Wednesday, August 23, 2006
School is going well. I like my class and I like my teacher, but to tell the truth, she intimidates the hell of me. I am not sure why. I think a lot of it has to do with her and I being liked age. I dont think I would care (or at least not as much) if she were in her 40s or 50s. But for some reason, I worry a great deal about what she is going to think about my writing.
Anyhow, we read a great poem tonight in class:
Theme of English B by Langston Hughes (1902-1967)
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 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 understanding 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.
- Langston Hughs
We discused the meaning, it's rythem and the objects of power within the poem in class. I find this poem to be about human connection and a challenage of power. The writer is passively challenging society's social structure. He clearly states he is of color, which makes him different than his teacher and classmates, but then, he lists the things we all enjoy and have in common. Love, work, music, Christmas presents, reading, learning, eating, drinking and finding understanding in life. He later boldly states that the instructor of his higher learning can also learn from him, a twenty-two year old, back student, just as he will learn from him. Within that is human connection. To quote Proverbs, “Iron sharpens Iron, Man sharpens Man”. The teacher and student share a community inside and outside of the classroom; they share the common human pleasures, and share a dialogue. With dialogue comes growth and understanding.
After reading this poem, I feel a little less intimidated from my instructor, since I have just as much to offer her, as well as my fellow classmates as she does to all of us. Community.
Anyhow, we read a great poem tonight in class:
Theme of English B by Langston Hughes (1902-1967)
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 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 understanding 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.
- Langston Hughs
We discused the meaning, it's rythem and the objects of power within the poem in class. I find this poem to be about human connection and a challenage of power. The writer is passively challenging society's social structure. He clearly states he is of color, which makes him different than his teacher and classmates, but then, he lists the things we all enjoy and have in common. Love, work, music, Christmas presents, reading, learning, eating, drinking and finding understanding in life. He later boldly states that the instructor of his higher learning can also learn from him, a twenty-two year old, back student, just as he will learn from him. Within that is human connection. To quote Proverbs, “Iron sharpens Iron, Man sharpens Man”. The teacher and student share a community inside and outside of the classroom; they share the common human pleasures, and share a dialogue. With dialogue comes growth and understanding.
After reading this poem, I feel a little less intimidated from my instructor, since I have just as much to offer her, as well as my fellow classmates as she does to all of us. Community.
