Theme For English B Langston Hughes Comparison

Hughes, Dunbar, Angelou, and Nye used their respective poems to try and celebrate the richness of diversity that can be found in self-expression. The poems collectively relate to the Grad at Grad subgoal by unapologetically endorsing it. Inspired by the poets being victimized by bias and prejudice firsthand, the poems each utilized these experiences by touching on the psychological effects of discrimination and recommending that love can the only viable solution to combat this problem. Once people have enough love for themselves to accept their internal/external flaws, then that love will permeate into the lives of those around them. This is exactly what the main speakers of all these four poems are trying to deal with. “Theme for English
“Theme for English B” is a poem by Langston Hughes that opens up to the idea of interdependence between all types of people as it subtly criticizes how people of different races believe that they each have dissonant thinking patterns. However, literary critics Chris Semansky and Jeannine Johnson offer two different interpretations of Hughes’s poem. In Semansky’s version of “Critical Essay on ‘Theme for English B,’” he describes the poem as the student eventually coming to question the validity of the assignment given to him by his white teacher. Hughes calls “into question the notion that one can reveal the truth simply by expressing oneself” (Semansky). Hughes recognizes that one identity affects the societal identity, which
Langston Hughes, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Maya Angelou, and Naomi Shihab Nye were some of many poets who used their compositions to advocate for an ability to adapt and consider different viewpoints in order to help reform a somewhat discriminatory system of conventional thinking. Throughout all four poems, the four authors share the common theme that being open to growth requires one to be willing to express themselves by attending to the divine mandate that is fellowship. However, what stands in the way of humanity achieving this goal at this point is whether or not the society is willing to concede to the fact that even the world’s greatest intellectuals cannot hope to solve problems in interpersonal relations. Therefore, the lyrical style and subject matter of these poems suggest that in the midst of the suppression of one's natural human rights (as suggested by philosophers like John Locke), humanity is make its “song” known by practicing love in the lives of others. However, this definition of “love” in our world today may have to redefined, not having so much to do with romantic desire or affection, but having to do more with putting others’ needs and concerns before those of one's