Name: ________________________
Literature of the Harlem Renaissance
1. Read the short biography of Langston Hughes. What are three main events from his life that may have shaped
his beliefs and writings?
2. Read “Harlem” at least twice. The first time, read the entire poem so that you can gain a general idea of the
poem. On the second reading, focus on the imagery Hughes uses to convey his message (especially the image of
a raisin in the sun). Once you have read at least twice, write an analysis of “Harlem” with a focus on the images
he uses to describe “A dream deferred.” Are these images effective in conveying a message? What message?
3. Choose either Claude McKay or Paul Laurence Dunbar. Read the biography of the poet you choose. Then,
choose one of the poems to analyze with more depth. Again, focus on the imagery the poet uses to convey a
message in your analysis. What is the message?
Harlem
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?
If We Must Die
BY CLAUDE MCKAY
If we must die, let it not be like hogs
Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot,
While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs,
Making their mock at our accursèd lot.
If we must die, O let us nobly die,
So that our precious blood may not be shed
In vain; then even the monsters we defy
Shall be constrained to honor us though dead!
O kinsmen! we must meet the common foe!
Though far outnumbered let us show us brave,
And for their thousand blows deal one death-blow!
What though before us lies the open grave?
Like men we'll face the murderous, cowardly pack,
Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back!
We Wear the Mask
BY PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR
We wear the mask that grins and lies,
It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,-This debt we pay to human guile;
With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,
And mouth with myriad subtleties.
Why should the world be overwise,
In counting all our tears and sighs?
Nay, let them only see us, while
We wear the mask.
We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries
To thee from tortured souls arise.
We sing, but oh the clay is vile
Beneath our feet, and long the mile;
But let the world dream otherwise,
We wear the mask!