Theme for English B- Langston Hughes Research Paper Example

Theme for English B Theme for English B- Langston Hughes Paper Theme for English B- Langston Hughes Paper Langston Hughes wrote Theme for English B in 1949. English in the poem is emblematic of comprehensiveness, universality and cultural integration. The poem is a satirical take on the grading system with regard to individuals; and utilizes the vernacular as a potent metaphor to emphasis this. Hughes uses language, certain rhythm and structure to relay the bias to writing a poem on oneself due to the connotation that comes with race. The English language in question, English B, is emphasized as a level of English that is below the regular English A.In this context, the poet voices that the whites consider themselves to be the original inhabitants or true, as opposed to the blacks who were treated as secondary citizens. Parts of Theme for English B rhyme and other parts do not. The introduction to the poem starts with the poet paraphrasing the instructor’s orders: â€Å"Go home and write/a page tonight. And let that page come out of you/then it will be true. The speaker asks, I wonder if its that simple? The rest of the stanza in his voice, which is African-American, does not rhyme.The poem concludes with rhyming lines which end with me and free, and the last line: This is my page for English B. the vicissitudes in the rhyme pattern is representative of how language defines the supposed â€Å"quality† of the assignment. Furthermore, the shift in rhyme accentuates the metaphor of how this page is a representation of him and therefore how the different vernacular and rhyme are illustrative of how he is an amalgam of culture, neither stereotypically black, nor a white duplicate, but a contemporary blend of the two.In the poem, he lists facts about himself. This list is ingeniously written because Hughes subtly equates himself as first, a human being, then a normal man- just like any other- and finally as a man with good taste in terms of music and possessions â€Å"I like to eat, sleep, drink, and be in love. / I like to work, read, learn, and under stand life/ like a pipe for a Christmas present/ or records- Bessie, Bop, or Bach† (Hughes 21-23).He also states things that set him apart from his classmates, including the fact that he is the only African American man in his class and that he resides in Harlem (Hughes 10-11). By conveying his commonality, despite the superficial issue of race, Hughes depicts his plight of figuring out who he is as an individual, but also as a man trying to fit into society. He is both a part of Harlem and a part of a mostly white English class: â€Å"I guess I’m what / I feel and see and hear, Harlem, I hear you† (Hughes 17-18).While he holds onto his African American culture, he also acknowledges that it does not define him as a person: â€Å"I guess being colored doesn’t make me  not  like / the same things other folks like who are other races† (Hughes 25-26). Hughes concludes that although he is different from his peers in some ways, they are all Americans with common likes and purposes. The â€Å"page† therefore works as a viable and profound metaphor for cultural integration.

