THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE

POETRY PROJECT

Part 1: Choose a Poet and Poem

While Langston Hughes may be one of the best-known poets of the Harlem Renaissance, there are many
more poets of this movement. Your task will be to choose a poet and ONE of their poems to use for this
project.

Below is a list of poets and some of their more notable poems. Choose a poem that MOST interests
you and that you understand. Do NOT merely choose a poem because of its length — sometimes
short poems are more complex than longer poems!

Highlight the poem and author you have chosen.

Langston Hughes Countee Cullen

● When Will V-Day be Me-Day Too? ● Harlem Wine
● Mother to Son
● I Look at the World Gwendolyn Bennett
● As I Grew Older ● Heritage

James Weldon Johnson Helene Johnson

● To America ● Sonnet to a Negro in Harlem
● My City ● My Race

Claude McKay Fenton Johnson

● To One Coming North ● Tired

Georgia Douglas Johnson

● Common Dust
● Old Black Men
● Brotherhood

** If you have found a different poet and poem, you must have it approved by your teacher. Write the
poet name and poem here:

Part 2: Research the Poet

Once you have chosen your poet and poem, research the poet using the prompts below.

Find an image of your poet and put it in this box: Basic Biography:

Name: James Mercer Langston Hughes

Born (when and where): February 1, 1901 in

Joplin, Missouri.

Died: (when and where): May 22, 1967 in

Stuyvesant Polyclinic.

Image source link:

•https://ncte.org/blog/2021/01/celebrating-
poetry-langston-hughes/

IN YOUR OWN WORDS: What are 3 main events or details of their life?

1. His father abandoned the family when he was young, and Langston moved to Lawrence, Kansas,
to live with his grandmother.
2. He attended Columbia University in 1922 and then later moved on to Lincoln University.
3. In 1926 he published his first collection of poetry, The Weary Blues.

IN YOUR OWN WORDS: Describe their poetry/writing: What are they best known for? What are the
main themes or ideas? What was their style like?

Langston Hughes is most known for his jazz style poetry, which is “poetry that demonstrates jazz like
rhythm or the feel of improvisation”(Jazz Poetry). The main themes and ideas explored within Langston
Hughes work was the racial inequalities African Americans were facing. Hughes used his poetry and
writing as a way to bring awareness to these inequalities in hopes that people will feel influenced after
reading his work and feel a stronger desire to change things. Hughes wrote his poems for all people but
somewhat targeting an African American audience. His poetry, despite the theme or ideas, was
understood by everyone. He did this by using simple and familiar language.

List any 3 titles to of their writing (poetry, books, essays, etc.):

1. The Negro Speaks of Rivers

2. Dreams
3. I, Too, Sing America

Links to sources for this section:

•https://historicmissourians.shsmo.org/langston-hughes
•https://americanrepertorytheater.org/media/a-brief-timeline-of-hughes-life/
•https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jazz_poetry
•https://aaregistry.org/story/writer-langston-hughes-used-many-styles/#:~:text=Hughes%20wrote
%20in%20several%20literary,improvisational%20traditions%20of%20Black%20culture.
•https://www.americaslibrary.gov/aa/hughes/aa_hughes_subj.html
• https://litpriest.com/authors/langston-hughes/
•https://stagecoachplayers.com/langstonhughes/

Part 3: Analyze the Poem

Copy your poem into the space below. Then, using the prompt questions below, analyze the poem.

Use can this poetry terms resource to help.

PLEASE reformat the poem if the font is ginormous or the spacing makes it twelve pages long. If you're
having issues with formatting, please ask your teacher for assistance

Summarize/paraphrase the poem: What is it

COPY POEM HERE
about? (In the most literal, basic sense.)

