Refrain and Effect. A refrain is a line or group of lines repeated in a poem or song. The effect of a literary work is the general impression or emotional impact that it achieves. As you read, locate the refrains used in “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” and decide the effect of the refrains.
Simile. A simile is a comparison using like or as. This figure of speech invites the reader to make a comparison between two things. The two “things” involved are the writer’s actual subject, the tenor of the simile, and another thing to which the subject is likened, the vehicle of the simile. As you read, look for the similes in the poem.
Tone. Tone is the emotional attitude toward the reader or toward the subject implied by a literary work. As you read, identify the tone of the poem.
Point of View. Point of view is the vantage point from which a story is told. Stories and poems are typically written from a first-person point of view, in which the narrator uses words such as I and we; from a second-person point of view in which the narrator uses you; or from a third-person point of view, in which the narrator uses words such as he, she, it, and they.
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Before graduating from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, Hughes had published his first collection of verse, The Weary Blues. Included in that 1926 collection was “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” and “I, too, sing America.” During the 1920s, while writing these poems, Hughes worked to unite the elements of blues with formal poetry.
Langston Hughes worked as a busboy even as he was gaining national attention as a writer, 1925.
As you read, make a cluster chart of the words that indicate the point of view of the poem. One example has been done for you.
What experiences have you had with rivers?
When have you been left out of a group? How did you react?
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