English Test

Modern American Lit.

• Late 19^th – Early 20^th century

• Influenced by:

  • Industrialization

  • World War I

  • “The Roaring Twenties”

  • The Great Depression

  • World War II

• Explores human experience in a mechanical world.

• Searches for the value of the “common” man.

Carl Sandburg

• Celebrated ordinary people

  • Industrial America

  • Working class

• Worked to support family

• Travelled the country as a “hobo”

• Influenced by Whitman

• Collected American folk songs

• Believed in the power of ordinary Americans

• Poetry is concrete and direct

Robert Frost

• One of America’s most loved poets

• Worked as a farmer / mill hand / journalist / teacher

• Friends with many other famous poets

• First poet to read at a presidential inauguration – JFK  

• Popular among all groups

• Uses traditional verse & 

        conversational language

• Appear simple but contain deep meaning

• Poems should “retain their freshness”

Ernest Hemingway

• Characters attempt to maintain dignity in a hostile world

• Severely wounded – influenced his writing

• Difficulty readjusting after WWI

• Expatriated to France

• Concise, concrete, highly charged style

• Disillusioned by the modern world

• Relentlessly pursued adventure

Modern American Poetry

• "Modern" traits include [Quite different from contemporary]

  • Irony

  • Dark Meditations

  • Psychological complexity

  • Ambiguity, lack of moral certainty

  • Everyday language

• Timeline of Writers

  • Robinson: 1869-1935

  • Sandburg: 1878-1963

  • Frost: 1874-1963

  • Fitzgerald: 1896-1940

• Carl Sandburg's Chicago is a lens on American industrial growth, pride.

  • Exaltation of common man

    • The raising up/praise of man

  • (cf. Whitman's "I Hear America Singing")

    • Laborers

    • Laughing

    • City = Sums of its people

    • "democratic": all add to might, glory of working America.

  • Technique and tyle

    • One much to Whitman, whom he admired

    • Free Verse, Conversational

    • Apostrophe (Chicago is spoken to, personified)

    • Bold imagery

• Robert Frost's poetry leans on simple rural scenes but isn't always 'simple'

  • "Mending Wall" (1914)

    • North England rural setting: stone fence between 2 properties

    • Images raises questions

      • Tradition, habit

      • Alienation, loneliness

  • "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Ending" (1923)

    • Easy vocabulary

    • Rural setting - far from urban noise

• Frost as "modern" poet:

  • Often dark meditations on universal themes

  • Language as actually spoken

  • Psychological complexity of his topics

  • Work has layers of ambiguity, irony.

    

    Defining the Harlem renaissance

    • Approximately 1920-1940.

    • Centered in Harlem neighborhood of NYC.

    • A social and cultural movement promoting arts & politics

    • An explosion of creativity and expression

    • African Americans (AAs) clear expression of the:

      • Influences of the past and present

      • Hopes for the future.

    • Marginalized group that has been allowed to finally express themselves.

    Recall Previous Lectures

    • Slave Narratives

      • Combat Myths & Reveal Truths

      • Highlight the hypocrisy of racism

      • Demonstrate desire for equality/equity/acceptance/tolerance

    • Marginalized Voices

      • Jim Crow & Segregation

      • Challenge the Status-Quo

      • Combat racism & stereotypes

    Influences on the Harlem Renaissance

    • Social & Economic factors

      • Southern Racism & Discrimination

        • Violence / Lynching

          • 5000 people lynched between 1865-1968 (NAACP)

          • 3/4 of lynchings were AAs - Attempt to control through fear/terror.

        • Jim Crow Laws

          • "Separate but Equal" - Segregation

          • Uses fear to keep "like" communities together

        • Voter Suppression

          • Poll Taxes / Literacy Tests / Grandfather Clauses

          • Louisiana Case Study of AA registered voters:

            • 1896 - 130,000

            • 1904 - 1,300

    • The Great Migration

      • Between 1914-1970 approx. 7 million AA families move to northern cities

        • Reflective of major changes in Modern America

        • Movement from South to Noth & Rural to Urban.

      • Reaction to terror in the South

      • Hope for less segregation & more opportunity / jobs

    Influences lead to Philosophical Reactions

    • Booker T. Washington

      • Born a slave - 1856-1915

      • Advocated "Industrial Education" vs. Higher Education

      • Founded Tuskegee Institute - Powerful educational & political institution

      • Accepted gradual change - feared impacts of rapid changes

      • Atlanta Compromise

        • AAs accept segregation

        • Receive basic rights & services

    • W.E.B. DuBois

      • Born in New England - 1868-1963

      • Studied AA community as anthropologist, political thinker, and historian.

      • Advocated rapid integration - Arts & Letters

        • Arts & Letters not closed to Aas, unlike the ballot box, white-collar jobs, & union memberships.

        • Show the best of AA arts & letters to make it harder to deny full civil rights

        • "Talent Tenth" = elite Aas would lead others

        • "Lifting the Veil" of ignorance.

    • Writes The Philadelphia Negro - 1899

      • First case study of AA life in America

      • Suggest issues of AA life

        • Due to segregation

        • Not innate racial differences

      • Writes The Souls of Black Folks - 1903

        • Rejection of the Atlanta Compromise

        • Defines the "Color Line"

        • Classifies a "Double Consciousness" or "Two-ness" of black life in America.

      • NAACP - Editor of The Crisis - 1909

    • On DuBois "Two-Ness"

      • A constant anxiety of trueness to culture/community and a desire to "fit in"

      • Should I be true to my African Heritage

      • Should I strive for AD as White America wants?

      • Recall Dunbar's "We Wear the Mask" (Marginalized Voices)

    Langston Hughes - Epitome

    • 1901 - 1967

    • "The Bard of Harlem"

    • Influenced by DuBois & Dunbar

    • Influencer of countless other writers, poets, & artists.

