I have to describe the tone for the poem "Theme for English B" by Langston Hughes? And I dont understand the concept of descibing the tone..

'Tone' in a poem deals with the perspective and the view point of the poet.

Langston Hughes' tone in this poem "Theme for English B" could be described as 'mildly ironical' as he reveals his difficulty in sincerely expressing his own feelings at the instruction of his white English tutor. The irony is that although he begins by saying "I wonder if it's that simple," by the end of the poem, however, he has succeeded in doing just that in a very effective manner: "This is my page for English B."

His true inner self is madeup of two contrasting aspects: 1.He is a black and hence diferent from his white English instructor. 2. He is an American just like every other American, including his white English instructor. Hughes' adopts a conciliatory tone which synthesises the difference: "you are white--/Yet a part of me, as I am part of you/That's American...That's true."

However, the poem ends on a tone of regret: "somewhat more free." The poem was written by Langston Hughes in 1951 when racial discrimination had peaked. Only after Martin Luther King's Civil Rights' Movement of the 60s there was an improvement in the relationship between the whites and blacks.