Slave on the Block Summary
Langston Hughes

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Slave on the Block Summary & Study Guide

Slave on the Block Summary

"Slave on the Block," by Langston Hughes, is the story of a well-meaning but patronizing white couple's interactions with their young black employee. With cutting irony, Hughes dramatizes the tension that arises when the couple takes the young black man into their home in order use him as a source of artistic inspiration. Hughes presents the psychological dynamics between black and white characters in order to criticize the limitations of a racially...

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Langston Hughes Biographies (9)

(James) Langston Hughes

1,164 words, approx. 4 pages

France held a special value for Langston Hughes even before he first visited Paris. "I will never forget the thrill of first understanding the French of de Maupassant," he writes in The Big Sea (1940)... Read more

(James) Langston Hughes

6,308 words, approx. 22 pages

Poet, fiction writer, playwright, journalist, biographer, historian, anthologist, translator, and critic, Langston Hughes was one of the best known and most versatile black American writers of the twe... Read more

(James) Langston Hughes

9,797 words, approx. 33 pages

Possibly the most influential black American writer of the twentieth century, Langston Hughes set an example of self-determination and artistic integrity. Beginning in the Harlem Renaissance during th... Read more

(James) Langston Hughes

8,355 words, approx. 28 pages

Few writers become household names, yet such is the case of Langston Hughes , who was perhaps the most significant black American writer in the twentieth century. His poems, novels, short stories, dr... Read more

(James) Langston Hughes

4,286 words, approx. 15 pages

One of the most eminent black American writers and a literary figure of international renown, Langston Hughes was a serious and innovative artist who helped bring into the mainstream of American lit... Read more

(James) Langston Hughes

5,696 words, approx. 19 pages

Langston Hughes's reputation as one of the most innovative American poets may be one reason he has largely been ignored as a significant playwright. He did not primarily identify himself as a playwrig... Read more

Langston Hughes

968 words, approx. 4 pages

American author Langston Hughes (1902-1967), a moving spirit in the artistic ferment of the 1920s often called the Harlem Renaissance, expressed the mind and spirit of most African Americans for nearl... Read more

Langston Hughes

5,120 words, approx. 18 pages

"I didn't know the upper class Negroes well enough to write much about them," Langston Hughes said in The Big Sea. "I knew only the people I had grown up with, and they weren't people whose shoes were... Read more

Langston Hughes

10,111 words, approx. 34 pages

Biography EssayAs a household name for so many readers of varying persuasions, Langston Hughes was perhaps the most significant black American writer in the twentieth century. From the Harlem Renaissa... Read more

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Slave on the Block SummaryLangston Hughes