Choose two writers (see below) from this week and compare their narrative tone, style, and theme; please respond in a five-paragraph APA essay format with quotes, proper in-text citations, and references. Please be sure to visit the lecture for more on each author.
AUTHORS TO CHOOSE FROM:
Langston Hughes
Langston Hughes, a prolific and important artist of the Harlem Renaissance, shaped literary modernism. He wrote poems, plays, novels, short, stories, articles, and essays, and made a passionate effort to further the views about humanity and equality. Hughes, seen as both an acclaimed novelist and gifted poet, "believed that if poetry was to be an agent of social change it must appeal to blacks of all classes, not simply the upper reaches of the black intelligentsia. The art the movement generated should draw on black vernacular materials-jazz and folk tales and spirituals-in order to grant African Americans a sense of racial identity and shared experience that would prove a powerful political tool" (Bryant, 2010, p. 85). His poem, The Weary Blues is shared with music on YouTube.com.
Claude McKay
Claude McKay , son of a Jamaican farmer, was an invited speaker abroad and poet/writer who "contributed to literature and politics helped to change American and international conceptions of race, class, and colonialism" (Bryant, 2010, p. 92). His first novel, Home to Harlem, featured rare glimpse of African-American life, World War I realities, and a picturesque journey through the United States. Listen to Claude McKay's America set to music and images on YouTube.com.
Alice Walker
Alice Walker , best known for her novel and Steven Spielberg's film adaptation, The Color Purple, brought many issues to the forefront: "race and gender oppression, physical and emotional abuse, relationships between individuals and among families and communities" (Bryant, 2010, p. 105). After losing sight in one eye from a childhood BB gun accident, she feared losing her sight in the other eye and began "storing up images against the fading light" (p. 105). In this YouTube.com video, she talks about the freedom rides to Gaza.
Toni Morrison
Toni Morrison , Nobel laureate and Pulitzer Prize-Winning author, is known for her characterization, creative genius, thought-provoking storytelling, and rhythmic prose. She is seen here speaking about her "Society Bench by the Road Dedication" project, which dedicates benches along the road to commemorate the history of African American people. She may be best known for her novel, The Bluest Eye. Listen to an excerpt from a play based on the story on YouTube.com, which reminds us that we universally want to be loved.