3.04 Identity and Freedom Assignment

The Harlem Renaissance dawned in an era of pervasive racism and segregation. Although legally “free,” many African Americans were still bound by ideas that had their roots in the slavery of earlier centuries. Keep this in mind as you answer these two questions:

1.) Identity and freedom are important ideas presented in many of the poems of the Harlem Renaissance. What image of freedom have you found most powerful in the poems you have read in this unit so far? (Include at least one specific reference to a poem in the unit.) Explain what makes that image so powerful.

2.) The values of identity and freedom are not unique to particular times and places. As Hughes expresses in “Dream Variations,” all humans want to be able to develop their identities in freedom. What is required of society to enable each individual to be true to his/her identity and to be free to live by that identity? (Give specific examples of what society—all of us—must do to make this happen.)