The poem “Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes is

Mother to Son about a mother talking to her son about the
BY LANGSTON HUGHES challenges he will face in life and the importance
of perseverance when it comes to overcoming
these challenges.
Well, son, I’ll tell you:
Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.
It’s had tacks in it, What is the theme of the poem? (What is the
And splinters, poem's message?)
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor- The message of the poem is to show that life will
Bare. throw many challenges your way and it is up to
But all the time you how you handle them. In this poem it focuses
I’se been a-climbin’ on, on the importance of perseverance and that no
And reachin’ landin’s, matter what hardships you are facing at that time
And turnin’ corners, there are always better days ahead you just need
And sometimes goin’ in the dark to push through in order to get to them.
Where there ain’t been no light.
So boy, don’t you turn back. Choose a line from the poem and highlight it in
Don’t you set down on the steps yellow. Discuss the significance of the line below:
‘Cause you finds it’s kinder hard. ● How does it contribute to the meaning of
Don’t you fall now- the poem as a whole?
For I’se still goin’, honey, ● How does the poet use language and/or
I’se still climbin’, poetic devices to convey meaning?
And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair. (Consider: tone, diction, figurative
language, imagery, etc.)

This line demonstrates how everyone’s life is

different, we follow different journeys and make
different decisions. The mother is telling her son
that life for her wasn’t always easy, there were
bumps in her journey but she overcame them.
Langston Hughes uses personification(crystal
stair) to help describe the mothers life.

Choose a line from the poem and highlight it in

green. Discuss the significance of the line below:
● How does it contribute to the meaning of
the poem as a whole?
● How does the poet use language and/or
poetic devices to convey meaning?
(Consider: tone, diction, figurative
language, imagery, etc.)

This line demonstrates the importance of will

power and perseverance. Langston Hughes uses
imagery(steps) to represent the action of giving
up. The mother is telling her son not to give up no
matter how difficult times may get.

Choose a line from the poem and highlight it in

blue. Discuss the significance of the line below:
● How does it contribute to the meaning of
the poem as a whole?
● How does the poet use language and/or
poetic devices to convey meaning?
(Consider: tone, diction, figurative
language, imagery, etc.)

This line demonstrates the mothers perseverance.

She explained to her son that life isn’t always easy,
in fact most of the time it's not. She's teaching her
son to never give up even when things get hard
and you're tired of life. Langston Hughes uses the
metaphor of the staircase to symbolize life, in
order to succeed you need to make it to the top
and it's not always easy.

Link to poem source: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47559/mother-to-son

Part 4: Reading Poetry Through a Historical Lens

Using your knowledge of the Harlem Renaissance and the poems we explored in class, make
connections to your poem for this project to its historical context.

In 5-6 sentences, discuss how this poem reflects the social issues and/or historical context of the
Harlem Renaissance.

The poem “Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes is about an African American mother talking to her son
about the many challenges she has faced throughout her life and that there is no easy way out. She told
her son to never give up no matter how difficult times may be. The challenges described in this poem
could symbolize the challenges and inequalities African Americans had to face during the Harlem
Renaissance. During the Harlem Renaissance African Americans were happy and grateful to be in
America but they weren’t treated the same as white americans. This represents the challenges the
mother was talking about in the poem. They had lower wages and didn’t have the same opportunities
offered to them, regardless of these inequities African Americans continued to work hard and make a
life for themselves.

Skill Not Yet Foundational Proficient Advanced

Biography Some details, Detailed, relevant, Demonstrates an in-

relevance, or and objectively depth outlook of the
accuracy as it accurate. Includes author’s life that
relates to the most significant benefits the reading
author’s life. facts of the author’s of the poem.
life.

Explication Demonstrates the Accurately Demonstrates a

meaning of demonstrates the complex analysis of
individual lines. meaning of individual lines.
individual lines;
including
poetic/literary
devices in
explicating the
poem.

Theme Write a theme Accurately format Demonstrates a

statement. theme statement. complex
understanding of the
Demonstrates an symbolic or
understanding of metaphorical
the symbolic or meaning of the text.
metaphorical
meaning of the text.

Analysis Discusses the poem Articulates Demonstrates a

and the Harlem implications or the complex outlook of
Renaissance. significance of the the implications or
poem as it relates to the significance.
the historical
context of the
Harlem
Renaissance.

Conventions Shows evidence of Follows assignment Shows evidence of

basic proofreading. organization. careful proofreading.

Shows evidence of
proofreading.