summary of informational nonfiction. Read the biography of tangston Hughes
2. The summary should state the topic of the text.
3. The summary should state the main ideas i n the order in
which they occur in the text.
4. The summary should include important supporting
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5. Quotation marks should be put around any words from
the text that are quoted exactly.
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Langston Hughes was born in 1902 in Joplin, Missouri, but
he spent most of his childhood in Lawrence, Kansas, with his
grandmother. When he was twelve, he moved to Lincoln,
Illinois, and then to Cleveland, Ohio, to live with his mother
and stepfather. Hughes died in 1967 in his home in his beloved
Harlem, in New York City.
According to a popular story, Langston Hughes first tasted
fame when he was twenty-three years old. When the poet
Vachel Lindsay came to dine at the Wardman Park Hotel in
10 Washington, D.C., where Hughes was working as a busboy,
Hughes left three poems by Lindsay's plate. Lindsay was so
impressed by the poems that he presented them that night at a
reading, saying he had discovered a true poet, a young black
man who was working as a busboy in a nearby restaurant. For
the next few days, newspapers up and down the East Coast ran
articles acclaiming the "busboy poet."
That story is a good one, but it's a little misleading. Hughes
was not really an overnight success. He had already put in a
long apprenticeship as a writer. He had written his first poem
20 when he was in eighth grade and was first published in hls
high school literary magazine. Hughes had also read a great
.
Circle the year Langston
Hughes was born.
Underl~newhere he spent
most of his chtldhood
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Ciicie rhe name of the
author who IS szid t o have
"dtscovered" Langston
Hughes. In your own woras,
retell the story about
Lawston Hughes' first
taste of fame-(7-16).
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LJrde:l!rle some of Langston
liughes's accomplishments
on hrs jooney to success
Ilrnes 17-42).
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deal of poetry, especially the works of Edgar Lee Masters,
Vachel Lindsay, Amy Lowell, Carl Sandburg, and Walt Whitman.
Whitman and Sandburg had a strong influence on Hughes
because they celebrated the humanity of all people regardless of
age, gender, race, or class. Hughes had already seen many of
his own poems published in journals and magazines. What's
more, a book of his poetry, The Weary Blues, was soon to be
published by a famous New York publisher.
30
As the anecdote about Vachel Lindsay shows, Hughes
was energetic and ambitious. Before he met Lindsay, he had
attended Columbia University and had worked as a crew
member on a freighter crossing the Atlantic to Africa and
back. He spoke German and Spanish and had lived in Mexico
(where his father also lived), France, and Italy. After meeting
Lindsay, Hughes went on to earn a college degree at Lincoln
University and to write fifteen volumes of poetry, six novels,
three books of short stories, eleven plays, and a variety of
nonfiction works. Hughes worked in Harlem during the heady
40 days of the Harlem Renaissance, when that New York City
neighborhood was teeming with talent-poets, musicians,
artists.
About his poetry, Hughes said, "Perhaps the mission of an
artist is to interpret beauty to the people-the beauty within
themselves." Hughes also interpreted-and celebrated-the
experiences of African Americans. Some of his most famous
poems imitated jazz rhythms and the repetitive structure of the
blues. Later in life he wrote poems specifically designed for jazz
accompaniment. He also helped found several black theater
50 companies and wrote and translated plays for them to perform.
Langston Hughes is perhaps the most famous and original of
all African American poets. He said his work was an attempt
to "explain and illuminate the Negro condition in America."
Hughes succeeded in that and more: His work illuminates the
condition of all people everywhere.
((
Langston Hughes: A Biography" focuses on the life and
works of the poet Langston Hughes. The main point made in
this biographical sketch is that Langston Hughes wrote about
the experiences of African Americans but his work "illuminates
the condition of all people everywhere." Hughes became
famous when he was twenty-three, when the poet Vachel
Lindsay read his poems at a poetry reading. Hughes had been
writing since eighth grade, however, and had published a poem
in a high school literary magazine. He was especially influenced
10 by Whitman and Sandburg because they celebrated all
humanity. Hughes accomplished a lot both before and after
meeting Lindsay. He attended Columbia and graduated from
Lincoln University. He traveled widely and spoke three
languages. He was part of the Harlem Renaissance and
published many books of poetry, plays, fiction, and nonfiction.
Langston Hughes is probably the most famous and original of
all African American poets.
-.--
L ~ s tone main idea in
" Langston Hughes":
, A Summary.
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Explarn w h y there are
quotation marks around
"~Ilurninatestne condition
of all people e ~ ~ r y w h e r e "
(lines4-5).
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When you write a summary of an informational text you must include all the main ideas
along with their important supporting details. Minor details should be left out. In the
graphic organizer below, write notes for a summary of "Langston Hughes: A Biography,"
by filling in the main idea and supporting details for each paragraph.
Title: bangston Hughes: A Biography
Author: unknown
Topic:
Main Idea
Supporting Details
Reading Check
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1. According to the biography, which poets most influenced Hughes?
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2. What did Hughes say was the mission of an artist?
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3. Which critical details from the
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biography does the summary omit?
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1. Which of the following details is
included in both the summary and
thebio~ra~hv?
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A Hughes was influenced by
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Hughes's birth ;ma' aeatn
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influences on Hughes
colleges Hughes attended
Hughes's subject matter
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Whitman and Sandburg.
B Hughes read Masters, Lindsay,.
4. Which passage in the summary
Lowel12Sandburg~andWhitmanshouldbeplacedinquotationmarks
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C Hughes spoke German and
because it uses the exact words of the
Spanish.
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writer of the biography?
D Hughes traveled to Africa, Mexico,
F attended Columbia and ~61auua~';u
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France, and Italy.
from Lincoln University
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G accomplished a lot both before and
2. Which detail in the summary is
after meeting Lindsay
probably not important and could
: H traveled widely and spoke three
have been omitted?
languages
F Hughes became famous at age
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J the most famous and original of all
twenty-three.
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m e n c a n poets
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Renaissance.
H Hughes wrote about African
-Americans.
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