Langston Hughes and Gwendolyn Brooks / Poetic Visions of Reality
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A 7 page piece that seeks to prove that Gwendolyn Brooks' 'We Real Cool, The Pool Players. Seven at the Golden Shovel,' and Langston Hughes' 'A Dream Deferred' are not mere observations about life on the streets, they are poems that speak of dashed dreams. They were not penned merely to express internal or external suffering observed, but for the love of community. They were written not merely to point out desolation in the community, but to point out the necessity for self-empowerment. The poems spoke of the present, how it relates to the past and its relationship to the future. Bibliography lists 6 sources.
Filename: Langwen.wps

Langston Hughes' 'Mulatto' / The Distortion Of Modernism
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An 8 page paper discussing this important play by Langston Hughes. It shows why the white community saw the play in a distorted way; they were looking through the lens of modernism for reflections of their own dilemmas. Bibliography lists 7 sources.
Filename: Mulatto.wps

Langston Hughes' 'Salvation' / Disillusionment
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A 5 page paper on a short essay by this well-known twentieth century writer. The paper shows how the conflict between Langston's expectations of what would happen at the revival meeting and his aunt's expectations for him caused his ultimate disillusionment. Bibliography lists 1 source.
Filename: Langsalv.wps

Langston Hughes' 'Theme for English B' / 'Coloredness'
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A 5 page explication of Langston Hughes' poem. The paper looks particularly at the difference between the stark dictionary definition of the word 'colored' and how it functions for Hughes as a badge of inferiority placed on him by white people. Bibliography lists 2 sources.
Filename: Hughes3.wps

Modernism In African-American Poetry
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A 5 page analysis and research paper which examines three representative poems from leaders of the Harlem Renaissance to illustrate the principle of modernism in black poetry. These poems are: 'Mulatto' by Langston Hughes; 'Incident' by Countee Cullen; and 'He was a man' by Sterling Brown. The writer first discusses what experts have said regarding the definition of modernism and then examines how these statements can be applied to each poem. Bibliography lists 6 sources.
Filename: 3bpoets.rtf

The Plays Of Langston Hughes
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A 6 page paper focusing on 'Don't you want to be free?' and 'Mulatto', two plays by Hughes. His theme of the black experience is examined. Bibliography lists 5 sources.
Filename: Hughes2.wps

The Autobiography Of An Ex-Colored Man By James Weldon Johnson
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In 5 pages the author discusses 'The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man' by James Weldon Johnson. The author attempts to show how 'passing' is destructive in that it prevents the narrator from finding his identity. He does not know if he belongs in the category of black or white. No additional sources cited.
Filename: Excolor.wps

President Kennedy's Civil Rights Legacy Analyzed
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A 5 page paper which questions whether President John F. Kennedy actually left behind a legacy of civil rights, or if it was merely a facade created to perpetuate the slain leader's memory. Specifically considered are whether or not JFK actually achieved anything in civil rights, why or why not, and the motives behind his involvement in civil rights. Bibliography lists 4 sources.
Filename: Jfkcivil.wps

Dr. Martin Luther King & The Dilemma Of The American Negro / Then & Now
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An 8 page essay exploring the conditions described in Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s book, 'Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?', to conditions for the African American in 1997, thirty years after the book was published. Specifically, Chapter IV is reviewed and compared to conditions of racism and opportunities in both eras. The writer offers examples and the thesis that conditions have definitely changed for the better but racism is still prevalent in the country. Two additional sources are cited.
Filename: Dilemma.wps