Home Learning Day 2

My Favourite Poet -- James Langston Hughes
Born: 1902,
Died: May 22, 1967

"No great poet has ever been afraid of being himself."

"We younger Negro artists now intend to express our individual dark-skinned selves without fear or shame. If white people are pleased we are glad. If they aren't, it doesn't matter. We know we are beautiful. And ugly too... If colored people are pleased we are glad. If they are not, their displeasure doesn't matter either. We build our temples for tomorrow, as strong as we know how and we stand on the top of the mountain, free within ourselves."

This was Hughes reply to his essay, The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain.

It spoke of Black writers and poets, "who would surrender racial pride in the name of a false integration," where a talented Black writer would prefer to be considered a poet, not a Black poet, which to Hughes meant he subconsciously wanted to write like a white poet.

I admire Hughes for his courage to stick to his rights at the time where racism was strive in America. If nobody stood up for their rights, I would think racism would still be strive in America, and the Blacks would still be ill-treated. If we do not try, how do we know that it will or will not work? Who knows? What we dream for may come true.


Let America Be America Again by Langston Hughes

Let America be America again.
Let it be the dream it used to be.
Let it be the pioneer on the plain
Seeking a home where he himself is free.

(America never was America to me.)

Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed--
Let it be that great strong land of love
Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme
That any man be crushed by one above.

(It never was America to me.)

O, let my land be a land where Liberty
Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath,
But opportunity is real, and life is free,
Equality is in the air we breathe.

(There's never been equality for me,
Nor freedom in this "homeland of the free.")

Say, who are you that mumbles in the dark?
And who are you that draws your veil across the stars?

I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart,
I am the Negro bearing slavery's scars.
I am the red man driven from the land,
I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek--
And finding only the same old stupid plan
Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak.

I am the young man, full of strength and hope,
Tangled in that ancient endless chain
Of profit, power, gain, of grab the land!
Of grab the gold! Of grab the ways of satisfying need!
Of work the men! Of take the pay!
Of owning everything for one's own greed!

I am the farmer, bondsman to the soil.
I am the worker sold to the machine.
I am the Negro, servant to you all.
I am the people, humble, hungry, mean--
Hungry yet today despite the dream.
Beaten yet today--O, Pioneers!
I am the man who never got ahead,
The poorest worker bartered through the years.

Yet I'm the one who dreamt our basic dream
In the Old World while still a serf of kings,
Who dreamt a dream so strong, so brave, so true,
That even yet its mighty daring sings
In every brick and stone, in every furrow turned
That's made America the land it has become.
O, I'm the man who sailed those early seas
In search of what I meant to be my home--
For I'm the one who left dark Ireland's shore,
And Poland's plain, and England's grassy lea,
And torn from Black Africa's strand I came
To build a "homeland of the free."

The free?

Who said the free? Not me?
Surely not me? The millions on relief today?
The millions shot down when we strike?
The millions who have nothing for our pay?
For all the dreams we've dreamed
And all the songs we've sung
And all the hopes we've held
And all the flags we've hung,
The millions who have nothing for our pay--
Except the dream that's almost dead today.

O, let America be America again--
The land that never has been yet--
And yet must be--the land where every man is free.
The land that's mine--the poor man's, Indian's, Negro's, ME--
Who made America,
Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain,
Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain,
Must bring back our mighty dream again.

Sure, call me any ugly name you choose--
The steel of freedom does not stain.
From those who live like leeches on the people's lives,
We must take back our land again,
America!

O, yes,
I say it plain,
America never was America to me,
And yet I swear this oath--
America will be!

Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster death,
The rape and rot of graft, and stealth, and lies,
We, the people, must redeem
The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers.
The mountains and the endless plain--
All, all the stretch of these great green states--
And make America again!

This poem shows how much the poet yearns for the Blacks to be treated equally, as can be seen as he repeatedly asks "America to be America again", as America is said to be a free country. He was expressing the feelings of the Blacks in America, yearning to be free of racism.

