Langston Hughes Poetry: Top-Scoring Sample Essay on Symbols and Motifs (How topic)

How does Hughes use symbols and motifs to further his main poetic messages?

A full length (~1,200 word) essay on Hughes' poetry, covering:

•      Natural imagery and the endurance of Black identity, comparing the ancient rivers of 'The Negro Speaks of Rivers' with the denied beauty of 'Magnolia Flowers'

•      Light and darkness as both oppression and refuge, contrasting the rising wall of 'As I Grew Older' with the tender night of 'Dream Variations'

•      Music as a record of suffering and a celebration of cultural identity, in the blues structure of 'Bound No'th Blues' and the generational sweep of 'Negro'

Six poems analysed with attention to form as well as content, including caesura, sibilance, vernacular spelling and the AAB structure of the blues. A model for comparing poems within a single paragraph rather than listing them.