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Literature
- James Weldon Johnson, Zora
Neale Hurston and Claude McKay were three
important figures in the early literary movement in Harlem. Have students
select three contemporary writers they like and read from a selection
of their work. Compare the issues of the contemporary writers with those
of the 1920s and 1930s.
- Have the class learn the words and history of the song, Lift Every
Voice and Sing.
- Select three passages from Their Eyes Were Watching God. Read
them aloud in class. Have students illustrate how they think these scenes
look, i.e., a portrait of Janie, the porch of the grocery store and
the food scene.
Have
students read the poem by Claude McKay, "If We Must Die." Have a classroom
discussion on why he wrote this poem. Claude McKay wrote many of his
poems in iambic pentameter (a line of verse consisting of 5 beats).
Have students write a rap iambic pentameter.