eng t: harlem renaissance (Q4)

who wrote cora unashamed? what is a central theme of this short story?

langston hughes; segregation, discrimination, and loss of american dream.

who wrote madam and her madam? central theme?

langston hughes; social gap between rich and servant

when/where was countee cullen born?

may 30 1903 - jan 9 1946; unknown but maybe kentucky or NYC

extended metaphor

metaphor that develops its comparison over *several lines* of a poem or even throughout a whole poem

harlem renaissance

name given to the period from the *end of WWI* and *through the middle of the great depression*, during which a *group of talented African-American artists* produced a sizable contribution to American culture

when/where was claude mckay born?

sept 15 1889 - may 22 1948; clarendon parish, jamaica

describe the relationship between the madam and her madam in this poem.

she doesn't really love her and she knows this

how is zora neale hurston connected to folklore?

she gathered folklore from that was passed through generations of african american families. she even used the dialect when she wrote stories based off of the folklore to preserve the culture of it.

tone

*attitude* of the author toward the reader, audience, or subject matter of a literary work

how many southern african americans moved to cities?

1.5 mil

when did jacob lawrence paint his "experience the migration" series?

1940-41

what was the population of harlem during the 1920s?

200,000

how many african americans lived on farms in 1910? how many lived in the south?

3/4; 9/10

what is your response to cora unashamed?

After reading this story, I felt pretty sad about it. This story was saddening to me because of the amount of unfortunate events that happened to Cora. She thought the idea of having a child and caring for them was beautiful, but everybody was completely against her. She had to see all of her loved ones pass away, her family was the only African Americans living in this town, her family did not really care for Cora that much since her dad was always drunk, and her family was very poor so Cora had to constantly be working. This story strongly shows the struggle of being an African American and being a woman. Pregnancy was shamed upon unless you were with someone of your same ethnicity/race and social class and whether or not Jessie wanted to undergo childbirth was her own choice. Cora also had no voice at all; Mrs. Art constantly told her to be quiet and do work, she could not bring her own child to play with Jessie's kid, and she got kicked out of Jessie's funeral for stating the real reason of why Jessie died.

Describe the different worlds of Cora and Mrs. Art Studevant. What are the advantages and disadvantages of these worlds?

Cora and Mrs. Art Studevant are from two completely different worlds because Art is a rich white woman and Cora is a poor African American. The advantages of being from Art's world is that she has much more privilege, power, freedom, wealth and less worries. The disadvantage of Art's world, although there are little, is that she is a woman so it is harder for her to gain power. Cora's world has much more disadvantages because she is a poor, female African American. She had to put up with discrimination and constant labor. She was always trying to get money for her large family, watched over her family by giving up her education; she also does all of the Studevant's work basically such as taking care of her children and making meals.

Why is Cora Jenkins considered one "of the least citizens of Melton?"

Cora was considered one "of the least citizens of Melton" because her family was probably one of the most poor families in the town, she was African American and a woman, and she was a servant. I definitely do not think she was one of the least citizens because she was an extremely hard worker and has a very loving and compassionate woman. She took care of her family and of Jessie more than she took care of herself. "As a child Cora had no playtime. She always had a little brother, or a little sister in her arms. Bad, crying, bratty babies, hungry and mean. In the eighth grade she quit school and went to work with the Studevants" (2). She was always caring for her family and even had to quit school in order to make money for her family.

who wrote saturday's child? central theme?

Countee Cullen; being born into poverty

who wrote the poem Incident? central theme?

Countee Cullen; racism

Cullen does not report the immediate reaction of the child-speaker. What does he substitute instead? With what word does the closing "punch line" end? Can you generalize from that word to the larger topic of how memory works?

He says "That's all that I remember". this was a very big deal to him and this occurrence scarred him, so his memory only can remember that. even if he did other fun things, that one negative memory powers over all of the others and impacted him (negatively) most.

symbolism

the practice of representing things by symbols, or of investing things with a symbolic meaning or character. an example is how colors can symbolize a mood or feeling

How does Mrs. Art Studevant use her power to remedy what she considers to be unpleasant situations?

Mrs. Art uses her power to remedy what she considers to be unpleasant situations by using her club. She had the power to force her daughter to get an abortion and to get the man's family's business who owned the ice cream stand in trouble. Mrs. Art basically killed her own daughter.

