The Harlem Renaissance and the Arts in the 1920s
Name: _________________
US History/Napp
Do Now:
“In opposition to traditional values stood the new values of the period, which encouraged
greater openness and self-expression.
Women in the 1920s:
Youth and the Lost
The Harlem Renaissance:
Generation:
1- The 1920s are often
1- New household
1- Young adults were
referred to as the
appliances reduced
responsible for zany
Jazz Age, reflecting
housework, and
fads like flagpole
the greater
greater numbers of
sitting and marathon
importance of
women went to
dancing
African-American
college
2- A new group of
music
2- Some women gained
writers, known as the
2- African Americans,
a new economic
Lost Generation,
who had begun
independence
rejected the desire for
migrating to
3- Women began to
material wealth
Northern cities
smoke and drink in
3- Writers such as
during World War I,
public
Sinclair Lewis in
continued to do so in
4- Women rejected
Main Street and
the 1920s
restrictive fashions
Babbitt, ridiculed the
3- The center of
for shorter hair and
narrowness and
African-American
skirts above the knees
hypocrisy of
life in the 1920s was
5- Sexual behavior
American life
Harlem in New York
became more open
4- F. Scott Fitzgerald in
City
6- Flappers wore short
The Great Gatsby
4- An awakening of
dresses and danced
hinted that the search
African-American
the Charleston
for purely material
culture in these years
success often led to
became known as the
tragedy
‘Harlem
Renaissance’
5- Poets and writers like
Langston Hughes and
Alain Locke
expressed a new
pride in their
heritage
6- Marcus Garvey,
stressing racial unity
through self-help,
~ The Key to Understanding
encouraged African
U.S. History and
Americans to set up
Government
their own shops and
businesses
1- What reduced housework in the 1920s?
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2- What did more American women do in the 1920s?
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3- What had some American women gained in the 1920s?
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4- What did some American women begin to do in the 1920s?
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5- Do you remember what Amendment gave women the right to vote?
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6- What did some American women begin to reject?
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7- Who were the flappers?
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8- What were young people responsible for in the 1920s?
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9- What did the writers of the Lost Generation reject?
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10- The “Lost Generation” refers to young men who came of age during World War I.
Why do you think World War I had led some young men to be disillusioned with
Western civilization?
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11- Identify several important writers during this time period.
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12- Why was the decade of the 1920s known as the Jazz Age?
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13- What had many African Americans done during World War I?
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14- Why do you think many African Americans joined this northern migration?
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15- Why was Harlem important in the 1920s?
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16- What was the Harlem Renaissance?
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17- Identify several significant poets and writers of the Harlem Renaissance:
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18- Who was Marcus Garvey and what did he believe?
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19- Marcus Garvey planned a Back-to-Africa Movement, in which African Americans
would return to Africa. Why do you think Marcus Garvey believed that African
Americans should return to Africa?
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20- African Americans faced discrimination and racism in the United States. Many
innocent African Americans were lynched or hanged. Why then was the Harlem
Renaissance so very important for all Americans? What did it teach all Americans
about African Americans?
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Primary Source: Poetry of the Harlem Renaissance
I, Too, Sing America
by 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.
Questions:
1. How does this poem make you think about the United States?
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2. What effect does the imagery of the poem – the house, the kitchen, the eating, and
the table – have on the themes of this piece as a whole?
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3. What kind of character is the speaker?
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4. What relationship does the historical setting of this poem have to Hughes’s
contemporary setting?
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5. How has the United States changed since Langston Hughes wrote this poem?
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6. How has the United States not changed since Langston Hughes wrote this poem?
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7. How would a person living in another country view the United States after reading
this poem?
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1. The Harlem Renaissance of the
1920’s was a period when African
Americans
(1) left the United States in
large numbers to settle in
Nigeria
(2) created noteworthy works of
art and literature
(3) migrated to the West in
search of land and jobs
(4) used civil disobedience to
fight segregation in the
Armed Forces
2. The 1920’s are sometimes called
the “Roaring Twenties” because
(1) foreign trade prospered after
World War I
(2) the United States assumed a
leadership role in world affairs
(3) political reforms made
government more democratic
(4) widespread social and economic
change occurred
3. Which generalization most
accurately describes the literary
works of Langston Hughes, Sinclair
Lewis, and John Steinbeck?
(1) Politics and art seldom mix
well.
(2) The best literature concerns the
lives of the wealthy.
(3) Literature often reflects the
times in which it is created.
(4) Traditional American themes
are the most popular.
4. A result of the Harlem Renaissance
of the 1920s was the
(1) restoration of buildings and the
infrastructure in New York City
(2) increased recognition of AfricanAmerican writers and musicians
(3) end of racial segregation laws in
New York State
5. After World War I, which factor
was the major cause of the
migration of many African
Americans to the North?
(1) the start of the Harlem Renaissance
(2) increased job opportunities in
Northern cities
(3) laws passed in Northern States to
end racial discrimination
(4) Federal Government job-training
programs
6. The Harlem Renaissance of the
1920s can best be described as
(1) an organization created to help
promote African-American
businesses
(2) a movement that sought to draw
people back to the inner cities
(3) a relief program to provide jobs
for minority workers
(4) a period of great achievement
by African- American writers,
artists, and performers
7. The works of Duke Ellington and
Langston Hughes reflected the
(1) expanding role of women in the
1920s
(2) achievements of the Harlem
Renaissance
(3) architectural innovations of the
1930s
(4) influence of southern European
immigrant groups
8. During the 1920s, controversies
concerning the Scopes trial,
national Prohibition, and the
behavior of “flappers” were all
signs of disagreement over
(1) the return to normalcy
(2) traditional values and changing
lifestyles
(3) causes of the Great Depression
(4) the benefits of new technology
One Way Ticket
I am fed up
With Jim Crow laws,
People who are cruel
And afraid,
Who lynch and run,
Who are scared of me
And me of them.
I pick up my life
And take it away
On a one-way ticket
Gone Up North
Gone Out West
Gone!
~ Langston Hughes, 1926
The author states that he has “Gone” because
1. jobs were available in northern industries
2. there was no racial prejudice in the West
3. farmland was more available in the North
4. racial discrimination drove him away
Analyze the following images:
What does this image reveal about the Harlem Renaissance?
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What is the meaning of the political cartoon?
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What is the meaning of the political cartoon?
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