Exploros | The Harlem Renaissance

The Harlem Renaissance

Students imagine the source of the term “flapper dress.” Then they watch a video and read about the rise of the Harlem Renaissance. Next they choose an art form—poetry, visual art, dance, or music—and analyze a specific work from the period. Finally they analyze a poem by Langston Hughes and the concept of a “dream deferred.”

This learning experience is designed for device-enabled classrooms. The teacher guides the lesson, and students use embedded resources, social media skills, and critical thinking skills to actively participate. To get access to a free version of the complete lesson, sign up for an exploros account.

Overview

In this experience, students imagine the source of the term flapper dress. Then they watch a video and read about the rise of the Harlem Renaissance. Next they choose an art form—poetry, visual art, dance, or music—and analyze a specific work from the period. Finally they analyze a poem by Langston Hughes and the concept of a “dream deferred.”

Objectives

Identify the cultural scene during the Harlem Renaissance.
Explain how the characteristics of the 1920s were reflected in culture.

Engage

The Great Migration brought thousands of African Americans northward. Many of them settled in the Harlem neighborhood on the northern part of New York’s Manhattan Island. Harlem gave rise to a significant cultural movement of art, music, literature, dance, and theater that became known as the Harlem Renaissance. The cultural works of the Harlem Renaissance continue to inspire African American artists today. In this lesson, you will learn about some important works of the Harlem Renaissance and how they reflected the African American experience of the 1920s and 30s.

Objectives

Identify the cultural scene during the Harlem Renaissance.
Explain how the characteristics of the 1920s were reflected in culture.

vintage photo of five women dressed in flapper dresses in the 1920s

Women’s fashion changed considerably during the Roaring Twenties, giving females more freedom.

World War I gave women a taste of independence from many of the roles that had been forced onto them. This independence was also reflected in the fashions they wore, as the corsets and formal Victorian dresses were abandoned in favor of loose fitting dresses that revealed women’s ankles. One aspect of Roaring Twenties culture is the flapper dress.

Why do you think this style was called a flapper dress? (Hint: No one knows the origin of the name, so use what you know about the period together with your imagination.)

Post your answer

There are different theories about the origin of the name, flapper dress. Three of these theories:

from the new dances of the 1920s, such as the Charleston, where dancers flapped their arms like birds; the dresses gave the dancers more mobility

from an earlier use in northern England referring to a teenage girl whose braided pigtail flapped on her back

from theatrical slang for acrobatic young female stage performers

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