LITERATURE QUESTIONS
MODERN POETRY AND POETICS
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Question
[CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
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It is the racial discrimination endemic in the white community.
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It is the racial segregation in the South.
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It is a widespread “urge toward whiteness” among African Americans.
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It is a widespread “urge to incorporate and neutralize other cultures” among white Americans.
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Detailed explanation-1: -In the following essay, he explores the idea of being Black and an artist. Hughes wanted to tell the stories of his people in ways that reflected their culture, including their love of music, laughter, and language itself alongside their suffering.
Detailed explanation-2: -Notes Hughes, “this is the mountain standing in the way of any true Negro art in America-this urge within the race toward whiteness, the desire to pour racial individuality into the mold of American standardization, and to be as little Negro and as much American as possible.”
Detailed explanation-3: -George Schuyler, in his tragically misguided 1926 essay for The Nation magazine, “The Negro-Art Hokum, ” suggests that the only difference between Blacks and Whites is the color of skin, and that both races experience the same social, psychological and educational forces in America.
Detailed explanation-4: -When his train crossed the Mississippi River, Hughes was inspired by its beauty and was also reminded of its role in sustaining slavery in America. The sun was setting, and Hughes had a long journey ahead of him. He took out a letter his father had written him and wrote this poem on the back of its pages.