Thursday, January 26, 2012

Langston Hughes

Langston Hughes often used dialect in his poetry.  Read the poem below and answer ALL THREE questons about it.  1. What do you think it's about?  2. Why do you think he used dialect here?  3. What effect does it have on the poem? 

Homesick Blues
Langston Hughes

De railroad bridge's
A sad song in de air.
De railroad bridge's
A sad song in de air.
Ever time de trains pass
I wants to go somewhere,.

I went down to de station.
Ma heart was in ma mouth.
Went down to de station.
Heart was in ma mouth.
Lookin' for a box car
To roll me to de South.

Homesick blues, Lawd,
'S a terrible thing to have.
Homesick blues is
A terrible thing to have.
To keep from cryin'
I opens ma mouth an' laughs.

44 comments:

  1. 1.I think he wants to go travel or go on a train to somewhere 2.I think he wants the reader to feel how he felt 3.It makes me want to travel somewhere in the south

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  2. I think it's about a man who wants to get on a train to get to his family. He is lonely. I think he used dialect to make it more realistic and understandable to the reader.

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  3. I think it is about him being Homesick not because the title is Homesick Blues but because some of his phrases kinda make you think about him being homesick. I think he used dialect here because when he says De he means the and it kinda makes it sound like he is actually there with you and saying it.

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  4. I love Langstun Hughs. I like how he always rights about the blues.
    1. I think this poem is about homesick blues I think that means is that he is homesick.
    2.I think he uses dialect because it is a more better way to discribe what the poem is about.
    3. The effect it has on the poem is that um I really don't know what that means so, The End

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  5. i think it's about a black slave that was separated from his family and wants to get on a train to go see them.

    I think he used dialect to make the feeling stronger and for us to know its a black man speaking in the poem.

    Dialect effects the poem by giving it more feeling.

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  6. I THINK IT IS ABOUT HIM LEAVING HOME ALONE FOR THE FIRST TIME. I THINK HE USED DILECT SO IT SOUNDS LIKE HE IS SAYING IT. I THINK IT MAKES HIS POEN SOUND BETTER

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  7. It is about him going to the south scared and frightened but glad about his life.To show how they got little education and didn't know how to speak that well. It shows how they learned and what there life was like.

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  8. I think the poem was about a black man who is homesick and want to go home to the south on a train. The reason why he uses dialect in this poem is because it makes it sound more like how a black man really talks. I think it makes a big effect on the poem because if it did not have dialect it could sound like a white person was saying it. If a white person was saying it, it would change the picture in your mind.

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  9. I think it's about a railroad leaving and someone he loves is on it. I think he used dialect on it because the person on the train was the one giving him or telling him the poem. The dialect has an effect on the poem because if the poem didn't have diolect then you may not know what the poem is about.

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  10. 1.I think the poem is about him being alone and leaving because he wants freedom.
    2.I think he is using dialect because thats how black people speak and it expresses his feelings.
    3.I think he used dialect because it makes it sound better and it seems like he is trying to use words to see what its like to talk like black people.

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  11. 1.I think this poem is about a black leaving to go south on a train.

    2.I think he used dialect so it was from someone else point of view.

    3. It effects this poem because he is not writing it like it happen to him.
    I think he is a very good poet and he is one of my favorites.

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  12. 1.I think it's about a man that's home sick and wants to go back to his home in the south, but loves to travel. I think this because it says:
    Ever time de trains pass
    I wants to go somewhere.

    2.He used dialect in the poem because either he talked like that AND wrote like that or because it made the poem sound real.

    3.The dialect's effect was that it made is it sounded like this man had these emotions at the time he wrote this. That makes it sound better.

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  13. I think he is very lonely like Emily Dickenson. I know he wants to go out and explore. I think he uses dialect because it gives the poem a lot more sad feelings. He uses dialect a lot because he likes to express his feelings.

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  14. #1I think it's about a black who wants to help more black people excape frome the South but he's afraid he'll get caught.

    #2 I think he used dialect to make the poem touch the hearts of people who think blacks aren't brave and to show that this man going South has the will to help other people and that even though he's afraid he's not letting anything or anyone stop him from doing whats right no matter what.

    #3 I think that the dialect really effected this peom for the better because Langston wanted people to notice the story thats hidden beside the poem.

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  15. 1.I think he's going back to save slaves.
    2.I think he wants you to feel more "there".
    3.It makes you also feel sad.

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  16. I think it is about him going to the railroad and wanting to go ride trains every he sees one go by. He uses dialect because he says lawd and I'm not sure if thats a name but I think it is and he makes the poem sound real like he's talking to you. I think its effect is to make it sound better and feel like he's talking to you.

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  17. I think this poem is about being at home sick.he probably uses Dialect cause it sounds better to the people who read it.the affect of the dialect makes it sound older and how he would say it.

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  18. I think he wrote about black man who doesn't like slavery but just got out of it and his family is still down south and he wants to go see them and visit them.I think he used dialect because slaves weren't that well educated so they didn't speak that well either so he was trying to make the poem more real. And Ithink the dialect had a great effect on the poem. It made it seem more real, interesting, sad and bluezz like he always is.

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  19. 1. It is about him being sold as a slave and being seperated from his family.
    2. I think he used it so that you get more effect out of the story like poem.
    3. It makes you feel sad and in fear and lonely. I really shows emotions and what the person feels. I think it is easier to understand with dialect in it.

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  20. 1.I think it's about a free slave who wants to see his family again.2.He used dialect because it feels like this charecter is talking to you. 3.The effect is that you feel like you really know what this person is feeling

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  21. I think it's about someone that is homesick, 2. he used dialect so it was more dramatic, and 3. it effected the poem by because it makes you feel like your there with him.

