The theme for English B
by Langston Hughes

The instructor said,

Go home and write
a page tonight.
And let that page come out of you---
Then, it will be true.

I wonder if it's that simple?
I am twenty-two, colored, born in Winston-Salem.
I went to school there, then Durham, then here to this college on the hill above Harlem.
I am the only colored student in my class. The steps from the hill lead down into Harlem through a park, then I cross St. Nicholas, Eighth Avenue, Seventh, and I come to the Y,
the Harlem Branch Y, where I take the elevator up to my room, sit down, and write this page:

It's not easy to know what is true for you or me at twenty-two, my age. But I guess I'm what
I feel and see and hear, Harlem, I hear you:
hear you, hear me---we two---you, me, talk on this page. (I hear New York too.) Me---who?

Well, I like to eat, sleep, drink, and be in love. I like to work, read, learn, and understand life. I like a pipe for a Christmas present,
or records---Bessie, bop, or Bach.
I guess being colored doesn't make me NOT like the same things other folks like who are other races. So will my page be colored that I write?
Being me, it will not be white.
But it will be
a part of you, instructor. You are white---
yet a part of me, as I am a part of you. That's American.
Sometimes perhaps you don't want to be a part of me. Nor do I often want to be a part of you.
But we are, that's true! As I learn from you,
I guess you learn from me--- although you're older---and white--- and somewhat freer.

This is my page for English B.

Write a 100-word response in which you discuss Hughes's use of rhyme and stanza form and how they relate to the dramatic situation in "Theme for English B."