I like how African Americans had a say so in they're culture and spread they're art ,knowledge and love for life in they're poems,music and art.I'm glad the Harlem Renaissance occurred it spread for independence and strength for Black America.
One of my fave poems by Langston Hughes is "Life For Me Ain't Been No Crystal Stairs'". Its quite universal since everyone has obstacles and hardships they have to overcome.
Hi i am 12 years old and live in South Carolina. I was introduced to you shows about six months ago and thought they were awesome. I watched world history and US history so often with using data that I cost my parents 75 dollars. Thanks a lot. Keep making more videos.
Suggestion for future Crash Course series: Music History. This series would chart the history of music from as far back as we know from around the world, noting how the political and social factors influenced music and vice versa, as well as how different genres intertwine and branch off. Although, I suggest you place a cut off date at 2010 or something as music is constantly evolving.
I lived 4 good years in the USA. Discovered Simple and learned so much true American English of the 30s and the 40s (nothing to do with movies) thanks to Langston Hughes.
And now I'm back from the movies. I didn't know quite where to put this, so I'll just write it here. Thank you, John, for The Fault in Our Stars. You've spoken in the past about creation as the act of making gifts for people. Well, your writing is a gift to me. And this movie was a gift as well. Thank you to all involved, but especially to you, John. When I left the theater, my first thought was how happy I am that I can tell this to you myself. That ability is a gift as well. Thank you.
One of my favorite episodes of Crash Course Lit so far. The literary analysis was spot on and incredibly interesting. You may only have discussed two poems, but the depth and tenderness in which you did so was fabulous.
We were able to study Langston Hughes in English class this year and his body of work is just amazing. You just want to read all of his poems three times each at least to try to mine everything in them
Funny this was posted today, because I just had my semester exam, and a portion of it was helping understand discrimination through Hughes poems, you've kinda opened up my appreciation to the poet. Good Job.
A few years back, a choir I was in performed a number of songs based off of Langston Hughes poems. Among my favorites from those were "Joy" and "New Moon". It's surprising how easily and how well they could be put to music.
I knew who Langston Hughes was, but never actually heard someone speak his stuff, and know I was hearing it (some of it was familiar, but I never could put the author to the word). Thank you. I've been enjoying this series, but I've been enjoying it more as a "I remember reading that." Finally we got to a "oh, something I haven't really read."
"LIFE IS FOR THE LIVING" brought me here. I had long ago heard a speaker poignantly quoting an ill relative saying those words and they have echoed in my head all these years. I don't know if it was meant to be a quote from Langston Hughes snappy poem, but I'm glad to have found him! “Life is for the living. Death is for the dead. Let life be like music. And death a note unsaid.”
Do you think that maybe you could make videos about writing essays and what not; I know that those kinds of thing are completely boring (trust me, I've seen tons of videos on it), but I believe that you would find a way to make it enjoyable. If you do decide to make videos on such, it would be highly appreciated and extremely helpful!
John, Thank you so much for writing The Fault in Our Stars! Your work is beautiful and your book made me ball my eyes out! (That's a compliment.) No other book has ever made me cry. (And I have nerves of steal...or did.) I love your work, never stop writing stories. (Yes, I plan to see the movie.)
As a young man of 17 years, I can say that I relate with Langston Hughes in his use of language. He takes dark prophecies and presents them in the form of innocent children's nursery rhymes, he can go from speaking in the manners of an oracle or a sage, to speaking in the local tone of those who were around him. When I write poetry, I write in the tone of the Renaissance man, staring outside his window and into the endless blue for inspiration. But amidst my South Florida companions, I keep it real and talk as would be expected of me. This is what I personally call, "The Poet's Tone." A time and place where we leave our "normal" selves and take the role of the rogue scholar whose kinsmen and compatriots mock him for simply being him.
Congratulations, John Green. You're film is certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. I'm glad to see that success can still come to those who deserve it. Just don't go too Hollywood and sell out your Crash Course audience.
Have you thought of doing a review on Sing to the Dawn or The Clay Marble by Minfong Ho? They both address issues of poverty and gender in the contexts of religion and education (Sing to the Dawn), and war (The Clay Marble). It would be great to see Crash Course look into Asian authors or works set in Asian cultures.
