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Harlem Renaissance Paul Laurence Dunbar Analysis

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Immersed in passion for art, growing acceptance of the black community, and a booming economy, Harlem, New York was enduring the 1920’s era what is now known be the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance is not only responsible for the roots of black culture in the United States, but it stood as an advocate for African American rights. Every artistic media was flourishing with ideas of equality among the races; things such as poetry, songs, and stories flooded the minds of the American people and paved the way for change.
By expressing tones of sorrow and imprisonment, poets such as Paul Laurence Dunbar were able to inspire their readers by promoting the dire need for a revolution in the minds of the American people. Known as …show more content…

I believe that the stanzas show the evolution of how one deals with oppression. As a child, one may question why the white girl is allowed to be somewhere when you aren't; becoming taunted by the things you want but can never have. Then as a young adult, outrage takes hold and violence can occur. As an aged adult, I would imagine people would feel upset for the lack of change and sorry for the future generations. Torment, violence, sorrow. The break between stanzas was like a breath, and before you can exhale completely you become overwhelmed with an entirely new emotion, flooded with more and more devastation. The theme of Sympathy is for the reader to recognize the harmful effect that racism and oppression have not only on the mind but the soul. The line, "It is not a carol of joy or glee, But a prayer that he sends from his heart’s deep core" showcases how deeply pained the author is by the disturbing American history. Dunbar prays to God for relief and help, while yearning for change. This poem shows that by growing up in a racist world, the mind becomes plagued with harmful ideas such as “I can’t.” The human soul may never know true joy in a world that takes them for

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Paul Laurence Dunbar is known as one of America’s early and most well-known African American writers. He not only has many published poems, but also short stories, essays, and novels as well. He began writing early in his life, and in 1889 was editor of the Dayton Tattler, a newspaper published by the famed Orville Wright who, with his brother, invented the airplane. Though the newspaper was short lived, for Dunbar to be in such a position as a young African American during this time was a clear sign of his intelligence and talent.

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Even though culture was booming everywhere during the 1920’s, nowhere was more exuberant than Harlem. The huge social, cultural, and artistic explosion in Harlem was called “The Harlem Renaissance” or “The New Negro Movement.” This movement’s main cause was to create a new black identity, to show blacks that they should be proud to be black. This movement gave light to many poets, authors, such as Langston Hughes, and gave birth to new styles of art such as Jazz. Jazz was described as “the essence of black music.”

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The Harlem Renaissance is a term that encompasses an intellectual and literary movement of the 1920s and 1930s. A renowned scholar, Alain Locke, argued that “Negro life is seizing its first chances for group expression and self determination” (1926). Moreover, The Harlem Renaissance refers to the re-birth of African Americans who needed “an affirmation of their dignity and humanity in the face of poverty and racism” (Gates, 1997: 929). In their research, Shukla and Banerji state the the Harlem Renaissance “can be considered as the spring of Afro-American voice” that previously remained unheard and unnoticed (2012). For the first time black musicians and artists came to the fore of attention and started to be praised for their work.

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The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural movement that took place in Harlem between the end of World War I and the middle of the 1930s. It was a very cultural, social, and artistic movement where African American jazz performers, authors, poets, musicians, entertainers, and actors all gave themselves a name. But during the time it was known as the “New Negro Movement” named after Alain Locke. This was a time where new cultural expressions were coming about the urban areas in the Northeast of the United States. But this whole “new negro movement” didn’t just happen out of nowhere, there is a cause of how this happened.

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The Harlem Renaissance was such a significant moment for African Americans in particular and also for Americans in general, because it allowed them to express themselves through their own unique culture. For example, the text remarks, “The “New Negro” was a way contemporary writers, critics, social activists, and intellectuals used to define an African American population less concerned with the artistic standards of white and European culture, and more interested in self-expression and a distinctive African American culture” (Paragraph 3). In addition, American culture changed unquestionably as a result of the Harlem Renaissance due to political upheaval, economic transformation, and a huge increase in diversity. One reason for cultural change

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The Harlem Renaissance was a period in American history, which occurred in the 1920s in Harlem, New York. The cultural movement was an opportunity for African Americans to celebrate their heritage through intellectual and artistic works. Langston Hughes, a famous poet, was a product of the Harlem Renaissance. One notable piece of literature by Hughes is “Dream Deferred”. However, the discussion of African American culture isn’t limited to the 1920s.

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During the 1920’s while segregation existed between blacks and whites, The Harlem Renaissance also known as the New Negro Movement developed in Harlem New York City. The Harlem Renaissance allowed was very benficial to African Americans because it allowed them to express themeselves. ‘Harlem gave African American people a new sense of their own beauty and power” (Haskins,2). During the harlem Renassance African AMericans expressed themselves through different types of art such as music, poetry, dance,and paintings.

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The shame wasn’t a cause for them to turn away from the love for their culture, it just made the proud of their deep black beautiful roots. The black artists of the Harlem Renaissance put a visual scene to the joy, pain, laughter, tears, and the ugly truth within this endearing culture. The literature of the Harlem Renaissance gave an intellectual opinion in American during in the turn of the 20th century. Writers of the Harlem Renaissance have had a profound impact on the American society today.

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