Poetry analysis

Please make sure to follow the instructions very closely and that there are no grammatical mistakes.

Please answer the questions below.
– Do not include essay formatting for “student name” etc.
– Ensure that each response is a minimum of 7 lines.
– No outside sources are used to analyze the poem.
– quote lines from the poem and make sure to cite the line number of each quote. Each response should have one quote from the poem.
– Please ensure that there are no grammatical errors and the response is of high quality or I will have to ask for a revision.
– Make sure to include one quotation for each response.
– Let me know if you have any questions about anything.

– The poems can be found here :
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47558/i-too
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/150989/cross
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46548/harlem

Questions:

In “I, Too” who is the speaker and what is the setting and/or circumstance?

Explain how the “table” and the “kitchen” are metaphors. How do you think the speaker expects to move from the “kitchen” to the “table”?

What is the tone of the poem? Does it change at different points in the poem? How?

In “I, Too,” Hughes presents two visions of the country. While there seems to be a core of patriotism within his body of work, Hughes’s views of America are complicated. What role do the refrains play in “I, too, sing America”?

In “Cross,” who is the speaker? What is the speaker’s attitude toward his parents? Is this an individual speaker or a communal consciousness? Explain.

In stanza three, what two types of social commentaries is Hughes making?

What is this poem ultimately about? Why would Hughes name the poem “Cross.”

In Hughes’ poem “Harlem,” who is the speaker and what do you think he means by “a dream deferred” (1)?

In the poem, the speaker compares “the dream deferred” to several things using various similes in lines 2-10.

Please explain and discuss what two of these comparisons mean. For example, what does the speaker mean when he says that the “dream deferred” is “like a raisin in the sun” (3) or “like a sore” (4)?

When the speaker finally says “Or does it explode?” (11), what is he talking about?