Essay Assignment
Despite the common impression that the Harlem Renaissance is an African American, male dominated movement, the Harlem Renaissance was complicated by issues of gender, nationality, sexuality, ethnicity, and other identity categories. Harlem Renaissance writers did not agree on several issues, as Lewis outlines in his introduction to The Portable Harlem Renaissance Reader and I discussed in my lectures throughout the semester.
Write an essay that discusses two identity categories that complicate the idea of the Harlem Renaissance as a movement that focused on only African American men. In your essay, you must reference at least two different texts from the course reading list. In addition to writing about intersectionality, discuss a contemporary issue or news event that relates to the Harlem Renaissance. What is the connection between this contemporary issue/event and the Harlem Renaissance? How does this issue or event show that the things Harlem Renaissance writers were concerned about are still prevalent in 2020? This contemporary issue/event should connect to the intersectional identity categories that you select. For example, if you choose to discuss gender and class, your contemporary issue should relate to those two categories as well - instead of exploring "gender inequality" in general, think about a specific event or issue that relates to this topic (you could focus on the #metoo or #timesup movement, for example).
You can reference the following texts in your essays:
• David Levering Lewis' "Introduction" to The Portable Harlem Renaissance Reader
• Claude McKay's "If We Must Die"
• Claude McKay's "The Lynching"
• Claude McKay's "Harlem Shadows"
• Jessie Fauset's "Dead Fires"
• Alice Dunbar Nelson's "Sonnet"
• James Weldon Johnson's "O Black and Unknown Bards"
• Countee Cullen's "Heritage"
• Alain Locke's "The New Negro"
• Nella Larsen's Passing
Format your assignment according to the give formatting requirements:
• The answer must be using Times New Roman font (size 12), double spaced, and typed, with one-inch margins on all sides.
• The response also includes a cover page containing the student's name, the title of the assignment, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
• Also include a reference page. The references and Citations should follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.