Student Activity Samples
Autobiographical Analysis: Hughes and His Father Plan for the Future
The following activity would take place as an entrance activity several times throughout the unit. This will allow students to have daily practice at close reading and learn more historical context around Hughes’ life, without reading the full autobiography. The excerpts chosen would tie into the themes and literary readings of the week.
The class will begin with a short reading exercise. Students will be given an excerpt from Hughes’s autobiography. In this example, his father lays out his plan for Langston’s future. He would financially support Hughes while he studied in Switzerland, learning German, Italian, and French, study engineering, and eventually move back to Mexico with his father. During this exchange, Hughes declares his intentions to be a writer, reminds his father of his poor skills in mathematics, and makes clear his disinterest in traveling to Switzerland. Instead, he suggests studying engineering at Columbia College as a compromise, which would put him close to Harlem, a city he was dying to experience; “the greatest Negro city in the world.” (31)
Students will read the first time for a general understanding of the text, marking areas that stand out to them, and explaining why that caught their interest in the margin.
The second reading will be guided by more specific questions.
- What is Hughes' relationship with his father like?
- What problems do they find in each others’ ideas of the future?
- What values do Hughes and his father hold? How are they different?
As students read they should pick out specific quotes that help them answer these questions. Examining a few of the quotes, students will look at particular word choices that help them arrive at their conclusions. For example, the line, “On the way back to the ranch, my father suddenly announced that he had made up his mind to have me study mining engineering.” (32) In this quote students can focus on the specific word choices of “suddenly announced. . . made up his mind. . . have me study.” These words and phrases point out the authority with which his father feels entitled. The suddenness of the announcement, but also the idea of him making up his mind, suggests that his father has contemplated and knows the best possible outcome for his son, and implies the plan should be taken seriously and committed to. Finally, this line goes against the very quote that begins the autobiographical journey, one we would have already analyzed as a class, “And I felt that nothing would ever happen to me again that I didn’t want to happen.” (33)
This analysis of the word choices, in connection with quotes and context from other moments in his life, gives students a clearer picture of Hughes, the relationship between him and his father,k and even the difference in ideology between them, driven by historical factors.
This mini-lesson is also a great opportunity to draw connections between the text and our own lives. It can especially be used as a moment to push beyond a superficial connection such as, “This has happened to me” into a conversation about how our two-way analytical street: How does the text help us to understand the works of Hughes and the world around us? And, how do our connections help us better understand Hughes and this moment?
Poetry Analysis: Montage of a Dream Deferred
The following activity exemplifies the format in which we would analyze a variety of Langston Hughes’ poetry. It allows us to perform a close reading, dive into the poetry with a historical curiosity, and come to a conclusion about the themes and connections after exploring both the interpretation of the literary analysis and historical context.
Class often begins with a series of questions that students can answer in their journals. These are often related to the topics of the day and are aimed at getting students to think about their own opinions and experiences. These are two questions that would be included to begin the lesson.
- What are your future dreams? What will it take for you to achieve them?
- What do you think your parents’ dreams are?
Next, students will read the short first poem, Harlem. With this poem, we will focus on close reading analysis and figurative language. Students will write connotations in the margin of the poem in small groups focusing on literary elements such as the imagery of “fester like a sore” or the juxtaposition of “stink like rotten meat?/ Or crust and sugar over-/ like a syrupy sweet?”
Students will also focus on the structure of this small poem, particularly the isolation of the second to last stanza and final italicized line, “Or does it explode?” (30)
Students will discuss their findings both in small groups and as a whole class, particularly as they understand the message connected to their interpretations and answers to their entrance questions.
Next, students will be given the full set of poems, Harlem, Good Morning, and Same in Blues. For these texts, students will be encouraged to perform another close read, but this time to do so with the curiosity of a historian, circling words and phrases that prompt research questions.
As a class we’ll gather some of these questions, which should include some of the following:
- Who is immigrating to New York? What do these places have in common?
- What is the significance of Penn Station?
- What is a party line? How does it function?
- What is life like for Black Americans during the 1940s and 50s?
- What is happening in Hughes’ life right before he writes this poem?
The students will next research the unfamiliar words and historical questions created.
They will report back to their groups and the class to share their findings, adding and changing the meaning of the poem.
Questions for discussion at this point might include:
- Why do you think Hughes specifically identifies these areas of origin for New York immigrants? How does that tie to the idea of dreams?
- How does the idea of dream shift throughout the three poems?
- Typically, only Harlem is taught to students and is more popularly known. How does the history included in these last two sections change the idea of a dream deferred?
- Is this poem about everyone’s dream?
- How does this poem connect to the events happening in society today?
To conclude this lesson, students will write their reflection on the poem that includes a close reading of the language and its historical value it.
Short Story Analysis: Thank You M’am
The following activity format works as a template for teaching Hughes’ short stories in a way that includes historical context from his autobiography. The short stories lessons would take several class periods and students would work in literature groups focusing each on a different short story. The pattern for each group would be similar with questions and autobiographical pieces tailored to pair their story.
The literature circle group focusing on Thank You M’am would begin with the choice of answering one of the following questions:
- Describe a time when you have been starving or desperate to have something. What was it? What did that feel like? What actions would you be willing to take to get what you were after?
- Is it right or wrong to steal food to feed yourself and others?
After discussing their answers they would begin to read the story, first focusing on a general understanding and first reactions. After their reading, students discuss their first reactions, summarize and clear up any misconceptions. The first read is often an opportunity to catch any unfamiliar words and define them as well.
For the next read, I would provide more guided questions for the students. Each student should reread marking the textual evidence that will help them address the questions.
- What inference can you draw about the setting? When and where might this story take place?
- How does Hughes characterize Roger and Ms. Luella at the beginning of the story?
- How does their relationship shift throughout the story? Why do you think that is?
- How is Ms.Luella’s treatment of Roger surprising? What might that reveal about her?
It is important to note that literature circles often have specific roles and focuses for students. These can change to reflect different skills or be used to differentiate instruction to particular students. In this case, I opt to focus on gathering textual evidence to support their claims and help lead their discussion.
After the second reading, students lead a discussion on the setting and characterization changes. A group graphic organizer or poster can be used to help students record and organize their ideas and help them identify the theme as well as evidence that supports the possible theme.
Once they have thoroughly examined the ideas in the text, students will be given short excerpts from Hughes’ autobiography The Big Sea which are paired and relevant to each short story. For this particular story, an excerpt about his time with his grandmother will be included. In this piece, they will learn about his grandmother’s pride, their poverty growing up, and the lessons she imparted to him. (34)
After reading about Hughes’ life, students revisit their analysis and add new understandings and historical support to their themes.
Since students are working on multiple short stories around the classroom, we would conclude this lesson with a gallery walk, short group presentations, or fishbowl discussions. This allows students the opportunity to learn about each story, different moments in Hughes’ life, and draw connections between their stories.
Once each group has had a chance to present, provide feedback, or draw connections, then as a class, we come back to debrief the following questions.
- How does learning about Hughes’ life help us to better understand his literary work?
- What common themes do we encounter throughout the different stories? How are these themes relevant to today’s world?
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