Download Langston Hughes

Name: _________________________ Period: _________ Date: ___________________
The Harlem Renaissance WebQuest
Write in complete sentences and do not change the font!
The Harlem Renaissance Historical Background
Video http://www.history.com/topics/harlem-renaissance/videos#the-harlem-renaissance-an-artistic-explosion
If you have headphones, plug them in and watch the video on this link. No answer needed.
History http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/5657
1. Why did African Americans move north?
2. Who created the term “The New Negro?” What did it mean?
3. List the names of at least five black authors:
History http://www.jcu.edu/harlem/index.htm
4. During what time period was the Harlem Renaissance?
5. Click on “Literature” and find at least three more authors not already mentioned:
Lucille Clifton
Biography https://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/79
Biography http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/lucille-clifton
6. What year was Lucille Clifton born? ____________________ What year did she die? ________________
7. What kind of awards has she won? List at least five.
8. What kind of topics/subjects did Lucille Clifton write about?
9. For what audience did she write more than 16 books?
miss rosie https://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15600
10. The poem “miss rosie” describes a woman who is down on her luck. What phrases or words show that she is in
distress?
11. What did Miss Rosie used to look like? What was her nickname?
12. What do you think it could mean when the author says that Miss Rosie is “waiting for [her] mind?”
13. After describing the sad situation of this Miss Rosie, why do you think the author says, “I stand up through your
destruction?” Explain.
Homage to My Hips http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/179615
14. What part of the body does this poem give homage to? In other words, what part of the body does the author
celebrate in the poem? Why?
15. Why does the author describe the hips as “mighty hips” and “magic hips?” Look at the last two lines for a hint!
Langston Hughes
Biography http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/83
16. What year was Langston Hughes born? ____________________ What year did he die? ________________
17. What were some of the changes that Langston Hughes went through in his family as a child?
18. What kinds of works (genres) did Hughes write?
Getting Published http://www.shmoop.com/langston-hughes/young-poet.html
19. What did Langston Hughes do that was pretty gutsy and helped him get his first work published?
Dreams http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/16075
20. Why are dreams important to hold on to, according to the speaker in “Dreams?”
I, Too, Sing America http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15615
21. “I, Too, Sing America” is about the speaker finding equality with other people in America. When the speaker says
that he will “…eat well, And grow strong,” do you think he is only talking about his physical strength? What other
ways might the speaker be strong?
The Negro Speaks of Rivers http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15722
22. What three African rivers does the speaker mention in the poem? What American river is mentioned?
23. Why would the speaker compare his soul’s depth to the river’s depth?
Extra Credit (+15 possible)
Social and Political Issues + 2 http://www.jcu.edu/harlem/Politics/Page_1.htm
24. Explain some of the social and political issues that blacks faced from 1850-1935:
Black Writing +5 http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americannovel/timeline/harlemrenaissance.html
25. What was the “high art” in black writing?
26. What was the difference between Langston Hughes and Countee Cullen’s views on black writing?
Criticism +3 http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/langston-hughes
27. Why was Hughes early work criticized by black intellectuals? What was Hughes’ response?
Song of Myself +5 http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15755
28. How does Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself” compare to “The Negro Speaks of Rivers?” What is similar and
different?