It shows that despite the cultural differences between the white professor and the black speaker, “Bessie, bop, or Bach” emphasizes the “sameness” between them. It emphasizes that even a black man, who is generally associated with jazz culture can like cl

To strengthen Hugh's connection to African American heritage. Although this experience makes him somewhat different from the instructor, this difference ironically ties them together as "American", since being "American" is having varying part

Identity not only involves speculation about oneself and his/her surrounding, but also concerns the macrocasm of the world that he/she is involved in, as the contributions of every individual, accumulated into a society, defines the world they live in.

In “I, Too, Sing America,” Hughes portrays his hope for transformation of racial relationships in America. When he says, “They’ll see how beautiful I am / And be ashamed— / I, too, am America” (16-18), he implies that eventually, white men will acknowledg

Now the poem can be seen as referring to all of us, as the issue posed by the narrator is not only a problem with a racially discriminated units of people but for everyone integrated in a group, trying to connect with others and find their own identities;

“Harlem, I hear you: / hear you, hear me —we two—you, me, talk on this page” (18-19)
The break in the sentence raises a sense of uncertainty and emphasizes the difficulty to know what is true.

In line 5, "true" means anything that comes out from oneself and therefore a valid description of who he/she truly are but in line 36, Hughes extends the limited definition of "true"to demonstrate how everyone shares a common part that makes them America

In the face of racial discrimination, the truth about one's identity cannot be equal. The narrator of the poem realizes that a person's truth really can't be separated from his/her ethnicity.

The both literary works at some point state that our lives are "simple"-- in The Great Gatsby, disillusioned people display shallow facades, and in the "Theme for English B", the instructor expects Hughes to express himself in a simple way.

The fragmentation of society and lack of sense of brotherhood as the narrator feels segregated and disparate from the rest of his white English class; an experiment with literary conventions through enjambment.

The professor deems the task of describing one's true self as simple, yet the student has to actually undergo a complex process of thinking things out until he can understand his own identity.

"That's American" (33) - Although Americans have different ethnicities and backgrounds, they still share a common part with each other that forges them together, even if they do not want to admit it.