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The Blues I'm Playing by Langston Hughes

            In Langston Hughes story, "The Blues I'm Playing," we are introduced to a young girl, Oceola Jones, who is a pianist sponsored by Mrs. Dora Ellsworth. Mrs. Ellsowort's character is one of the more complex characters as she seems to struggle with dealing with her life after her husband passed away. She has no children of her own and is very wealthy. The story tells us that "it gave her pleasure to share her riches with beauty."" However, it seems that Mrs. Ellsworth, at times, has trouble finding where the real beauty lies, in the youngsters or in the art that they make. .
             Oceola Jones isn't the only one that she sponsors. She also sponsors several other people such as painters and singers; however, it is never really clear if she is sponsoring their talent or their beauty. As we read we come to find out that she has sponsored very attractive young males who paint things that are not very attractive yet she has turned away great talent because they themselves are not very attractive. .
             As we read on, we see that there seems to be a conflict between Mrs. Ellsworth and the piano player. Oceola at first does not really trust Mrs. Ellsworth's generosity. One can imagine that a young African American girl, who is being sought out after by an elderly White woman, would have her doubts. This also speaks to the times in which white and blacks just did not mix. For Mrs. Ellsworth is almost becomes some sort of obsession with Oceola. She wants to know everything about her, what she does, where she lives, if she is involved with anyone. On page 106 we see that Mrs. Ellsworth calls Ormond Hunter to inquire about the man living with her. She wants to know if he is more than just a roommate. It is almost as if Mrs. Ellsworth is a bit jealous. When Oceola states that she "hates woman roomers " Mrs. Ellsworth responds by saying that she would think that all roomers are terrible. Almost as if she wants Oceola to talk more about her male roomer and possibly offer some sort of agreement to the opinion.


Essays Related to The Blues I'm Playing by Langston Hughes

1. Langston Hughes

Langston Hughes was born on February 1, 1902 in Joplin, Missouri. ... Where he learned the blues and spirituals, he would later use this to put the musical elements into his poetry and fiction. ... Hughes first book of poetry, the Weary Blues, was published by Alfred A. ... Langston Hughes died from complications from prostate cancer on May 22, 1967 in New York. ... In his memory, his residence at 20 East127th Street in Harlem, New York City, has been given landmark status by the New York City Preservation Commission, and East 127th Street was renamed "Langston Hughes Place,"" ...

  • Word Count: 534
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

2. Influence Of History On Langston Hughes

Jazz and blues music had a tremendous effect on all of Hughes" poems. ... In a Harlem Cabaret Six long-headed jazzers play. ... In the poem, Hughes sings his story: To the tune o" those Weary Blues. ... O Blues! (8-11) Langston Hughes "[...] undertook a difficult task when he sought to communicate the poetry of the blues through written words alone [...]" and yet he managed to complete the task illustrated by the poems "Jazzonia" and "The Weary Blues"(Emanuel 137). ...

  • Word Count: 1502
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

3. Langston Hughes

Langston Hughes was one of the major black American literary figures of the twentieth century. ... Langston Hughes was born in Joplin, Missouri on February 2, 1902. ... Hughes's teachers played an important role and he was lucky to have them, for they taught him the only way to get something done is to keep on doing it until you get it right. ... Hughes's first book was based on his award winning poem, "The Weary Blues."" ... Langston Hughes died at the age of sixty-five in 1967. ...

  • Word Count: 763
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

4. Langston Hughes

Langston Hughes was America's Jazz Poet, the chronicler of life in Harlem in the 1920s. Setting out to write about black Americans, Hughes created a body of work-poetry, fiction, journalism, essays, plays, and song lyrics. ... A lover of books and plays, she had once dreamed of becoming a professional actress. ... In 1926 Hughes's first book, The Weary Blues, was published to a chorus of praise from black and white reviewers alike. ... Langston Hughes was a very private man. ...

  • Word Count: 1295
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Grade Level: High School

5. Biography of Langston Hughes

The author I chose to present to you is James Mercer Langston Hughes; better know as Langston Hughes (American poet, short story writer, novelist, playwright, autobiographer, and nonfiction writer). ... His mother, Carrie Mercer Langston Hughes left him in the care of his maternal grandmother, while she frequently moved around in such of a steady income. ... Du Bois (Sociologist, Civil Rights activist, writer, and editor), Duke Ellington (Big Band Musician, composer, pianist), Bessie Smith (American blues singer and songwriter), Zora Neale Hurston (American short story writer, autobiographer, ...

  • Word Count: 774
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

6. Langston Hughes& The Harlem Renaissance

Many great writers came during that period; one of them was Langston Hughes. ... Langston Hughes was born in February 1, 1902 in Joplin Missouri, with the name of James Langston Hughes. ... (Rummel 50) He was well known as "Langston Hughes the poet." ... It is easy to tell that Langston Hughes was a dreamer. ... Langston Hughes helped this society little by little with every poem he wrote. ...

  • Word Count: 1984
  • Approx Pages: 8
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

7. Langston Hughes and Richard Wright

Langston Hughes and Richard Wright Langston Hughes helped advance black literature in the United States more than any other writer. As a leader of the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s, Hughes also wrote fiction, plays, and a newspaper column-anything that would express the status of blacks in American society. ... Hughes major contribution is his attempt to capture the character of blues music and the rhythms of jazz. "The Weary Blues" is a good example of standard blues rhythms combined with lateral thinking associated with jazz music. ... But as Langston Hughes put it that we are all ...

  • Word Count: 582
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: High School

8. The Weary Blues

Hughes's aesthetic works out a trope that brings internality and externality into a state of opposition. One sees an example of how this unfolds in "The Weary Blues." The speaker in the poem documents the experience of listening to a piano player in Harlem play the blues. ... While Hughes obviously had a strong desire to "link the lowly blues to formal poetry," locking him into the poem ignores its efficacy as cultural commentary. ... From "Dead Rocks and Sleeping Men: Aurality in the Aesthetic of Langston Hughes," in The Langston Hughes Review....

  • Word Count: 547
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

9. 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. ... Hughes first volume of poetry, "The Weary Blues" II. ... Hughes mentors for writing a. ... He wrote novels, short stories, poetry and plays 1. ... Hughes retained his interest in theater 1. ...

  • Word Count: 288
  • Approx Pages: 1
  • Grade Level: High School

10. James Langston Hughes

James Langston Hughes, an American writer, was born into an abolitionist family on February 1, 1902 in Joplin, Missouri. ... Knopf published Hughes's first book of poetry titled "The Weary Blues". ... Hughes's poems, short plays, essays and short stories appeared in the NAACP publication Crisis Magazine and in Opportunity Magazine. ... In 1969, the Langston Hughes Community Library and Cultural Center opened. ... James Langston Hughes died of prostate cancer on May 22, 1967, in New York. ...

  • Word Count: 1126
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Grade Level: High School

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