Discuss Harlem Renaissance “ if we must die” poem.

Read: • Any poem or short story from Phase I Harlem Renaissance reading List Write: • 4-6 page essay analyzing the text Purpose: • Complete a literary analysis and get warmed up and ready for in-depth analytical writing about literature in this course Possible Topics: Poetry: • Respond to the poetry’s key elements: o What are the images and how are they expressing the poet’s theme? o Analyze the theme, tone, and diction and how these elements are working together throughout the poem. o How is the poem critiquing/interrogating social structures of the times? What poetic craft elements (theme, tone, figurative language, etc.) are the poet using to accomplish this? o Is there symbolism in the poem, and if so, what is the effect? Fiction: • Analyzing the form, shape of the story o Is the story moving from problem to solution? o What shape is the story taking on the page, and how does this effect what the author is trying to accomplish? o Repetition in form, words, etc. • Analyzing the character(s) of the story o Analyze the characterization (weak or strong) o What are the characters trying to accomplish? o Who is the speaker, who is the girl, what is their relationship? • Analyzing something “original” about the story o What the story is trying to accomplish? o What the story is “not” (think comparatively to other, more traditional story subjects, structures)?