I know time constraints make it impossible to mention everything that might be pertinent to Hughes, but I thought it worth noting that "Harlem" is actually "Harlem [2]" and just one PART of a much larger book-length poem, /Montage of a Dream Deferred/ (published in 1951). Hughes goes out of his way to make sure that /Montage/ is viewed as a single unit in his preface to the book. The other poems that John mentions in relation to the book are also parts of the whole. In that context, "deferred" takes on a very different meaning; it's featured throughout the book, builds to a climax in the poem "Deferred", and then continually referenced until the end, placing everything ---the good and the bad as presented by Hughes--- in the context of that deferred "dream" of equality and a better life. It's also very important to keep the context of the rest of the poem in mind when reading poems like "Harlem [2]" because themes like war and the questions presented in "Freedom Train" really cast a very different light on the lives of the people who speak in /Montage/. /Montage/ as a whole is a work of rhythmic and poetic genius that combines musical structure and rhythm (mostly jazz & blues but also classical techniques), theme repetition, and the manipulation of language to form something that is as much a musical/linguistic experience as it is a literary one. I'm not going to address the themes in this comment because I could literally write a 15 page paper on it (and have) but the fact that you can't get it as a standalone volume like it was first intended when Hughes had it printed is a sad statement about the American canon and how it still treats non-white writers. If you can get your hands on it in the original order, I highly suggest it (I was lucky enough to get access through my English department). If not, which is more likely, there are anthologies of Hughes' poetry that includes most of /Montage of a Dream Deferred/, but sometimes they rearrange the order of the parts and remove others. Either way, I also suggest listening to a lot of jazz/blues and read up on the history of the time period and place that he was writing about when you do. /Montage/ is still very relevant to modern issues but much of the language and references used will make better sense with at least a loose grasp of early 20th century history on hand. It's one of my favorite poems and really believe it should be assigned reading for everybody in school.
Best show ever, and this one on one of the authors I wrote about in my thesis at university was very pleasant. I thank you J. Green and Crash Course Crew !
When I was in AP English, we had to memorize a poem of 14 lines or more and recite it for the class, and being the politically aware speechie I was, I decided to do "Let America Be America Again." It's stuck with me since, and watching this gives me an even greater appreciation for the poet.
I'm still waiting Patiently for the next episode of Crash Course Literature, I have watched each if the existing ones over five times, I just love these, I hope it's gonna be here soon
A Dream Deferred is my favorite poem of all time. And not because of its language or rhythm, but because of the sentiment. What happens to a dream deferred? It often explodes. At the time I decided that this was my favorite poem, that dream was far from lofty; I wanted a guitar. But I managed to get myself a guitar, and the sentiment still stands
Crash Course was made necessary by my history teacher, which is awesome, by the way. I've loved your shows. But it seems that you were particularly touched by the writing of my favorite poet Langston Hughes. It's nice to see that you feel so moved by his poetry.
So I know that this is not on topic, but John Green, you need to iron your shirts! Having gotten that off my chest, I'd like to say "Thank you!" for doing Crash Course and exploring literature and poetry. It's so great to see such content online especially since I personally don't feel I got to experience enough literature in my school years. And you do an awesome job of explaining things in short installments. :)
Please do one about Brave New World by Huxley. It's an incredible book and I can't get it out of my head. 1984 by Orwell is great too, but as i read BNW first it blew my mind.
I love Hughes' "A Dream Deferred". He was such a great poet. Writing a poem in 10-15 minutes doesn't surprise me, especially from someone of his talent. I would do it in high school and turn them into my English teach for review. I'm not comparing myself to Hughes, just saying when the muse strikes, sometimes she hits hard.
I have read some of Langston Hughes poetry, such as "A Dream Deferred" and "Rent" , etc. I totally agree with you that even though the language is simple it has a deeper meaning reading between the lines. Thank You for sharing this content.
Your point at 7:00, that it is extraordinary that a poet should take that little time to write a poem is perhaps not taking into account one of the greatest unifying factors in modernism. Kerouac claimed to invent it but it certainly goes back further. Spontaneous prose (or poetry) just flows out of you like a river and if you try to stem the tide you risk distorting or losing the central points. Poetry written quickly does not mean poetry written hastily.
This was posted yesterday and there are NO comments? I'm going to assume this is a glitch. Thank you, John, for introducing me to yet another fascinating person I should be reading.
The Sky Above the Roof -Ralph Vaughan Williams (I almost misattributed this to Langston Hughes, but I already typed it all out so you're getting it anyway) The sky above the roof is calm and sweet. A branch above the roof bends in the heat. A bell from out the blue drowsily rings. A bird from out the blue plaintively sings. Ah God! A life is here, simple and fair. Murmurs of strife are here, lost in the air Why dost thou weep, O heart, poured out in tears? What hast thou done, O heart, in thy spent years?
Hi. This is actually a translation of a poem by the French poet Paul Verlaine. (I sang a setting of this poem by Reynaldo Hahn called D'Une Prison on my last recital.)
OMG. Thank you! John... I watched tfios yesterday and I died. I am just thinking about it and it's just amazing. You are such a talented writer and keep doing it!
