...Answer - Chosen by Voters Nella Larsen's second novel Passing on the other hand concentrates on the issue of skin color. As we can see from our own experiences, everyone is not the same shade. Many people of color were affected by this both dark- and light-skinned especially during Nella Larsen's era. While the light-skinned black people were dominating the black establishments, the dark-skinned black people were feeling rejection from their own kind. Passing addresses this issue through the character of Clare Kendry who was also an atrractive light skin fine haired women who manages to escape poverty by passing for being a white women. She marries a wealthy white man who also believes that she is white as well. Her journey across the color line is completely sucessful until she reunites with her old friend Irene. Irene Redfield is married to an attractive and sucessful black physician who Clare finds herself attracted to and he to her, so Clare decides to pursue him. Irene was aware of Clare's threat to her marriage and arranges for Clare's disappearence. Clare falls to her death from an open window just before her husband is about to confront her with his discovery of her black roots. Passing can be related more to Nella Larsen's actual life; she was also a light-skinned women who dominated the black intellectual etablishments and because of her color could have and may have at some points in her life passed for a white woman. I don't think Nella Larsen wanted to cease being black...
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...Zora Neale Hurston, part artist/author and part social scientist her prowess for anthropological research help preserve some of the African-American cultural traditions and Folklife especially those that stemmed from Haiti and the Caribbean Islands (you can check out some of the Haitian folk songs here https://www.floridamemory.com/audio/hurston.php). One of her strengths was in her incorporation of her research into her writing; the bridge of information can be seen in Mules and Men which captures an account of her own research adventures but also African-American Folklore and life in Florida and New Orleans. If one could consider Hurston having any weaknesses it would most likely be her political conservatism, her biggest gaff being on...
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...A person's sense of identity is crucial in their well-being, shaping their behavior and their overall content state of life. Nella Larsen’s Passing clearly depicts the main character, Irene’s, struggle with her identity. Thereby, Irene continually allows Clare Kendry, a girl from her past, to affect her, despite the several occasions when Irene claimed she was finished with Clare Kendry. Irene Redfield relies on Clare Kendry to maintain her sense of her own identity because she used Clare as a foundation. If Clare Kendry no longer continues to pass as a white woman, she will be just like Irene, potentially causing her to lose everything important to her. These important factors include her family and her social status. Further proving, Irene Redfield is an incredibly unstable character, for her own sense of sanity, she needs Clare Kendry to continue to pass to help her maintain her own sense of identity. Before Clare and Irene reunite at the Drayton, they had a civil relationship during their childhoods before Clare drifted apart from her old community after her father’s passing. After lunch, Clare becomes desperate to see Irene again and continues to assert her presence in not only Irene’s life, but her family, and her social life. Clare’s authors a letter to Irene at the beginning of the novel, shortly after their...
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...The formation of self-identity is a process each of us must go through on our journey to adulthood. The development of a system by which to lead our adult lives is difficult for all children, but especially for African American children. In addition to defining their personal character, they must define themselves in terms of their culture and nationality – African American and American. One of the ways in which black children create their self-identity is through the illustrations they see in the literature they are exposed to. We look to African American children’s books to help promote self-esteem, cultural identity, and pride for African American children. As books are read to them, children concentrate on the images, and become subject to the impressions these images create. Children’s books that are authentic to African American culture, physicality and intelligence are few and far between. With consideration to our theme, “Black Literary Contemplations on Thomas Jefferson and Western Enlightenment Ideologies of Race and Humanity” and Thomas Jefferson’s Query XIV, it is my belief that the images in children’s literature are important to development of self- identity and esteem in African American children. In Query XIV, in his comparison of whites and blacks, Thomas Jefferson commented on the beauty of whites and blacks, and critiqued blacks because of their “immovable veil of black” and lack of flowing hair. He then stated that black men favored white women over black...
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...contribution to ever struggling black community. It had people who helped make changes with problems such as segregation. They were talented black individuals who didn’t make black race like just slaves. They showed that they are strong talented people. Novels * Arna Bontemps — God Sends Sunday (1931), Black Thunder (1936) * Countee Cullen — One Way to Heaven (1932) * Jessie Redmon Fauset — There is Confusion (1924), Plum Bun (1928), The Chinaberry Tree (1931), Comedy, American Style (1933) * Rudolph Fisher — The Walls of Jericho (1928), The Conjure-Man Dies (1932) * Langston Hughes — Not Without Laughter (1930) * Zora Neale Hurston — Jonah's Gourd Vine (1934), Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937) * Nella Larsen — Quicksand (1928), Passing (1929) * Claude McKay — Home to Harlem (1927), Banjo (1929), Gingertown (1931), Banana Bottom (1933) * George Schuyler — Black No More (1931), Slaves Today (1931) * Wallace Thurman — The Blacker the Berry (1929), Infants of the Spring (1932), Interne (1932) * Jean Toomer — Cane (1923) * Carl Van Vechten — Nigger Heaven (1926) * Walter White — The Fire in the Flint (1924), Flight (1926) Short Story Collections * Eric Walrond — Tropic Death (1926) Drama * Joseph Seamon Cotter, Jr., author of the play, On the Fields of France. * Charles Gilpin, actor * Angelina Weld...
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...Renaissance was also a time of significant intellectual and political activity. Alain Locke, often called the "Dean" of the Harlem Renaissance, emphasized the importance of African American cultural expression in his anthology *The New Negro*. Locke argued that the arts could be a powerful tool for social change, promoting a new sense of racial pride and dignity (Locke, 1925). This intellectual ferment laid the groundwork for future civil rights activism. THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE The Harlem Renaissance also witnessed the emergence of powerful female voices that contributed significantly to the movement’s vibrancy. Beyond Zora Neale Hurston, women such as Nella Larsen and Jessie Fauset played crucial roles in shaping the literature and culture of the time. Nella Larsen's novels Quicksand and Passing offered profound insights into the complexities of racial and gender identity, exploring themes of mixed heritage and societal expectations (Wintz and Finkelman, 2004). Jessie Fauset, an editor of the influential magazine The Crisis and author of several novels, provided a platform for African American writers and was instrumental in shaping the discourse of the era. THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE’S INFLUENCE ON FUTURE MOVEMENTS The cultural and artistic achievements of the Harlem Renaissance had a lasting impact on subsequent generations and movements. The Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s drew inspiration from the Renaissance's emphasis on racial pride and cultural...
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