Big Artists During The Harlem Renaissance example essay topic

The Harlem Renaissance I. Introduction II. Definition of the Harlem Renaissance A. The Time of the Harlem Renaissance B. What was the Harlem Renaissance. Music of the Harlem Renaissance A. Kinds of music B. The big people IV. Drama of the Harlem Renaissance A. Kinds of drama B. The big people V. Literature of the Harlem Renaissance A. Kinds of Literature B. The Big People VI. Art of the Harlem Renaissance A. Kinds of Art B. The Big People VII.

Reason A. Why did they write the way they did B. The message that they were trying to send V Decline of the Harlem Renaissance A. The Reason for the Decline B. The Aftermath of the Harlem Renaissance IX. Poem by Langston Hughes X. Conclusion Thesis: The Harlem Renaissance was a prosperous time, and Black Americans benefited from the rapid growth in the economy in music, drama, literature, and art. The Harlem Renaissance The place of growth was known as New York City. The time of year was the 1920's. This time period was also known as the Jazz Age.

The music was played mostly in a Manhattan neighborhood known as Harlem. Harlem created a growth of African-American culture which created a community exploding with art, politics, energy, and racial pride. The Harlem Renaissance was a prosperous time, and Black Americans benefited from the rapid growth in the economy in music, drama, literature, and art. When blues was hot and jazz was a growing stay in America's culture; when speakeasies were filled with both blacks and whites dancing to the rhythms of life set out by the saxophone, trumpet, and drums...

(Harlem). This is the definition of the Harlem Renaissance. This definition is true in many ways The Harlem Renaissance was around the time period of the 1920's and 1930's. The only aspect that I might know about the Harlem Renaissance is that there were a lot of poetry, books, and music going around. There were numerous clubs and places to hang out in Harlem. The clubs were filled with over three hundred well-dressed blacks and whites.

The main interest of the clubs were the music and dancing. Jazz music, invented by black musicians in New Orleans, Louisiana, hit Harlem and the rest of the country with such force that the 1920's became known as the Jazz Age (Chambers 9). Jazz was one of the many types of music that was the most popular during the Harlem Renaissance. The other popular music was the Blues. Blues is unlike jazz. This is because jazz has a more up-beat and blues have a real down-beat.

The dances that were popular was known as the Boogie-Woogie, the Turkey Trot, and the Big Apple. Those were just few of the many dances that developed during the Harlem Renaissance. Black writers were dependent on white publishers, but white publishers were sincerely interested in black literature, and they worked closely with black writers and intellectuals to achieve a viable literary movement (Wintz 162). The only way that black writers could get in the literature business was that they got in with someone who is white. The white people knew that the only way that they could have a booming business is to have black literature. This is because the only literature that could really sell is the black literature.

So for the whites to make money, they had to get in with the blacks. This would then work out for both of them. The Harlem Renaissance produced a shine of new authors during this time period. The authors knew each other well and they frequently exchanged ideas. The Renaissance writers remain important not just for their own work but because the literary tradition they built would become a platform from which future African-American voices could shout and be heard.

There were many big authors during the Harlem Renaissance. You still hear some names now. They were Langston Hughes, Jean To omer, Jessie Red mon Fau set, Counter Cullen, Claude McKay, Wallace Thurman, and Zora Neale Hurston. Besides literature and music, there was also art involved in the Harlem Renaissance. In the 1920's, European and white American painters tangled with new ways to express the industrial world that was growing behind them. Many of those painters were influenced by African tribal culture.

The Harlem Renaissance was much more than simply a white fad, but the extent of white interest and support shaped the movement in many ways (Chambers 86). The white people really paid attention to Harlem when the blacks began to take an interest in artwork. The black artwork was really interesting to many whites and other minorities. This would bring whites to recognize the importance of the Harlem Renaissance. Local artists reflected the change of the Harlem Renaissance by introducing their artworks. They painted many different scenes, and they had many different ideas.

Some of the ideas that were used were men and women of a sophisticated city, a streamlined graphic style known as Art Deco, and others used brushes to record the new African-American communities springing up in the North. There were many big artists during the Harlem Renaissance such as, James Van Der Zee, Aaron Douglas, and Richard Bruce Nugent. These are just a few of talented artists in the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance ended with a good ending. Blacks still received recognition for what they did during that time period. The Harlem Renaissance, which had begun with a burst of creativity in the mid-1920's, gradually dissipated in the early 1930's (Wintz 217).

The Harlem Renaissance ended with the decline of the economy. This decline was also known as a depression. This depression caused changes in the economic growth and it halted the Harlem Renaissance. The depression stopped attracting more people that would bring wealth to Harlem by their talents, whether it is art, literature, or music. The depression also brought about the dropping out of other well-known writers. These writers later on died in the near future.

Several writers held on to write about black history. The ones that did not, just faded from the public view. After the Harlem Renaissance, many writers that were left were suffering to support themselves. This poem by Langston Hughes is a fairly good definition of the times that Blacks were going through. Same in Blues I said to my baby, Baby, take it slow. I can t, she said, I can t!

I got to go! There's certain amount of traveling in a dream deferred. Lulu said to Leonard, I want a diamond ring. Leonard said to Lulu, You won t get a goddamn thing! A certain amount of nothing in a dream deferred Daddy, daddy, daddy All I want is you. You can have me, baby- but my lovin days is through.

A certain amount of importance in a dream deferred Three parties On my party line- But that third party, Lord, ain t mine! There's liable to be confusion in a dream deferred. From river to river Uptown and down, There's liable to be confusion when a dream gets kicked around. You talk like they don t kick dreams around Downtown. I expect they do- But I m talking about Harlem to you! Harlem to you!

Harlem to you! Harlem to you! By: Langston Hughes (DiYanni 549) The Harlem Renaissance was a prosperous time, and Black Americans benefited from the rapid growth in the economy in music, drama, literature, and art. The Harlem Renaissance was a time for the black people to come together as one. The Harlem Renaissance has really showed us that we can do anything that we put our minds to.

Bibliography

Chambers, Veronica. The Harlem Renaissance. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers, Inc., 1998.
DiYanni, Robert. Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and the Essay. Pace University, Pleasantville: McGraw-Hill Publishing Company, Inc., 1990.
The Harlem Renaissance. Online Internet. 21 October 1999.
Available: web Singh, Amrit jit. The Novels of the Harlem Renaissance. The Pennsylvania State University Press, Inc., 1976.
Wintz, Cary D. Black Culture and the Harlem Renaissance. Houston, Texas: Rice University Press, Inc., 1988.