Module 2 - THE NEGRO SPEAKS OF RIVERS by Langston Hughes

Bibliography
Hughes, Langston. 2009. THE NEGRO SPEAKS OF RIVERS. Ill. E.B. Lewis. New York: Hyperion Books for Children. ISBN 10-0786818670

Plot Summary
Hughes writes this poem as if he is speaking for all Negroes who have lived by and known rivers all over the world.  When Hughes says, "I've known rivers:," it feels as though he means, Negros have known rivers.  Hughes speaks of rivers all over the world including the Congo, the Euphrates, the Mississippi, and the Nile.  He tells that Negros have lived by and depended on rivers since the Earth was young. 

Critical Analysis
The settings in Hughes' poems are authentic to the places and rivers Negroes and people of color have lived throughout history.  Hughes' writes "My soul has grown deep like a river" at the beginning and ending of his poem which reflects the importance his culture holds in the connection between self and Earth/water.

E. B. Lewis' watercolor iillustrations lend an old, antique feel to the poem.  The pictures are of different Negros so the reader understands that Hughes is not speaking of one person or one time period.  The people in the illustrations show the cultures Hughes is speaking of, depicting them with dark skin, and clothes that reflect their surroundings.  Many of the characters hair are done up in braids.  Their clothing evolves as you read through the poem and Hughes travels forward in time.  The backgrounds for each illustration fit with the particular river; a hut behind the Congo, the pyramids behind the Nile, a riverboat on the Mississippi, etc.   The characters are shown, fishing with nets and with poles, swimming, playing, and working in the rivers.  Perhaps the most interesting illustrations are those that depict the lines, "My soul has grown deep like a river" which show rivers going into the torso of a negro in the sky and a negro with hands in prayer with a river flowing into the bottom of their hands and water moving up to fill the torso.  Lewis' illustrations add so much to Hughes writing and are so descriptive in themselves they help make the words accessible to young children. 

Review Excerpts
Publisher's Weekly Starred Review: "The interplay of light, water and color unites the compositions artistically, creating a book as eloquent as the text at its foundation."

Library School Journal Starred Review: "The exquisite illustrations make the eloquent verses all the more accessible. Lewis is at his best here, and the use of watercolors to evoke the flow of a river is particularly apt."

Connections
Hughes, Langston. 2009. MY PEOPLE. Ill. Charles R. Smith Jr. New York: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing. ISBN 10-1416935401
Hughes, Langston. 2006. POETRY FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. Ill. Benny Andrews. Sterling Publishing. ISBN 10-1402718454
Woodson, Jacqueline. 2001. THE OTHER SIDE. Ill. E.B. Lewis. New York: Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers. ISBN 10-0399231161