langston hughes and david baldwin compare contrast
Excerpt via Essay:
Langston Barnes and David Baldwin Compare/Contrast
Music plays a major role in most of the literature that came out of the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance was a north american cultural motion that aimed to celebrate African-American culture through literature, art, and other perceptive and imaginative means. One of the musical models that was influential in literary functions of Langston Hughes and James Baldwin was the blues. This audio style flower out of the experience of African-Americans; the Harlem Renaissance wanted to celebrate these types of experiences by juxtaposing the struggles of past decades with the struggle of present generations. In “The Weary Blues” by simply Langston Barnes, a narrator observes a classic blues artist as he sings his careful tune. In “Sonny’s Blues” by Adam Baldwin, the narrator finally comes to understand what has motivated his close friend to pursue a life in music and how his brother’s experiences have been very influential inside the development of his character. The bluesman in “The Careful Blues” seems to be a future manifestation of Sonny in “Sonny’s Blues. inch
In “The Weary Blues, ” Hughes structures the poem to be like a tune. The poem is very audio in theme and uses terms which might be associated with music. Hughes as well uses terms that insinuate movement and create beat and circulation within the poem. For example , “[droning] a drowsy syncopated tune/Rocking back and forth into a mellow croon” gives the poem a relaxed feel that would not appear to be too hurried or perhaps too high in volume (Hughes lines 1-2). This kind of feeling is definitely reinforced by the bluesman’s demeanor as “he did a lazy sway/He did a lazy sway/to and fro on his rickety stool” (lines 6-7, 11). Repetition in the poem as well aids in the creation of a music-like structure, especially through the use of onomatopoeia. “Thump, thump, thump, went his foot for the floor” helps to set the musical establishing for the song in addition to the bluesman.
The poem’s somber tone can be reflected in the blues track that is a central focus in “The Careful Blues. inches This is demonstrated through the bluesman’s playing and singing. The narrator paperwork that the bluesman makes “that poor keyboard moan with melody” and sings “[in] a profound voice having a melancholy tone” (line 12, 17). A sensation of disconnect is done by juxtaposing descriptions of your melodic keyboard with a despair tone. Detachment is further emphasized by the bluesman who have contends, “Ain’t got no person in all this world/Ain’t acquired nobody although ma self. /I’s gwine to quit mother frownin’/And set my difficulties on the shelf” (lines 19-22). In a sense, the bluesman claims that he has the power to put his problems behind him, if only for any moment, and enjoy his existence even if it really is by himself.
Langston Hughes continues to be not for his repudiation to “differentiate between his personal experience and the prevalent experience of dark-colored America. [He] sought to tell the testimonies of his people in the ways that mirrored their real culture, which includes both all their suffering and the love of music, fun, and terminology itself” (“Langston Hughes”). Idea is evidently evident in Baldwin’s
- Category: people
- Words: 572
- Pages: 2
- Project Type: Essay