The “Theme for English B” by Langston Hughes is a rhetorical poem in which Hughes asks the question about his social and racial status in society. Growing up during World War I and taking part in the civil rights era, Hughes experienced racial tensions while going to school at Columbia University in an era when higher education was still for the wealthy and predominantly white. His poetry is a reflection of his reaction to a teacher's writing suggestion that influenced him to write about his racial and social tensions, enhanced by its structure, rhetorical questions, and its use of the first person. The speaker of this poem is Hughes himself, responding to a teacher's suggestion that he express himself freely. The use of the first His teacher is white, Hughes is African American. He is in a class where he is "the only student of color" (line 10) unlike his other schools, where the schools were predominantly African American. He logically concludes: “So will my writing page be colored?” (Line 27). This question posed by Hughes attacks the conscience of the intended audience, in this case his teacher, by asking whether he or she will end up judging Hughes' work not by integrity and craftsmanship but by the color of his skin. Although he points out the similarities between people of different races, Hughes is clearly certain that his page will not be judged as a “blank” sheet of paper. He emphasizes how he likes to "eat, sleep, drink and be in love." (Line 21) These are qualities shared by every single person, regardless of race. They are universal. It is often said that the teacher will learn from the student as much as the student learns from the teacher, and in this case Hughes uses this to define what is "American" (line 33). In line 29, “it” refers to the universal themes mentioned earlier, subtly slipping into its ideas again and again. His emphasis on the italicized “not” (line 25) helps to do this