Hughes spent a lifetime illuminating that world through poems, stories, novels, lectures, and various other literary forms - with virtuosity and understanding so unmatched that he has been unofficially granted the title as Negro Poet Laureate and Dean of Negro Writers in America. ... "The Weary Blues" written in 1925 won a literary prize from the Crises, and with this Hughes earned a publishing contract with Vanity Fair (Emanuel 32). Between 1926-1930 Hughes' literary activities were intimately connected with the socio-cultural movement know as the Harlem Renaissance. ... The best poe...

• Word Count: 1325
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

The Renaissance was mostly a literary movement where African Americans were encouraged to celebrate their heritage,a heritage marked by struggle and perseverance, and to reveal the truth about the everyday black person.For many the Harlem Renaissance was considered to be the high point in African American writing. ... There was no common literary style defined in the writings of the Harlem Renaissance. ... Some common themes did exist however, such as an interest in the roots of the African American experience in Africa and in the South, and a strong sense of racial pride and a desire for soci...

• Word Count: 1369
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Cullen encouraged Baldwin to participate in the school's literary club, which he was the advisor of Baldwin was enchanted by Cullen's warmth (Smith 236). ... When his stepfather dies in 1943, Baldwin moved to Greenwich Village to pursue his literary dreams. ... In addition, the article "Balwin's Sissy Heroics," Marlon B Ross explores the themes of sexual orientation and black queer identity in the nonfiction of author James Baldwin. ... In the short story, the author uses the images of light and darkness to illustrate the theme of man's painful quest for an identi...

• Word Count: 1511
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography

As important as these literary outlets were, however, the Renaissance relied heavily on white publishing houses and white-owned magazines. ... The two literary works are alike in the sense that they both give advice to young people. ... The literary elements in "Thank You M' am- are characterization, direct characterization and indirect characterization. ... "Thank You M' am- is clear about its meaning and uses dialog to explain the theme and meaning of the work. ... Rampersad, Arnold, The Life of Langston Hughes, Oxford University Press, Volume 1, 1902-1941 In conclusion, I fou...

• Word Count: 1518
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

His literary works helped shape American literature and politics. ... Mason directed Hughes's literary career, convincing him to write the novel Not Without Laughter; the two had a dispute in 1930, however, and the relationship came to an end. ... Perhaps Hughes's finest literary achievement came during World War II in the course of writing a weekly column in the Chicago Defender that began in 1942 and lasted twenty years. ... He became prosperous, although he always had to work hard for his measure of prosperity and sometimes called himself, with good cause, a "literary sharecropper...

• Word Count: 2112
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Joe Christmas: Victim of Women and Absolutism Joe Christmas is a very complex character, perhaps one of the most complex literary figures of this century. ... Because of his race, and because of this woman - he is led out of security and familiarity, recurring theme throughout his life. ...

• Word Count: 1750
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

That is the American reality, and it is only through reading the experience of authors without privilege, whether they be women, of color, women of color, et cetera, during the early 20th century, as realism and naturalism began as a literary movement, that this reality, that their experience, began, that they slowly began being heard. ... In "Theme for English B," there is almost an echo of Du Bois as he recollects that since he isn't white, he isn't like his other classmates, "So will my page be colored that I write? ...

• Word Count: 1421
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

The short story "Blood-Burning Moon", by Jean Toomer, is the final part in a three-part book called Cane. The story takes place in a rural southern setting during a time of strong segregation. In this town, a white man, Bob Stone, and an African-American, Tom Burwell, challenge each other for the lo...

• Word Count: 1343
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

One of the great factors in the quick rise of the Harlem Renaissance was the literary movement with the contribution of writers such as Langston Hughes. ... (Hughes 588) These are lines from Langston Hughes' popular poem, Theme for English B, published in 1951. ...

• Word Count: 1971
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School