Dinner Guest: MeLangston Hughes
Gracie Cooper
Langston Hughes
•Born -February 1, 1902 in Joplin,
Missouri
•Died May 22, 1967 at age 65 in New
York City• Born to Carrie (Caroline) Mercer Langston and James Nathaniel Hughes
•Earned a degree from Lincoln
University in 1929
Dinner Guest: Me
I know I amThe Negro ProblemBeing wined and dined,Answering the usual questionsThat come to white mindWhich seeks demurelyTo Probe in polite wayThe why and wherewithal
Dinner Guest: Me
Of darkness U.S.A.--Wondering how things got this wayIn current democratic night,Murmuring gentlyOver fraises du bois,"I'm so ashamed of being white."
Dinner Guest: Me
The lobster is delicious,The wine divine,And center of attentionAt the damask table, mine.To be a Problem onPark Avenue at eightIs not so bad.Solutions to the Problem,Of course, wait.
Dinner Guest: Me
I know I amThe Negro ProblemBeing wined and dined,Answering the usual questionsThat come to white mindWhich seeks demurelyTo Probe in polite wayThe why and wherewithal
T2 This poem is about how Hughes went out to dinner after he got famous for his writing
rhyme
characterized by shyness and modesty; reserved
Paraphrase
What this poem is really saying is that the only reason that those people are having dinner with him is because he is famous, if he were just some other black guy, they wouldn’t ask his name let alone ask him to have a fancy dinner with them.
Dinner Guest: Me
Of darkness U.S.A.--Wondering how things got this wayIn current democratic night,Murmuring gentlyOver fraises du bois,"I'm so ashamed of being white."
how a black man could be famous
Are they really? Or are they jealous?
Dinner Guest: Me
The lobster is delicious,The wine divine,And center of attentionAt the damask table, mine.To be a Problem onPark Avenue at eightIs not so bad.Solutions to the Problem,Of course, wait.
He would have been the problem if he wasn’t famous
and we still are waiting for everyone to get along
Attitude
The speaker in the poem was the author, Langston Hughes and the subject he was speaking on was how once he got famous, he had white people talking to him and inviting him to dinner but if he wasn’t famous they wouldn’t even make eye contact with him.
Shifts
There aren’t many punctuations marks within the poem but there is a lot of irony in how he is talking.
And center of attentionAt the damask table, mine
You can tell he was surprised that he was the center of attention but at the same time proud of it
Theme
The theme of this poem is acceptance. Even though Hughes had to become famous before he could be accepted, he was still invited to a fancy dinner with white people.
