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From LANGSTON HUGHES AND THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE
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Contents
Preface ..................................................... vii
Acknowledgments............................................ ix
To the Teacher .............................................. xi
To the Student.............................................. xiii
Chronology of Events........................................xvii
CHAPTER 1
GROWING UP AS LANGSTON HUGHES
ACTIVITIES:
1–1 What Are Your Dreams?
1–2 Your Family History
1–3 Family Interview
1–4 Family Tree
1–5 Fictionalizing a Personal Event (1)
1–6 Similes
1–7 Where Are Your Rivers?
1
11
11
11
11
11
12
12
12
CHAPTER 2
THE PEOPLE’S POET: SOURCES FOR LANGSTON HUGHES’S POETRY
13
ACTIVITIES:
24
24
24
25
25
26
26
2–1
2–2
2–3
2–4
2–5
2–6
Laughing and Weeping
Writing About People
Your Dream of Freedom
Dialect and Slang Writing
Who Are Your Muses?
Writing the Blues
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vi
Langston Hughes: An Interdisciplinary Biology
CHAPTER 3
THE WORLD TRAVELER: I WONDER AS I WANDER
27
ACTIVITIES:
3–1 A Clean Sweep
3–2 Mapping Hughes’s Africa Trip
3–3 Africa Today
3–4 Fictionalizing a Personal Narrative (2)
3–5 The Three Russias
3–6 Mapping Hughes’s Journey Across Asia
40
40
40
41
41
42
43
CHAPTER 4
LANGSTON HUGHES AND THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE
45
ACTIVITIES:
4–1 Sights and Sounds of the Harlem Renaissance
4–2 Research Topics Relating to the Harlem Renaissance:
58
58
59
60
60
61
Topic #1: Women Writers of the Harlem Renaissance
Topic #2: Origins and History of the Harlem Renaissance
Topic #3: African American Intellectual Leaders
CHAPTER 5
THE CONSCIENCE OF A WRITER
63
ACTIVITIES:
5–1 Equal Protection of the Laws
5–2 The Abraham Lincoln Brigade
75
75
76
CHAPTER 6
LANGSTON HUGHES’S WORLD OF PEOPLE
77
ACTIVITIES:
82
82
6–1 Connections: Langston Hughes’s Life and Work
Bibliography .................................................85
Index .......................................................87
From LANGSTON HUGHES AND THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE
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Preface
The works of Langston Hughes continue to reverberate throughout our multiethnic American culture. In the last few years, there has been a renewed interest in
the Harlem Renaissance. Langston Hughes, of course, was one of the dominant
figures during this period. He not only wrote poetry, plays, novels, and short stories,
but also became a leading spokesperson for African American culture. Many new
studies of Hughes’s life and writing have been published. In addition, many new
editions of his past work have been republished. The most significant of these publications is The Collected Works of Langston Hughes (1994), edited by Arnold Rampersad, America’s preeminent Langston Hughes scholar.
Hughes’s writings, especially his poetic works, are universally read in today’s
public schools. The power of his imagery and the accessibility of his language make
his work fun to read and to teach.
I recently attended a dance performance
in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that highlighted
tap dancing accompanied by music, storytelling, humorous monologues, and poetry. In one
of the final pieces of the program, Langston
Hughes’s poem “Motto” was performed.
This simple poem was recited about 20
times; it was chanted, incanted, sung, rapped,
and syncopated. “Dig and Be Dug” began to
sound like “hot diggity dog.” The audience was
enthralled by the ways his words were being
stretched into their own time.
MO T T O
I play it cool
And dig all jive.
That’s the reason
I stay alive.
My motto,
As I live and learn,
is:
Dig And Be Dug
In Return.
What is less known about Langston
Hughes is the incredible drama and adventure
that he lived and experienced. As a child, he was abandoned by his father and raised
by his mother, his grandmother, and friends in four different states. As a young man,
he worked his way on steamers across the Atlantic to the nighttime world of Parisian
jazz clubs. As a man of high ideals, he volunteered to work in Spain during the Spanish Civil War. In his travels, he circled the globe. He was a child of poverty who
grew up to become a man of the world.
I hope that this historical and literary biography of one of this century’s most
exciting individuals and greatest writers inspires teachers and students alike.
—Fred Lown
vii
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To the Teacher
How This Book Is Organized
This book is designed for flexibility. You can read it all the way through, or you
can read the introductory material and choose one or two chapters that best suit
your needs.
All chapters have been designed to be used in any language arts, English, or
social studies class from grades 7 through 12.
Each chapter contains biographical material. The book is sequenced in loose
chronological order, beginning with Hughes’s birth and childhood (Chapter 1), and
concluding with his later years and death (Chapter 6).
Individual chapters can be used to supplement lessons or units in the following
subjects: English, language arts, writing, literature and poetry, history, biography,
geography, and African American studies.
Chapters Highlights
Chapters 1 and 6 are primarily biographical.
Chapter 2 focuses on the sources of Hughes’s writing. African American music
and culture are discussed in this context.
Chapter 3 has a strong geography component.
