MODERNISM

Modernism
The topic I choose to write about is called Harlem Renaissance. I choose to write about this because this the time period where African Americans where known for more than being slaves they were known fro their knowledge and the hard work they did to form what is known today as the Harlem Renaissance. I think during the Harlem Renaissance people realized that African Americans were capable of great writing and thoughts.
I also choose this topic because during this time African Americans were going through enough problems already, they finally had figured out that America was not the American Dream they thought it would be so they would write about things that they saw as the American Dream in their mind. I expect to see the Harlem Renaissance in the literature I’m about to read because Harlem Renaissance is nothing but modernism since modernism is basically when arts and styles and literature begun during the 20th century. I think Harlem Renaissance is one of the best times of Modernism because there was so much great work out then that is still great today.
I really liked the story I read by Zora Hurston it was kind of a sad story. I didn’t like how they used different words that I didn’t understand but I really enjoyed the story a lot. I think it was wrong how Delia was treated by her husband. I understand why the story is called “Sweat” because she went through a lot of tears and sweat to get where she at. And all the tears and sweat got her everything that she has earned.
I don’t see how she could be married to a man like her husband anyway. I know I wouldn’t be with a disrespectful and abusive. I think she was a strong woman because she continues her work and went through tears and sweat no matter what. Her husband Syke was a very low down man I couldn’t believe it when he showed her that snake and he know she was terrified of snakes. I was so glad when the snake bit him. I think he really deserved it. The whole story was sad but good. I think Zora Hurston wrote this story because she went through it before herself.
The topic I choose has a lot to do with this because the story “Sweat” was written by one of the Harlem Renaissance greatest Zora Hurston. The story is a good example of Harlem Renaissance because it shows that even blacks that was once slaves has a story to tell and I kind of feel that is basically what the Harlem Renaissance was, black people who came from nothing expressing their self and their experience through words like Zora Hurston did in “Sweat”.

Another reason I think it relates is because Harlem Renaissance was basically a time period of great literature and Zora Hurston “Sweat” is a good example. One of the quotes I like from the story that describes the story title well is when Delia says: “Looka heah, Sykes, you done gone too fur. Ah been married to you fur fifteen years, and Ah been takin' in washin' for fifteen years. Sweat, sweat, sweat! Work and sweat, cry and sweat, pray and sweat!” I think this is the best quote in the book because it basically tells why the story is called “Sweat”.
I think the quote means that out of all the years she been working hard and sweating her husband still don’t appreciate her. And I really do understand where she coming from. Another good quote from the story is “She lay there. "Delia. Delia!" She could hear Sykes calling in a most despairing tone as one who expected no answer”. I really liked this quote because I think this is when what he did to his wife seem to have turned back on him.
I was glad when this happened because he deserved it.

The poem Richard Corey by Edwin Robinson was another good modernism poem because it was about the American Dream that everybody thought that the guy in the poem had but he obviously didn’t because in the end he kills his self. After reading the poem you would think the guy had everything he wanted in life because everyone admired him and the stuff he did, but that’s just another example of Harlem Renaissance because during this time people was going through so much and the wanted to write and think about more happy things than what was going on like slavery and depression. One of my favorite from the poem is “Went home and put a bullet through his head.” I like this line because it states and prove that life is not always the American Dream and what looks good on the outside is not always good on the inside.

The poem “Mending wall” seems to be about the someone or something being apart or separated from eachother. The poem was very confusing but, I liked it after I read it. I think the wall in the poem was interfering with the neighbors relationship. But, I think it is the wall that mended them together. I think both neighbors had different feeling about the wall . One feels that since the wall is up it interferes with their friendship. One neighbor believes that the wall is a sense of privacy, but it does not interfere with the two neighbor’s friendship. But, either way the wall is a mending wall of interference that is getting on both neighbors nerves. Mending Wall is a good example of Phychoanalysis. I say this because from the poem it seem like that people thought they knew what he was thinking but they didn’t and Phychoanalysis basically is when the writer is getting in the reader mind. The quote I enjoyed the most from “Mending Walls” is “And set the wall between us once again.” I like this poem because it shows how much the wall was an interference that annoyed both neighbors but at the same time mended them together.

The poem “A Dream Deffered” is a very good poem. I have seen this poem once before when I read the book “A Raisin in the Sun” I really like this poem because it is basically saying when you don’t fullfil your dreams they just explode. And I think that is very true. In the poem it gives examples of what could happen to a dream if it is not fulfilled it could dry up like a raisin in the sun, Or fester like a sore And then run, Or crust and sugar over like a syrupy sweet, or explode. This poem to me is an example of Harlem Renaissance because Langston Hughes is one of the greatest writers of Harlem Renaissance and this poem is a great example of good literature. One of my favorite quotes is “Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun” I like this poem because it actually describes what happen to a dream that is not fulfilled.
I really liked the poem The Negro Speaks of Rivers because in the poem he talks about all the places he has seen and people who read this would think he lying because most black people during that time didn’t see to much of nothing. The poem is an example of Disillusionment because disillusionment is basically freeing oneself, or getting away from an illusion and that seem like what he doing in the poem thinking about the great places he has seen. The quote that backs this up is “My soul has grown deep like the rivers” To me this is a good example because he is comparing his life with long rivers and I really liked the comparisons.
The poem Incident was short and interesting. I liked the poem because after going all around Baltimore all he remembers is being called a nigger. I also think that it’s very sad that from a good expierience that all he remember. The qoute “That's all that I remember”. Is my favorite quote from the poem because it sum up the whole incident and basically say that’s all he remembered.
I really enjoyed all the poems because they all were good examples of modernism and they all were easy and very understanding.