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  22. 1 I think it is about someone who is getting on a train to go see his family.
    2 He uses dialect because he was a black person and that's the way they talked.
    3 It made it seem like an old tale black people would tell there children and then tell then to pass it on to there children.

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  23. 1. I think it is about him wanting to go home down south because he misses home.
    2.The dialect helps describe the person telling the story.
    3. It gives the poem character.
    I love Langston Hughes. He writes amazing poems. I really think that he is talking to me in his poem because he makes them so real. His words create charaters that are real. He uses descripton wisely.

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  24. 1 I think it is about a black man who is waiting for a train so he can go home and see his family.
    2 He used dialect because that was how black people talked.
    3 it makes it sound like an old tale black people would tell.

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  25. 1.i think its about him wanting to go on a trip to the south because he has never left home.2.i thing he used dialect because he wants to show you you how he felt.3.i think the dialect helps it become a better poem because it makes you feel like your actually in it.

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  26. 1.I think it is about him listening to people playing blues music by a train station.
    2.He used dialect here to make it sound like it was him saying it.
    3.The dialect makes it sound better and makes it sound real.

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  27. 1. I think that it is about a black who is fascinated with trains and would like to go to the south. Maybe because he has family is down there or he is tired of listening to the blues and wants to get away from it.
    2. He used dialect to make the poem come alive and be real. I am inspired by how he does that that.
    3. Well like I said it makes the poem come alive and like someone is telling you their story.

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  28. 1.I think it is about a enslaved black man that works on the rails and wants to go to the south to be free. 2.I think he used dialect to make it sound like a black man is speaking the poem. He also used it so it would give the poem more heart or feeling. 3.I also think that having dialect in this poem makes you feel for the person and or put you in their shoes.

    eleanor

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  29. 1 i think it is about someone that is homesick.
    2 to make it sound like a afrian american said it
    3 you really feel what he is saying

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  30. 1.I think it's about him wanting to go to the south to go see someone that he hasn't seen in a while. 2.I think he used dialect to show how he felt.
    3.I think it makes it better because it sounds more realistic.

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  31. 1. Somebody is homesick.
    2. To make it sound like an African-American is saying it.
    3. To make it like you can really feel it.

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  32. 1. I think this is about a slave going farther down south.
    2. I think he uses dialect because it paints a picture in your head. You can kinda get to know about the person saying the words. I think you can tell a lot about someone from there dialect.
    3. The affect of dialect on this poem is it makes you feel what the person is feeling. I LOVE DIALECT!!!!

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  33. I think this poem is about is going somewhere and he or she can not wait. When he uses dialect it makes his poems sound more real to the people who read them. It makes his poems more fun to read. Here is my own poem about going places and the blues:

    I love to travel
    Please come with me
    We are on gravel
    So just let me be

    I love to sing the blues
    It helps me find clues
    For my book
    So don't look

    I hope you like my poems!

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  34. I think that it is about a hard-working man who misses his family in the south. He might b trying to get on a train to see them again. Hughes used dialect,(a way a person might speak), to make the poem more realistic and dicriptive. The dialect, like I said was more discriptive and realistic. Hughes was writing to show what that person felt like and experienced ith dialect.

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  35. 1. I think it is about him missing where he grew up and they played blues musice where he grew up and he feels sad.He is homsick for the blues.2.He used dialect to make it seem like the same way a black person would talk.3.The effect of the dialect makes it more real and your could piture it better in your mind.

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  36. I think it is about a slave wanting to escape to freedom. He used dialect to make it sound like the slave. The dialect makes it sound more like a real person.

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  37. I love Langston Hues' poems. They inspire me to write about how African Americans were not treated fair. I think this poem is about a black man waiting for a train to come pick him up to take him home. I think Langston Hues wrote with dialect so it sounded like a African American was really saying it. It effects the poem because it makes it more interesting and original to read how African Americans really spoke.
    Mary Grace

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  38. 1. I think it is about someone who is telling about their life and how scared they were becoming a slave and telling the story again and they're telling it when they're going to the station.
    2. I think he uses dialect because it make the poem come alive and dance around in your mind reading it over and over again.
    3. The dialect makes you want to read it again. It makes you travel into the poem and aces you want to stay with the poem for the rest of your life.

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  39. 1. I think that a black is aching to see his family that are in the South.
    2. I think that he used dialect to show you if you closed your eyes you could picture that person.
    3. The dialect really makes the poem become real like your there.

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  40. i think that he wants people to think that it is from that person view. A slave going some were on a train.

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  41. 1.ithink it is about aman that is homesick and want to travel onthe train home2. i think he uses dielect because he is from the south 3.I think it gives it more feeling then just saying the instead he says da and it sound more exciting then the

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  42. I think it is about a man who is on a train heading south to help slaves. I also think it is interesting how he writes his poems and how they inspire me to know how hard it was back then. I think he uses dialect in this poem so we can get the feel of who the character what they are doing in the poem. The Dialect makes me feel like I'm in the poem and what is happening in the story is really happening to me. I think it is a wonderful experience for our whole class.

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  43. I think Langston's poem is about how a slave or himself just wanting to go to the South because he never traveled down there, eventhough he has traveled a lot of places. I think Langstan uses dialect in this poem because it is important to visualize how they talk to see the real meaning of this poem and that is, to me, how a slave or how an African American would talk. It affects this poem because it shows you,you can't just use normal language unless you didn't want it to be real.

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  44. I think the poem is about a former slave that wants to go back into the south to see his family. Langston probably used dialect to give it a reality feeling. This improved this poetry by making it more like reality and giving it that personality feeling.

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