Chapters 4 and 5 discuss specific historical periods and issues.
Activities
The interdisciplinary activities are located at the end of each chapter. Your
students can read the whole chapter and then do an activity, or they can read
part of a chapter and do the activity. The activities at the end of each chapter,
like the text, can be used in any English or social studies class from grades 7
through 12.
All activities have been designed to be interdisciplinary. Some activities focus
on specific skills and you should choose those that are relevant to your course.
Your expectations for your students, student ability levels, and curricular
demands should be your guide for the activities your students undertake.
xi
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xii
Langston Hughes: An Interdisciplinary Biography
It is not intended that every student who reads this text should undertake every
activity. Some activities will work well for you and your students; others may not
be appropriate for your class.
Activities in Chapters 1, 2, and 3 have strong creative writing components to
them but can also be designed to fit into a social studies class. For example, two
of the activities in Chapter 1 are based on family trees and personal histories.
Activities in Chapters 4 and 5 have strong research components and can be
used in American history classes. These activities can also be used in any interdisciplinary course in the humanities.
The final activity (at the end of Chapter 6) is a culminating interdisciplinary
activity designed for both English and social studies classes.
Langston Hughes as a young man, 1923
From LANGSTON HUGHES AND THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE
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To the Student
Why Study Langston Hughes?
Langston Hughes chose a path that was not widely traveled by young African
Americans of his time. He wanted to be a professional writer. He received some
encouragement at school but very little at home. His father, who lived in Mexico,
discouraged him from this career choice. He told Langston that as a black man there
was no future in writing and that he would remain poor and hungry. In fact, there
were very few African American writers in the United States who were being
published. Langston had very few role models.
But Langston Hughes had a dream. He wanted to do what no African American had yet accomplished. He wanted to support himself through his writing. Like
any dream, there was no set recipe to follow, no instruction booklet to read.
However, Hughes had a rich cultural heritage passed to him by his maternal grandmother. He was determined to live life to its fullest. He wanted adventure in his life.
He needed to travel the world and talk with as many interesting people as he could
meet. He welcomed new experiences and new people.
Langston Hughes was born into poverty at the beginning of the twentieth
century. He grew up without a father at home. His mother took care of him—when
she was around. But he was mostly raised by his grandmother. He lived in a country
that was not friendly to African Americans. Yet, in spite of these hardships, he was
full of energy and initiative. By the time Hughes was in his early thirties, he had
worked on a freighter off the coast of Africa, graduated from college, published three
books of poetry and a novel, lived in three foreign countries, traveled extensively
throughout four continents, and listened to jazz in nightclubs in New York City,
Paris, and Shanghai.
In every country and every city he either lived in or traveled through, he met
interesting people from all walks of life. He learned their languages and he learned
about their lives. They included writers, artists, actors, dancers, musicians, teachers,
students, and politicians. They also included intellectuals like W.E.B. Du Bois, Zora
Neale Hurston, and Arthur Koestler, all of whom made a great impact on his way of
thinking.
Hughes became a man of deep political and social convictions. He believed in
equality and social justice for all people, everywhere. He wrote about people who
xiii
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xiv
Langston Hughes: An Interdisciplinary Biography
suffered from discrimination and poverty. He committed himself to helping those
less fortunate than himself.
Langston Hughes was a man of the world who experienced or participated in
some of the great events of the early part of the twentieth century. He lived through
a period of race hatred and the rise of the Ku Klux Klan (1910–1920). He was finishing elementary school and starting high school during World War I (1917–1918). In
the 1920’s, the era of the Harlem Renaissance, Langston Hughes was a major force in
the development of New York City’s African American culture. Like many millions
of other Americans, he suffered from the impact of the Great Depression (1929–
1934). During the rise of Fascism and Nazism in Europe, Hughes volunteered to help
the Spanish people fight for democracy (1937). During World War II, Hughes
helped the Allied war effort by working for the American State Department
(1940’s).
All of these personal experiences, historic events, and people will be discussed
throughout this book.
Langston Hughes is a role model for all of us. He fought against tremendous
odds. He worked hard at what he did best. He inspired those around him through his
personality and intellect. He made the world a better place by leaving his great work
behind.
The Legacy of the “Writer”
Langston Hughes’s writings are part of America’s treasures. Among his creations
are poetry, short stories, musicals, plays, children’s books, novels, essays, movie
scripts, and two autobiographies. These works reflect a literature of struggle, not only
for African Americans, but for all people who strive for freedom and dignity in their
lives.
Hughes wrote to enhance and expand his experience of life for himself and for
the world. He wrote for children as well as adults. Five of his books had “First Book”
as part of their titles. These were written to teach and instruct children about African American life, jazz, rhythms, the West Indies, and Africa.
Langston Hughes wrote plays and musicals and he created theater companies to
produce these works. The Harlem Suitcase Theater in New York City was a community-based theater that Hughes organized. In Los Angeles he founded the The New
Negro Theater. Both of these theater companies produced his radical play Don’t You
Want To Be Free? The Skyloft Players theater company he founded in Chicago
performed his musical The Sun Do Move. In 1961, his gospel musical Black Nativity
From LANGSTON HUGHES AND THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE
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To the Student
debuted on Broadway to enthusiastic audiences. In Boston, Black Nativity has been
performed annually for the past 27 years!
