Palma,Christopher Period,1 October,102012 PoetryEssay

Literarydevicescanbeveryusefultohelpcontributedeepemotiontotheaudience.In

thepoemHarlem,theauthorLangstonHughesaddressesAfricanAmericanswiththe Modernistbeliefthatsocialclassismundervaluesandforgetsaboutthepeoplebelowpoverty level.InthispoemLangstonHughesusesliterarydevicestopersuadepeopletothinkdeeper intoatext,causeemotiontotheaudience,andmaketheaudiencenoticethatliterarydevices canchangethemeaningofthingsentirely. Ifusedproperly,literarydevicescanbeagreatwaytohelpareadermaketheaudience

feelacertainway.Inlineone,stanzaonetheauthorusesametaphortoexplaintheway AfricanAmericansfeltaboutwheretheylived.HereontheedgeofhellstandsHarlem(stanza 1)wasthequotesusedtoreflectonsuchmemoriesofweretheylived.Thisquoteexplains howtheyfeltlikeHarlemwassuchabadplace.Itwasntliterallyhellbuttheycouldntstand livingthere.TheylivedtherenotbychoicebutbecauseHarlemstheonlyplacetheywereable tofindasomewhatstableplacetolive.Lateroninthestorypersonificationandisolationalso appearsbecausetheauthorseparatesHarlem(stanza1)fromeverythingelsetoindicatethe placewherethesituationtookplace.PersonificationisalsousedbecauseHarlemcantliterally stand.TheauthorchosestandsbecauseitsanotherwayofsayingwhereHarlemisand whatitsdoing.

Literarydevicesareusedinthispoembecauseithelpsexpressthetopicofthetime

periodbetter.Socialillsareatopicofthispoembecauseithastodowithracismandits expressedbytheauthorusingrepetitionandquotationsinthetext.Instanza1linefivethe speakersays,TheoldBepatient(Stanza1).Thisquoteisinquotationsbecauseithasa moredeeperorspecificmeaningthatusuallyreaderswouldntcatch.Thedeeperorhidden messageinthebepatientistheresnoneedtorushthingsorlivelifetoquickbecause everythingcomesatitstime.Afterthat,repetitionisshowninstanzastwoandthreetoletus knowthereisadeepermeaningintherepeatedphrases.Theresrepetitioninmultiplestanzas becausetheauthorrepeatsweremember(stanza23).Thereasontheauthorrepeatsthisis becauseitdoesntmeanamemorytheyhave.Thisquotemeansamemorythatitdoesnt matterhowhardtheytrytheywillneverbeabletoforgetthehorriblethingsintheirpast. Givingquotesahumanlikequalitycanreallyhelpthereaderpaintapictureofwhats

reallybeingsaid.Theauthorusedpersonificationinthispoemtoexplainsomethingmore precise.InstanzathreetheauthorstatesWhatweregonnadointhefaceofwhatwe remember(stanza3)thisisanexampleofpersonificationbecauseinsteadofimageitsays face.Hestateswhattheyrememberhasafaceclearimage.Theyremembersomanybad thingsthatthememoriesitselfaretheirownpersonwithface.Whenheaskswhatarewe goingtodointhefaceofwhatweremember,hemeansthattheydontknowhowtheyare goingtobeabletoovercomethememoryofsuchsadnessandthehorriblefactthatAfrican Americanswereseenaninferiorraceinthepast.

IntheHarlemLangstonHugheshowpowerfulliterarydevicesarebecausetheycan causeemotion,maketheaudiencegetadeeperthoughtaboutapassage,andcantotally changetheactualmeaningofquotesortexts.LiterarydeviceswereusedinHarlemtoexplain themessageofsocialinjustice,soAfricanAmericanscanreminiscethehorriblefactthatthey wereseenasinferiorpeopleduringslavery.