African American Literature

Excel English: 3rd Quarter

Genre: Prose: Speech

Prose: written or SPOKEN language in its ordinary form

SPEECH: formal address delivered to an audience

RHETORIC: the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, especially the use of figures of speech and other compositional techniques

Speech Terms

Articulation: CLEAR and distinct speech

Cadence: rhythm or flow of speech

Connotation: what a word suggests or implies beyond its literal meaning

Speech Terms

Inflection: rising and falling in the pitch of a voice.

Pause: momentary stop to give additional emphasis

Projection: Directing the voice so it can be heard at a distance (speaking loudly)

Speech Terms

Parallelism: Repetition of a grammatical structure, sound and meaning

Repetition: Repeating a word/phrase to add a sense of balance and rhythm (anaphora)

Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968)

Reform movements in the United States aimed at abolishing racial discrimination

freedom, respect, dignity, and economic and social equality

Martin Luther King, Jr. 1929-1968

American Baptist clergyman, activist and prominent leader in the African-American civil rights movement

Youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize (1964) for his work to end segregation and discrimination through civil disobedience and other non-violent means

assassinated on April 4, 1968

I Have a Dream

Delivery of the speech on August 28, 1963, from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, was a defining moment of the American Civil Rights Movement.

Lincoln Memorial (D.C.)

Lincoln Memorial

Watch and Listen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbUtL_0vAJk

Analysis

Allusion: reference to a well-knownMetaphor: direct comparisonRepetition: to say again for emphasisParallelism: repetition of phrase Dichotomy: contrast between two

things that are opposed or entirely different

Alliteration: first consonant repeated Juxtaposition: place or deal with

close together for contrasting effect

Common

Lonnie Rashid Lynne Jr.

Hip hop artist and actor

Considered the “thinking man’s” rapper

criticized the path hip-hop music was taking

Freedom Writer’s Soundtrack

“I Have a Dream” Personification Allusion Alliteration Dichotomy Refrain

Barack Obama

44th president of the United States; the first African American

previously served as the junior Senator from Illinois

Nobel Prize recipient 2009

Inaugural Address

Addresses audience: “My fellow citizens” “humbled” and “grateful”

Invokes the past: “We the People” Addresses crisis then motivates for

solutions—NOW: “Today I say to you” Directly addresses the country: “But know

this, America” Overarching phrase: “And yet at this

moment—a moment that will define a generation…”

Inaugural Address

“This is the..” corresponds to MLK’s “Now is the time…”

Invokes scripture and God References the progress made in

civil rights: (paragraph 34) “…why a man whose father less than 60 years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.”

Harlem RenaissanceTwo Histories

Two Histories

Poetry in America

African American People

Cultural background + infusion of the history of a people

determination to express something

about that history

Harlem Renaissance

African American cultural movement of the 1920s-30s

Literary recognition

Artistic expression of the African American experience

Langston Hughes

wrote novels, short stories, plays, and poetry

insightful, colorful portrayals of black life in America from the 20s through the 60s

wanted to tell the stories of his people in ways that reflected their actual culture, including both their suffering and their love of music, laughter, and language itself

“Dream Variations” (Hughes) Speaks to black experience;

suggests that black AND white experiences are part of the HUMAN experience

Variation: difference of condition “Place in the sun”: freedom Symbolism:

Sun/day: white Night: cool, tender, black

Countee Cullen

Color was a landmark of the Harlem Renaissance

careful, traditional style that celebrated black beauty and deplored the effects of racism

“Any Human to Another” Subjective w/traditional rhyme scheme Paradox: “Diverse yet single” Metaphor: “A little tent…All his little

own.” Personification: “Joy may be shy”;

“Sorrow never scorned to speak” Universal suffering: “Not me alone” Allusion: Christ/”My sorry must be

laid/On your head like a crown.”