James Mercer Langston Hughes  lived ( February 1,1901 -May 22,1967), he was a american poet, social activist, novelist,playwright, and columnist from Joplin,Missouri.Hughes had a complex ancestry, both of Hughes paternal great grandmothers were enslaved African Americans and his Paternal great grandfathers were white slave owners in Kentucky. Hughes mother was a school teacher, his father left the family after Hughes was born and divorced Caroline Mercer Hughes mother.His father traveled to Cuba and then mexico to escape racism in the united states.Hughes was raised in Kansas by his maternal grandma she installed racial pride in him as a young boy.In Hughes autobiography “The Big Sea’ he wrote: “I was unhappy for a long time, and very lonesome, living with my grandmother. Then it was that books began to happen to me, and I began to believe in nothing but books and the wonderful world in books—where if people suffered, they suffered in beautiful language, not in monosyllables, as we did in Kansas”,this where his love for literature started.In 1925 Hughes poem ”The Weary Blues ” showed his poetic style and his dedication to his black heritage. This poem won first prize in in a Opportunity magazine literary competition, and he also received a scholarship to Lincoln university in Pennsylvania.

https://www.biography.com/people/langston-hughes-9346313

https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poet/langston-hughes

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langston_Hughes

Sylvia Plath was born on October 27th, 1932 in Boston, Massachusetts to German immigrants. Her father was a Biology professor and her mother was his student. When Sylvia was eight years old, her father died of complications with diabetes. Although he was authoritative and stern, she was deeply hurt by his passing. This traumatic experience led her to write one of her most well-known poems “Daddy”. This becomes somewhat of a pattern in Sylvia’s life. Anytime she goes through some type of trauma, she writes, and it becomes wildly famous. Sylvia struggled with what is now known as manic depression since she was in her teens. Her first breakdown happened as an undergrad. She attempted to commit suicide by overdosing on sleeping pills. This suicide attempt led her to become institutionalized and receive electro-shock treatments. From this breakdown, came the novel ‘The Bell Jar’ which was released in 1963, the same year she died. This is the only novel Plath released. It is a semi-autobiographical novel based on her experiences and troubles with her emotional and mental health, as well as issues within her marital and family life. In 1956, she met and married her husband Ted Hughes. Together they had two children. In 1962, Hughes left her for another woman. She again became deeply depressed and “wrote most of the poems that would comprise her famous book, ‘Ariel’”. As mentioned above, a year later, she wrote ‘The Bell Jar’ and shortly after committed suicide by inhalation of cooking gas in the kitchen of her home. Plath had a lifetime of traumatic events and mental issues. Her condition can be argued to be a blessing as it gave her the inspiration and motive to write poems that made her wildly famous. Her style of writing is associated with the confessional movement which is when poems became a bit more personal in their context. It is interesting to know that Plath received a Pulitzer Prize in 1982, although posthumously for work published by her ex-husband called ‘The Collected Poems’. She is most known for ‘The Bell Jar’, ‘Ariel’, ‘Colossus’ and ‘The Collected Poems’. It is important to know Plath’s personal life in understanding her poems and writings. “Her work is singled out for the intense coupling of its violent or disturbed imagery and its playful use of alliteration and rhyme”. 

“Sylvia Plath.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/sylvia-plath. 

“Sylvia Plath.” Poets.org, Academy of American Poets, 21 Aug. 2014, www.poets.org/poetsorg/poet/sylvia-plath. 

Walt Whitman was an American poet and journalist. Whitman came from a family of nine children, and was raised in Brooklyn and Long Island during the 1820s to the 1830s. Whitman taught himself to read and fell in love with literature when he was 12 years old after learning printer’s trade. Whitman worked as a printer in New York until his work district burnt down. When he was 17, he began his career as a teacher until 1848, which was when he started his full-time journalism career. He was an editor for the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, but was fired for supporting the antislavery faction of the Democratic Party.

On his own, Whitman printed and sold Leaves of Grass, anonymously. It was his first work and though it went unappreciated, Ralph Emerson called it ” the most extraordinary piece of wit and wisdom ” America had seen yet. It’s the book that Whitman is most known for. He made constant revisions to it until finally finishing it in 1881. Whitman used it to express his own personality into his writing, something that majority of writers didn’t do. Whitman displayed his belief that poetry is a form of wisdom for mankind through his verses. Whitman used his book to reflect American life for the middle class and the poor.

People like Walt Whitman because his work is untraditional and open. He used his work to discuss real world scenarios and circumstances.He wrote poems to preach about equality and to talk about the lives of everyday Americans. It made people feel like their was a writer that identify with them. He changed the very style of poetry and though his work is old, it’s still relevant to today’s time.

Citations

1. “Walt Whitman”, Poet|Academy of American Poets, https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poet/walt-whitman

2. “Walt Whitman”, Biography & Facts, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Walt-Whitman

3. “Walt Whitman”, How Walt Whitman Changed The World of Poetry & What You Can Learn From It, https://www.neboagency.com/blog/lesson-walt-whitman-audacity/