Harlem Renaissance

This study guide collection features the revolutionary writers of the Harlem Renaissance era, such as Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, and Nella Larsen, as well as contemporary titles that pay homage to this groundbreaking and distinctly American literary movement.

Publication year 2024Genre Novel, FictionThemes Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Identity: Race, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Life/Time: The Past, Natural World: Flora/plants, Society: Community, Values/Ideas: Fate, Values/Ideas: MusicTags Romance, Harlem Renaissance, Modern Classic Fiction, History: World, Historical Fiction, Magical Realism, Fantasy

Publication year 1921Genre Poem, FictionThemes Society: Nation, Emotions/Behavior: ConflictTags Lyric Poem, Harlem Renaissance, Race / Racism

Publication year 1931Genre Short Story, FictionThemes Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Identity: Masculinity, Life/Time: AgingTags Depression / Suicide, Great Depression, Harlem Renaissance, African American Literature, Poverty, Grief / Death

“A Summer Tragedy” is a short story written by poet and fiction author Arna Bontemps. It was originally published in 1933 in Opportunity and has since been included in multiple anthologies, including Bontemps’s 1973 short story collection The Old South: “A Summer Tragedy” and Other Stories of the Thirties. Focusing on an elderly Black couple who have endured a difficult life of share farming, “A Summer Tragedy” addresses the themes of Desperation and Hopelessness, The... Read A Summer Tragedy Summary


Publication year 2018Genre Biography, NonfictionThemes Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Relationships: Family, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Identity: Language, Identity: Race, Society: CommunityTags Historical Fiction, Harlem Renaissance, History: U.S., Race / Racism, African American Literature, Anthropology, Black Lives Matter, Civil Rights / Jim Crow, Grief / Death, History: African , Social Justice, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, History: World, Biography

Originally written in the late 1920s and early 1930s, Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo” (2018) is the transcribed posthumous autobiography of the life of Oluale “Cudjo Lewis” Kossola (1841-1935), written by Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960). Known for her involvement in the Harlem Renaissance, Hurston was a writer, anthropologist, folklorist, and filmmaker. In all her work, she held a special appreciation for Black life and Black culture of the US South. Her works... Read Barracoon: The Story of the Last "Black Cargo" Summary


Publication year 1931Genre Novel, FictionTags Satire, Harlem Renaissance, Race / Racism, Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, American Literature, Humor, Classic Fiction

George S. Schuyler’s novel, Black No More: Being an Account of the Strange and Wonderful Workings of Science in the Land of the Free, A.D. 1933-1940, is a satirical novel first published in 1931 by the Macaulay Company. The novel was reissued in 2015 by Martino Publishing, based in Mansfield Centre, Connecticut. Some contemporary scholars categorize this work retrospectively as one of the earliest pieces of literary Afrofuturism, a kind of science fiction unique to... Read Black No More Summary


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Publication year 1923Genre Novel, FictionThemes Identity: Sexuality, Society: CommunityTags Harlem Renaissance, American Literature, Modernism, Race / Racism, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Science / Nature, Education, Education, History: World, Classic Fiction

Cane, Jean Toomer’s most famous book, was first published in 1923. The original publication of the novel was a foundational moment in the Harlem Renaissance literary movement. Cane’s reissue (after being out of print for many years) in 1967 came out during the Second Renaissance of African American literature. This guide cites the 2019 Penguin Books edition. This guide also briefly mentions lynching and other racial violence as they appear in the novel.Other work by... Read Cane Summary


Publication year 1926Genre Poem, FictionTags Race / Racism, Harlem Renaissance

Publication year 1924Genre Short Story, FictionThemes Identity: Race, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Society: CommunityTags Harlem Renaissance, African American Literature, Southern Literature, Classic Fiction

Zora Neale Hurston’s “Drenched in Light” is set in 1920s Florida and follows a single day of a young girl named Isis Watts, or Isie. The setting of a small town right outside of Orlando resembles Hurston’s own childhood in Eatonville. Published in 1924 by Opportunity: A Journal of Negro Life, “Drenched in Light” debuted early in Hurston’s career and includes some of her recurring themes dealing with race, gender, and identity. Hurston went on... Read Drenched in Light Summary


