The Harlem Renaissance and Poetry

The Harlem Renaissance and Poetry

Free Write:

Think about your favorite song or a song that you're really enjoying at the moment. What do you like about it? What does the song make you feel when you listen to it? What is one of the themes of the song? What is one or two of your favorite lines from the song and why? How does the song use any of the literary devices we've discussed so far in the semester?

Playlist Project

Your project will be a presentation, this does NOT mean you have to stand up at the front of the class and read off a powerpoint or piece of paper. This presentation can take on really any form you'd like. It can be a short video essay, a powerpoint, a podcast, an interactive activity of some kind, an exhibit (where you create physical materials and other students can walk up and view it like they'd view a piece of art at a gallery, it can be a handout and you lead your peers in discussion, etc. Use your imagination!! Do something you enjoy and have fun with it!! At the heart of this project, what really matters is that you are providing your classmates with an analysis of a song and poem of your choice. In essence, you'll be "teaching" them, but that teaching can come in many different forms.

What is the Harlem Renaissance?

The Harlem Renaissance was an arts movement that began in and around Harlem New York around the 1920's and spanned into the late 1930's. The movement used art in all its various forms to both celebrated black Americans and continued the fight for civil rights.

Important Terms:

Quatrain: A stanza that consists of only four lines. Shakespearean (English) Sonnet: A poem divided into 3 quatrains and a concluding couplet that rhymes abab cdcd efef gg. One of our poems for today is an English sonnet, do you know which?