Background of Study INTRODUCTION

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CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

A. Background of Study

One of the literary text functions is a reflection to the realities which happened in a society. Through literary work, the author expresses the life problem that is experienced by the society and author. 1 Literature represents the description of life consists on social fact. In this case, the life includes the relation among societies and events impressed in someone’s mind which became the substance of literature. It related to the personal and society 2 . Poetry is one of literary work that describes the realities in that text. The reality it self will be interpretation of author with the result that what the text of poem is the author’s comprehension about a reality. Langston Hughes 3 is an African American represents the social condition in his poem such as the African American who are not accepted as white as accepted. I, Too is a poet that is written by Langston Hughes shows that out of the numerous races living in America the black man also sings America. It’s mean that American song can sing by all people of America belonging to African 1 Anonymous, Tentang Sastra dan Konflik, Accessed on May 28, 2008. http:www.seuramoe.wordpress.com20070427 tentang-sastra-dan-konflik-1html. P.1 2 Anonymous, hakikat dan pungsi sastra, Accessed on Jun 12, 2008. http:mywritingblogs.comsastra20080214hakikat-dan-pungsi-sastrahtml.P.1 3 Langston Hughes was born on Feb. 1, 1902. In Joplin, Missouri, he was grown up mainly in Lawrence, Kansas, but also lived in Illinois, Ohio, and Mexico. by the time Hughes enrolled at Columbia University in New York, he had al ready launched his literary career with his poem “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” in the crisis, edited by W E.B. Du Bois. He had also committed himself both to writing and to writing mainly about African Americans. He was part of the Harlem Renaissance and was known during his lifetime as” the poet of Harlem”, Hughes was an African American poet who was one of the black voices to hear in America. Arnold Ramperson, Arnold Ramperson on Langston Hughes, Accessed on March 11, 2008. http:www.English.uiuc.edumapspoetsg1 Hugheslife.html. p.1 11 American. In Poetry of Negro 4 Hughes describes himself and his race as having been a slave, worker, singer and victim who suffered discrimination in several different ways from several different people in several different places. Cross is a poet that is reflected about the speaker mixture between black race and white race. And Cross which was printed in 1930 is representing truth and reflection in racial identity. The realities that he takes on his poems on the title I, Too, Cross, and Negro touches to problem about race, time and milieu or environment. Sociological analysis human in society, through the process of comprehension from society to individual. This analysis is to know the progress of society, in which can be viewed from particular aspects, such as race, time and environment. Sociological analysis explores the relationships between the writer and society. This approach prophases the confrontation and conflict which happen in a society as inspiration of the writer. In this case, the writer reflects and describes the event which happens in that society. This approach, the literary work is understood as description of social condition which happens in a society. Through this analysis, the writer expects that the research will be successful and it is necessary for all the people who interested in sociological analysis. 4 The term black people usually refers to a racial group of humans with dark brown skin color, the black people had been in the United State since 200 years ago. They came from Africa, in the beginning they called with the term “African”. In 1835 black leaders called upon black Americans to remove the title of “African” from their institutions and replace it with “Negro” or “Colored American.” In 1988 the term “Negro” replace with “African American” because the term has a historical culture base. Since then African American and black have essentially a coequal status and the term African American still used up to now. In this case, the writer will be used the term African American as substitute from the term “Negro” in this thesis. Anonymous, Black People, Accessed on May 16, 2009. http:en.wikipedia.orgwiki Black people.html.P.2 12

B. Focus of the Research