Untitled Document

Reading Activities
|Pre Reading | During Reading | After Reading |

Pre-reading strategies

1. “Harlem in the 1920’s: The Cultural Heart of America.” American Passages: A Literary Survey. New York, W.W. Norton, 2004. 429-30.

This should be assigned as reading or read in class as an introduction and overview of the Harlem Renaissance.

2. “The New Negro and the Reconstruction of African American Identity.” American Passages: A Literary Survey. New York, W.W. Norton, 2004. 437-8.

This could be used as part of group work in class or as reading for discussing with the literature that is read in this unit.

3. Bontemps, Arna. “The Awakening: A Memoir.” The Harlem Renaissance Remembered. New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1972. 23.

The selection from this essay brings up some interesting aspects of the Harlem Renaissance such as patronage. It also contains a great statement by Hughes about the notion of “The New Negro.”

4. Fernandez, Erica. “A View of Harlem Hot Spots during the Great Harlem Renaissance.” Harlem Renaissance: a portrait of culture and society. 17 Feb. 2005
http://www.columbia.edu/~bjb5/erica/map.html

This map would be useful to show students (perhaps on an overhead) during a discussion of Harlem and its cultural environment at the time to give the students a feel for the place where this movement occurred.

5. Fernandez, Erica. “Entertainers of the Harlem Renaissance.” Harlem Renaissance: a portrait of culture and society. 17 Feb. 2005
http://www.columbia.edu/~bjb5/erica/music.html

These brief biographies of significant jazz musicians could be shared with the students as part of the context of the Harlem Renaissance and to show them that the movement crossed genres. The teacher may also want to discuss the influence of jazz music on the literature to be read later in the unit.

6. Fernandez, Erica. “Authors of the Harlem Renaissance.” Harlem Renaissance: a portrait of culture and society. 17 Feb. 2005
http://www.columbia.edu/~bjb5/erica/lit.html

These brief biographies would be helpful to quickly introduce a few of the most influential figures in the Harlem Renaissance to the students. This would be done at the beginning and students would learn more about these artists later in the unit.

7. “Langston Hughes at Age 22.” American Passages Slideshow. Annenberg/CPB 1997. 22 Feb 2005 http://www.learner.org/amerpass/slideshow/archive_search.php

Wilmer, Valerie. “Langston Hughes in front of Harlem Apartment.” American Passages Slideshow. Annenberg/CPB 1997. 22 Feb 2005 http://www.learner.org/amerpass/slideshow/archive_search.php

These two photographs of Langston Hughes could be passed around the class or projected on an overhead during an introduction to the poet.

8. Du Bois, W.E.B. The Souls of Black Folk. Page by Page Books. 22 Feb. 2005 http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/W_E_B_DuBois/The_Souls_of_Black_Folk/Of_Our_Spiritual_Strivings_p2.html

This excerpt will be useful in establishing the philosophy behind the Harlem Renaissance and could be given as a reading near the beginning of the unit and referred back to in context of some later influential writers.

9. "Booker T. Washington." Notable Black American Men. Gale Research, 1998.
Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Thomson Gale. 2005. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/BioRC

This biographical essay gives great background for the social environment leading up to the Harlem Renaissance. The influence of Washington on Harlem Renaissance writers is very strong whether they agree with him or are reacting against his ideas. This could be used with the materials about Du Bois as well.

10. Kent, George E. “Patterns of the Harlem Renaissance.” Ed. Arna Bontemps. The Harlem Renaissance Remembered. New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1972. 29-31.

This excerpt brings up the influence of W.E.B. Du Bois’s and brings up the NAACP and the magazine The Crisis, which were essential to the dissemination of the literature and ideas of the Harlem Renaissance. These topics could be used in conjunction with passage from The Souls of Black Folk.

Back to Top

During reading strategies

11. Baym, Nina, ed. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Shorter Sixth Edition. New York, W.W. Norton & Company: 2003. 2082-6.

This is a selection of poems by Claude McKay with a short introduction/biography. They could be assigned as reading.

12. Baym, Nina, ed. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Shorter Sixth Edition. New York, W.W. Norton & Company: 2003. 2096-108.

These short works by Zora Neale Hurston could be assigned for reading in the middle portion of the unit, to show some examples of Harlem Renaissance prose.

13. Toomer, Jean. “Cane.” Ed, Nina Baym. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Shorter Sixth Edition. New York, W.W. Norton & Company: 2003. 2120-2122.

This poem could be assigned as reading and discussed in comparison with the works of Langston Hughes and W.E.B. Du Bois.

14. Baym, Nina, ed. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Shorter Sixth Edition. New York, W.W. Norton & Company: 2003. 2245-2246.

These poems by Countee Cullen could be assigned as reading and discussed in class in comparison with the other Harlem Renaissance poets that we are read.

