What is one difference in the themes of "Harlem" and "The Weary Blues"?
In what way are the lines of "The Weary Blues" similar to the lyrics of a blues song?
What is one difference in the way sensory details are used in "Harlem" and "The Weary Blues"?
The speaker in "Harlem" contemplates
Read the poem “If We Must Die” by Claude McKay. If we must die—let it not be like hogsHunted and penned in an inglorious spot,While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs,Making their mock at our accursed lot.If we must die—oh, let us nobly die So that our precious blood may not be shedIn vain; then even the monsters we defyShall be constrained to honor us though dead!Oh, Kinsmen! We must meet the common foe;Though far outnumbered, let us still be brave, And for their thousand blows deal one death-blow!What though before us lies the open grave?Like men we’ll face the murderous, cowardly pack,Pressed to the wall, dying, but—fighting back!What sentence best conveys the speaker’s message?
Read the excerpt from "Harlem."Does it stink like rotten meat?Or crust and sugar over-like a syrupy sweet?Read the excerpt from "The Weary Blues."Droning a drowsy syncopated tuneRocking back and forth to a mellow croonIn both poems, Hughes uses the imagery to
The speaker’s tone in "Harlem" is best described as
Read the poem “If We Must Die” by Claude McKay. If we must die—let it not be like hogsHunted and penned in an inglorious spot,While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs,Making their mock at our accursed lot.If we must die—oh, let us nobly die, So that our precious blood may not be shedIn vain; then even the monsters we defyShall be constrained to honor us though dead!Oh, Kinsmen! We must meet the common foe;Though far outnumbered, let us still be brave, And for their thousand blows deal one death-blow!What though before us lies the open grave?Like men we’ll face the murderous, cowardly pack,Pressed to the wall, dying, but—fighting back!Which best describes the speaker in this poem?
Read the excerpt from "The Weary Blues."He made that poor piano moan with melody. O Blues!Swaying to and fro on his rickety stoolHe played that sad raggy tune like a musical fool. Sweet Blues!Coming from a black man's soul. O Blues! The phrases “O Blues!” and “Sweet Blues!” are examples of
In what way does the line “sags like a heavy load” in "Harlem" relate to the overall feeling of "The Weary Blues"?
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