M R . M O C C I A

THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE

PRESENTATION OUTLINE

• Historical precursors • Harlem Renaissance as a Whole• Ideals of the Renaissance• Literary Aspects of the Harlem Renaissance• Langston Hughes• “A Dream Deferred”• Poetry Analysis• Connecting Poem to Movement• Poetry Discussion Questions• Conclusion

HISTORICAL PRECURSORS

• In 1910: 135th Street and Fifth Avenue in Harlem

• First World War

• The Great Migration

HARLEM RENAISSANCE AS A WHOLE

• Cultural movement of the 1920’s and 1930’s• "New Negro Movement”• Involved art, music, poetry, drama, novels, etc.

HARLEM RENAISSANCE AS A WHOLE

• 1917: Three Plays for a Negro Theatre, Ridgely Torrence• Negro actors conveying complex human emotions

and yearnings• Rejection of the stereotypes of the blackface and

minstrel show traditions• “The most important single event in the entire

history of the Negro in the American Theater”

IDEALS OF THE RENAISSANCE

• The movement raised significant issues affecting the lives of African Americans

• Voices of protest

• Civil Rights

• Inspired and created institutions and leaders who served as mentors to aspiring writers

LITERARY ASPECTS

• Novels, poetry, plays, and essays based on the ideals of the movement• Langston Hughes, Zora Neal

Hurston, Jessie Fauset, Countee Cullen, Richard Nugent, Wallace Thurman, Claude McKay, Jean Toomer

• 1902 in Joplin, Missouri• Poem "The Negro Speaks of

Rivers" in the Crisis• Columbia• Style: rhythm; dialect;

vernacular; accessible

LANGSTON HUGHES

“A DREAM DEFERRED”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?

POETRY ANALYSIS

• The poem is an analysis of how we react to the the fact of having to do “put off” our dreams• 6 similes correspond to 6

different reactions• “Dry up like a raisin in the

sun” = we forget• “Fester like a sore” = we let

the deferred dream ‘eat at us’

CONNECTING POEM TO MOVEMENT

• Poem is also a comment on the American Dream, and the African-American experience of it• It is concerned with the African-American

experience in American, like the Harlem Renaissance

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

• Why do you think Hughes uses basic and simple language in his poems? What effect does it have on the reader?• How was the experience of the American Dream

different for African-Americans than whites, even after slavery?• How is it different now?• If you had a dream you counted so much on

achieving, and then it appears that you won’t be able to, how would you react? Which simile would apply to you?

CONCLUSION

• Harlem Renaissance: outpouring of African-American cultural creativity• Considered the issues of African-Americans in

America in the 20’s and 30’s• Langston Hughes’ poetry dealt with this• “Dream Deferred” deals with anyone giving up

dreams, but also specifically with African-Americans deferring the American Dream