He was also trying to break out of expectations of his writings by going against the idea of the white liberals. In his poem "Mulatto", he tells a story of being half white and half black and the tension that arises from that. In the essay "The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain", Hughes describes the different standards of blackness versus whiteness, and what is perceived to be a Negro artist in America. ...

• Word Count: 359
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

He smiled his toothy grin, "Yeah, so don't tell nobody else. ... It's hard to know when he's serious or about to tell one of his nastiest cat-house stories. ... No mountain lions or wolves. ... But eventually I built that stairway all the way into the sky so those wolves would have somewhere to go. ... Coyote only grinned, "Yeah, so don't tell no one, ok? ...

• Word Count: 907
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School