Harlem Renaissance Unit

By Ryan Griffin

Standards:

1.B.5a Relate reading to prior knowledge and experience and make connections to related
information.

1.B.5c Evaluate a variety of compositions for purpose, structure, content and details for use in
school or at work.

1.C.5d Summarize and make generalizations from content and relate them to the purpose of
the material.

2.A.5c Analyze the development of form (e.g., short stories, essays, speeches, poetry, plays,
novels) and purpose in American literature and literature of other countries.

2.A.5d Evaluate the influence of historical context on form, style and point of view for a variety
of literary works.

2.B.5b Apply knowledge gained from literature as a means of understanding contemporary and
historical economic, social and political issues and perspectives.

5.C.5a Using contemporary technology, create a research presentation or prepare a

documentary related to academic, technical or occupational topics and present the findings in
oral or multimedia formats.

Objectives:

1. To situate the Harlem Renaissance within its historical framework by studying its literature
and art

2. To understand the development of African-American literature by charting the course of its

genres and forms

3. To reflect upon the impact which the literary art forms of the Harlem Renaissance has had
upon our cultural landscape today.

Method:

The Harlem Unit will revolve around daily readings, media samples, and worksheet quizzes.
There will be a 40+ slide Powerpoint presentation that will accompany the daily lessons. We
will spend two days introducing the major elements of the Unit, three days reading Harlem
poetry and responding with our own, four days reading short stories by Zora Neale Hurston and
Richard Wright, a day discussing Jazz and its relevance to African-American history, and six days
creating and presenting class projects.

Assessment:

We will have daily check quizzes to gauge for comprehension of lessons, poems, and stories,
and the final projects will demonstrate research skills and over-arching knowledge of the
subject and its relevance to today. It also helps develop technology skills.