A poet, novelist, fiction writer, and playwright, Langston Hughes is known for his insightful, colorful portrayals of black life in America from the twenties through the sixties and was important in shaping the artistic contributions of the Harlem Renaissance.
One Way Ticket
I pick up my life,
And take it with me,
And I put it down in
Chicago, Detroit,
Buffalo, Scranton,
Any place that is
North and East,
And not Dixie.
I pick up my life
And take it on the train,
To Los Angeles, Bakersfield,
Seattle, Oakland, Salt Lake
Any place that is
North and West,
And not South.
I am fed up
With Jim Crow laws,
People who are cruel
And afraid,
Who lynch and run,
Who are scared of me
And me of them
I pick up my life
And take it away
On a one-way ticket-
Gone up North
Gone out West
Gone
Langston Hughes, 1949
Step 1: Observe
1. Where is the narrator going? From where did he come?
2. Why did the narrator leave?
Step 2: Reflect
3. What moment in time does the poem illustrate? How do you know?
4. What does the narrator and people like him hope to find in their new destination?
And take it with me,
And I put it down in
Chicago, Detroit,
Buffalo, Scranton,
Any place that is
North and East,
And not Dixie.
I pick up my life
And take it on the train,
To Los Angeles, Bakersfield,
Seattle, Oakland, Salt Lake
Any place that is
North and West,
And not South.
I am fed up
With Jim Crow laws,
People who are cruel
And afraid,
Who lynch and run,
Who are scared of me
And me of them
I pick up my life
And take it away
On a one-way ticket-
Gone up North
Gone out West
Gone
Langston Hughes, 1949
Step 1: Observe
1. Where is the narrator going? From where did he come?
2. Why did the narrator leave?
Step 2: Reflect
3. What moment in time does the poem illustrate? How do you know?
4. What does the narrator and people like him hope to find in their new destination?
I, Too
I, too, sing America.
I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.
Tomorrow,
I’ll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody’ll dare
Say to me,
“Eat in the kitchen,"
Then.
Besides,
They’ll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed--
I, too, am America.
Langston Hughes, 1945
Step 1: Observe
1. What real-life experiences did Hughes describe in the poem?
2. According to Hughes, what will happen tomorrow?
Step 2: Reflect
3. How is America described in this poem? How does it make you think about what it means to be American?
4. What connection can be made between this poem and life in the US in the 1920s?
5. In his famous, “I Have A Dream” speech, Martin Luther King, Jr. says, “I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia…the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.” Why is dining at a table so important?
I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.
Tomorrow,
I’ll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody’ll dare
Say to me,
“Eat in the kitchen,"
Then.
Besides,
They’ll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed--
I, too, am America.
Langston Hughes, 1945
Step 1: Observe
1. What real-life experiences did Hughes describe in the poem?
2. According to Hughes, what will happen tomorrow?
Step 2: Reflect
3. How is America described in this poem? How does it make you think about what it means to be American?
4. What connection can be made between this poem and life in the US in the 1920s?
5. In his famous, “I Have A Dream” speech, Martin Luther King, Jr. says, “I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia…the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.” Why is dining at a table so important?
The Negro Speaks of Rivers
I’ve known rivers:
I’ve known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins.
My soul has grown deep like the rivers.
I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young.
I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep.
I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it.
I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln went down to New Orleans,
and I’ve seen its muddy bosom turn all golden in the sunset.
I’ve known rivers:
Ancient, dusky rivers.
My soul has grown deep like the rivers.
Langston Hughes, 1926
Step 1: Observe
1. In the third stanza (paragraph), what locations does Hughes refer to? Where (what continent) are these located?
2. What is the main idea of the poem?
Step 2: Reflect
3. Why would Langston Hughes write a poem about these locations? Why do they represent?
4. Who is the intended audience of this poem? Is he writing to please or entertain the white community? Or something else?
I’ve known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins.
My soul has grown deep like the rivers.
I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young.
I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep.
I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it.
I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln went down to New Orleans,
and I’ve seen its muddy bosom turn all golden in the sunset.
I’ve known rivers:
Ancient, dusky rivers.
My soul has grown deep like the rivers.
Langston Hughes, 1926
Step 1: Observe
1. In the third stanza (paragraph), what locations does Hughes refer to? Where (what continent) are these located?
2. What is the main idea of the poem?
Step 2: Reflect
3. Why would Langston Hughes write a poem about these locations? Why do they represent?
4. Who is the intended audience of this poem? Is he writing to please or entertain the white community? Or something else?