The Negro Speaks Of Rivers by Langston Hughes

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.

This is another of Hughes "yearning for freedom" poems. The rivers refer to times when the Blacks were treaty unequally. It was also the time when Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves, and the Mississippi refers to the slaves. (This is just my view. Please feel free to share better ones)

Life is Fine by Langston Hughes

I went down to the river,
I set down on the bank.
I tried to think but couldn't,
So I jumped in and sank.

I came up once and hollered!
I came up twice and cried!
If that water hadn't a-been so cold
I might've sunk and died.

But it was Cold in that water! It was cold!

I took the elevator
Sixteen floors above the ground.
I thought about my baby
And thought I would jump down.

I stood there and I hollered!
I stood there and I cried!
If it hadn't a-been so high
I might've jumped and died.

But it was High up there! It was high!

So since I'm still here livin',
I guess I will live on.
I could've died for love--
But for livin' I was born

Though you may hear me holler,
And you may see me cry--
I'll be dogged, sweet baby,
If you gonna see me die.

Life is fine! Fine as wine! Life is fine!

My guess was that Langston Hughes wanted to commit suicide but decided against it. It might also have been that no one came to help him when he was in dire straits.

Bibliography:
Biography - http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/langston_hughes/biography
Let America be America again - http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/langston_hughes/poems/16944
The Negro Speaks Of Rivers - http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/langston_hughes/poems/16953
Life is Fine - http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/langston_hughes/poems/16946

Fast Car

by Tracy Chapman

You got a fast car
I want a ticket to anywhere
Maybe we make a deal
Maybe together we can get somewhere

Anyplace is better
Starting from zero got nothing to lose
Maybe we'll make something
But me myself I got nothing to prove

You got a fast car
And I got a plan to get us out of here
I been working at the convenience store
Managed to save just a little bit of money
We won't have to drive too far
Just 'cross the border and into the city
You and I can both get jobs
And finally see what it means to be living

You see my old man's got a problem
He live with the bottle that's the way it is
He says his body's too old for working
I say his body's too young to look like his
My mama went off and left him
She wanted more from life than he could give
I said somebody's got to take care of him
So I quit school and that's what I did

You got a fast car
But is it fast enough so we can fly away
We gotta make a decision
We leave tonight or live and die this way

I remember we were driving driving in your car
The speed so fast I felt like I was drunk
City lights lay out before us
And your arm felt nice wrapped 'round my shoulder
And I had had a feeling that I belonged
And I had had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone

You got a fast car
And we go cruising to entertain ourselves
You still ain't got a job
And I work in a market as a checkout girl
I know things will get better
You'll find work and I'll get promoted
We'll move out of the shelter
Buy a big house and live in the suburbs

I remember we were driving driving in your car
The speed so fast I felt like I was drunk
City lights lay out before us
And your arm felt nice wrapped 'round my shoulder
And I had had a feeling that I belonged
And I had had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone

You got a fast car
And I got a job that pays all our bills
You stay out drinking late at the bar
See more of your friends than you do of your kids
I'd always hoped for better
Thought maybe together you and me would find it
I got no plans I ain't going nowhere
So take your fast car and keep on driving

You got a fast car
But is it fast enough so you can fly away
You gotta make a decision
You leave tonight or live and die this way


Hyperbole:
Her father would not be "too young" as she was already a grown up and her father would already be in his late 50s or 60s. She was just trying to exaggerate that her father looked too old.
A car obviously cannot fly. Tracy Chapman was trying to say if the car could bring them to another place where they would not be poor.
Tracy Chapman was saying that the car was travelling very fast and she might not have travelled that quickly before, making her nauseous.
Personification:
I cannot find any personification in this song.
Metaphor and/or Simile:
A bottle and her father were not related. She was just saying that her father was an alcoholic and spent his time drinking.
Tracy Chapman's husband and her father were similar as they both ended up drinking.
Symbolism:
The car was a tool that was originally meant to bring them to a place where they will lead better lives, but it ended up as a tool for entertainment and for bringing Tracy Chapman's husband away from her.

