Name_______________________________
The Harlem Renaissance
The Harlem Renaissance was a _________________, a cultural explosion
centered around __________________ during the 1920’s, focusing on black writers, artists,
and musicians
The movement was ________________ about the future and change—it was not a violent
protest movement.
Three causes of the Harlem Renaissance:
1.
2.
3.
Goals of the Harlem Renaissance:
1.
2.
3.
Countee Cullen
He attended __________________________.
He was raised in a primarily _____________________ community.
He received criticism from those who thought his background did not give him the experience
to use ________________________.
He insisted that he be viewed as a "poet" rather than a “______________________.”
Langston Hughes
He was one of the first African American writers to use ___________________ rhythms in his
poetry.
He often wrote about being seduced by the ______________________ of freedom only to be
denied it later.
Later in his career, he became bitter about ___________________ and the ongoing struggle
for ____________________.
Read the poems, and answer the questions that follow.
“Incident” by Countee Cullen
Once riding in old Baltimore,
Heart-filled, head-filled with glee,
I saw a Baltimorean
Keep looking straight at me.
Now I was eight and very small,
And he was no whit bigger,
And so I smiled,
but he poked out His tongue,
and called me, "Nigger."
I saw the whole of Baltimore
From May until December;
Of all the things that happened there
That's all that I remember.
1. What is the rhyme scheme of the poem? Indicate this by placing an A at the end of
the first line for the word “Baltimore” and designating an A for any words that rhyme
with “Baltimore.” Then designate the next line B, and continue until you have identified
the rhyme pattern.
2. Mood is the emotional state a work of literature creates in the reader. How does the
rhyme scheme influence the mood at the beginning of the poem?
3. How does this mood shift by the end of the poem? What is unexpected or ironic about
the ending of this poem?
4. In one clear sentence, express what you think is Cullen’s theme or message?
“Harlem” (“A Dream Deferred”) by Langston Hughes
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore-And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over-like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
1. This poem is written as a series of unanswered questions. Who do you think the
speaker might be? Explain using evidence from the poem.
2. What is the rhyme scheme of the poem? Identify it using letters as you did before.
3. Which figure of speech is used most predominantly in the poem? Give at least 2
examples.
4. Tone is the speaker’s attitude toward the subject he is writing about. What seems to
be the writer’s tone at the end of the poem? Provide evidence for your answer.
5. The word “deferred” means delayed or put off until later. What do you think is
Hughes’s theme or message about the effect of a dream deferred on the individual?
What course theme does this relate to?
Unlike the poems “Incident” and “Harlem,” Langston Hughes’s “Theme for English B” is written in free
verse. This means there is no set rhythm or rhyme scheme. However, you will notice that Hughes still uses
rhyme occasionally. It’s just not in a predictable rhyme scheme. Read the poem, and identify the literary
technique used in each of the underlined passages.
“Theme for English B”
The instructor said,
Go home and write
a page tonight.
And let that page come out of you-Then, it will be true.
I wonder if it's that simple?
I am twenty-two, colored, born in Winston-Salem.
I went to school there, then Durham, then here
to this college on the hill above Harlem.
I am the only colored student in my class.
The steps from the hill lead down into Harlem,
through a park, then I cross St. Nicholas,
Eighth Avenue, Seventh, and I come to the Y,
the Harlem Branch Y, where I take the elevator
up to my room, sit down, and write this page:
It's not easy to know what is true for you or me
at twenty-two, my age. But I guess I'm what
I feel and see and hear, Harlem, I hear you:
hear you, hear me--we two--you, me, talk on this page.
(I hear New York, too.) Me--who?
Well, I like to eat, sleep, drink, and be in love.
I like to work, read, learn, and understand life.
I like a pipe for a Christmas present,
or records--Bessie, bop, or Bach.
I guess being colored doesn't make me not like
the same things other folks like who are other races.
So will my page be colored that I write?
Being me, it will not be white.
But it will be
a part of you, instructor.
You are white-yet a part of me, as I am a part of you.
That's American.
Sometimes perhaps you don't want to be a part of me.
Nor do I often want to be a part of you.
But we are, that's true!
As I learn from you,
I guess you learn from me-although you're older--and white-and somewhat more free.
This is my page for English B.
Creative Assignment: Write a 1-page free verse poem inspired by “Theme for English B”
that tackles your own sense of identity. You may use the opening of Hughes’ poem to
start you off. Be sure to use at least one example of each of the following in your poem:
alliteration (repetition of consonant sounds), apostrophe (addressing an inanimate object
or place), and occasional and unexpected rhyme. (15 pts)
The instructor said,
Go home and write
a page tonight.
And let that page come out of you-Then, it will be true.
I wonder if it’s that simple?
I am…