Publication year 1942Genre Autobiography / Memoir, NonfictionTags Harlem Renaissance, Race / Racism, History: World, Classic Fiction, Biography

Dust Tracks on a Road is the memoir of Harlem-Renaissance-era writer Zora Neale Hurston. Originally published in 1943, the book won the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award in Race Relations in the nonfiction category. This guide is based on the 1996 Harper Perennial edition of her original text. The book offers an account of Hurston’s life up until 1941 and her perspective on race relations, friendship, love, and religion.In Chapter 1, Hurston offers cultural and historical background... Read Dust Tracks on a Road Summary


Publication year 1922Genre Poem, FictionThemes Natural World: Nurture v. Nature, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Win & LoseTags Lyric Poem, Existentialism, Harlem Renaissance

Publication year 1951Genre Poem, FictionThemes Life/Time: The Future, Identity: Race, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Equality, Society: NationTags Lyric Poem, Harlem Renaissance, African American Literature, Civil Rights / Jim Crow, Race / Racism, History: U.S., Urban Development

Publication year 1928Genre Novel, FictionTags Harlem Renaissance, Race / Racism, History: U.S., American Literature, Historical Fiction, Classic Fiction

Home to Harlem, Claude McKay’s 1927 novel set in the Harlem underworld, is the story of Jake Brown, an attractive African American who deserts the US military during World War I in France because he is forced to be a menial laborer rather than a soldier.Jakemakes his way home as a ship’s cook, embarking in London, where he spent the remainder of the war living with a white girlfriend. When he reaches Harlem, Jake encountershis... Read Home To Harlem Summary


Publication year 1928Genre Essay / Speech, NonfictionTags Harlem Renaissance, Creative Nonfiction, Education, Education, American Literature, Classic Fiction

This guide is based on the electronic version of Zora Neale Hurston’s “How It Feels to Be Colored Me,” available at the University of Virginia’s Mules and Men website. The original essay was published in the May 1928 edition ofThe World Tomorrow. Hurston’s essay is her explanation of how she experiences being African-American.Hurston opens the essay with the comment that she is “a Negro” and unlike many African-Americans claims no Native American ancestry. Prior to... Read How It Feels To Be Colored Me Summary


Publication year 1919Genre Poem, FictionThemes Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Values/Ideas: Equality, Values/Ideas: Power & GreedTags Grief / Death, Race / Racism, Colonialism / Postcolonialism, African American Literature, Harlem Renaissance, Education, Education, Classic Fiction

Publication year 2008Genre Poem, FictionThemes Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Identity: RaceTags Lyric Poem, Harlem Renaissance, Race / Racism, Social Justice

Publication year 1925Genre Poem, FictionThemes Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: EqualityTags Narrative / Epic Poem, Harlem Renaissance, Race / Racism

Publication year 1926Genre Poem, FictionThemes Values/Ideas: Equality, Identity: RaceTags Lyric Poem, Race / Racism, Civil Rights / Jim Crow, African American Literature, Harlem Renaissance, Black Arts Movement

Publication year 1922Genre Poem, FictionThemes Values/Ideas: Beauty, Natural World: Environment, Values/Ideas: Equality, Society: Economics, Society: ClassTags Harlem Renaissance

Publication year 1936Genre Poem, FictionThemes Identity: Race, Values/Ideas: Equality, Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Values/Ideas: Justice & InjusticeTags Social Justice, African American Literature, Harlem Renaissance, History: U.S., American Literature, Classic Fiction

Publication year 1959Genre Poem, FictionThemes Identity: Race, Natural World: Animals, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Values/Ideas: Equality, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / PerseveranceTags Lyric Poem, Harlem Renaissance, American Literature, African American Literature, Race / Racism, Civil Rights / Jim Crow, Social Justice, History: U.S.

