Harlem Renaissance Poetry

Jennifer MontemayorClaudine Demesa

Jenel de LeonHazel Tapit

Renewal and flourishing of African American literary and musical culture.

After World War II. Great Migration to Harlem in New York City.

Harlem Renaissance Movement Definition

Collective African-American identity. Based on Heritage. Culture related. Themes:

◦ Life & hardships.◦ Skin colors and race.◦ Conflicts between blacks.

Poetic Techniques

Harlem Renaissance Art

Harlem Renaissance Art

Escaped from enslavement from Kentucky. Parents Joshua and Matilda Murphy Dunbar were freed slaves from

Kentucky. Dunbar would draw on their stories of plantation life throughout his

writing career. Racial discrimination forced Dunbar to accept a job as an elevator

operator in a Dayton hotel. Became well known as the "elevator boy poet“  1893 Dunbar published his first volume of poetry, Oak and Ivy, on

the press of the Church of the Brethren. That same year he also attended the World's Columbian Exposition,

where he sold copies of his book and gained the patronage of Frederick Douglass and other influential African Americans. That same year he also attended the World's Columbian Exposition, where he sold copies of his book and gained the patronage of Frederick Douglass and other influential African Americans.

Married Alice in secret and over the objections of her friends and family

First to rise to a height from which he could take a perspective view of his own race.

Paul Laurence Dunbar

 We wear the mask that grins and lies, It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,— This debt we pay to human guile; With torn and bleeding hearts we smile And mouth with myriad subtleties,

Why should the world be over-wise, In counting all our tears and sighs? Nay, let them only see us, while      We wear the mask.

We smile, but oh great Christ, our cries To thee from tortured souls arise. We sing, but oh the clay is vile Beneath our feet, and long the mile, But let the world dream otherwise,      We wear the mask! 

We Wear the Maskby: Paul Laurence Dunbar

Title: The poem may be about what people display outside instead of what our feelings are inside.

Paraphrase: We put on a façade in public and hide our

True feelings with lies and smiles The world shouldn’t pity our feelings.

When we were supposed to cry, we smiled instead. Speaker: The speaker in this poem can be the author

speaking for people who don’t wear their heart on their sleeve but keep it battled inside.

We Wear the Mask (TPSFASTT)

Figurative Language:        Alliteration: hides our cheeks and shades our

mouth with myriad.       Assonance: lies, hides, eyes= long i                         Beneath, feet= long e        Rhyme: lies, hides, eyes     guile, smile                    wise, sighs                    cries, arise                    vile, mile       Repetition: We wear the mask

We Wear the Mask (TPSFASTT)

Attitude:- Subject: hiding our true emotions.  - Tone: The author expresses an optimistic feeling from being revealed.

Shifts: The 1st shift starts at the 2nd stanza that switches from how we disguise our face to denying access to the world seeing what we’re distressed about. The 2nd shift occurs at the 3rd that switches from letting the world see your negative vibes to our disguised actions.

Title: The title conveys the mask as our action of hiding everything from anyone,

Theme: Subject: hiding our true emotions Theme: We hide our true emotions because we don’t want to be bothered or burden anyone with our problems.  

We Wear the Mask (TPSFASTT)

Full name is Festus Claudius McKaybecame apprenticed to a carriage and cabinetmaker after his trade school was destroyed by an earthquakesocialist

writes sonnet type of poetry like "Baptism," "The White House," and "The Lynching,“

racial issues and his choice of the working class, rather than the middle class, as his focus.

Jamaican His poems are usually based on racial pride and the

Harlem Renaissance Uses almost all figurative language in his poems

Claude Mckay

If we must die, let it not be like hogsHunted and penned in an inglorious spot,While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs,Making their mock at our accursèd lot.If we must die, O let us nobly die,So that our precious blood may not be shedIn vain; then even the monsters we defyShall be constrained to honor us though dead!O kinsmen! we must meet the common foe!Though far outnumbered let us show us brave,And for their thousand blows deal one death-blow!What though before us lies the open grave?Like men we'll face the murderous, cowardly pack,

Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back! 

