Langston Huges

"Langston Hughes"

"Langston Hughes achieved fame as a poet during the burgeoning of the arts known as the Harlem Renaissance, but those who label him as only a Harlem Renaissance poet have restricted his fame to merely one genre and decade" (Harper 1). Hughes was incredibly influential during the period of the Harlem Renaissance. He wrote various poems such as "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" and "Question [1]." Hughes was a major contributor during the Harlem Renaissance because he worked on many genres of writing. Not only was he an excellent poet he also worked on play writing and wrote novels. As a result of being a novelist, poet, and play writer, he had a major impact on American Literature.

Hughes birthplace had a major impact on his writings. He was born in Harlem of New York City. Hughes was exceptionally relevant of New York City. Being born in Harlem the Harlem Renaissance had a lot to do with his upbringing. It impacted his writing tremendously because he saw things that he felt were brilliant to write about. As a child he witnessed poverty and met many poets around the area that he lived in. According to (www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi/aa/hughes), "Langston Hughes was one of the most important writers and thinkers of the Harlem Renaissance." Everything he felt during the Renaissance was written in his poems.

The childhood of Langston Hughes greatly affect his writings. His journey around the world would cause a certain style of work in his writing. Where he moved around, genres of music like Jazz were a powerful source

(www.poets.org/poets/poets.cfm?/prmID=89).Eventually, this would have a great influence on his writings. "Hughes refused to differentiate between his personal experience and the common experience of black America. He wanted to tell the stories of his people in ways that reflected their actual culture, including both the suffering and their love of music, laughter, and language itself (www.poets.org/poets/poets.cfm?/prmID=89). Growing up in the Midwest influenced Langston in the genre of blues which gave an uprising to the more spiritual side of his. Also, the fights between his mother and father had a major effect. Hughes used the pains of these things to express in a poem called "The Negro speaks river" (www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi/aa/huges).