Directions: Use the themes, questions and video clips below to teach and learn with portions of C-SPAN's American Writers program featuring Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston and the Writers of the Harlem Renaissance. Link to the complete video clip list to identify clip descriptions and create your own lessons. Each theme contains questions and video clips appropriate for varying grade levels. Lesson Credit:
Curriculum Advisory Team Member, Michael M. Yell.

1. What was the Harlem Renaissance? Why was this period considered a "renaissance"? Who was involved? What took place?
2. What was "The Great Migration" of the early twentieth century? How did this migration influence the Harlem Renaissance? What was the impact on society at large?
3. What are some of the similarities between this renaissance and the "Roaring Twenties"? How did the two intersect? What does this intersection indicate about the condition of race relations and civil rights?
4. What social, cultural, political and economic conditions led to the Harlem Renaissance? Describe the people who took part and the roles they played.
5. Why is the Harlem Renaissance remembered today? What is the value in studying the Harlem Renaissance?

1. Who was Langston Hughes? In what ways is he an appropriate person through whom to learn about the Harlem Renaissance? What is he most remembered for today?
2. What were some of the influences on Langston Hughes as a writer? What were some of his works? What impact did his work have on others in Harlem?
3. One of his poems is The Negro Speaks of Rivers. What observations does the speaker in the poem make? What unique perspective and experience does the speaker have? What was Hughes attempting to do in the poem?
4. What was Langston Hughes writing about in his poem One Way Ticket? How does this poem relate to the "Great Migration"? (see also clip 26 in Harlem Renaissance)
5. What can the poetry and works of Langston Hughes tell us about the African- American experience in the twenties? What questions does his work raise about American history? To what degree could Hughes be considered a historian as well as a poet?

1. Who was Zora Neale Hurston? What is she most remembered for today?
2. To what degree did Hurston draw on her experiences as a Southerner in her writing? What voice or style did she use in her writing? What were her characters like?
3. What were the other influences on Zora Neale Hurston in her development as a writer? How was her life and experiences different or similar to other figures in the Harlem Renaissance?
4. How did Zora Neale Hurston's anthropological work impact her fiction? Why did she choose to put the "language and stories of the people" into fiction? What impact does it have on readers today?
5. What do the works of Zora Neale Hurston tell us about the African-American experience in the twenties? To what degree is Hurston a historian as well as a novelist?