People are not born racist; racism is learned. Support this statement by providing one example from the story.

One of the examples of this statement being portrayed in this story would be the fact that Cora was shamed upon strongly for having a baby with a white man since white people at the time were disgraceful if they even though of having a relationship with an African American at the time. Cora is "unashamed" because she was not raised to hate any other race and she has no shame towards other races or ethnicities. She also fully supported Jessie who was pregnant from a man who was Greek, while Jessie's mother made her get an abortion. Jessie was practically raised by Cora which is why Jessie is not like her racist mother; Jessie has the strongest bond with a woman who is not the same race as her and was pregnant from a man of another ethnicity because Cora did not instill that shame into her.

what does this quote reveal about cora? "Cora, come here... Cora, put... Cora... Cora... Cora! Cora! And Cora would answer, 'Yes m'am'" (1).

This reveals that Cora is an extremely patient woman who can tolerate people extremely well. They yell at her to do this and that and to constantly be doing some kind of work, and instead of saying nothing or being frustrated, she simply replies with "Yes m'am". She is polite, and the Studevants do not realize how good they have it. They call her name and drag her around effortlessly and treat her as she is not a human. This reveals that the Studevants are just like all the other white families in the small town who treat someone who does so much and sacrifices for them with no respect at all towards those with less wealth and people that are not of the same race as them.

simile

a figure of speech in which two unlike things are compared, as in "she is like a rose.". has like or as in it

rhetorical question

a question asked for an effect, and *not* actually *requiring an answer*

what happened to housing as the migrant population grew?

became scarce and were forced to live in overpopulated houses

who wrote america? central theme?

claude mckay; struggles of african americans and strength against hate

How did african americans currently living in the north greet the new migrant workers?

dislike and aloofness

who wrote let america be america again? what is a central theme of this poem?

langston hughes; american dream and hopes for america

when/where was langston hughes born?

feb. 1 1902 - may 22 1967; joplin, missouri but grew up in new york

folklore

folklore is almost *impossible to define* but these are some different definitions of it: - *traditional art, literature, knowledge,* and practice that is disseminated largely through *oral communication* and behavioral example. - boy scout badges, high school marching band initiations, jokes, chain letters, nicknames, and holiday food. folklores exist everywhere. - the traditional beliefs, customs, and stories of a community, *passed through the generations* by word of mouth.

what doubled in price since WWI?

food

who wrote thank you, ma'am? what is a central theme of this short story?

langston hughes; integrity and also power of love and trust against the backdrop of poverty

What does this speaker see happening to America as he gazes into "the days ahead"?

he is saying that if america continues to go down the same path of discrimination and mistreatment, america will fade away under the under the non-stop pressure posed by the unending press of time.

the poem ends with a refusal of love. how does this conflict work to create a larger picture of race relations in the worlds of these poems?

he madame treats and talks to her a certain way just because of the fact that she is african american; it can relate to the story cora unashamed.

how does the tone change at the end of let america be america again?

he's pointing out all of americas flaws and how we need to change them. he is hopeful because he believes it can be changed.

when/where was zora neale hurston born?

jan 7 1891 - jan 28 1960; notasulga, alabama

what are the names of the poets of the harlem renaissance that we studied?

langston hughes, zora neale hurston, countee cullen, claude mckay

what industry did many migrants find work in?

steel industry

what American values and cultural norms does the speaker criticize in the stanza beginning "I am the young man" in let america be america again?

the greed that has corrupted the nation

what was the great migration?

the movement of millions of african americans out of the rural southern US to the urban northeast, midwest, and west that occurred between 1915-1960

alliteration

the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words. "peter piper picked a peck of pickled peppers"

What was Cullen's purpose for writing Saturday's Child? In other words, what did he hope to show his audience?

the poem spoke of how he grew up in poverty

whose voices or voices is or are represented by the words italics in let america be america again?

the voices of minorities

what was the purpose of a residential segregation ordinance at the time?

to keep african americans out of predominantly white neighborhoods

what disease did many migrants catch? what part of the body does this disease affect?

tuberculosis; lungs

who wrote "how it feels to be colored me"? central theme?

zora neale hurston; her understanding of what it means to be an african american and an artist in a white dominated country

who wrote sweat? central theme?

zore neale hurston; marriage, suffering, and gender