Publication year 1987Genre Poem, FictionThemes Identity: RaceTags Lyric Poem, Race / Racism, Harlem Renaissance, African American Literature, Education, Education

Publication year 1930Genre Novel, FictionThemes Values/Ideas: Music, Life/Time: Coming of AgeTags Classic Fiction, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Auto/Biographical Fiction, History: U.S., Harlem Renaissance, Race / Racism, American Literature, History: World, Historical Fiction

Published in 1930, near the end of the Harlem Renaissance, Langston Hughes's Not Without Laughter is a coming-of-age narrative about James "Sandy" Rogers, an African-American boy from the small Kansas town of Stanton. Loosely based on Hughes's own childhood in Kansas, the novel traces the challenges of African-American life in the Midwest during the years leading up to World War I. The novel opens with a cyclone that rips the porch from the house of... Read Not Without Laughter Summary


Publication year 1928Genre Novel, FictionThemes Identity: Race, Identity: Gender, Life/Time: Coming of AgeTags Harlem Renaissance, Classic Fiction, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Race / Racism, Gender / Feminism, Arts / Culture, African American Literature, Women's Studies (Nonfiction), American Literature, Historical Fiction

Jessie Redmon Fauset’s Plum Bun: A Novel Without a Moral recounts the story of a young Black woman in the 1920s who decides to pass as white. Ostensibly a coming-of-age story, the novel features a complex treatment of racial barriers and gender inequalities. While the trajectory of the novel is straightforward and relatively typical for the bildungsroman—young woman leaves home, discovers herself through a series of obstacles she must overcome, and finally learns how to... Read Plum Bun Summary


Publication year 1928Genre Novel, FictionThemes Emotions/Behavior: GriefTags Harlem Renaissance, Race / Racism, Education, Education, American Literature, History: World, Historical Fiction, Classic Fiction

Quicksand tells the story of Helga Crane, a young woman of biracial parentage who experiences discrimination in America in the early 20th century. She and her Danish mother are deserted by her African-American father shortly after her birth. The early portion of the book portrays Helga as a young teacher at Naxos, a boarding school in the American South established for the purpose of educating young Negro children. The book relies heavily upon an increasingly... Read Quicksand Summary


Publication year 1893Genre Poem, FictionThemes Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / PerseveranceTags African American Literature, Harlem Renaissance

Publication year 1925Genre Short Story, FictionThemes Identity: Masculinity, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal, Emotions/Behavior: RevengeTags Harlem Renaissance, Women's Studies (Nonfiction), American Literature, Historical Fiction, Classic Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction, History: U.S., Arts / Culture, Black Lives Matter, African American Literature

“Spunk” is a short story by Zora Neale Hurston published in 1925. Set in the rural Southern United States, “Spunk” follows the conflict that ensues when one man pursues another man’s wife. The story’s publication helped establish Hurston as a significant literary voice during the Harlem Renaissance. In 1989, George C. Wolfe adapted the story, along with content from two others by Hurston, into a play by the same name. Citations in this guide correspond... Read Spunk Summary


Publication year 1923Genre Poem, FictionThemes Natural World: Climate, Values/Ideas: Beauty, Natural World: EnvironmentTags Science / Nature, Harlem Renaissance

Publication year 1926Genre Short Story, FictionThemes Relationships: Marriage, Society: Community, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / PerseveranceTags Harlem Renaissance, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Gender / Feminism, Education, Education, African American Literature, American Literature, History: World, Classic Fiction

The short story “Sweat” by American author Zora Neale Hurston was first published in 1926 in Fire!!, a single-issue magazine published during the Harlem Renaissance. Hurston was an anthropologist and writer whose works included many essays on anthropology and folklore focused on African American communities in the American South and the Caribbean, as well as novels and short stories. Her interest in anthropology is reflected in her creative work. For example, she often wrote dialog... Read Sweat Summary


Publication year 1958Genre Short Story, FictionTags Harlem Renaissance, Children's Literature, Education, Education, Arts / Culture, Historical Fiction, Classic Fiction

A “large woman with a large purse that ha[s] everything in it but hammer and nails” is walking home late at night when a teenage boy runs up to her and tries to steal her purse (Paragraph 1). He loses his balance and falls, and the woman “kick[s] him right square in his blue-jeaned sitter” before hauling him to his feet (Paragraph 1). She questions why he tried to rob her before remarking that his... Read Thank You, M'am Summary


