This site will focus on Langston Hughes poem Theme for English B
Theme for English B
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 thiscollegeon 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.
Eight 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-too?
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 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 the other races.
So will my page be colored when 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.
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