Use of Prosody in the Selected Poems of Gwendolyn Brooks and Langston Hughes

Poetry has a role in society, not only to serve as part of the aesthetics or of the arts. It also gives us a view of what the society is in the context of when it was written and what the author is trying to express through words. The words as a tool in poetry may seem ordinary when used in ordinary circumstance. Yet, these words can hold more emotion and thought, however brief it was presented.

What makes a good poetry? It is not only in the idea or thought of what the author is trying to express. What makes a good poetry beautiful is in how the writer makes use of the words, lines, and spaces and indents. The rhythm of the poem can make a significant impact in the expression of the idea. Even the structure of words can make a difference in interpreting what the poem wants to impart to its readers. The usage of commas, periods, and the spaces, can hold deeper meaning than when words are used.

What makes a good writer of poetry? It is through the intimate knowledge by the writer on the subject he/she wants to tell us. Even when the subject is a taboo or uninteresting in reality, the writer can make its readers suspend their objections and judgments, opening a room to rethink and explore on the subject.

Using two poet's works as comparison, we can see how prosody can be represented in the text. Using selected poems by these two writers, Langston Hughes and Gwendolyn Brooks, also helps us in determining how significant prosody in the completeness of the poems.

Born in 1902, Langston Hughes was raised mainly by his maternal grandmother, who was also a great influence in his life. Though he has also lived with each of his parents