He wrote to be read by everybody; he wrote about everyday people using everyday
language. Two of his most famous fictional characters were Jesse B. Semple, known as
“Simple,” and Alberta K. Johnson, known as “Madam.” Both of these characters were
poor residents of Harlem who possessed charm, wit, intelligence, and dignity.
Langston Hughes was a master of the
English language; he wrote in many genres
for diverse readers and listeners. He also
mastered at least two other languages,
Russian and Spanish. While living in
Moscow, he translated into English the
works of two of Russia’s greatest twentiethcentury poets, Vladimir Mayakovsky and
Boris Pasternak. While in Madrid during
the Spanish Civil War, Hughes translated
the works of Federico Garcia Lorca, Spain’s
revolutionary poet who had been executed
by the Fascist forces in 1936.
Langston Hughes is best known for his
poetry. Today his work is acknowledged by
scholars and by the entire culture as great
literature. During his lifetime, he published
860 poems in nine different books, dozens of
magazines, and many newspapers. His poetry
is often an expression of his joy at being a
living, feeling, sensing human being.
D R E A M VA R IAT IO NS
To fling my arms wide
In some place of the sun
To whirl and to dance,
Till the white day is done.
Then rest at cool evening
Beneath a tall tree
While night comes on gently,
Dark like me —
That is my dream!
To fling my arms wide
In the face of the sun,
Dance! Whirl! Whirl!
Till the quick day is done.
Rest at pale evening . . .
A tall, slim tree . . .
Night coming tenderly
Black like me.
Langston Hughes also wrote to work
out his feelings and emotions. He was not a
happy person by nature. He had a dark side that was formed in a childhood where he
experienced rejection, poverty, and insecurity. From day to day he never knew
whether his mother would be there for him. From month to month he never knew
whether he would be forced to move. As an adult, this dark side was further fed by
racism and discrimination. Hughes said that he only wrote poetry when he was
depressed. Much of his poetry and many of his short stories clearly show the sadness
and despair that he felt. His writings also express outrage at the social conditions
that he witnessed and experienced. While he could laugh at his own condition,
often characterized by “the weary blues,” he was a keen social critic.
xv
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Chronology of Langston Hughes’s Life
(Historical events referred to in the text appear in bold type.)
1859
1861–1865
1863
1867–1877
Feb. 1, 1902
1910–1930
1914–1918
1916
1917
1919
1920
1920–1930
1921–1922
March 1923
June 1923
1924
1926
1926–1929
1927–1930
1929–1939
Mar. 25, 1931
1931–1932
1932
1933
1934
1937–1939
1937
1938
1939–1945
1940
1942
1943
1947–1989
1947
Mar. 26, 1953
1954
1956
1960
1961
Nov. 3, 1961
1963
April 1, 1966
May 22, 1967
John Brown’s attack on Harpers Ferry
American Civil War
Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation
Reconstruction Era
Langston Hughes is born in Joplin, Missouri
Great Migration of African Americans to the North
World War I
Moves to Cleveland, Ohio, and attends Central High School
Russian Revolution
Spends summer with his father in Mexico
Writes “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” his first published poem (appears in Crisis in 1921)
The Harlem Renaissance Period
Attends Columbia University in New York City
Writes “The Weary Blues”
Sails to Africa on the West Hesseltine
Sails to Rotterdam, heads to Paris, where he rooms with Sonya and works in a jazz nightclub
Publishes his first book of poetry, The Weary Blues
Attends Lincoln University
Is supported by Charlotte Mason (“Godmother”)
The Great Depression
The Scottsboro Boys “incident”
Tours Haiti, Cuba, and the South
Is invited to the Soviet Union to make a film
Travels to Shanghai, China, and Tokyo, Japan, where he is accused of being a “spy”
His father, James Hughes, dies
Spanish Civil War
Hughes lives in Madrid, Spain, reporting on the Abraham Lincoln Brigade
His mother, Carrie Langston, dies
World War II
Publishes his first autobiography, The Big Sea
Works for the U.S. Writers War Board
Writes his first Jesse B. Semple story
Cold War between the U.S. and the Soviet Union
Settles down on 127th Street in Harlem, in New York City
Is called to testify for McCarthy’s committee
Supreme Court rules that segregation of races is unconstitutional
(Brown v. Board of Education)
Publishes his second autobiography, I Wonder As I Wander
Becomes the NAACP’s Spingarn Man of the Year
Is invited to be a life member of the National Institute of Arts and Letters
Is one of 30 guests invited to the White House by President John F. Kennedy to have lunch
in honor of the president of Senegal
Receives an honorary Doctor of Letters from Howard University
Appointed by President Lyndon Johnson to lead the American delegation to the First World
Festival of Negro Arts in Dakar, Senegal
Langston Hughes dies in New York City
xvii