English 3—December 1, 2014

• Bell ringer: What are some facts you know about the Harlem Renaissance? List them.

• Homework: – Study Island homework due Friday.– You have until tomorrow at midnight to redo your

Satire essay if you want a better score.

Researching the Harlem Renaissance

• Your assignment is to work in pairs or in a small group to create an interactive, multimedia research presentation about a topic related to the Harlem Renaissance.

• This presentation to your classmates should include a variety of media (this will be a Power Point presentation with your choice of other forms of media to enhance the presentation) and must also include an annotated bibliography.

• Your presentation should focus on some aspect of the era that presents the values and ideas of the Harlem Renaissance, such as its historical context, philosophy, beliefs, arts, or daily life.

Presenting a Literary Movement: The Harlem

Renaissance

Provides an extensive, well-

researched response to the

topic

Includes substantial

support for the ideas presented

about the subject

Includes interaction by providing an

appropriate note-taking tool for the

audience Uses appropriate and effective transitional devices to move from one point to the next

Concludes with an in-depth reflection that brings closure

Includes a complete annotated bibliography with correct citations, summaries,

and source evaluations

Effectively addresses the

intended audience

Seamlessly integrates research

Shows a command of grammar, punctuation,

and conventions

Harlem Renaissance

1920s – 1940sHarlem, New York City

Overview• renaissance• A rebirth or revival• A revival of intellectual or

artistic achievement and vigor

• French, from Old French, from renaistre, to be born again

• Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth EditionCopyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.

Harlem Renaissance• originally called the New

Negro Movement.• fostered a new black cultural

identity.• 1920s through mid-40s.• an outpouring of creative

expression that had long been bottled up by the constraints of segregation.

Authors and Works• Creative expression was

one of the few avenues available to African Americans

• Common bond: They dealt with African American life from an African American perspective.

• African-American-owned magazines and newspapers flourished

Countee Cullen (1903-1946) poet, novelist, playwright

Edward Kennedy (Duke) Ellington(1899-1974) composer, musician, band leader

Zora Neal Hurston (1891 – 1960)

Writer, Folklorist, Anthropologist

James Weldon Johnson (1871-1938)

writer, poet, statesman

The Great Migration

– At the beginning of the period, particularly in the South, racism was rampant, and economic opportunities were scarce.

– At this time in the South, African Americans were restricted to "colored" facilities clearly inferior to those reserved for white citizens.

– Lynching was used to instill fear in entire African American communities in the South.

– new farm machinery drove thousands of tenant farmers off the land.

– 1915 - severe boll weevil infestation – Southern states had fewer schools and higher

rates of illiteracy than Northern states. – Northern states also had more cultural

attractions and booming industries.

Causes of Migration

Boom Time?

– The years between World War I and the Great Depression were "boom times" in the United States.

– A "boom" is a time of rapid, widespread expansion of economic opportunity, during which jobs are plentiful.

– Jobs were plentiful in cities, especially in the North.

– Between 1920 and 1930, almost 750,000 African Americans left the South for political, social, and economic reasons.

– Why go North? • wider opportunities for prosperity• more racially tolerant environments• a sense of actual (as opposed to theoretical)

citizenship– Mass exodus from the South called The Great

Migration.

Why Leave the South?

Children in the Silent Protest Parade, 1917Page from The Brownies Book, published by NAACP

Reaction of White Southerners

–Promised better pay and improved treatment. – Intimidation – Some even boarded northbound trains to

attack African American men and women in an attempt to return them forcibly to their homes.

The New Negro Has no Fear– After centuries of abuse in the South, many

African Americans were "voting with their feet"

UNIA ParadeOrganized in Harlem, 1924

The North: Home Sweet Home?

–The North was a step up from the South, but it was no paradise. – Segregation in housing and hiring

were the norm.–Northern racism sometimes took on a

brutality that equaled anything in the South.

The North: Home Sweet Home?

–New arrivals could land only low-paying jobs as janitors, elevator operators, domestics, and unskilled laborers. –Despite the challenges, most of those

who went North never returned.

Why "Harlem" Renaissance?

• Of the almost 750,000 African Americans who moved North, nearly 175,000 moved to Harlem.

• Harlem is a section of Manhattan, which covers three square miles; therefore, Harlem became the largest concentration of black people in the world.

Triggers of Harlem Renaissance• the end of World War I and the return of

black veterans• the formation of civil rights organizations

(NAACP) and black solidarity movements (UNIA)

• the ascendance of Harlem as the "Negro capital of the world"

• a new sense of economic, social, and cultural potential

Famous Faces of the Harlem Renaissance

Claude McKay

“If We Must Die”

“America”

photo by James L. Allen

Famous Faces of the Harlem Renaissance

Langston Hughes(1902-1967)

“Dreams”“Harlem”

“The Weary Blues”

Lafayette Theatre

opening night of Shakespeare's "Macbeth"

• also known as the "House Beautiful“• probably the first New York theater to

desegregate • as early as 1912, African-American

theatergoers were allowed to sit in orchestra seats instead of only the balcony.

Notes for Possible Research TopicsThe Harlem Renaissance

Historical Context Literature Music Art

Creating a Research Question—the table below illustrates how a research question develops

from a broad topic to a focused question. Broad Topic Pollution Commercial

fishingMarketing Nutrition

Restricted Topic

Acid Rain Fishing and regulations

Nike and marketing

Diets and nutritional benefits

Narrowed Topic

Acid Rain in the United States

Fishing regulations and New England

Nike and international marketing

Vegetarianism

Research Question

What can the United States do to prevent acid rain?

What impact do fishing regulations have on commercial fishing in New England?

What are Nike’s business practices in international sales?

What nutritional benefits are there to vegetarianism?

Creating a Research QuestionBroad Topic Harlem Renaissance

Restricted Topic

Historical Context—NAACP

Literature Music Art

Narrowed Topic

NAACP and its influence during the Harlem Renaissance

Research Question

How did the NAACP help secure the civil and political rights of African Americans during the HR?

Examine your research questionsIdentify potential research questions and examine them for how interesting

they are to you, whether they have adequate focus, are neither too broad nor too narrow, for the assignment, and can be adequately researched with the

search tools available to you.Research questions Is it

interesting to you?

Does it have focus?

Is it too broad or too narrow?

Can it be researched?

How did the NAACP help secure the civil and political rights of African Americans during the HR?

Sort of. Yes. No. Yes.