1. Author Presentation Rebecca Thibeault English 2205

2.  Langston Hughes was born in 1902 in Joplin, MO  Parents were divorced  Mother moved around a bit and father moved to Mexico  Lived with his maternal grandmother in Lawrence, KS until he was thirteen years old  Went to high school in Ohio, where he lived with his mother and step- father

3.  Langston starts writing poetry in high school  He begins to think that writing might be a career choice for him  After high school he goes to Mexico to visit his father  Father encourages him to be an engineer, Langston wants to be a writer, their relationship suffers due to this conflict  Hughes comes back to U.S. to attend Columbia College for one year  Takes on odd jobs and travels  Comes back to Washington D.C., starts to be more in tune with the writing world  Completes B.A. from Lincoln University with financial help

4.  Influences from Paul Lawrence, Carl Sandburg and Walt Whitman  Wrote plays, novels, short stories, poetry, and prose  “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” (1921)  “The Weary Blues” (1925)  “I, Too” (1925)  “Not with out Laughter” (1930)  Jesse B Semple Stories (1943)

5. “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” 1921

6. “The Weary Blues” 1925

7. “Not without Laughter” 1930

8.  Was seen as a major contributor to the Harlem Renaissance movement  The movement lasted from early 1920’s -1930’s  His writings described the experiences of the common black person living in America  Made Harlem his home in the 1940’s

9.  In his later years, Hughes wrote children’s poems and patriotic poems  He continued writing into the 1960’s  Hughes died in 1967  His home is a landmark in New York

10.  Bibliography  Loeffelholz, Mary.(2007). Langston Hughes. In The Norton Anthology: American Literature (pp. 2026-2037). New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.  Academy of American Poets. (n.d.). Langston Hughes. Retrieved November 14, 2011, from Poets.org: http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/83  Butler, M. (n.d.). Not Without Laughter. Retrieved November 14, 2011, from Langston Hughes in Lawrence: 1902-1915: http://www.continuinged.ku.edu/hughes/files_city/laughter.ht ml  Hampson, T. (n.d.). James Langston Hughes. Retrieved November 14, 2011, from I Hear America Singing: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/ihas/poet/hughes.html#topofpage  Kansas Heritage Group. (n.d.). Langston Hughes Biography. Retrieved November 14, 2011, from Kansas Heritage Group: http://www.kansasheritage.org/crossingboundaries/page6e1.h tml