Is it your duty to give to charity?

By definition, in the United States, charity, or a charitable organisation is an organisation that is organised and operated for purposes that are beneficial to the public interest. And duty the moral commitment that results in action, and it is not a matter of passive feeling or mere recognition. When someone recognises a duty, that person commits himself or herself to the cause involved without considering the self-interested courses of actions that may have been relevant previously. This is not to suggest that living a life of duty precludes one from the best sort of life, but duty does involve some sacrifice of immediate self-interest.

So if it is our duty to give to charity, it means that we recognise that we have to give to whatever organisation because we have made a commitment. But when we give to charity, does it involve some sarifice of self-interest? No, it does not, and surely giving some money for a worthy cause cannot be a sacrifice of self-interest. Therefore, it cannot be our duty to give to charity. Instead, I would say that it is very good that one gives to charity as that money may have helped some child pay his or her medical or school fees, or may have helped an elderly person find his or her next meal. Whatever it is, that money of yours is not wasted.

However, giving to charity is not duty as we give to charity out of our own free will. If someone from an organisation approaches us and askes for a donation, if we choose to donate, that is good, definitely, but if we do not, that does not mean we are bad either. The decision to give is made solely by ourselves. Do not get me wrong, I am not against charity but if it is our duty to give, everytime a person approaches us for a donation, we MUST give, if not, we would be perceived as bad or irresponsible people as we did not do our duty, and that cannot be the case.

What is happiness?

Happiness is a feeling and must be experienced. It can be described as the feeling when one is enjoying oneself.

What really is happiness and how do we experience it? Many people have the misconception that once one have the most material things, one is the happiest, and thus the go about slogging their guts out to obtain whatever items they think that can make them happy. Now let us find out how long this happiness can last them. Perhaps it satisfies them when they buy the item or items, or until it is out of fashion. At most, it can let them be happy until it has lost its use. This is considered as merely short-term happiness and not true happiness.

To me, I experience happiness knowing that I have the company of my family and friends, as I can be sure that in times of need, there is someone who can be my pillar of support, facing every setback that is thrown at me together. Such things cannot be bought or worked for, but can only be gained through years of true sincerity and friendship. If people have all the traits mentioned in this paragraph, they are the happiest and richest people in the world, even if they have very little assets.

If many people think something is true, is it true?

Even if majority of the people think that something is true, it may not be the case.

There may be a few possibilities. For example, people might have been misled by false information, either unintentionally or intentionally, therefore making the conclusion that something is true.

If you could eliminate one emotion from the world, would you? Which one? Why?

HATE is the root of why people in this world are not happy. Due to this emotion, people experience mental torture as it is uncontrollable, which can result in people doing stupid things and regretting their actions later.

People go to war as they have hatred, a form of hate, inside of them. If there was no hate in this world, people would be living in peace and harmony together.

When people are jealous, they are envious and therefore dislike the other party for having a certain material or privilege. Without hate, people would not be jealous.

Hate, when combined with anger, also plays a part in many murder cases, where the murderer has hatred towards the victim or victims due to his or her actions which are deemed wrong by the former.

However, hate can be seen on the positive side. A person may hate that his competitor or opponent is faring better them himself and thus work harder to improve himself, but alas! A competitive environment creates a lot of tension and hate.

By removing hate from the world, the root cause of enmity, unrest, unhappiness, and jealousy is abolished forever.

To conclude, I would remove the one emotion, hate, from the world, as it will also remove other evil emotions from the world together.

Should you criticise people or the opinions they have?

People should not be criticised for their opinions. Everyone has their own views and opinions, even if it is not a good one.

For example, if you were reprimanded by your parents when you failed a project, who said that you did not put in enough effort which resulted in the failure, you may disagree at that point in time, probably because you were upset, but if you were to reflect, your parents might well be right.