2. The adjective accidental
means unintentional or
happening by chance.
The adjective incidental
means secondary or
nonessential. It often
refers to something that
occurs in connection with
a more important activity
or event.
3. This is a chance to make-up one
Homework assignment. Attend
the event and write a brief
response to Aimee Suzara’s
work. Post it under the extra-
credit homework slide I will put
up on the website on June 6th.
See you there!
4. Chair Poet?
Rain And Wind
By Trevor West
Raindrops on this page
Wind blows my paper away
Oh crap! I need that!
5. AGENDA
Author Introduction:
Langston Hughes
Zora Neale Hurston
Lecture: The Harlem
Renaissance: Historical
Context
The Poems of Langston
Hughes
The Prose of Zora Neale
Hurston
7. The Harlem Renaissance
The Harlem Renaissance was a period between World War I
and the Great Depression when black artists and writers
flourished in the United States.
Most critics and historians agree that 1917 marks the first
comprehensive signs of increased cultural activity among
black artists in the Harlem section of New York City and that
by the mid-1930s the movement had lost much of its original
vigor.
While Harlem was the epicenter of black culture during this
period, and home to more blacks than any other urban area in
the nation in the years after World War I, other cities, such as
Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia, also fostered
similar but smaller communities of black artists.
What Are We Talking About?
8. Between 1890 and 1920, the near collapse of the southern
agricultural economy, coupled with a labor shortage in the
north, prompted about two million blacks to migrate to
northern cities in search of work.
In addition, World War I had left an entire generation of
African Americans asking why, when they had fought and
many had died for their country, they were still afforded
second-class status.
Why This Movement?
9. Harlem had become an entertainment capital. Musical performers moved to
Harlem, drawn by the hundreds of nightclubs and other venues where the jazz
sound was wildly popular. Performers Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Fats
Waller, and others played at nightspots like Smalls’s Inn and the Savoy
Ballroom. Whites from other parts of New York City “discovered” Harlem
and made it the place to be on a Saturday night. Ironically, some of the
nightclubs were off-limits to blacks, including the famous Cotton Club, until
1928. Instead, they catered to a wealthy white clientele intent on experiencing
the “exotic” Harlem atmosphere.
How did Harlem Change?
10. A number of black intellectuals, for example W. E. B. Du Bois,
made it clear that the time had come for white America to
acknowledge the achievements of African-American artists
and thinkers. The idea that whites might come to accept blacks
if they were exposed to their artistic endeavors became a
popular one.
To this end, magazines such as the Crisis and Opportunity
featured the prose and poetry of Harlem Renaissance stars
Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, Claude McKay, Nella
Larsen, and Zora Neale Hurston. Major New York-based
publishing houses began to search for new black voices and
print their poems, short stories, and novels.
What Happened Next?
11. White intellectual society
embraced these writers and
supported— financially and
through social contacts—their
efforts to educate Americans
about their race, culture, and
heritage through their art.
Ultimately, however, the
financial backing began to run
dry in the early 1930s with the
collapse of the New York stock
market and the ensuing
worldwide economic depression.
The Renaissance had run its
course.
How did it turn out?
12.
13. Few authors of the twentieth century are more significant than
Langston Hughes. He is assured his status by his many
contributions to literature.
• The length of his career: 1921-1967
• The variety of his output: articles, poems, short stories, dramas,
novels, and history texts.
• His influence on three generations of African American writers:
from the Harlem Renaissance through the Civil Rights
Movement
• His concern for the “ordinary” African American: The subject of
his work
• His introduction of the jazz idiom: the quality of black colloquial
speech and the rhythms of jazz and the blues.
14. During his long career Hughes was harshly criticized by
blacks and whites. Because he left no single masterwork,
such as Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man (1952) or Richard
Wright’s Native Son (1940), and because he consciously
wrote in the common idiom of the people, academic
interest in him grew only slowly. The importance of his
influence on several generations of African American
authors is, however, indisputable and widely
acknowledged.
15. In your groups, discuss your
responses to the homework
questions concerning Hughes’s
poems
“The Negro Speaks of Rivers,”
“I, too, sing America,”
“The Weary Blues”
1. What connections can be
made between race and
blues music in "The Weary
Blues"?
2. What do you think it means
to have a soul that is deep
as rivers?
3. How does “I, too, sing
America” make you think
about what it means to be
an American? How is
"America" presented in this
poem, and how does it
make you feel about
America?
16. “The Negro
Speaks of
Rivers”
What do you think it means to have a soul that is
deep as rivers?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mFp40WJbsA
17. What do you think it means to have a soul that
is deep as rivers?