    • Collaborated with white artists - Whitman & Twain

      • "Puddinhead Wilson"

    • Artistic attempts to celebrate pride in black culture - "The Negro Speaks of Rivers"

      • "I" is not personal, but racial - is millions of years old

      • Wisdom & Endurance

    • Protests of "color line" and American hypocrisy - "I Too"

      • Allusion to Whitman's poem

      • "I" is again impersonal, but still racial

      • Belies lack of unity in US yet is hopeful for future

    • Accused of conspiring. With communist - Called before House Unamerican Activities Committee (HUAC)

    • Forced to maintain "artistic voice" - The speaker is not the same as the poet.

    Countee Cullen

    • 1903 - 1946

    • Part of the "Talented Tenth" - Married Dubois' daughter

    • Used a Eurocentric style

      • European forms & methods

      • Believed Aas could use them to communicate more clearly with white audiences

      • Received Praise & Criticism for his style

    • Expressed feelings of Aas

      • Racial Identity

      • African Roots

      • Anger at Injustice

    • Paired an elevated style with strong emotion

      • Issues of poverty & injustice

      • Speakers pursuing unrealizable goals

    • Wrote "From the Dark Tower" - 1927

      • Planters as metaphor

      • Protest poem

      • Allusion to "Ivory Tower" (High Culture

        

        
        “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”

Identify the rivers the speaker mentions in the poem: Euphrates, Congo, Nile, Mississippi

What is the significance of each of these rivers? Each river reflects a different stage in African and African American history, from early civilization to slavery, suffering, and eventual progress. Hughes uses them to connect Black identity to a deep, ancient history, showing endurance, resilience, and cultural richness.

What chief emotions are present in the poem? Pride – The poem acknowledges the deep, historical significance of Black heritage. Sorrow – There is a recognition of suffering, particularly in relation to slavery and oppression. Reverence – The speaker honors the past and acknowledges the wisdom gained through time. Hope – Despite hardships, the rivers suggest continuity, strength, and an unbreakable connection to history.

What do the word’s “ancient” and “dusky” convey about the rivers? "Ancient" suggests timelessness, wisdom, and a connection to a long and enduring history. The rivers have existed for millennia, much like the heritage of African-descended people."Dusky" conveys both darkness (as in skin color and depth of history) and mystery, symbolizing the richness and complexity of Black identity and experience.

“I Hear America Singing”

Identify the different jobs Whitman discusses in his poem: Mechanics, Carpenter, Mason, Boatman, Deckhand, Shoemaker, Wood-Cutter, Hatter,

How does Whitman characterize the song of each profession? These are the average American jobs, blue-collar jobs, common jobs for the common man.

Identify the images that contribute to the final image of the poem: The repetition of “singing” throughout the poem creates a rhythm that mimics a song. Descriptions of different workers performing their tasks emphasize productivity and purpose. The final image of “each singing what belongs to him or her and to none else” reinforces individuality while maintaining a collective harmony.

What do the different “songs” imply about Americans? The diverse songs suggest that Americans take pride in their work and contribute uniquely to society, regardless of profession or social status.

What is significant about each person having a different song? Whitman highlights individuality and unity—though each person sings a different song, together they form a greater national identity. The poem suggests that America is built on diversity, yet remains unified through shared purpose and joy in work

“I Too”

How is the speaker’s determination exemplified in the poem? He’s determined to be treated fairly, to eat at the metaphorical table that he knows he’s not worthy of yet.

Why does the speaker mention his beauty? Sense of pride.

What is Hughes’ message in the poem? Hughes conveys a message of hope, resilience, and inevitable progress. The poem critiques racial injustice while expressing faith that African Americans will gain equal rights and recognition. It challenges the idea of exclusion and affirms that America belongs to all its people, reinforcing the ideal of true democracy and unity.

“From the Dark Tower”

With what image does Cullen begin the poem?  Why does he use this image?Cullen begins the poem with the image of people who cannot always plant and reap. This symbolizes the struggles of Black people, who often labor but do not get to enjoy the fruits of their work. He uses this image to highlight racial injustice and the unfair social conditions imposed on African Americans.

Who are the “lesser men” Cullen refers to?  What makes them “lesser men?”The "lesser men" Cullen refers to are those who exploit the labor of others, particularly the oppressors who benefit from the work of Black individuals without acknowledgment. They are considered "lesser" because their success is built on injustice and the suffering of others.

What does Cullen mean by the last two lines?The last two lines suggest hope and resilience. Cullen expresses that, although African Americans may suffer now, they will not be in darkness forever. The poem conveys that there will be a time when they rise and claim the dignity and recognition they deserve

“We Wear the Mask”

Why does the narrator believe we wear the mask?The narrator believes people wear the mask to hide their pain, suffering, and struggles from the world. It is a way to conceal their true emotions and hardships, particularly for African Americans facing racial oppression.

What does the mask allow the narrator to do?The mask allows the narrator to hide their inner suffering while presenting a false sense of happiness and contentment to the outside world. It serves as a form of survival and protection against societal oppression.

Explain the line: “We wear the mask that grins and lies”This line means that the mask gives a false appearance of joy and satisfaction, even when the wearer is suffering. It symbolizes the way oppressed people, especially African Americans, had to pretend to be content to avoid further mistreatment.

How would you describe the narrator’s tone?  Explain:The narrator’s tone is both bitter and sorrowful but also resilient. The poem conveys frustration over the need to hide pain but also acknowledges the strength required to endure hardship. The underlying sadness suggests deep suffering, while the act of "wearing the mask" shows endurance and resistance.