Read the excerpt from "The Weary Blues."He made that poor piano moan with melody. O Blues!Swaying to and fro on his rickety stoolHe played that sad raggy tune like a musical fool. Sweet Blues!Coming from a black man's soul. O Blues! In a deep song voice with a melancholy toneI heard that Negro sing, that old piano moan— "Ain't got nobody in all this world, Ain't got nobody but ma self.I’s gwine to quit ma frownin' And put ma troubles on the shelf."What is the effect of repeating the phrase “piano moan” in the poem?
Read this line from "Harlem." Or does it explode?Read this line from "The Weary Blues."Thump, thump, thump, went his foot on the floor.What sense do both of these lines rely on?
Read the excerpt from "Harlem."Does it stink like rotten meat?Or crust and sugar over-like a syrupy sweet?Read the excerpt from "The Weary Blues."Droning a drowsy syncopated tuneRocking back and forth to a mellow croonIn both poems, Hughes uses the imagery to
What effect does Hughes achieve by repeating the phrase "does it" in "Harlem"?
In what way are the lines of "The Weary Blues" similar to the lyrics of a blues song?
Which lines from "The Weary Blues" suggest that the speaker is impressed by the musician?
What is one difference in the themes of "Harlem" and "The Weary Blues"?
Read the descriptions of rhyme schemes below.Free verse: poetry that does not use a consistent rhyme schemeIambic pentameter: a poetic rhyme scheme in which each rhyming line has ten syllablesBlank verse: poetry that uses unrhymed iambic pentameterRhyming couplets: a series of two consecutive lines that rhyme in a poemBased on the descriptions, what rhyme scheme does the poem "Harlem" use?
Read the poem “If We Must Die” by Claude McKay. If we must die—let it not be like hogsHunted and penned in an inglorious spot,While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs,Making their mock at our accursed lot.If we must die—oh, let us nobly die So that our precious blood may not be shedIn vain; then even the monsters we defyShall be constrained to honor us though dead!Oh, Kinsmen! We must meet the common foe;Though far outnumbered, let us still be brave, And for their thousand blows deal one death-blow!What though before us lies the open grave?Like men we’ll face the murderous, cowardly pack,Pressed to the wall, dying, but—fighting back!What sentence best conveys the speaker’s message?
Read the excerpt from "The Weary Blues." Ain't got nobody in all this world, Ain't got nobody but ma self.I’s gwine to quit ma frownin' And put ma troubles on the shelf.What is the effect of repeating the phrase “ain't got nobody” in the poem?
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