Principles of Harlem Renaissance, Black Arts, and Black Feminist

1. Offer a close reading of the following passage. In your analysis, discuss how the passage both reflects some of the larger themes of the play, how it illustrates some of the fundamental principles of the Harlem Renaissance, and how it fails to achieve them.
“You didn’t s’pose I was holdin’ down dis Emperor job for de glory in it, did you? Sho’! De fuss and glory part of it, dat’s only to turn de head o’ de low-flung, bush niggers dat’s here. Dey wants de big circus show for deir money. I gives it to ’em and I gits de money. […] Ain’t I de Emperor? De laws don’t go for him. You heah what I tells you, Smithers. Dere’s little stealin’ like you does, and dere’s big stealin’ like I does. For de little stealin’ dey gits you in jail soon or late. For de big stealin’ dey makes you Emperor and puts you in the Hall o’ Fame when you croaks. If dey’s one thing I learns in ten years on de Pullman’s cars listenin’ to de white quality talk, it’s dat same fact. And when I gits a chance to use it I winds up Emperor in two years.”
2. Offer a close reading of the following passage. In your analysis, discuss how the passage both reflects some of the larger themes of the play and how it illustrates some of the fundamental principles of the Black Arts and Black Power movements.
“Everything you say is wrong. What’ve you got that jacket and tie on in all this heat for? And why’re you wearing a jacket and tie like that? Did your people ever burn witches or start revolutions over the price of tea? Boy, those narrow-shoulder clothes come from a tradition you ought to feel oppressed by. A three-button suit. What right do you have to be wearing a three-button suit and striped tie? Your grandfather was a slave, he didn’t go to Harvard. […] And who do you think you were? Who do you think you are now? […] I vet you never once thought you were a black nigger.”
3. Offer a close reading of the following passage. In your analysis, discuss how the passage both reflects some of the larger themes of the play and how it illustrates some of the fundamental principles of the Black Feminist and Black Theatre movements.
“somebody almost walked off wid alla my stuff
not my poems or a dance i have up in the street
but somebody almost walked off wid alla my stuff
like a kleptomaniac workin hard & forgettin while stealin
this is mine/ this aint yr stuff/
now why dont you put me back & let me hang out with my own self […]
this is mine/ ntozake ‘her own things’/ that’s my name/
now give me my stuff/ i see ya hidin my laugh/ & how i
sit wif my legs open sometimes/ to give my crotch
some sunlight/ & there goes my love my toes my chewed
up finger nails/ niggah/ wif the curls in yr hair/
mr. louisiana hot link/ i want my stuff back/
my rhythms & my voice/ open my mouth/ & let me talk ya
outta/ trowin my shit in the wear/ this is some delicate
leg & unwhimsical kiss/ I gotta have to give to my choice […]
i want my things
i want my arm with the hot iron scar/ & my leg with the
flea bite/ i want my calloused feet & quik language back
in my mouth”
4. Offer a close reading of the following passage. In your analysis, discuss how the passage both reflects some of the larger themes of the play and how it connects with the play’s broader commentary on the history of white Western colonialism in the United States.
“One of the last times I spoke with my father, we were talking about … I don’t know, the state of the world, something … and he said, “You know, this country was always pretty much a whorehouse, but at least it used to have some promise. Now, it’s just a shithole.” And I think now maybe he was talking about something else, something more specific, something more personal to him … this house? This family? His marriage? Himself? I don’t know But there was something sad in his voice—or no, not sad, he always sounded sad—something more hopeless than that. As if it had already happened. As if whatever was disappearing had already disappeared. As if it was too late. As if it was already over. And no one saw it go. This country, this experiment, America, this hubris: what a lament, if no one saw it go. Here today, gone tomorrow. (Beat.) Dissipation is actually much worse than cataclysm.”