1. Walt Whitman:
- romanticizes the life of the laborer: this is obvious if you take a look at his "A Song for Occupations" where he writes about workers and their perfect lives
- uses repetition for emphasis: particular words are often repeated in his poems so as to emphasize a meaning
- avoids traditional poetic devices: he is known for using unorthodox poetic devices that are not commonly found in poems, especially during the period he lived in (Transcendentalism)
2. Langston Hughes:
- part of the Harlem Renaissance: this refers to the black artists' movement, and given that Hughes was a person of color, he belonged in the movement
- looks forward to racial equality: because people of color were oppressed
- describes a fragmented United States: people still didn't see eye to eye about slavery and the position of black people
