The Harlem Renaissance represents an era in American history during which
the uniqueness of African-American culture was celebrated. It was a period
marked by an active and vibrant nightlife; by the publishing of a great number
of short stories, plays, poems and novels by and about African-Americans; by
musicals written by and starring African-Americans; and, by the creation of
artwork by and about African-Americans. The Harlem Renaissance was an age
during which African-Americans sought to dispel common stereotypes through
their art.
Part 1: Due Monday, January 28, 2020 via Edsby
Read page 415 – 418 “The Harlem Renaissance” by Kathleen Drowne and page
423 “The New Negro” by Alaine Locke. We will also view episode 4 of the
documentary film “The African-Americans: Many Rivers to Cross”
Poetry and Art Essay:
1. Choose one of the following poets, but no student can choose the same poet.
Countee Cullen
Langston Hughes
Jean Toomer
Claude McKay
Jessie Redmond Faucet
Georgia Douglas Johnson
Gwendolyn Bennet
Sterling Allen Brown
Arna Bontemps
Esther Popel
Anne Spencer
Gwendolyn B. Bennett
Angelina W. Grimke
James Weldon Johnson
Arna Bontemps
Lewis Grandison
Alexander
Alice Dunbar Nelson
Helene Johnson
2. Next, choose one poem that you like by your chosen poet and that you think exemplifies
a particular aspect of African American experiences in the 1920’s.
For example, you might think about whether the piece reflects Marcus Garvey’s “black is
beautiful” movement, celebrates the improved “cosmopolitan” life for African Americans,
laments the current or past racism of the North, or examines another central issue from
this period.
3. Then choose a piece of art from the Harlem Renaissance that expresses a similar theme
or emotion. Choosing the right piece is important, so make sure you look at many pieces
before you make your decision.
4. Write a two to three pax`ge explication of the poem and the piece of art, exploring and
illustrating how each artist accomplishes what she does and how the pieces reflect similar
concerns. (Remember to treat your piece of art as a “text.”)
5. You MUST use online resources for help. REMEMBER TO USE PARENTHETICAL
DOCUMENTATION and CREATE A WORKS CITED PAGE. You must use at least TWO
sources and cite from each source TWICE (total of FOUR citations--minimum!)
6. It is suggested you devote a minimum of one page to the poem, and one page to the piece
of art.
Cut and paste both a copy of the poem and copy of the art into your document.
What is a Poetry Explication?
In terms of its form, a poetry explication takes readers through the poem under discussion,
explaining what the poem is about (narrative and plot), its "meaning," and the way in which
poetic structure (outer form, grammar, rhythm, rhyme, and tropes) shape the relation
between what the poem is about and its meaning. The poetry explication has a thesis about
the poem's meaning and about the way in which the formal features of poetry—whatever
makes this a poem and not just a passage of prose—contribute to that meaning. It also
shows the reader in a detailed way how the poem works, by describing the contribution of
formal features at all levels to meaning. The explication is in an important sense a process
paper, a guided tour through a poem that unfolds in time. The explication is also an
argument, since the "guided tour"serves to defend a particular interpretation of the poem's
meaning.
How Do I Write a Poetry Explication?
1. Thesis:
The last thing that will come to you in your study of a poem, but the first thing that should
appear in your paper is the thesis. The thesis provides an abstract of the whole paper to
come. It tells--
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what the poem is about (narrative and plot)
the meaning of the poem
generally how form shapes and contributes to meaning
the major stages or steps in the poem, how the action and meaning are shaped from
first to last (plot and climax are useful terms here).
Remember that you are arguing a position, and make the thesis forceful. At the same time,
poetry tends to be ambiguous and rich, and if paradox and complexity are part of your
poem, you need to outline those paradoxes and complexities in the thesis. As a rule, you
are only able to determine your thesis after you have already drafted the body of your
essay; your thesis should emerge out of your explication of the poem.
2. Structure:
Let the shape of the poem guide the structure of your paper. You should imagine that your
reader is intelligent but does not have the poem in front of him/her for close scrutiny. If the
reader has to move back and forth between your paper and the poem, you have more work
to do. If you discuss meaning and form separately, furthermore, the reader will have to
jump back and forth in your paper. This is also not a good thing. You want the reader to
move smoothly through the poem, expertly guided by your argument and analysis.
If the poem is divided into natural units such as stanzas or the quatrains of a
Shakespearean sonnet, the poem's structure helps you easily structure your paper. If there
are many stanzas, you may have to organize them into larger units of meaning.
3. Analysis:
For each unit of the poem (as you have divided it up), explain what is happening (narrative
and plot) and how the structure of the poem shapes its meaning. This includes features
such as--
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stanza form
rhythm
rhyme
patterns of imagery
Each unit of the poem will produce a paragraph or more of analysis. Within each
paragraph, you should consider organizing your information so that you move from the
largest to the smallest formal units or from the most important to the least important for
this section of the poem. In other words, if stanza form is important to understanding this
portion of your poem, discuss it before discussing a small detail such as rhyme scheme.
However, if rhyme is very important to meaning, then spend more time on rhyme.
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from largest to smallest formal units
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from most to least important formal features
Be careful also not to be redundant. In other words, you don't have to discuss the stanza
form of a regular ode in every paragraph of your paper, only in those where it is important
to meaning or where it works in a way different from the ways in which you have already
discussed. In short, discuss those features that are important specifically for this section of
your poem. As Mary Oliver recommends, look for the poem's "particulars" (94).
4. Quotations:
When analyzing the sections of your poem, you will want to refer to specific words or lines
in the poem itself. Don't quote long sections of the poem. Incorporate quotations into your
own sentences and focus on those words or lines that are really significant to your
interpretation. Check MLA format for the incorporation of quotations into your prose. We
have ordered the most recent edition of the MLA Handbook, and as students of literature,
you must use it.
5. Transitions:
Since you are writing a process paper—leading readers through your poem—transitions
and topic sentences at the beginnings of your paragraphs are very important. Use
topic/transition sentences at the beginning of each paragraph (or group of paragraphs) to
connect the plot and meaning of the upcoming section with that of the previous section.
These matters are discussed in style manuals, including Chapter 6 of The St. Martin's
Handbook.
6. Conclusion:
Obviously, you need to wrap up your argument. How do you make the conclusion more
than a recapitulation of the thesis? By drawing a "meta-poetic" conclusion—by getting
beyond the particular content of this particular poem to draw a general conclusion, not
about life and emotion but about the way in which form and content interact in this poem.