As I Grew Older - Bridging

Langston Hughes (1902-1967) was an African-American writer and poet who grew up in America and tried to change his reality with his writing. He captured the feelings and emotions of his people in his writing and was proud to in his african american herritage. He was a leading figure in the african-american artistic movement called the Harlem Renaissance.

The poem "As I Grew Older" was written by him in 1926, as part of the African-American artistic movement, called the Harlem renaissance, protest. The speaker in the poem describes his life and his hopes and dreams, which are very similar to the writer's dreams, so we can assume he wrote this poem about himself. As he grows older, we can see the changes in his point of view, since he realizes life isn’t as easy as he thought and a "wall" has risen between him and his dreams. He realizes that he's different since he's black. He accepts the fact of being black and is proud of it and tries to break through this wall of stereotypes with his very hands. It's a metaphor of what he does in the real life – tries to achieve the racial equality and freedom his people deserve with his writing, and of course you have to use your hands to write.

To sum up, the Harlem Renaissance members believed that through art, literature and music, African-American could achieve their goal – achieve racial equality and integration in the American society. Langston dedicated his life to that goal, and tried to "break through the wall".

Good work.
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Daphna