Theme for English b

ANALYSIS
  “Theme for English B” is set in New York City, most
Setting likely during the 1950s.
  The poem “Theme for English B,” written by Langston
Hughes, is a dramatic monologue, about a twenty-two-year-
old, college student at Columbia University, in New York
City, the only black student in his class. His professor gives
an apparently “simple” assignment, where the persona is
supposed to write one page, that is true to him. However, for
the speaker, this raises complicated questions about his race,
Summary identity, diversity and belonging. He doesn’t have all the
answers, instead, he tries to work them out as he goes. As he
thinks about these difficult questions, the speaker arrives at a
powerful argument against racism in America. He thinks to
himself “ white people and black people are and should not be
separate and discrete. Instead, black people and white people
are a part of each other in most ways.
 The poem “Theme For English B” has 41 lines, divided into
five stanzas with very different lengths. Some stanzas, like
the first and last, are just one line long; the fourth stanza, by
contrast, is 25 lines long. Some of its lines are also short (as
few as three syllables) and others are much longer ( up to 13
syllables).
The poem is written in free verse, so it doesn’t have a rhyme
scheme. However, the poem does occasionally use rhyme.
For instance, “class” and “St. Nicholas” basically rhyme in
Structure lines 10 and 12; so do “you” and “who” in lines 18 and 20.
These rhymes appear and disappear, highlighting individual
moments instead of creating a solid, rhyme scheme.
As a result, the poem feels very loose and unstructured, but
this seems intentional. The poem’s loose form, with all its
variations and transformations, reflects the nature of the
speaker’s thoughts: the poem shifts and changes alongside
the speaker's evolving thinking.
Poetic Devices

Many poetic and literary devices are used throughout the poem “Theme for English B.” These devices
include: rhetorical question, repetition, alliteration, metaphor personification and imagery.
“Go home and write a page tonight. And let that page come out of you ”This statement can be interpreted as
a metaphor and a form of personification . The professor is trying to get his students to express their truths
and speak on their troubles.
The poem’s second stanza actually begins with the rhetorical question “I wonder if it’s that simple? This
question is towards the phrase “And let that page come out of you,” the writer is not sure if it will be that
easy to tell his story. The true story, the one which explains his hardships and struggles.
POETIC DEVICES CONT’D

The poet uses clear description to make imagery an obvious device used throughout the poem. An
example of this would be “this college on the hill above Harlem. I am the only colored student in
my class. The steps from the hill lead down into Harlem, through a park, then I cross St. Nicholas,
Eighth Avenue, Seventh, and I come to the Harlem Branch Y, where I take the elevator up to my
room, sit down, and write this page.” This description gives the reader a clear image of the:
location of the school, his social status within the school and his home environment.
Alliteration is seen in the line “or records—Bessie, bop, or Bach,” the poet uses this alliteration
to show that the persona is a normal person with a regular taste in music.
Lastly repetition is present in the line “I hear you. I hear you, hear me” The persona is expressing
that listens and understands his environment and “place” in its society, but it's his time to be
heard.
  The most dominant tone throughout the poem is
reflective. This is seen by the poem’s structure, setting
and situation. A Reflective poem is a poem which
contains a description or expression of the poet's life.
Tone It usually contains some sort of mental character
development. This is achieved by analysing the poet's
state of mind at the beginning and end of the poem.
 The mood of a poem is known as the feeling and
emotion the reader experiences while reading the
poem. The mood is determined by what kind of
atmosphere was prevalent in the poem. Meaning
the tone, setting and so on. In “Theme for English
B” the moods are inspiring and realistic.
Realistic ,in how the world sees blacks. They see
blacks as less and not worthy.
Mood
The poem though is still inspiring. Showing that the
black man in the poem is happy with himself. He
accepts the fact he is different and he has no
problem with that. He knows that he is treated
unfairly but he still manages to love himself and
love others.
Themes

The theme of a poem is the underlying message that the writer or artist wants to convey .In the poem
“Theme for English B” there are three main themes. These themes are identity, race and belonging.
This poem is about the complexities of identity in a racist society. Its speaker who is a black student
at Columbia University in the 1950s receives an apparently straightforward assignment, to write one
page about himself. This assignment is extremely difficult to him though because of the
circumstances that he is in. The persona of the poem argues that Black and white are not truly
separate, instead, they are each “part” of the other. The persona of the poem is extremely confused
about everything because even though he knows that his race is a major part of his life he also wants
to fit in .He tries to express that it is not easy being the only coloured person in a school and that
even though he is coloured, he still eats and loves like a white person. He just wants to belong in a
society that does not see him as different but as an equal.
Themes cont’d
To the speaker, race seems less like an intimate part of his identity, and more like an imposition,
something used to classify him and to deny him opportunities.
Indeed, the speaker notes, race has created resentment and mistrust between himself and his professor.
Sometimes, his professor doesn’t “want to be part of me” and, equally, the speaker doesn’t “often want
to be a part of you.” Yet, the speaker insists, they cannot deny their connection, the way they are linked
together:
“Theme for English B” is thus honest and direct about racism and the way that it awards white people
unfair privileges in American society. But it simultaneously refuses to believe that racism defines
American society. Just the contrary is true: ultimately, the speaker argues, what makes both professor
and student “American” is the way that they are related to each other. In order to recognize what’s truly
American, both student and professor need to recognize the way that racism has obscured the deep
connections between them. case that being an American is about the connections that bind together
communities and races despite the very real prejudice that separates them.
Conclusion

 The persona is a negro student (the only one in his class) who is given an assignment by
his instructor to write a page that comes from within him and is therefore 'true’. “Theme
for English B” was likely written in a time of transformation in American society. Many
African Americans were denied basic civil rights, including the right to vote. As the poem
was written, frustration with this unjust situation was building and beginning to boil over.
It would soon result in the American Civil Rights Movement, in which black Americans
across the country demanded equal rights.