Question: Harlem Renaissance and New Historicism (1919 - 1929)

Part 1: Take a look at the Literary Timeline in Lessons. Choose any work that we have read in this class, and examine some of the historical events preceding its publication according to the timeline. Discuss how one or more historical event that takes place no more than 20 years before the publication of the work might be seen as influencing the theme or overall message of the work.

Part 2: "Yet Do I Marvel" contains many classical references. Look up the meaning of one of them. Explain what that reference contributes to your understanding of the poem. How does it relate to the overall message?

Part 3: "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" also connects a people to a symbol that is timeless and "of the earth." This is not the first work we''ve seen that discusses rivers. Water is a symbol in many works. Discuss how it appears in Hughes''s poem and in two other works we''ve read this term; what does water seem to represent in these works.

MLA CITES
NO PLAGIRISM
EXAMPLE

For this week's discussion, I decided to talk about "War Prayer" by Mark Twain. This story was written in 1905, and I believe it has been influenced by the events of the Spanish-American War (1898), and the Philippine-American War (1902). America was victorious in both wars, but it's clear to see that Mark Twain did not agree with the events that took place. He discussed in his work how the men were so excited to go off to war, but then a stranger comes in and talks to them about the realities of war. The men going off the war in Twain's story can symbolize the reader, and the stranger in the story can symbolize Twain. He, as the author, is warning his readers that war is not a beautiful thing, and many men have not returned home. This must have been something that troubled him deeply.

In "Yet Do I Marvel", the line "the little buried mole continues blind" stuck out to me. The mole is representing a creation of God that is not perfect. He is blind and cannot see, yet he keeps digging and carrying on with his life. The author of this poem is black, and he is questioning why God created him that way, when racism was rampant at the time. The author doesn't understand why things are the way they are, such as the mole being blind, or him being black. But this line made me realize that the reader knew there were many differences in the world, and not everything was the same. The mole is blind which makes him different from other animals, but he is still just as useful, and he can still get things done.

In "The Negro Speaks of Rivers", the author talks about water in the form of multiple rivers. Water is also present in "The Open Boat", and "A White Heron". In "A White Heron", the heron lives near the wetlands near a little bed of water. The water in this story represents beauty and innocence. Water in both "The Open Boat" and "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" represents hardships and life. Characters in both stories have overcome struggles, and the water has been with them through it all. Water is something that has always been there, and will continue to be there for many years to come.