Langston Hughes

showing the depth of a person’s soul. It actually gave me the chills while reading it. It is

an intimate and personal piece. When I looked up the history of Hughes I felt even more

inspired. He was an African American man who was born in Mississippi in 1902. He

wrote this poem while he was a senior in High School. That is amazing! He became

involved in many racial issues fighting for his culture. “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” is

just one example of how tremendous of a man Langston Hughes really was. This poem

has deep historical and racial meaning.

The poem is written in first person, by Langston Hughes. Although I do not think

he is only speaking of himself, but on behalf of all African Americans. I think that he is

referring to his race and all of its generations. He is speaking to a general audience. I can

imagine that he is a handsome dark skinned man, wandering around l

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Approximate Word count = 667
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)