​rethink.

 

The Harlem Renaissance was a phase of a larger New Negro movement that had emerged in the early 20th century and in some ways ushered in the civil rights movement of the late 1940s and early 1950s.  Our goal is to hook students on the movement known as the Harlem Renaissance through an observation and interpretation of photographs taken from different time periods in order to engage them in our future unit.  The pictures will act as a “WOW” factor in order to spark the student’s curiosity for knowledge about the most influential movement in African American literary history.  Throughout the unit the students will explore different things such as literature, music and art in order to gain a better understanding of the movement in general.  In order to stress the importance that each of these elements played during the Harlem Renaissance students will be encouraged to recreate and reflect on different influential works from the time.  

 

Rationale:

We want students to be able to place themselves in a different place and time in American history.  This was a blossoming time for African American culture and perhaps the most influential movement in African American history and we want students to become familiar with this movement in order to better understand American history..  Through an integration and immersion of art and literature students will explore the mood of the times and gain a better knowledge about a different era in American history.  Through this exploration students will learn about and gain new perspectives on the Harlem Renaissance and gain a better understanding.