Analysis on the "Weary Blues" written by Langston Hughes

Need done today in 2 hours and 30 mins

3-4 pages

Times New Roman

>span class="s7">1. Examine an idea, trope, theme, of a particular poem or set of poems (i.e American-based poems, anti-slavery poems, hidden messages or undergo urn railroad poems, slave spirituals etc.) and dissect the ways in which those poets themselves examined and deconstructedimportant issues related to their identity, their progress or lack thereof, gender (I, myself, am particularly interested in the silencing of female voices in the late 1700’s through the 1800s. Women were in “supportive” roles, which means supporting the men as they endeavor to change their political oppression, instead of lambasting slavery or male prowess boldly. So, they were covert in their critique. I might “dissect” >span class="s6">“presumably” approved to those that expressed an Anti-American sentiment) etc.
2. Dissect the poem itself, which means, part of your paper is actually engaging with the work itself (do not stray from the poem). How does the poet use symbolism, metaphor, diction, parallelism etc. to engage with the ideas above? Is the language carefully constructed? Cultivated? Curtailed? Curious? (Just kidding, with all the C’s) My point, I want to see some engagement with the word usage, the phrases used, the repetition, the metaphors, the language etc.
3. At the same time, I want to see students engage with the articles they have to read. The information you gather from reading those articles (by Hughes, Asukile, Dubois and Marable) help you understand the writers and poets of the time, the choices they made, the conscious choice of writing styles and more. So, one should USE what they learned to understand something of the poetry. The information you learn should be used to support an assertion you make about the work itself. For example, I might read through Double Consciousness, understand the idea of “twoness” and then APPLY that idea to the ways in which a poet BOTH approved of America and allowed for a subtle criticism of America, at the same time OR OR OR I might apply the idea of a double-consciousness and SHOW the ways in which poets applied these “masks” in everyday life, the one mask that said, “everything was okay" and the other that "deeply criticized” >span class="s6">’s hidden. Another paper could examine the seething anger of the language. Another paper could examine how these poets aimed to gain white sympathy for their cause. Another paper could examine an appeal God, religion, spirituality or faith. Another could examine different time periods, engaging with the subtle difference in the tones and writings of the work from decade to decade or century to century. In other words, the writings of Harmon are very different from the writings of Dunbar, which will be very different to the writers during the Harlem Renaissance etc. How do the writers mock America or slave owners? How does the language critique (subtly or overtly) American politics? What hypocrisies are exposed in the writing? How does one gain a sense of self, an “I” >span class="s6">’s female counterparts?
4. ###span class="bumpedFont15"
>span class="s7"###A. Do not summarize the poem. It is okay to initially give me a big picture understanding of the work; but, I want to see students go into detail with the work.
B. Don’t forget to have a thesis statement that makes an assertion, suggests something important, dissects etc. This statement must provide us with an argument you are making or analysis you will be offering.
C. Do not forget to cite the lines. You can use any Bibliographic method. But, no matter what you use; one must cite the line #’s.
D. Pay attention to Point-of-view (1st person “I”, 2nd person “you” and 3rd person “We”. Too often, students use all three, which is not good writing. Also, often students refer back to the “I” to offer opinion of the work. The poet did a good job of or I really liked how…ALL OF THAT is irrelevant. I don’t want to know what you think of the work. I want to know what the work does, how it affects, what it challenges, what it engages with, how it criticizes, how it dissects etc.) You never have to say, “In my opinion”; if you wrote the paper, it’s a given that it’s your opinion. The FOCUS needs to be on the poem itself and WHAT the poem SAYS or ARGUES or SUGGESTS about something happening.
E. One final comment: Students need to think about these response papers as DRAFTS for their final research paper, due at the end of the semester, which can be an extended and revised adaptation of one of these response papers.