In “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” by Langston Hughes, the
speaker repeats the phrase, “My soul has grown deep like the
rivers.” This simile, comparing the speaker’s soul to rivers,
works as figurative imagery and language, which in turn
conveys complex ideas and emotions. The image of a river
could be interpreted as a stream of consciousness, liminal
space, and time itself. Interpreting the title of the poem as
exposition, one could discern that the speaker of the poem is
“The Negro [that] Speaks of Rivers.” The speaker details his
proximity to rivers near and in Africa, such as the
“Euphrates,” “Congo,” and “Nile,” and then to rivers in
America, such as the “Mississippi.” The geographical
locations of these rivers reflects the passage of African
Americans from their roots in Africa to their relocation into
America.
18. “I, too, sing
America”
How does “I, too, sing
America” make you think
about what it means to be
an American?
How is "America"
presented in this poem,
and how does it make you
feel about America?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiCWngPt-L4
19. How does “I, too, sing America” make you think about what it
means to be an American? How is "America" presented in this
poem, and how does it make you feel about America?
America is my home and I believe to be a real American we must respect the freedoms
off all Americans, and live in an accepting atmosphere. When reading Langston
Hughes “ I, too, sing America” America is presented as an oppressive state to those of
color. The poem brings up how the African Americans would be told to “eat at the
kitchen” this make them feel as lesser. During the slave era Africans would be the
ones serving dinner when the guests arrive but when it comes time to eat they are told
to “eat at the kitchen”. However they laugh it off, eat well and grow stronger. The
oppressive nature only builds their character and makes them stronger for when
tomorrow comes they’ll sit at the table. When the guests arrive one will think to send
them to the kitchen because African Americans stand just as tall. They will notice the
beauty and be ashamed of all the oppressive, hateful, and violence they caused to
these people for they are Americans too! After reading the poem it makes me sad and
ashamed to be American it’s a guilty burden we as a nation carry but I also see hope
and a brighter future ahead because no matter how difficult times might be there’s
always a way to stop racism and oppression.
20. “The Weary Blues”
What connections can be made between race and blues
music in "The Weary Blues"?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uM7HSOwJw20
21. What connections can be made between race
and blues music in "The Weary Blues”?
Droning a drowsy syncopated tune,
Rocking back and forth to a mellow
croon,
I heard a Negro play.
Down on Lenox Avenue the other
night
By the pale dull pallor of an old gas
light
He did a lazy sway . . .
He did a lazy sway . . .
To the tune o’ those Weary Blues.
With his ebony hands on each ivory
key
He made that poor piano moan with
melody.
O Blues!
Swaying to and fro on his rickety
stool
He played that sad raggy tune like
a musical fool.
Sweet Blues!
Coming from a black man’s soul.
O Blues!
In a deep song voice with a
melancholy tone
I heard that Negro sing, that old
piano moan—
“Ain’t got nobody in all this
world,
Ain’t got nobody but ma self.
I’s gwine to quit ma frownin’
22. A novelist, folklorist, and anthropologist, Zora Neale Hurston
was the prototypical authority on black culture from the
Harlem Renaissance.
23. Zora Neale Hurston combined literature with anthropology. She first gained
attention with her short stories such as "John Redding Goes to Sea.” After several
years of anthropological research financed through grants and fellowships, Zora
Neale Hurston's first novel Jonah's Gourd Vine was published in 1934 to critical
success. In 1935, her book Mules and Men, which investigated voodoo practices in
black communities in Florida and New Orleans, also brought her success.
Hurston's greatest novel, Their Eyes Watching God, was published in 1937.
Zora Neale Hurston was a utopian, who held that black Americans could attain
sovereignty from white American society and all its bigotry, as proven by her
hometown of Eatonville.
Her work did not address the issue of racism of whites, and as this became a
emerging theme among black writers in the post World War II era of civil rights,
Hurston's literary influence faded.
She further damaged her own reputation by criticizing the civil rights movement and
supporting ultraconservative politicians. She died in poverty and obscurity.
24. After graduating from Barnard College in New York
City, Hurston returned to Eatonville to study her
townspeople. As an anthropologist, she treasured
the myths, legends, and folklore that combined to
create the unique African-American culture.
Hurston's cultural pride and anthropological interests
fused in her fiction. She recorded the voice of her
native townspeople in an authentic manner,
effectively capturing the mood, speech patterns,
attitudes, and customs of Eatonville. Today, one of
the most noted features of Hurston's fiction is her
use of the African-American dialect in the speech of
her characters.
Zora Neale Hurston
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PANwrq_OuPM&list=PLhUY1L
ZyjQLUARKUgLPv1vrSc-1WqoCVE
25. Group Discussion
1. Community is the primary bond among the stories contained in
"The Eatonville Anthology." How does the image of a front
porch act as a symbol of the social concept of community?
Cite specific incidents from the story that prove this
connection.
