Air Raid Over Harlem

A detailed Summary of Air Raid Over Harlem

Protests of 1935: "An Analysis of Air Raid Over Harlem"

When the Italian forces invaded the nation of Ethiopia in 1935 it disturbed many African Americans throughout the United States. This incident caused many blacks to protest in the streets of Harlem, New York. In Langston Hughes poem, "Air Raid over Harlem" (1935), he uses the literary devices of colloquial language, capitalization, and rhyme to illustrate the feelings, thoughts, and actions of many Americans during the time of these rebellious acts.

Hughes uses a great deal of colloquial language throughout the poem to show how Americans felt during this time period. The narrator, a black man, shares many of his feelings with the reader during the poem. He has many conversations with a white man about the different aspects of the protests and of the different things that take place. For example, the narrator tells the white man of how his people have been quiet and peaceful too long and if they have to use physical force to get their point across then they will. The white man replies, "You're just making up/ A fake funny picture ain't you? Not real, not real? (58-60). The white man thinks he jokes around and makes up some magical fairy tale that doesn't make any sense. Th

Throughout this poem Hughes uses many examples to show the feelings, thoughts, and actions of both black and white Americans during the nineteen thirty-five protests in Harlem, New York. He accomplishes this endeavor by using the literary devices of colloquial language, capitalization, and rhyme to do so.

In the poem, capitalization functions as a way to understand the feelings and view points of the people during the protests. Throughout the poem Hughes uses capitalized lines to stress the importance and meaning of the previous lines before it. For example the narrator says, "Sure I know The Ethiopian war broke out last night: BOMBS OVER HARLEM" (21-23). This line shows that people know the battle has taken place in the nation of Ethiopia, but the second lines demonstrates the effect it will soon have in Harlem. The bombs seem to represent the mayhem the African Americans cause during the protests and soon bad things will emerge from it. The narrator also says, "Cops on every corner/ Most of 'em white/ COPS IN HARLEM" (24-26). Here, Hughes stresses the numerous amounts of cops working to control the protests. He also stresses that most of the police consist of white people. He continues, "Under every light/ Their faces/ WHITE" (30-32). From these passages, it demonstrates that racism plays a major factor throughout Harlem. Next, the narrator states, "I ain't talking' bout you, Mister Policeman! No Indeed! / I know we got to keep/ ORDER OVER HARLEM" (39-43). This passage illustrates that the narrator knows he must not talk bad about the police. He realizes that his people must keep order among each other in order not to beat themselve

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Approximate Word count = 1117
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: History