15. Baym, Nina, ed. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Shorter Sixth Edition. New York, W.W. Norton & Company: 2003. 2225-31.

This is a selection of poems by Langston Hughes with a short biography that could be assigned as reading.

16. Meyer, Michael. “Chronology.” The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2002. 1038-9.

This resource could be used as part of an a study of Langston Hughes and his life. Teachers may use this for a discussion of his works and when they were written in the context of his life.

17. Hughes, Langston. “Harlem.” Ed, Michael Meyer. The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2002. 1053.

This poem should be read and discussed in class as one of Hughes’s most famous poems.

18. Hughes, Langston. “Dinner Guest: Me.” Ed, Michael Meyer. The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2002. 1057.

This poem could be read in class some time after the W.E.B. Du Bois reading to discuss the differences and similarities in the ideas of Hughes and Du Bois, and how Du Bois influenced African American writers in general. “I, Too” could also be brought into the discussion.

19. Douglas, Aaron. Sahdji. 1925. Artlex. www.artlex.com/ArtLex/ h/harlemrenaissance.html

This piece of art from the Harlem Renaissance could be shown in class and compared to poetry of the period.

20. Lawrence, Jacob. The Migration of the Negro: The Migrants Cast Their Ballots. 1940-41. Artlex. 22 Feb. 2005. www.artlex.com/ArtLex/ h/harlemrenaissance.html

This painting could be used to show how art and literature worked together during the Harlem Renaissance.

Back to Top

Post-reading strategies

21. Ellington, Duke. Piano in the Foreground. Legacy Recordings, 1963.

This CD could also be played for the students to teach them more about the culture and environment of the Harlem Renaissance. It could also be used for discussion on the influence of jazz and blues on Hughes’s poetry.

22. Fitzgerald, Ella. Ken Burns Jazz. Verve Music Group, UMG Recordings, 2000.

This CD is an example of the jazz music that was a part of the Harlem Renaissance and influenced the writings of the period. This could be played preceding a discussion of “The Weary Blues.”

23. Hughes, Langston. “The Weary Blues.” Ed, Michael Meyer. The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2002. 1043.

This should be read in the context of the Harlem blues/jazz. It could be presented with a CD of jazz music to show students how the two genres influenced each other and were part of the same movement.

24. "Blues." Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History. 5 vols. Macmillan, 1996. Reproduced in History Resource Center. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Group.
http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/HistRC/

This article is a great resource for understanding blues, which were the precursor to the jazz and poetry of the Harlem Renaissance. Parts of this could be read in class, or the teacher may just want to explain and summarize this information to the class. This would be great for supplementary material in a study of “The Weary Blues.”

25. Reiss, Winold. Drawing in Two Colors. American Passages Slideshow. Annenberg/CPB 1997. 22 Feb 2005 <http://www.learner.org/amerpass/slideshow/archive_search.php>

This piece of art can give students an idea of the visual arts that were part of the Harlem Renaissance. It could be passed around the classroom or projected onto a screen during a discussion of how the art and literature of the movement communicated similar values.

26. Kent, George E. “Patterns of the Harlem Renaissance.” Ed. Arna Bontemps. The Harlem Renaissance Remembered. New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1972. 27.

The introduction to this essay is a great summary of the ideas and principles behind the Harlem Renaissance. It could be read in class after several of the readings to be analyzed in terms of specific literature that is read. The teacher could ask how the readings communicate or portray these ideals.

27. Kent, George E. “Patterns of the Harlem Renaissance.” Ed. Arna Bontemps. The Harlem Renaissance Remembered. New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1972. 29-31.

28. Hudlin, Warrington. “The Renaissance Re-examined.” Ed. Arna Bontemps. The Harlem Renaissance Remembered. New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1972. 268-271.

This essay excerpt discusses the dichotomy between Du Bois and Booker T. Washington, which is very important to understand some of the issues and points of view behind Renaissance writings. This could be taught to the class by the teacher or it could be assigned as a reading.

29. Hudlin, Warrington. “The Renaissance Re-examined.” Ed. Arna Bontemps. The Harlem Renaissance Remembered. New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1972. 277.

The closing paragraph of this essay would make a great prompt for an essay or could be read during the last day of the unit in class.

30. Reuben, Paul P. "PAL: Chapter 9: Harlem Renaissance - Research and Study Topics." PAL: Perspectives in American Literature- A Research and Reference Guide. 17 Feb. 2005 http://www.csustan.edu/english/reuben/pal/append/hrtopics.html

This list of topics could be given to students as essay topics for an end of unit research paper. If not, it will still be useful for the teacher for class discussion topics.

Back to Top

Have questions about the Strategies? See the Key to the Reading Strategies here.

Literary Units