Harlem Renaissance Poets Langston Hughes, Claude McKay,...

The Harlem Renaissance was a time where creativity flourished throughout the African American community. At the time many African Americans were treated as second class citizens. The Harlem Renaissance acted as artistic and cultural outlet for the African-American community. The Harlem Renaissance, otherwise known as â€Å"The New Negro Movement† was an unexpected outburst of creative activity among African Americans In the poems Harlem by Langston Hughes, America by Claude McKay, and Incident by Countee Cullen all use frustration and hope as reoccurring themes to help empower the African-American population and realize the injustices they face day to day. The Harlem Renaissance was a period marked by great change and forever altered the†¦show more content†¦In Langston Hughes poem Harlem, he discuses a â€Å"dream deferred† throughout the whole poem. Hughes discuses what happens when people let go or forget about their dreams. In lines two and three, Hughes sa ys â€Å"Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?†. He is still talking about the dreams here trying to figure out what actually happened to it. A raisin starts off as a grape. Grapes are known as being juicy and colorful. When becoming a raisin, grapes are set out in the sun to dry out. When raisins dry out, they become brown and shriveled losing all their water. Although both are very nutritious for you, raisins contain no water and are not regarded as a fruit. They look dead. Grapes on the other hand are plumb and filled with water. They are colorful and are seen as alive. Langston Hughes uses a grapes, raisins, and sun symbolically. Grapes refers to peoples dreams, raisins stand for peoples â€Å"deferred dreams†, and the sun represents society. During childhood our dreams are colorful and full of life like grapes, but eventually society/reality dries them up like the sun dries up a raisin. The end product is our reality, other wise known as a raisin. During the 1 920s, many young African-Americans gave up on their childhood dreams because of society old them they could not do it. Langston Hughes seems frustrated with this and does not understandShow MoreRelatedPoetrys Influences on the Harlem Renaissance2031 Words   |  9 Pagesjustice. Poets like Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, and Claude McKay wrote many poems that spoke on equality in society. African Americans felt betrayed after the civil war. They had given their lives and after the war nothing had changed (Cartwright, â€Å"The Harlem Renaissance†). They were still not treated equal and didn’t get paid as much as any other worker. During the 1920’s they started a cultural and racial movement in Harlem, New York called the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance was aRead MoreEssay on Journey to the Harlem Renaissance1282 Words   |  6 Pagesthe Harlem Renaissance As America moves into a more cultural and diversified era, more people are taking the time to learn about the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance was the foremost form of freedom for African Americans. It showed blacks that they were becoming equals in American society. The talents of African Americans soared in art, music, literature and especially poetry. The main writers embodying the Harlem Renaissance were Claude McKay, Langston Hughes and Countee Cullen. Read MoreA New Beginning For African Americans Essay1291 Words   |  6 Pagesmovement became known as the Harlem Renaissance, which is also known as the â€Å"New Negro Movement†. With this movement, African Americans sought out to challenge the â€Å"Negro† stereotype that they had received from others while developing innovation and great cultural activity. The Harlem Renaissance became an artistic explosion in the creative arts. Thus, many African Americans turned to writing, art, music, and theatrics to express their selves. The Harlem Renaissance opened doors to the African AmericanRead MoreHarlem Renaissance: African American Culture Essay1181 Words   |  5 PagesDuring the 1920’s a new movement began to arise. This movement known as the Harlem Renaissance expressed the new African American culture. The new African American culture was expressed through the writing of books, poetry, essays, the playing of music, and through sculptures and paintings. Three poems and their poets express the new African American culture with ease. (Jordan 848-891) The poems also express the position of themselves and other African Americans during this time. â€Å"You and Your WholeRead MoreEssay about The Harlem Renaissance1515 Words   |  7 Pages   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Harlem Renaissance Poets consist of: James Weldon Johnson, Countee Cullen, Claude McKay, Jean (Eugene) Toomer, Langston Hughes, Sterling Brown, Robert Hayden, and Gwendolyn Brooks. These eight poets contributed to modern day poetry in thre e ways. One: they all wrote marvelous poems that inspired our poets of modern times. Two: they contributed to literature to let us know what went on in there times, and how much we now have changed. And last but not least they all have written poems thatRead MoreRacial Discrimination And The Harlem Renaissance2310 Words   |  10 Pagesera of the United States. The reason why this film is so controversial is that it portrayed African Americans as not smart and also sexual violent, while portraying the KKK as a just and chivalrous force for good. This film influenced the Harlem Renaissance Poets because it illustrated how hate and discrimination existed against African Americans. That is why racial discrimination is one of the most important problems. Racial discrimination and stereotypes are important to consider in modern timesRead MoreHarlem And The Middle Of The 1930s1791 Words   |  8 PagesThe Harlem Renaissance was the name given to the cultural, social, and artistic explos ion that took place in Harlem, New York between the conclusion of World War I and the middle of the 1930s. During this period, Harlem was a cultural center, drawing black writers, artists, musicians, photographers, poets, and scholars. Many had come from the South, fleeing its oppressive caste system in order to find a place where they could freely express their talents; this became known as The Great MigrationRead More Langston Hughes Essay670 Words   |  3 Pages James Langston Hughes was born February 1, 1902, in Joplin, Missouri. His parents divorced when he was very small, and his father (who found American racism made his desires to be a lawyer impossible) left the family and emigrated to Mexico. Hughes mother moved with her child to Lawrence, Kansas, so she and he could live with his grandmother, Mary Langston. Langston Hughes mother moved to Topeka in 1907, leaving the five-year-old with his grandmother. Langston came from a family of African-AmericanRead MoreThe Modernist Period Of American Literature1155 Words   |  5 PagesAmerican community through the Harlem Renaissance. Through the Harlem Renaissance we see a growth and expansion of opportunities in the African American community not only in literature but also in the arts through music and dance, especially jazz music. Major contributors to the harlem renaissance who we see writing a great deal about the limitations and expansion of opportunities of race include Langston Hughes through his work â€Å"I, too, Sing America† , Countee Cullen through his work of â€Å"Heritage†Read More Writers of the Harlem Renaissance Essay2535 Words   |  11 PagesWriters of the Harlem Renaissance During the 1920?s, a ?flowering of creativity,? as many have called it, began to sweep the nation. The movement, now known as ?The Harlem Renaissance,? caught like wildfire. Harlem, a part of Manhattan in New York City, became a hugely successful showcase for African American talent. Starting with black literature, the Harlem Renaissance quickly grew to incredible proportions. W.E.B. Du Bois, Claude McKay, and Langston Hughes, along with many other