Harlem Renaissance Research Paper

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Literature of the Harlem Renaissance Titles such as The Dream Keeper, Harlem, Their Eyes Were Watching God, and Color are iconic to the time period of the Harlem Renaissance. In addition to the musical and artistic advances made by African Americans during this time, literature was also going through an era of new and upcoming authors. While works from Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, and Countee Cullen aided the growth and spread of black culture, the famous poems, novels, and collections of folklore contributed by these ingenious writers continue to impact and shape our society today. Langston Hughes, the man called the “Negro Poet Laureate” and the “Poet Laureate of Harlem”, made many impacts on the African American population as…show more content…
She has left a major mark on the literature and culture of African Americans. Although Hurston was born in Notasulga, Alabama in 1891, her father and stepmother quickly sent her away to a boarding school in Jacksonville, Florida where she spent the majority of her youth (Encyclopedia of World Biography). Cannon expresses through an article titled “Zora Neale Hurston” published by the Encyclopedia of Women and World Religion how Hurston’s works frequently have themes of religion and ethical issues which are believed to have derived from her upbringing by her father, a black Baptist pastor. Throughout her lifetime, Zora Neale Hurston’s work had been widely published. Not only has she collaborated on a comedic play named Mule Bone: A Comedy of Negro Life with previously mentioned Langston Hughes, Hurston is also the voice behind novels such as Jonah’s Gourd Vine; Moses, Man of the Mountain; Seraph on the Suwanee; and the largely acclaimed Their Eyes Were Watching God (Cannon). Hurston expresses the story Their Eyes Were Watching God in lyrical prose while the main character Janie Crawford discloses the stories behind “her 3 marriages, self-reliance, and identity as a black woman” (Encyclopedia Britannica). Hurston’s legacy as the “Queen of the Renaissance” continues on as her novels, plays, collections of folklore, and many other works continue to be read (Contemporary Black

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