Harlem Renissance Essay, Research Paper

The Writers of the Harlem Renaissance

Throughout my research of the Harlem Renaissance I learned many things I previously didn’t know. One aspect of the Harlem RENAISSANCE that I researched was the author Zora Neale Hurston, and her contributions to the period. I learned much about the black influence on writing while doing this project.

The Harlem Renaissance took place between the years of 1916 and 1940. During this time there occurred to be an artistic and intellectual revolution in “Back America”. It said to be driven by political and economic circumstances in the United States. That what the Harlem Renissance was based on many influential blacks showing their talents and speaking out about how they feel.

Zora Hurston had a very interesting and unique style of writing. Her style of writing was called “vernacular”. Which means that she wrote how people spoke not how words were support to be spelled. Hurston based most of her writing on folklore. Many people during this period considered Hustons writings to be “works of the devil”. Hurston based most of her writing on folklore. Hurston based most of her writing on folklore.

Throughout Hurstons career she wrote many short stories. Her first writing was published in 1921 in Stylus Magazine. Hurston is the only other writer to ever received as many awards as the very famous writer Langston Hughes.

A few of Hurstons works are “Drenched in Light” which was her second story to be published, She had an autobiography called “Dust Tracks on a Road”,and many other short stories entitled “sweat” and “How it Feels to be Colored Me”.

I was lucky enough to have read one of those stories. I read “Sweat”. It was about a black family living in the south and how they got through life. Now this was interesting because much of the language she used was vernacular, so at times it was difficult to understand because they way she wrote words wasn’t the way I was used to seeing them, so at first I wasn’t understanding what idea she was trying to write about or what message she was writing about.

While doing my research I read a few of her stories. While reading these stories I was very impressed by how she wrote. It takes a very talented writer to be able to write like that. Alot of people may be able to write in such a manner but only a select few would be able to work their way to the top using that style of writing