Theme for English B

"Flatted Fifths" by Langston Hughes (1951)

This is another piece from Hughes’s book-length poem Montage of a Dream Deferred. Both this poem and “Theme from English B” are interested in the number five, especially how it relates to jazz music. For instance, the first four lines of “Flatted Fifths” have five words in them, while “Theme for English B” has five stanzas. Also, both poems explicitly mention “bop” (“Theme for English B,” Line 24) or “be-bop” (“Flatted Fifths,” Line 2).

"Harlem" by Langston Hughes (1951)

This is Hughes’s second poem titled “Harlem,” and it is also part of Montage of a Dream Deferred. The title of the book-length poem is taken from the first line of “Harlem”: “What happens to a dream deferred?” (Line 1). Both “Harlem” and “Theme for English B” include a stanza that is set apart by italicization. While “Theme for English B” includes three questions, “Harlem” includes twice as many questions in far fewer lines, giving the poems very different tones.

"I’m Nobody! Who are you?" by Emily Dickinson (1890)

Hughes integrates Dickinson’s idiosyncratic use of the em-dash from this poem (and many of her other poems) in his work. Hughes was born more than 30 years after the first posthumous publication of Dickinson’s poems; she would have entered the American literary canon and become a major influence for many American poets by the time Hughes was attending school.

"The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain" by Langston Hughes (1926)

This essay includes Hughes’s opinions on poetics, or poetic theory. “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain” is considered a core text about the artistic vision of the Harlem Renaissance, celebrating specifically Black creativity. It gives context for the process of writing described by the speaker of “Theme for English B” as well as contains theories that inform Hughes’s own writing process.

The Langston Hughes Memorial Library Website at Lincoln University

This academic website offers a variety of resources surrounding Hughes's life and works. As an alum of Lincoln University, Hughes’s creative output was influenced by the structures and institutions of the school, and, in death, his legendary reputation as one of its most famous graduates has come to define part of it. The library also contains a vast quantity of works from Hughes’s lifetime, as well as more contemporary materials and journals influenced by both Hughes’s liberatory efforts and creative writings.

Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire (1970)

This is an important work regarding how to make classrooms more inclusive for underrepresented and underprivileged students. The teaching style described by Brazilian educator Freire echoes “Theme for English B.” Freire’s problem-posing pedagogy creates an exchange of ideas where the teacher learns from the student as well as the student learning from the teacher.