Michelle Mendoza, Criszel Corpuz,

Jan Kirby Zabala, Angelica Parangue

Black Arts Movement

• BAM is a 60’s movement that emphasized on self-determination through self-reliance and black control of organizations and institutions.

• Sought to create work that focused on African American cultural and historical experience.

• New York City considered the birthplace of BAM because many Black revolutionist lived in this area.

Amiri Baraka·Born on Oct.7, 1937 in Newark, New Jersey

·He was born as Everett LeRoi Jones and later changed it to Amiri Baraka.

·After the assassination of Malcom X, he moved to Harlem and became a Black Nationalist that broke free from the white Beat Generation and became an activist in the Civil Rights movement

·He was involved in many different types of jobs throughout his life.

·He established the Black Arts Repertory School (BARTS) and coined the term “Black Arts”

·Notable Works:  A Good Girl Is Hard to Find, a play, The System of Dante’s Hell (1965), a novel, Tales (1967), a collection of shortstories, In the Funk World, a poem, and Ka’ba.

Themes & Techniques

Racism is wrong and was crippling the country

Artists of BAM used literary techniques such as

colloquialism, diction, repetition, symbolism to combat

the racial stereotype that African Americans were

inferior.

Analysis of Ka’ba

Figurative Language Personification

Line 1-2: “A closed window looks down on a dirty courtyard…”

Tone- cold and dark tone which transforms into an inspirational one

Line 9-11: “We are beautiful people with African imaginations full of masks and dances and swelling chants…”

Imagery- buttresses the established tone Line 2: “…on a dirty courtyard, and Black people call across or scream

across or walk across…”

Meaning of the work: It acts as a form of inspiration for future generations to challenge oneself beyond ones limits. This theme is depicted through the struggles and spirit of the African American people.

Gwendolyn Brooks•Born on June 7, 1917 – December 3, 2000•Grew up in Chicago and encountered racial prejudice in her neighborhood and schools•Attended Hyde Park High School, the leading white high school in the city, then transferred to an all-black school, Wendell Phillips, and her schools gave her a perspective on the racial society she faced which continued to influence her work•Published her first poem in a children's magazine at the age of 13; at 17, she stuck to her roots and began submitting her work to "Lights and Shadows," the poetry column of the Chicago Defender, an African-American newspaper•Her characters are often drawn from the poor inner city which she was familiar with•Notable Works: Annie Allen, The Bean Eaters, We Real Cool, In The Mecca

Analysis of The Bean Eaters

• Symbol- The beans represent everything that the couple lacks, financially and

socially

• Repetition- She emphasizes how routine their life is by repeating “two who” and

“putting”

• Imagery- Describes the couple's lifestyle through the plain food and dinnerware

Lines 3-4 focuses on the imagery of the stuff which illustrates that clearly, they are poor

Lines 11-13, the piling images of stuff on top of each other gives a sense that the poem is as crowded as this couple's “rented back room”

The poem is a subtle reference to the social discrimination and economic tension that play out in the lives of everyday people in Chicago's South Side neighborhood suffering from poverty

Ntozake Shange[En-to-za-kee Shong-gā]

• Real Name: Paulette L. Williams

• Grew up in a middle-class home

• Musically Influenced by jazz, blues, soul • Literary influences include Shakespeare

& T. S. Eliot

• Experienced racism at a young age in school

• Attempted suicide after failed marriage

Notable Works

Sonia Sanchez

-Sonia Sanchez was born on September 9, 1934, in Birmingham, Alabama. -Her mother died in childbirth a year later-In 1943, she moved to Harlem-Formed a writers' workshop in Greenwich Village &formed the "Broadside Quartet" of young poets-She married and divorced Albert Sanchez, a Puerto Rican immigrant, then married for two years to poe, Etheridge Knight. -Was very influential to the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Arts Movement. 

Sonia Sanchez (continued)

-Wrote about the struggles and lives of Black America. -Later, adopted ideas from Black Muslim leader Malcolm X & focused on black heritage (seperatist)(believed blacks would never be truly accepted by whites in the United States)-Was a pioneer in developing black studies courses at what is now San Francisco State University, -Joined the Nation of Islam, but left the Nation, largely because of its repression of women-Sanchez is also known for her innovative melding of musical formats - like the blues - and traditional poetic formats like haiku and tanka-She also tends to use incorrect spelling to get her point across.-Notable Works:-Homecoming, Broadside Press, 1969-We a Baddddd People (1970), -Broadside Press, 1973

Poem #3

-Reflecting upon her personal “love life”- “you left behind”--She has divorced twice & the poem reveals that her man has left her “On our bed”-- Uses the word “our” after the break up denoting that her bed belongs to her ex-husband (she misses him)- “Each Nite”--Misspells “Nite” for emphasis (Nights are long and dark)- “I breathe you and become high” - She longs for her ex-husband, her excessive thoughts about her ex-husband kills her and relaxes her at the same time.- Impossibilities: You can not gather up sounds or breathe people.-Tone:Melancholy

Ballad

- “The rain exploding in the air is love”- Metaphor- “The grass excreting her green wax is love”-Metaphor- “stones remembering past steps is love”- Personification/Metaphor. Referring to history.- “You are too young for love”- Repetition for emphasis.-Tone changes from pessimistic to hopeful-She is remembering the explosion of the senses that love brings to one who has falllen HARD into love.-She fell asleep in her man's arms (she defines as love) - “Went to sleep in love”- In her love (within the man's arms; physically), and in love (emotionally).- In the beginning , she looked down on young love, but remembered that she was there at a point (hypocritical)- “All trace of me was wiped away”- refers to her divorce-Whether it is a mature or immature love, having your heart broken will have it's same effect- “forgive me if i smile”- She has hope- “ young heiress of a naked dream” - She will still stay strong even though her hopes and dreams were crushed through love.

Interactive Poem

Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note

By: Amiri Baraka

Lately, I've become accustomed to the way The ground opens up and envelopes me Each time I go out to walk the dog. Or the broad edged silly music the wind Makes when I run for a bus...

Things have come to that.

And now, each night I count the stars. And each night I get the same number. And when they will not come to be counted, I count the holes they leave.

Nobody sings anymore.

And then last night I tiptoed up To my daughter's room and heard her Talking to someone, and when I opened The door, there was no one there... Only she on her knees, peeking into

Her own clasped hands

AP Style Prompts

Many poems use contrasting places (for example, two distinct countries) to represent opposing societies that are essential to the meaning of the work. Analyze the poem and write an essay explaining how the use of figurative devices explicate the differences between presented place and how it contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole.

“Ka’ba” (Baraka)

Read the following poem carefully. Then, in a well-organized essay, analyze how the imagery of the poem conveys the speakers attitude toward the couples lifestyle.

“The Bean Eaters” (Brooks)

 In a brief essay, identify at least two of the implications implicit in the society reflected n the poem. Support your statements by specific references to the poem.

“My Father is a Retired Magician” (Shange)

Resources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amiri_Baraka

http://chisnell.com/APEng/LitCrit%20Wikis/Ka'%20Ba.aspx

http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ug01/hughes/intro.html

http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/147

http://www.nathanielturner.com/blackartsmovementlarryneal.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gwendolyn_Brooks

http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/a_f/brooks/life.htm

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/gwendolyn-brooks

QUIZ TIME!!!