Biography
Born in Sunny Ville, Jamaica, Claude McKay came to the
United States to study agriculture, but his literary aspirations
drew him to New York City. He had written two volumes of
dialect poetry in Jamaica -- proceeds from which had funded
his trip to America -- and he continued to write in the States
while working a variety of odd jobs. His poems, often grappling
with racial issues and radical politics, were published by
avant-garde and left-wing journals such as The Seven Arts and
the Liberator. His volume of poetry Harlem Shadows (1922)
and novel Home to Harlem (1928) were considered central
works of the Harlem Renaissance.
Explorations
An African American modernist poet whose political views
were radical in his most productive years, McKay nonetheless
favored the sonnet, a form usually associated with Shakespeare,
the Metaphysicals, Keats -- classic white British writers
at the center of the traditional canon. We cannot attribute
his choice to a writerly predicament such as faced Phillis
Wheatley: McKay had thorough experience with a broad
array of poetic forms, including those of Whitman,
the Symbolists, the Decadents, and the early Moderns. He
chose the sonnet -- and we need to consider why he found
this a powerful form of personal expression. 1. Compare the opening eight lines of Outcast (1921)
to the opening lines of Wheatley's On Being Brought
from Africa to America. Is the opening of McKay's poem
a response to or rejection of Wheatley's? How does the
conversation between these two poems unfold as you read
them through to the end?
2. How would you describe the way in which the forms
of The Harlem Dancer (1917) and of The Lynching (1919)
reflect or resist the action that each poem describes?
What are the effects of describing these very modern moments
in a traditional stanza?
3. Describe the complex theme of Africa (1921).
Why does McKay resort to the pronoun "thy" in addressing
Ancient Egypt? Is this usage an affectation? Is Africa
invoked as a rich past to remember? As a moment in history
which is over and done as far as modern African Americans
are concerned? Choose moments in this sonnet to support
your answer.
Other sites to consult:
Harlem
Renaissance. Features outlines of the period,
a detailed chronology, study questions, and links
to in-depth discussions of key figures such as McKay.
From the PAL: Perspectives in American Literature site
maintained by Paul P. Reuben (California State University,
Stanislaus).
The
1921 Oklahoma City race riots. A New York
Times article provides useful context for understanding
the circumstances that inspired McKay to write If
We Must Die. Made available on Al Filreis's syllabus
(University of Pennsylvania).
The
Academy of American Poets McKay page. Includes
a biography, three poems, a bibliography, plus links
to other McKay sites. Also Includes a link to the
AAP online exhibition Poets of the Harlem Renaissance
and After, in which McKay is featured.
http://www.poets.org/poets/poets.cfm?prmID=26&CFID=9020342&CFTOKEN=13372336:
Claude McKay at the Academy of American Poets.
http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/m_r/mckay/mckay.htm:
McKay at Modern American Poetry.
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