Haha I find it kinda cool that the previous weeks video was on Beloved and this week Langston Hughes as those are the two subjects my IOC for the International Baccalaureate english test are on xD
Here is John Green, doing a season of Crash Course literature. I feel like there is a great opportunity in here somewhere - for instance, there's a book called "The Fault in Our Stars" that we'd have a rare opportunity to see if an author did an essay and examination of their own work. I'd like to see it.
as far as writing the first poem john read (i've known rivers) and it being writing in minutes on a train...there are some places, like trains that seem to exist only to pull out moments of creativity.
Why does all the good poetry happen when the poet is depressed? When I was in middle school the only poem I wrote that got into the anthology was one about death I wrote when I was sad.
Maybe it's because sadness can be such a complicated emotion. I too found that I was more productive and effective in my poetry writing when dealing with personal problems, even though almost none of my poems were about the problem. Maybe it's because when we're sad, focusing on making beautiful art helps to put the sad away for a while.
There's something in me that really does not want to believe that sadness is more conducive to good art and poetry than other emotions. I think any heightened emotion can provide inspiration -- sadness, joy, fear, rage... you name it.
"Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." -Leo Tolstoy Negative emotions are very complex, unlike positive emotions. So art, which by its nature is complex, has to be about negative emotions, on the most part.
Xenoneb I disagree. I think joy can be just as complex and artistically compelling as sadness. There is nothing simple about any emotions, positive or negative.
So I realize this isn't the type of literary observation you wanted me to draw from this video... but you just said my last name so many times. It was beautiful. :)
If theres one moment in time america was truly great, it would have to be the hope and creativity thriving during the harlem renaissance. I read into him quite a bit in the previous months and am now recording and mixing a full length album. realizing how much my hopes reflect the explosiveness of his sermons is really something. simple, operative and vernacularized poetry is the way to go, that epic reality of the american dream must be captured. whoever mentione ginsberg, they were right about somethings, but they were stirring for the truth compared to the dawn of the jazz age.
Breaking down writings into it's parts and methods both interests and annoys me. I seem to bounce between loving and loathing of this practice as my life waxes and wanes. In the end I think the teacher helps a lot, so thanks for being awesome.
Hi, I have a question concerning the poem "Theme for English B", if anyone have an idea : feel free to let me know! By the end of the poem, the speaker mentions that perhaps his teacher does not want to be a part of him. So far, we can guess that the teacher would not like to be a part of him because of the discrimination/ racism the speaker has to bear. However, the speaker mentions that neither him (often) would not like to be a part of the teacher. Somehow, he emphasizes that his teacher is white, therefore, he has more freedom. Then, why the speaker would not like to be a part of him, while he seems to envy his freedom. Would you say that it is a sense of pride of his culture ? According to his biography, Hughes was mostly raised by his grandmother, who gave him a sense of racial pride. Would that make sense? Any other ideas?
Langston Hughes never seems to speak of negative racial divides. When he writes about "Blackness" its never in contrast to the whiteness, at least now in a way that puts down white people. This is different then Countee Cullens perspective which comes across more aggressive or negative. Perhaps this is why Hughes' poetry has withstood the test of time whereas Cullens is not early as popular. Personally I find Cullens poetry more interesting and compelling (though I do love hughes) but its not the one being talked about in this video. Maybe thats because its easier for all people to read work that's passive and, well, easier, at the expense of a more eye opening piece.
It's because he was aiming to encourage his people and allowing African Americans to have their own identity and their own world. That was a time that African Americans used to seperate themselves from their negative connection with the whites. Now, most of us know who we are and could care less about who we offend in the midst of rejecting any behavior that we deem unacceptable. His writings may be a peaceful read, but, for every letter that he wrote, their were whites in the government as well as the streets brewing up ways to tear him and his new found community apart.
John! It would be awesome if you gave a crash course on Robert Frost, Robert Lowell, Hart Crane or even Karl Shapiro! I absolutely love poetry and it would be amazing to hear what you have to say about these American poets :D
Will there ever be another science fiction or fantasy novel in CC Lit? We had Frankenstein but I'd like more. Maybe talk about Heinlein or Asimov or Pratchett...
Alice Chalkley Welles is quite literally the definitive author that should already have appeared on Crash Course but hasn't. And like I mentioned recently in a comment, Orwell's "1984" is a very common high-school literature course book, is still very relevant today, and is a masterpiece that should never be skipped... But apparently, "Things Fall Apart" is more important. Somehow.
Dear John Green and Crash Course! Seeing as you have finished World History, US History and soon lots of literature episodes, you guys should do Crash Course Philosophy! Can you imagine John Green talking about and having Thought Bubbles on Plato, Kant, Nietzsche, Rousseau, Locke, and Machiavelli?!?!? That would be sooooo AWESOME! DFTBA. Sincerely, an avid fan.