Maslows Hierarchy of Needs Explained

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Explained Maslows hierarchy of needs is a theory by Abraham Maslow, which puts forward that people are motivated by five basic categories of needs: physiological, safety, love, esteem, and self-actualization. Key Takeaways: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs According to Maslow, we have five categories of needs: physiological, safety, love, esteem, and self-actualization.In this theory, higher needs in the hierarchy begin to emerge when people feel they have sufficiently satisfied the previous need.Although later research does not fully support all of Maslow’s theory, his research has impacted other psychologists and contributed to the field of positive psychology. What Is Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs? In order to better understand what motivates human beings, Maslow proposed that human needs can be organized into a hierarchy. This hierarchy ranges from more concrete needs- such as food and water- to more abstract concepts such as self-fulfillment. According to Maslow, when a lower need is met, the next need on the hierarchy becomes our focus of attention. These are the five categories of needs according to Maslow: Physiological These refer to basic physical needs, such as drinking when thirsty or eating when hungry. According to Maslow, some of these needs involve our efforts to meet the body’s need for homeostasis; that is, maintaining consistent levels in different bodily systems (for example, maintaining a body temperature of 98.6 degrees). Maslow considered physiological needs to be the most essential of our needs. If someone is lacking in more than one need, they’re likely to try to meet these physiological needs first. For example, if someone is extremely hungry, it’s hard to focus on anything else besides food. Another example of a physiological need would be the need for adequate sleep. Safety Once people’s physiological requirements are met, the next need that arises is a safe environment. Our safety needs are apparent even early in childhood, as children have a need for safe and predictable environments and typically react with fear or anxiety when these needs are not met. Maslow pointed out that, in adults living in developed nations, safety needs can be more apparent in emergency situations (e.g. war and disasters), but this need can also explain why we tend to  prefer the familiar  or why we do things like purchasing insurance and contributing to a savings account. Love and Belonging According to Maslow, the next need in the hierarchy involves feeling loved and accepted. This need includes both romantic relationships as well as ties to friends and family members. It also includes our need to feel that we belong to a social group. Importantly, this need encompasses both feeling loved  and  feeling love towards others. Since Maslow’s time, researchers have continued to explore how love and belonging needs impact well-being. For example, having social connections is related to better physical health and, conversely, feeling isolated (i.e. having unmet belonging needs) has negative consequences for health and well-being. Esteem Our esteem needs involve the desire to feel good about ourselves. According to Maslow, esteem needs include two components. The first involves feeling self-confidence and feeling good about oneself. The second component involves feeling valued by others; that is, feeling that our achievements and contributions have been recognized by other people. When people’s esteem needs are met, they feel confident and see their contributions and achievements as valuable and important. However, when their esteem needs are not met, they may experience what psychologist Alfred Adler called â€Å"feelings of inferiority.† Self-Actualization Self-actualization refers to feeling fulfilled, or feeling that we are living up to our potential. One unique feature of self-actualization is that it looks different for everyone. For one person, self-actualization might involve helping others; for another person, it might involve achievements in an artistic or creative field. Essentially, self-actualization means feeling that we are doing what we feel we are meant to do. According to Maslow, achieving self-actualization is relatively rare, and his examples of famous self-actualized individuals include Abraham Lincoln, Albert Einstein, and Mother Teresa. How People Progress Through the Hierarchy of Needs Maslow postulated that there were several prerequisites to meeting these needs. For example, having freedom of speech and freedom of expression, or living in a just and fair society, aren’t specifically mentioned within the hierarchy of needs. However, Maslow believed that having these things makes it easier for people to achieve their needs. In addition to these needs, Maslow also believed that we have a need to learn new information and to better understand the world around us. This is partially because learning more about our environment helps us meet our other needs; for example, learning more about the world can help us feel safer, and developing a better understanding of a topic one is passionate about can contribute to self-actualization. However, Maslow also believed that this call to understand the world around us is an innate need as well. Although Maslow presented his needs in a hierarchy, he also acknowledged that meeting each need is not an all-or-nothing phenomenon. Consequently, people don’t need to completely satisfy one need in order for the next need in the hierarchy to emerge. Maslow suggests that, at any given time, most people tend to have each of their needs partly met- and that needs lower on the hierarchy are typically the ones that people have made the most progress towards. Additionally, Maslow pointed out that one behavior might meet two or more needs. For example, sharing a meal with someone meets the physiological need for food, but it might also meet the need of belonging. Similarly, working as a paid caregiver would provide someone with income (which allows them to pay for food and shelter), but can also provide them a sense of social connection and fulfillment. Testing Maslow’s Theory In the time since Maslow published his original paper, his idea that we go through five specific stages hasn’t always been supported by research. In a 2011 study of human needs across cultures, researchers Louis Tay and Ed Diener looked at data from over 60,000 participants in over 120 different countries. They assessed six needs similar to Maslow’s: basic needs (similar to Maslow’s physiological needs), safety, love, pride and respect (similar to Maslow’s esteem needs), mastery, and autonomy. They found that meeting these needs was indeed linked to well-being. In particular, having basic needs met was linked to people’s overall assessment of their lives, and feeling positive emotions was linked to meeting the needs of feeling loved and respected. However, although Tay and Diener found support for some of Maslow’s basic needs, the order that people go through these steps seems to be more of a rough guide than a strict rule. For example, people living in poverty might have trouble meeting their needs for food and safety. However, these individuals still sometimes reported feeling loved and supported by the people around them- meeting the previous needs in the hierarchy wasn’t a prerequisite for people to meet their love and belonging needs. Maslow’s Impact on Other Researchers Maslow’s theory has had a strong influence on other researchers, who have sought to build on his theory. For example, psychologists Carol Ryff and Burton Singer drew on Maslow’s theories when developing their theory of eudaimonic well-being. According to Ryff and Singer, eudaimonic well-being refers to feeling purpose and meaning- which is similar to Maslow’s idea of self-actualization. Psychologists Roy Baumeister and Mark Leary built on Maslow’s idea of love and belonging needs. According to Baumeister and Leary, feeling that one belongs is a fundamental need, and they suggest that feeling isolated or left out can have negative consequences for mental and physical health. Sources: Baumeister, Roy F., and Mark R. Leary. â€Å"The Need to Belong: Desire for Interpersonal Attachments as a Fundamental Human Motivation.† Psychological Bulletin 117.3 (1995): 97-529. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7777651ï » ¿Kremer, William, and Claudia Hammond. â€Å"Abraham Maslow and the Pyramid That Beguiled Business.† BBC (2013, Sep. 1). https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-23902918Maslow, Abraham Harold. â€Å"A Theory of Human Motivation.†Ã‚  Psychological Review  50.4 (1943): 370-396. http://psycnet.apa.org/record/1943-03751-001Ryff, Carol D., and Burton H. Singer. â€Å"Know Thyself and Become What You Are: A Eudaimonic Approach to Psychological Well-Being.†Ã‚  Journal of Happiness Studies  9.1 (2008): 13-39. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10902-006-9019-0Tay, Louis, and Ed Diener. â€Å"Needs and Subjective Well-Being Around the World.†Ã‚  Journal of Personality and Social Psychology  101.2 (2011): 354-365. http://psy cnet.apa.org/record/2011-12249-001Villarica, Hans. â€Å"Maslow 2.0: A New and Improved Recipe for Happiness.† The Atlantic (2011, Aug. 17). https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2011/08/maslow-20-a-new-and-improved-recipe-for-happiness/243486/