Langston Hughes

            Thesis Statement: Langston Hughes was an author and a poet and a musician before his time by overcoming family adversity and racial hardships.
             I. Begins Publishing Books.
             a. Hughes first volume of poetry, "The Weary Blues".
             II. Return to college.
             a. Attended the first African American College.
             1. Attended Lincoln University in Pennsylvania.
             b. Returned as an acclaimed poet.
             III. Hughes mentors for writing.
             a. Paul Lawrence Dunbar and Carl Sandburg were his primary influences.
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             b. Began writing creatively while still a boy.
             1. Contributed to the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920's.
             IV. Short Stories and Novels.
             a. He wrote novels, short stories, poetry and plays.
             1. He wrote the acclaimed poem" The Negro Speaks of Rivers" in 1921.
             b. Known for engagement with the world of jazz.
             1. This influenced the writing of Montage of a Dream Deferred.
             V. World War II Efforts.
             a. Hughes escaped World War II, military service.
             1. Worked on behalf of political involvement and nationalism.
             b. Encouraged black Americans to support the United States in its goals abroad.
             VI. Encouraging Readers.
             a. Encouraged government to provide for its citizens being advocated.
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             VII. Works in the theater.
             a. Hughes retained his interest in theater.
             1. Assisted in developing the musical, Street Stone.
             b. Involved with Williams Grant Still, the first black composer in the U.S.
             1. Collaborated together on Troubled Island, based on the life of Jean Jacques Dessalines of Haiti .
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             VIII. Frenzied Work Pace.
             a. The last ten years of Hughes life were marked by an astonishing proliferation of books.
             1. This includes juvenile histories and poetry volumes .
             b. Hughes died on May 22, 1967 apparently from infection following prostate surgery.
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             c. Hughes works continues to appear after his death.
             1. The panther and the Lash (1967) was not published until after his death.