1. Selected Poetry
Langston Hughes

2. Big Question Read Page 880 What shapes your identity?
What everyday experiences have shaped your identity?
Read Page 880

3. About the Author
Hughes was one of the leading poets of the Harlem Renaissance
His writings centered on poor, and working-class African Americans, a group whom literature had generally ignored.
He was one of the first African Americans to earn a living solely from writing
Was dubbed the “poet low-rate” of Harlem by some African American intellectuals
He wrote radio jingles during WWII to promote the purchase of war bonds.

4. Words to Know
Speaker – The narrator of the story, the voice that talks to the reader.
Rhythm – the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables
Refrain – one or more repeated lines of poetry that function like a chorus of a some.

5. Summary
Harlem – Drawing on the rhythms or 1940s bebop jazz, this poem expresses the festering tension felt by African Americans unable to realize their dream
The Negro Speaks of Rivers – the speaker is the voice of African-American culture with its ancient connection to the earth and all of humanity
I, Too – This poem is a protest that asserts the right of African Americans to sit equally at the metaphoric table of American Society
The Weary Blues – This poem expressed the admiration for the blues and its musicians. Hughes's rhythm recalls the syncopation common in blue music

6. After Reading
Page 882 – Look at the picture on the top of the page. The picture and the poem have the same title. Create a diagram comparing and contrasting the two. What do they have that is similar? Different?
Page 880 – Text Analysis 1-3
Page 883 – Text Analysis 1-3
Page 885 – Question 4
Poem Analysis: you are going to pick out a poem from the ones you have read and completed a poem analysis (like we have for all other poems this year). Complete the analysis using the guide on the back of your notes (Turn this sheet OVER)

7. Page 882 – Look at the picture on the top of the page
Page 882 – Look at the picture on the top of the page. The picture and the poem have the same title. Create a diagram comparing and contrasting the two. What do they have that is similar? Different?
Page 880 – Text Analysis 1-3
Page 885 – Question 4