The instructor said,

Go home and write
a page tonight.
And let that page come out of you–
Then, it will be true.

I wonder if it’s that simple?
I am twenty-two, colored, born in Winston-Salem.
I went to school there, then Durham, then here
to 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 Y,
the Harlem Branch Y, where I take the elevator
up to my room, sit down, and write this page:

It’s not easy to know what is true for you or me
at twenty-two, my age. But I guess I’m what
I feel and see and hear, Harlem, I hear you:
hear you, hear me–we two–you, me, talk on this page.
(I hear New York, too.) Me–who?
Well, I like to eat, sleep, drink, and be in love.
I like to work, read, learn, and understand life.
I like a pipe for a Christmas present,
or records–Bessie, bop, or Bach.
I guess being colored doesn’t make me not like
the same things other folks like who are other races.
So will my page be colored that I write?

Being me, it will not be white.
But it will be
a part of you, instructor.
You are white–
yet a part of me, as I am a part of you.
That’s American.
Sometimes perhaps you don’t want to be a part of me.
Nor do I often want to be a part of you.
But we are, that’s true!
As I learn from you,
I guess you learn from me–
although you’re older–and white–
and somewhat more free.

This is my page for English B.

Analysis, meaning and summary of Langston Hughes's poem Theme For English B

42 Comments

  1. MARIA says:

    ITS A BIT CONFUSING BUT I LIKE IT BECAUSE IT GOT TO DO WITH RACES PEOPLE

  2. Janet says:

    In this piece Hughes does not champion equality and civil rights nor does he rant for separatism. Hughes acknowledges in this exceptional poem that social conventions and prejudices have colored everything that you are, regardless if you merit it or not. He goes out and tells the reader that there are differences in the races but only so far as each individual is different. The last stanza makes it clear that as Americans the cultural smoothie so to speak that we are should only make each person stronger not tear us apart, even though other are “somewhat more free.”

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