1. How does the narrator's viewpoint direct the reader's
understanding and approval of the citizens presented in "The
Eatonville Anthology"? Discuss specific examples.
1. QHQ: “How it Feels to Be Colored Me”
26. Community is a consistent theme in the works of Zora Neale Hurston
and the primary bond among the smaller stories contained in "The
Eatonville Anthology." How does the image of a front porch act as a
symbol of the social concept of community? Cite specific incidents
from the story that prove this connection.
Since Eatonville is a contained, small town, the front porch allows the
community members to basically become involved in the lives and
experiences of others either through actively seeing or hearing abut a situation.
An example of this interaction can be seen in “The Head of the Nail”, where
Mrs. Crooms confronts her husband’s mistress, Daisy and everyone else sees
and discusses about the incident. Rumors are spread through the front porch,
which might be the case of Becky Moore and her mixed race children.
Accusations have obviously been thrown around regarding her circumstances,
resulting in other mothers gossiping about the fact Becky’s children are
“loose” without a father figure. The front porch connects people together in
small towns and allows them to interact with each other due to collective
experiences, such as residency and race. […]In a small, connected town, front
porches are absolutely vital for the interactions between people.
27. How does the narrator's viewpoint direct the reader's
understanding and approval of the citizens presented in "The
Eatonville Anthology"? Discuss specific examples.
In section eight, “Pants and Cal’line” Sister Cal’line Potts is not jealous that her husband
is weak for other women; she takes advantage of the situation and plays her part. The
town has seen Cal’line go through the same situation constantly, and have even
developed the expectation for her to react in a similar manner with Mis’ Pheeny. The
townspeople even say, “‘Dat devil of a Cal’line’s got somethin’ up her sleeve!’ The town
smiled in anticipation” (537). Here it is seen how involved the community is in her
relationship with her husband. They are already expecting her to be up to no good.
However, when they saw that nothing was happening they begin to doubt her, for “the
town waited and the longer it waited, the odds changed slowly from the wife to the
husband” (537). Not only is the town aware of what is going on in the lives of Cal’line
and her husband, but they are involved to the point that they see it as a game and they are
playing each one against each other. In the end of the story Cal’line finally goes into
action, and follows her husband to wherever he is going, as passed by “He was hailed
cheerily as he passed the sitters on the store porch and answered smiling sheepishly and
passed on. Two minutes later passed his wife, silently, unsmiling, and set the porch to
giggling and betting.” (537) […] I think that the porch acts as the center of everything
that happens in the community as well as the key location to receive information which
would explain why the town is so involved in other people’s business.
28. QHQs: “How it Feels to Be Colored Me
1. What does Hurston mean when she states “ I remember the very day that
I became colored” (538).
2. Q: Why are the lines “I was not Zora of Orange County any more, I was
now a little colored girl. I found out in certain ways” (539) important
from “How It Feels to Be Colored Me”?
3. What is the importance of Hurston’s comparing herself and others to a
bag of miscellany at the end of “How It Feels to Be Colored Me”? And
what is the importance of Hurston switching to the second person by
saying “In your hand is the brown bag. On the ground before you is the
jumble it held–”?
29. QHQs: “How it Feels to Be Colored Me”
1. Q: Why does Hurston decide to include such wild imagery in her description of
jazz music? For the most part, the short story uses a stage metaphor; however
this metaphor uses almost tribal imagery to depict the narrator. How does this
somewhat sudden change in the flow of the story affect our understanding of it?
2. Q: Why does the speaker often depicts the uncivilized and savage characteristics
of her inner self, such as, “I dance wildly inside myself; I yell within, I whoop; I
shake my assegai above my head, I hurl it true to the mark yeeeeooww!”, when
her emotions are being stimulate by aspects of African American culture, Jazz, in
a white society?
3. What connections can be made between race and blues music in “The Weary
Blues?”
30. QHQs: “How it Feels to Be Colored Me
1. Q: In what ways does Zora Hurston promote the concept of
indifference/dissociation as an effective response to racial hate?
2. Q: In what ways does Hurston deflect racism and how does she view
herself in society?
3. How does Hurston’s text support the notion that race is a social
construct?
4. Q: What connections can be made between Zora Neal Hurston’s “How
It Feels to Be Colored Me” and Langston Hughes’ “I, Too” ?
5. Q: How does the theme of “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” by Langston
Hughes reflect Zora Neale Hurston’s experience in, “How It Feels to
Be Colored Me”?
31. HOMEWORK
Post # 18
In 300 words, consider one of our
previous texts through the lens of
African American Criticism.
Read “American Literature since
1945” pp. 3-19
Read Mary Klages
“Postmodernism.” There is a link to
this article on the website home
page.
Post #19
QHQ on Klages
Essay #1 Due Friday week 8 at
noon!