Publication year 1912Genre Novel, FictionThemes Values/Ideas: Art, Identity: RaceTags Historical Fiction, Race / Racism, African American Literature, Harlem Renaissance, Arts / Culture

Published anonymously in 1912, The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man is James Weldon Johnson’s fictional memoir centered on how a talented man born to a Black mother and a white father after the Civil War became white in the early-20th century. Johnson, an important critical and artistic contributor to the Harlem Renaissance, published the novel under his own name in 1927 during the height of the movement. The novel is an important bridge between the... Read The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man Summary


Publication year 1622Genre Play, FictionThemes Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Emotions/Behavior: LoveTags Play: Tragedy, British Literature, Harlem Renaissance, Education, Education, History: World, Drama / Tragedy, Classic Fiction

The Changeling is a Jacobean tragicomedy written in collaboration between established playwrights Thomas Middleton and William Rowley. It was first performed in 1622 and published in 1653. The play is adapted from John Reynolds’s 1621 story collection titled The Triumphs of Gods Revenge Against the Crying and Execrable Sinne of Willful and Premeditated Murther.The play has two plots: a tragic main plot and a comedic subplot. Scholars believe Middleton wrote the majority of the main... Read The Changeling Summary


Publication year 1917Genre Poem, FictionThemes Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Values/Ideas: Beauty, Identity: RaceTags Lyric Poem, Harlem Renaissance, American Literature

Publication year 1951Genre Poem, FictionThemes Identity: RaceTags Lyric Poem, Race / Racism, Harlem Renaissance, Education, Education

Publication year 1926Genre Essay / Speech, NonfictionThemes Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Identity: Race, Values/Ideas: ArtTags Creative Nonfiction, Harlem Renaissance, Inspirational, Auto/Biographical Fiction, Race / Racism, Arts / Culture, Black Lives Matter, Diversity, African American Literature, Education, Education, Social Justice, Classic Fiction, Politics / Government

In Langston Hughes’s “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain,” the writer presents his argument regarding the creative limitations Black Americans face. Initially published in 1926, the essay traces a short, powerful argument that relies both on Hughes’s own identity as an artist as well as his critical observations of US society. As a Black author writing in the early 20th century, Hughes uses the terms “Negro” and “black” interchangeably; this study guide exclusively uses... Read The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain Summary


Publication year 1922Genre Poem, FictionThemes Society: Immigration, Emotions/Behavior: NostalgiaTags Lyric Poem, Immigration / Refugee, Afro-Caribbean Literature, Harlem Renaissance, Food

Publication year 1934Genre Short Story Collection, FictionThemes Values/Ideas: MusicTags Harlem Renaissance, Race / Racism, American Literature, Historical Fiction, Social Justice, Classic Fiction

Published in 1934, The Ways of White Folks is Langston Hughes’s collection of 14 short stories focusing on race relations in the United States. With somber tales of struggle and violence, as well as moments of irony and humor, the collection addresses racism, economic disparity, and hope. This study guide quotes and obscures Hughes’s use of the n-word. Plot Summary“Cora Unashamed” tells the story of Cora Jenkins, who works as a maid for a cruel... Read The Ways of White Folks Summary


Publication year 1931Genre Poem, FictionThemes Values/Ideas: Justice & InjusticeTags Race / Racism, Harlem Renaissance

Publication year 2014Genre Poem, FictionThemes Identity: Race, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Values/Ideas: Equality, Values/Ideas: Justice & InjusticeTags Race / Racism, Social Justice, Harlem Renaissance, Black Arts Movement

Publication year 1960Genre Poem, FictionThemes Emotions/Behavior: Determination / PerseveranceTags Classic Fiction, Black Arts Movement, Lyric Poem, Harlem Renaissance, Food, Education, Education, African American Literature, History: World

Gwendolyn Brooks stands among the foremost American poets of the 20th century. A master of poetic form and portraiture, she explored black life in Chicago, where she lived for the majority of her life. The poem “We Real Cool,” Brooks’s most famous work, appeared in her 1960 collection The Bean Eaters.As a fledgling writer, Brooks combined early influences from the literary era of modernism, defined by poets like Ezra Pound, Wallace Stevens, T.S. Eliot, and... Read We Real Cool Summary