation and the difficulty of “going home.” Underscoring this difficulty is the speaker’s description of the long route he takes to his current home, a room at the Harlem YMCA, and his description of Harlem--a predominantly black community--as literally down the hill from the university. By characterizing his “home” in terms of distance and difficulty, Hughes emphasizes how “un-simple” description is; how, regardless of what we say or write about something, we are always taking a position because we are saying one thing instead of another” (Semansky 1). These two pieces of evidence from the poem and the essay demonstrate how identity is based on the important issue of race. In the poem, the black student actually explains how this assignment may not be as easy as it seems. He may not be able to write everything that is in his heart due to the fact that he is the only black student in the class. Furthermore, to complicate the matter, his instructor is white as well, and may not appreciate everything the student is saying just because the instructor will be looking at the assignment as one written “by a black student” instead of just “written by a student.” Semansky makes this same connection as well in his critical essay. Semansky explains how the student in the poem feels it is important to explain his racial background as it is his racial background that defines who he is, and how other people view him as well. The poem and the accompanying essay are key factors in showcasing how race does help a person define their identity because it is a person’s race that advances them or brings them down in society. It is a sad thing that some people look down on others due to the fact that they have different skin color – and because some people do this, it can cause others to have a certain opinion of themselves. This, in turn, can shape their identity, as it helped to shape the black student’s identity in the poem. After reading the poem, “Theme for English B,” written by Langston Hughes, and the essay “Critical Essay on ‘Theme for English B,’” written by Chris Semansky, it is interesting to see just how much the issue of race can play in shaping a person’s identity.
In the poem, “Theme for English B” written by Langston Hughes, and the essay, “Critical Essay on ‘Theme for English B,’” written by Chris Semansky, identity is also based on the positions of authority. In the poem, “Theme for English B,” written by Langston Hughes, the black student actually challenges the professor authority a little bit at the end of the poem when he states the following: “As I learn from you, I guess you learn from me – although you’re older – and white – and somewhat more free” (qtd. in Schilb and Clifford 1070). Furthermore, in the essay, “Critical Essay on ‘Theme for English B,’” written by Chris Semansky, Semansky explains how the young black student was challenging the teacher by making this bold statement, and by doing this, it could cause the teacher to react irrational toward the student: “By questioning his instructor's very directions, the student-speaker is questioning his instructor's authority. While some instructors might think this action shows independent thinking and reward the student for such an action, it isn't clear that this will be the case in this poem. Hughes's description of the situation and of the instructor suggest that the instructor is most likely fairly conventional in his thinking (consider the generic nature of the assignment and the fact that the student isn't certain that the instructor can learn anything from him). Rather than seeing this poem as an example of creative independent thinking, the instructor might very well punish the student both for challenging him and for writing a poem instead of an essay. Seen in this light the poem, then, becomes an act of rebellion--of questioning the instructor's very identity as teacher” (Semansky 3). Semansky offers some excellent insight into Hughes’s poem by examining how a person’s identity is based on positions of authority. The teacher is in a very high and influential position, and has the potential to actually help shape his students’ identities with what he is teaching in the classroom. If the teacher uses this assignment for this particular purpose (for helping his students “discover” themselves), then his students (not just the black student, but all of his students) could really learn something about not only themselves, but also their professor. They will learn that even though their professor is in a higher position than they are, he cares about them and their futures, and is willing to assign homework that will actually matter in their lives. However, if the professor acts irrational towards some students because he does not appreciate their opinion, or does not appreciate them as people, he is still helping to shape his students’ identity. Only, they will not be building a positive identity of themselves, but rather a negative identity. If their teacher punishes them for what they write in the essay, and verbally abuses them, then how will the students gain a positive identity about themselves? No – their identities will be shaped negatively, and they will not trust anyone in higher positions of authority. It was interesting to see – in this poem – how someone in a position of power can have so much influence on other people’s identity.
Langston Hughes wrote a very powerful poem that deals with one of life’s most important issues – the issue of identity in this world. Every day, someone asks themselves “Who am I?” “Who will I be?” “Am I even important in this world?” And, these questions are answered and the person’s identity is shaped by the things and people around them. A person’s identity is one of the most important things they can gain in life; however, as demonstrated in Hughes’s poem, it is influenced by many factors that can either shape identity positively or negatively.
Sources:
1) Making Literature Matter: An Anthology for Readers and Writers; complied by John Schilb and John Clifford; pages 1069-1070
2) Semansky, Chris. "Critical Essay on 'Theme for English B'." Poetry for Students. Ed. Mary K. Ruby. Vol. 6. Detroit: Gale Group, 1999. Literature Resource Center. Gale. MIRACOSTA COLLEGE. 3 Nov. 2009
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