Please answer all of the questions listed below. Each question should be answered in at minimum 1-2 paragraphs. All answers must be written in complete sentences. Your answers should include specific examples from the poems you are analyzing and from the readings and course lectures. The question asks students to analyze the two poems, “If We Must Die” and “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” assigned during Week 2. Please answer the following questions: What are the poems “If We Must Die” by Claude McKay and “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” by Langston Hughes about? What are the main themes of each poem? What do you think the authors are trying to convey? How do each of these poems reflect the ideology of the “New Negro”? In your opinion, are the views expressed by the two authors in these poems consistent with the intellectual and cultural developments that took place in Black urban centers during the Great Migration? Why or why not? In Week 2, you learned about some of the various forms of anti-Black violence that African American communities faced at the beginning of the twentieth century. How does Claude McKay’s “If We Must Die” relate to African American’s responses to that anti-Black violence? What forms of resistance to violence and political oppression do you think he has in mind? (Try answer this question broadly. Refer to at least two different types of resistance in your answer) This assignment will be graded according to the following criteria: Does the assignment address all the questions posed? Does the assignment demonstrate a close, careful, and thoughtful reading of the primary sources? Does the assignment demonstrate a strong familiarity with course topics and themes? Are all the claims made in the assignment accurate? Does the assignment make sense? Are the ideas within it communicated clearly within it? Citations: Your essay should include citations. Please cite the works you refer to. Your citations may follow Chicago Style, MLA, or APA formats. While citations must be included, students will not be penalized for imperfect citation formats.
