Michelle Mendoza, Criszel Corpuz,

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• Michelle Mendoza, Criszel Corpuz,
• Jan Kirby Zabala, Angelica Parangue

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Black Arts Movement

• BAM is a 60s 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.

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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 Dantes
Hell (1965), a novel, Tales (1967), a collection
of short stories, In the Funk World, a poem, and
Kaba.
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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.

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Analysis of Kaba

• 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.

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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

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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

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Ntozake ShangeEn-to-za-kee Shong-ga

• 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

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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. 
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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

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• 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.-ToneMelancholy

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.
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Interactive Poem

• Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note
• By Amiri BarakaLately, 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
  intoHer own clasped hands

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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.
• Kaba (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)

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Resources

• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amiri_Baraka
• http//chisnell.com/APEng/LitCrit20Wikis/Ka'20Ba
  .aspx
• http//xroads.virginia.edu/ug01/hughes/intro.html
  
• http//www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/147
• http//www.nathanielturner.com/blackartsmovementla
  rryneal.htm
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gwendolyn_Brooks
• http//www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/a_f/bro
  oks/life.htm
• http//www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/gwendolyn-broo
  ks

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QUIZ TIME!!!