Truth

Langston Hughes In question one, speaking of “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”, it asks about why the river is “apt metaphor for the human soul.” The answer to that question is because rivers map out areas, like the Euphrates is mentioned, well in the beginning of time the Euphrates was a pretty important river. Then Hughes talks about the Congo, Nile, Mississippi, and New Orleans River, thus detailing or mapping out man’s movement across the globe. Also notice that the author chooses rivers that have held high importance to civilization. Hughes takes great care in pointing out these rivers have been keeping people around for a long time. The only problem is that it takes a person with a soul as deep as the rivers to notice the rivers significance. Of course Hughes was not just referring to rivers, but the movement or migration of the African’s to African-Americans and how deep their soul is like the rivers. In question two, the poem “Mother to Son”, is the focus. In Hughes poem, he uses some very interesting metaphor such as the “Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair” (2). Well a little about crystal stairs, a fine luxury, very smooth, and beautiful, like a lovely perfect life, but the mother’s life is not like that at all, more like an old wooden stair case. It is interesting how Hughes uses a staircase for his life metaphor, making it very effective. Hughes shows how the woman or mother, who is speaking, has had a hard life but she has never truly given up. In the hardest of times always keep going never give up, is what Hughes seems to be trying to say through the woman. In question 6, the poem “Harlem (A Dream Deferred)” is viewed to discuss the various similes in the poem. The main simile that will be focused on is the difference between sagging and an exploding dream. The sagging things are generally old and worn done by use, like bookcases will start to sag from so many books, or how people sag from having to carry so much weight. Sagging typically