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"The renaissance mainly involved a group of writers and intellectuals associated (often loosely) with Harlem, the district of Manhattan that, during the migration of African Americans from the rural South, became the major center for urbanized blacks.
The Harlem writers… engaged in an intense debate regarding the place of the African American in American life, and on the role and identity of the African-American artist” (1920s-Mid-1930s Harlem Renaissance).
Langston Hughes
The American Academy of Poets: Langston Hughes - biographical information and links to some of his more famous poems.
"Harlem: A Dream Deferred" - read the poem that inspired the title of the play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry.
Prentice Hall Literature: The American Experience - Selected Textbook Resources:
Short Story: "Cora Unashamed" (handout)
Poem: "I, Too" -p. 928
(Fine Art connection: Nobody Around Here Calls Me Citizen by Robert Gwathney.)
Poem: "Dream Variations" -p. 930
Poem: "Refugee in America" -p. 931
Poem: "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" -p. 926
(Fine Art connection: Into Bondage by Aaron Douglas.)
Additional Resources
Short Story: "Cora Unashamed" (handout)
Listen to Hughes discuss and read "The Negro Speaks of Rivers"
Crash Course: Langston Hughes and the Harlem Renaissance
Biography: Langston Hughes
Ara Bontemps
Arna Bontemps- interesting biographical information from the Academy of American Poets.
Modern American Poetry: Arna Bontemps - from the Department of English at the University of Illinois, this site offers biographical information as well as links to selected works and analysis/criticism.
Prentice Hall Literature: The American Experience - Selected Textbook Resources:
Poem: "A Black Man Talks of Reaping" -p. 939
Countee Cullen
Countee Cullen- interesting biographical information from the Academy of American Poets.
Modern American Poetry: Countee Cullen - from the Department of English at the University of Illinois, this site offers biographical information as well as links to selected works and analysis/criticism.
Prentice Hall Literature: The American Experience - Selected Textbook Resources:
Poem: "The Dark Tower" -p. 938
Zora Neale Hurston
Zora Neale Hurston - The Zora Neal Hurston Plays at the Library of Congress
Prentice Hall Literature: The American Experience - Selected Textbook Resources:
Excerpt from Autobiography: "Dust Tracks on a Road" -p. 914.
Claude McKay
Modern American Poetry: Claude McKay - from the Department of English at the University of Illinois, this site offers biographical information as well as links to selected works and analysis/criticism.
Claude McKay- from the Academy of American poets, biographical information and links to some of his works.
Prentice Hall Literature: The American Experience - Selected Textbook Resources:
Poem: "The Tropics in New York" -p. 932
Jean Toomer
Modern American Poetry: Jean Toomer - from the Department of English at the University of Illinois, this site offers biographical information as well as links to selected works and analysis/criticism.
Jean Toomer- from the Academy of American poets, biographical information.
Prentice Hall Literature: The American Experience - Selected Textbook Resources:
Poem: "Storm Ending" -p. 940
Overall "Text to World" & "Text to Text" Connections for this Literary Period
American Memory Timeline - from the Learning Page at The Library of Congress, this link will help you connect American history to American literature.
Work Cited
“1920s-Mid-1930s Harlem Renaissance.” American Masters: The American Novel. 2007. Public Broadcasting Network. 20 June 2007 <http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americannovel/ timeline/ harlemrenaissance.html >.