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| | Title: |
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| Educator: |
Frank Shelton |
| Educator Affiliation: |
n.a., MN |
| Overview: |
The poems of the Harlem Renaissance and post-Renaissance period are spirited, energetic and various. A prior unit on the social and historical context of the 1920s and 1930s, the Harlem Renaissance and its aftermath, or black protest and pride movements and literature would provide a valuable context for study of the poets and their poems discussed in this unit, including Claude McKay, Langston Hughes, Sterling Brown, and Margaret Walker. The unit emphasizes learning about individual poems by reading the works aloud and listening to recordings of the poems. Claude McKay is especially compelling to hear reading his own work due to his distinctive Jamaican accent and dramatic reading style. |
| Grade Levels: |
9-12
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| Subjects: |
Literature
Reading
Research Skills
Social Studies and History
Speaking, Discussion and Debate
Writing
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| Lesson Goals: |
Students will:
1. Become familiar with work by outstanding African American poets from the time period of the 1920s and 1930s.
2. Know aspects of American and African American social, cultural and artistic history that influenced the content of some of the poems.
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| Text & Materials: |
The Black Poets, Dudley Randall, Editor. Bantam Books, 1971. ISBN 0-553-27563-1.
This excellent anthology, frequently reprinted, is a classic text with chronological examples of poetic genres and poets from folk poetry and spirituals through the Harlem Renaissance, post-Renaissance, and what has come to be called the “Black Arts Movement” of the 1960s.
The text may be augmented by other anthologies, recordings, books or collections of work by Claude McKay, Langston Hughes, Sterling Brown and Margaret Walker. Suggested recordings, books, and web sites related to these four authors are listed in a section of supplements, following.
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| Activities: |
1. Prior to discussing the poems, clarify the historical context.
Following World War I, the 1920s was a time of increased conservatism in the United States. There were Klu Klux Klan agitation, a strong anti-immigration movement, economic conservatism with the rich getting richer, and emphasis on materialism and conformity.
While most important white literary figures were railing against the materialism, shallow values, and cultural conformity of a society with increased technological complexity, in the African American Harlem subculture, things were different. Large numbers of African Americans in Harlem were infused with the spirit of optimism in their new urban setting and pride in their cultural heritage. For blacks recently arrived from the South, Harlem and other urban areas of the North provided more freedom and opportunity than they had experienced anywhere else in the United States.
Along with the spirit of optimism, there was also sorrow, anger and political activism regarding the status of African Americans in society, and the violence against African Americans, such as through lynchings.
2. Read the following and other poems from The Black Poets or other texts.
If We Must Die by Claude McKay (1890 - 1948) which begins:
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 accursed lot.
The Negro Speaks of Rivers by Langston Hughes (1902 - 1976) dedicated to W.E.B. DuBois which begins:
I’ve known rivers:
I’ve known rivers ancient as the world and older than the
flow of human blood in human veins.
My soul had grown deep like the rivers.
Old Lem by Sterling Brown (1900 - 1989) which begins:
I talked to old Lem
And old Lem said:
“They weigh the cotton
They store the corn
We only good enough
To work the rows;”
Lineage by Margaret Walker (1915 - 1998) which begins:
My grandmothers were strong.
They followed plows and bent to toil.
They moved through fields sowing seed.
They touched earth and grain grew.
They were full of sturdiness and singing.
My grandmothers were strong.
3. Guide students into discussing the poems’ complimentary and contrasting styles, themes, moods, and outlooks. Encourage students to express and give reasons for their opinions regarding the extent to which the poems seem to fit mainstream American lifestyles and values, or to more exclusively represent a separate African American culture. Urban and rural patterns may be noted, as well as protest themes, when present, and cultural or historical references.
4. Hold at least one session to read outloud and listen to the poems on recordings.
5. Ask students to select from these assignments:
a. Select several of the poems and write poems in the same form or style (for example, ballad, sonnet, free verse) or on a similar topic (family legacies, political commentary, or character sketch.) Write and attach a brief introduction to the poems which cites the original work providing the impetus for the student’s work, and refers to some of the important events or social and artistic developments in the African American community of the 1920s and 1930s.
b. Select, rehearse and present several poems through an oral interpretation with the text in hand or by heart. Create a brief introduction to the presentation which refers to the authors of the poems and to some of the important events or social and artistic developments in the African American community of the 1920s and 1930s.
c. Research one of the poets and write an annotated report on the poet’s life and times. The report must include references to several of the poet’s poems.
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| Supplemental Resources: |
Publications:
Poems by Langston Hughes, including“The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” “What Happens to a Dream Deferred?” “Mother to Son,” “Let America Be America Again,” “The Weary Blues,” and “I, Too, Sing America” can be found in
Hughes, Langston. Selected Poems of Langston Hughes. New York: Vintage Books, 1990. (ISBN 0-679-72818-X)
Poems by Claude McKay, including “If We Must Die, ” “The White House,” and “America” can be found in:
Sherman, Joan R., editor, Claude McKay: Selected Poems. New York: Dover Publications Inc., 1999. (ISBN 0-486-40876-0)
Poems by Sterling Brown, including “Old Lem,” “Strong Men,” “Sam Smiley,” “Ma Rainey,” “Strange Legacies,”and ”Mr. Samuel and Sam” can be found in:
Brown, Sterling. Collected Poems. Harper, Michael S., ed. Evanston, Illinois: Northwestern University Press, 1996. (ISBN 0-810-15045-X)
Poems by Margaret Walker, including “For My People,” “Old Molly Means,” “Kissie Lee,” “Lineage,”and “Bad Man Stagolee” can be found in:
Walker, Margaret. For My People. North Stratford, N.H.: Ayer Publishing Company, 1968. (ISBN 0-405-019025)
Recordings:
Brown, Sterling, Poems by Sterling Brown. New York: Folkways Records, 1973. Publisher Number FL 9794 Folkways.
Hughes, Langston, McKay, Claude, and Walker, Margaret. Anthology of Negro Poetry. New York: Folkways Records, 1954. Publisher Number FP 91 Folkways or FL 9791, Folkways.
Hughes, Langston, The Weary Blues. Hollywood, California, MGM, 1958. Publisher Number E 3697 MGM.
Walker, Margaret, The Poetry of Margaret Walker. New York: Folkways Records, 1975. Publishers Number, FL 9795 Folkways.
Brown, Sterling, Poems by Sterling Brown. New York: Folkways Records, 1973. Publisher Number FL 9794 Folkways.
Hughes, Langston, McKay, Claude, and Walker, Margaret. Anthology of Negro Poetry. New York: Folkways Records, 1954. Publisher Number FP 91 Folkways or FL 9791, Folkways.
Hughes, Langston, The Weary Blues. Hollywood, California, MGM, 1958. Publisher Number E 3697 MGM.
Walker, Margaret, The Poetry of Margaret Walker. New York: Folkways Records, 1975. Publishers Number, FL 9795 Folkways.
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| Web Links: |
http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/hughes.htm
http://search.britannica.com/search?ref=A01004&query=Langston+Hughes&exact
http://www.redhotjazz.com/hughes.html
http://www.liben.com/Hugheslinks.html
http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/hughesbib.htm
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| Posting Date: |
2001-03-06 |
Comments: |
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| Standards: |
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