What is the theme of the vacuum poem?

The Vacuum by Howard Nemerov talks about a widower and his late wife, and how he uses the vacuum as a symbol for her death. The poem expresses deep sorrow and sadness that derive from the loneliness of the speaker, after his other half’s passing away.

What is the theme of the poem in English?

Theme is the lesson about life or statement about human nature that the poem expresses. To determine theme, start by figuring out the main idea. Then keep looking around the poem for details such as the structure, sounds, word choice, and any poetic devices.

Why is it called theme for English B?

The title “Theme for English B” is simply the assignment the speaker was given. Langston Hughes said, “I believe that poetry should be direct, comprehensible, and the epitome of simplicity” (Bedford 1157). Langston tells his readers exactly what his purpose is: to express a theme for his English class.

What does vacuum symbolize?

In this poem the vacuum represents the narrator’s wife. The narrator alludes to this in multiple lines summing up how his wife has passed away and is in her grave motionless and without air.

What does the vacuum represent?

A vacuum is a space devoid of matter. The word is derived from the Latin adjective vacuus for “vacant” or “void”. An approximation to such vacuum is a region with a gaseous pressure much less than atmospheric pressure.

What is the main idea or theme of the poem?

The central idea of a poem is the poem’s theme or ‘what it’s about’ if you like. Although many shy away from poems being ‘about’ something, at the end of the day, the poet had something in mind when it was written, and that something is the central idea, whatever it is or might have been.

What is the attitude in the poem Theme for English B?

In the case of “Theme for English B”, Hughes first attitude towards his assignment to “Go home and write a page tonight. And let that page come out of you.. . ” seems to be somewhat bemused and perplexed. It’s obvious his instructor thinks this is a simple assignment.

What are the themes in Theme for English B?

Theme for English B Themes

  • Identity. Man, “Theme for English B” sure talks a lot: about race, about America, about truth, and lots of big questions.
  • Race. In “Theme for English B,” wrapped up in the speaker’s search for his identity is the idea of his race.
  • Visions of America.
  • Truth.

What is the meaning of the poem The vacuum?

The poem expresses deep sorrow and sadness that derive from the loneliness of the speaker, after his other half’s passing away.

What is the theme for English B poem?

“Theme for English B” is a poem about the complexities of identity in a racist society. Its speaker—a black student at Columbia University in the 1950s—receives an apparently straightforward assignment: to write one page about himself.

What does the vacuum by Howard Nemerov mean?

The Vacuum by Howard Nemerov talks about a widower and his late wife, and how he uses the vacuum as a symbol for her death. The poem expresses deep sorrow and sadness that derive from the loneliness of the speaker, after his other half’s passing away. Nemerov attempts to take his readers on a grief-stricken journey,…

When did Langston Hughes write theme for English B?

“Theme for English B” was published the American poet Langston Hughes in 1951, toward the end of Hughes’s career. The poem is a dramatic monologue written in the voice of a twenty-two-year-old black college student at Columbia University in New York City.