If We Must Die by: Claude Mckay

Line one: simile: comparing people dying like hogs, referring to people hunting hogs and killing them with hogs having no advantage. The first line says that if anyone, specifically African Americans, were to die then don’t be killed so easily like hogs.Line two: hogs are being hunted and are trapped and penned in a corner. African Americans are being compared as hogs being hunted and trapped.Line 3: metaphor: bark and hungry dogs, White people are being compared as dogs who are barking at the African AmericansLine 4: says that the white people are mocking and making fun of “their curse and bad luck”Line 5: Shifts, repeats first line but adds a heroic tone to the 2nd half of the line.Line 6: says that we shouldn’t have a meaningless death; also brings in a biblical reference (“ precious blood”) that refers to Christianity and how Jesus Sacrificed himself 

If We Must Die (TPSFASTT)

Line 7: says that even if they’ve become monsters we must rebel against them and fightLine 8: even if they die they will be honored by the monsters for fighting so nobly Line 9: he says that they should all gather up and realize who the common enemy isLine 10: even if they’re outnumbered show them your confidence and bravery Line 11: they have a lot of ways to get attack us but we don’t have much we can do, but one shot can have a great impactLine 12: we are expected to die eventually Line 13: be a man: tough; and defeat the cowardsLine 14: even if dying pressed up against the wall, you’re still fighting back

If We Must Die (TPSFASTT)

February 1, 1902 – May 22, 1967. Began writing poetry in Illinois. Claimed Lawrence Dunbar Carl Sandburg, and Walt

Whitman were his influences. Died of prostate cancer. Known for engaging with the world of jazz. Known for his insight on African American life from the

twenties – sixties. Jazz has a major influence on his writing especially in the

“Montage of Dream Deferred”. Wrote novels, short stories, and plays along with poetry. Notable works: Let American Be American Again, Life is

Fine, Mother to son, The Negro Mother.

Langston Hughes

I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother. They send me to eat in the kitchen When company comes, But I laugh, And eat well, And grow strong.

Tomorrow, I'll be at the table When company comes. Nobody'll dare Say to me, "Eat in the kitchen," Then.

Besides, They'll see how beautiful I am And be ashamed—

I, too, am America.

I ,Too, Sing America by Langston Hughes

Title: Speaking of America coming from an African American who was living during that time.

Paraphrase: This poem is talking about how African Americans were treated unfairly during the Harlem Renaissance.

Shifts: Starts off serious and informative then becomes hopeful that one day things will change.

Figurative Language: Metaphor; sing, darker brother, I am America, “be at the table”.

Attitude: He has hope one day that America will change their perception on African Americans.

Structure: Framing and contrast. Contrast of how African Americans think and white people think.

Title/Theme: That the perception of African Americans were despicable but eventually will turn around.

I, Too, Sing America (TPSFASTT)

Born in Roxie Mississippi on September 4, 1908. Son of Nathan Wright an illiterate sharecropper. Ella Wilson Wright, a school teacher. Grandson of slaves. 1937 went to New York City to become Harlem

editor of communist paper. Notable Works: Uncle Tom’s Cabin, How Bigger

was Born, Twelve Million Black Voices, The Negro & Parkway Community House, Native Son.

Richard Wright

 I am nobody:A red sinking autumn sun      Took my name away.  It took five secondsFor the barefoot boy's wet track      To dry on the porch. From a tenement,The blue jazz of a trumpet      Weaving autumn mists.   In a barbershopThe stench of soap and hair,—      A hot summer day! Don't they make you sad,Those wild geese winging southward,      O lonely scarecrow?  Not even the cat Could escape the sudden rain      From the July sky.

The Other World by Richard Wright

Title: Meaning loneliness can make a person have another world in which he lives in.

Paraphrase: Basically the poem is talking about weather, how it changes, and its effects.

Shift: From happy to sad; the mood of the person shifts, attitude changes.

Figurative Language: Diction; Richard Wright’s style of writing.

Attitude: The author does not like the shifts and it’s constant changed in the weather.

Title/Theme: Weather can affect a man’s mood.

The Other World (TPSFASTT)

Describe another racial issue that you've experienced or learned about in the past and compare it to Claude McKay's poems?

Compare any obstacle that you've overcome by with confidence like Claude McKay's poems?

Two AP Style Writing Prompts

Take 5-10 minutes and write a poem of how you would express your feelings if you were to be living during the Harlem Renaissance movement. (Keep in mind all the hardships and struggles you would be facing)

Interactive Poetry Lesson

1. What's the Harlem Renaissance movement? 

A)People in Harlem migrating to Kentucky

B)A movement in 1910C)Renewal of Harlem literature and

cultureD)Riot in New York

Quiz

2.When was the Harlem Renaissance?

A)1820-30'sB)1840-50'sC)1910-15D)1920-1930's

Quiz

3.Which theme isn't usually conveyed in Harlem Renaissance?

A)Life and HardshipsB)MurderC)Skin Colors and Race D)Conflicts between blacks

Quiz

4.Which social and political events didn't inspire the Harlem Renaissance?

A)Haymarket RiotB)Jim Crow LawsC)LynchingD)Segregation

Quiz

5.Which genre of music did the Harlem Renaissance mostly impact?

A)Jazz/BluesB)CountryC)RapD)Folk

Quiz

http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/harlem/harlem.html

http://www.levity.com/corduroy/harlem.htm http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMI

D/5657

Links