June 2 (A) & 7(B), 2016
E N G LISH 1 1 H O N O RS
Agenda - 6/2/2016
• Collect Dead Poets Society: Part 2 Worksheets,
“The Road Not Taken” analysis, and original poem
• Journal/Vocab.com
• Journals – Q4 (Due 6/10)
• Guided Notes: Poetry & The Harlem Renaissance
NOTE: All
• Langston Hughes
late/missing
• Read Author Study: Langston Hughes (Pg. 920work due 6/13
923) and the Build Background (Pg. 924)
NO
• Read Langston Hughes’s poems
EXCEPTIONS!!!
• “I, Too” (Pg. 925) & worksheet
• “Harlem” (Pg. 926) & Imagery Worksheet
• Dream Journal
• Homework: Compare “I, Too” to Walt Whitman’s “I
Hear America Singing” & Bring in a song for music
analysis next class! (NOTE: Must be school
appropriate. Also, if you do not bring in a song,
you will be given one and points will be deducted
from your assignment for not being prepared.)
Journals – Q4
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
4/18 & 4/19 – Humans, The Masters of Illusion
4/20 & 4/21 – Double Standard (list & reflection)
4/22 & 4/25 – Pot Shots
4/26 & 4/27 – Dreaming the American Dream
4/28 & 4/29 – American Values
1st and 2nd Blocks:
5/6 & 5/9 – Leader or Follower
5/16 & 5/17 – Different Drummer
5/18 & 5/19 – The Worst Time of Life
5/24 & 5/25 – Poet’s Corner
5/26 (Block 1 & 2 ONLY)– World View
5/31 & 6/3 – DPS Letter
5th Block: 120 Points!
6/2 & 6/7 – Civil Rights Today
6/6 & 6/9 – Musical Memories
13 Journals
x 10 points =
130 points!
Writing Prompt – Civil Rights Today
6/2/2016
• The historical context of the time when
Hughes wrote his poetry was characterized
by a period of racial segregation and
extreme discrimination. One might argue
that while clear civil rights progress has
been made, there is still inequality that
exists today. How do you suppose Hughes
might respond to contemporary society if
he were alive today? Would he praise the
progress of civil rights or would he be
critical?
1. Imagery
Language that appeals to
the senses
• Sight
• Sound
• Smell
• Taste
• Touch
Often involves figurative
language
2. Tone
The writer’s attitude as revealed by
diction

– word
choice
3. Mood
The effect of the writer’s use of
tone on the reader
4. Persona
The identity and character of
the text
The persona is the speaker as
revealed through the voice
(determined by tone and
diction).
Determining a poem’s persona…
Ask these questions:
Who is speaking?
What can we tell about the speaker’s
situation or point of view?
What types of words or images are being
used?
What is the general tone of the piece?
THE HARLEM
RENAISSANCE &
Langston
Hughes
Harlem…the place:
Harlem…the place
Renaissance:
• “A revival of the arts and high culture”
• “Harlem Renaissance
• n. hist. (orig. U.S.) (with the) a flourishing
and increase in awareness of AfricanAmerican culture and art (esp.
literature), based in Harlem, New York
City, in the 1920s and 1930s.”
Oxford English Dictionary
Causes for the
Harlem Renaissance
• What: There were a large amount of African
Americans who moved to Northern cities in the
U.S.
• Why: To take advantage of industrial jobs that
came about during World War I.
• However: Social attitudes and prejudice of the
20s, forced them to live in segregated, urban
housing.
• The Result: The influx of African Americans into
concentrated areas led to an outbreak of
culture due to their need to create community
and for expression.
Langston Hughes
• James Mercer Langston Hughes was
born on February 1, 1902, in Joplin,
Missouri.
• Shortly afterward, his parents separated.
• His father went to Mexico to escape racial
discrimination and did not contact him for
over 11 years.
• His mother was a teacher and struggled to
support him. He often lived with relatives or
his grandmother.
Langston Hughes
• In high school, he was elected to class office, acted in
school plays, and joined the track-and-field team.
• On a train trip to visit his father in Mexico, he wrote his
famous poem, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers.”
• He went to college in New York, but dropped out after 1
year. He loved New York, though.
• He won a literary contest with “The Weary Blues” in 1925.
• Vachel Lindsay, a famous poet of the day, helped him to
gain public notice.
• Hughes slipped 3 poems under his plate while he was
working in the restaurant.
Langston Hughes
• His life and work were enormously important in shaping the
artistic contributions of the Harlem Renaissance of the
1920s. Hughes refused to differentiate between his personal
experience and the common experience of black
America. He wanted to tell the stories of his people in ways
that reflected their actual culture, including both their
suffering and their love of music, laughter, and language
itself.
In response to a Critic:
• “I didn’t know the upper-class
Negroes well enough to write
much about them. I knew only the
people I had grown up with, and
they weren’t people whose shoes
were always signed, who had
been to Harvard, or who had
heard of Bach. But they seemed
to me good people, too.”
Cool Facts
Cool
Facts
• Langston Hughes was
the first African
American to earn a
living solely from
writing.
• He went on to publish
over 40 books.