Lesson video

Hello, and welcome to your English lesson where we are going to be exploring Claude McKay's poem, 'America,' but before we begin, please make sure that you have something to write with, and something to write on.

If you don't have that, you can pause the video here and go and grab it.

I'd also like you to make sure that you have put all distractions out of the way.

So, if you're ready to start, let's begin.

Let's begin by considering our agenda for today's lesson.

We're going to begin with an introduction to Claude McKay, and the Harlem Renaissance before moving on to consider the sonnet form in poetry.

Then we're going to be reading 'America' by Claude McKay, before exploring his use of juxtaposition, and finally writing about his use of juxtaposition in his poem, 'America.

' So let's get started.

Here on the right hand side of the screen, you will see a picture of poet, Claude McKay.

He was born in 1889, and he died in 1948.

He was a Jamaica-born writer and poet, and this was very important to him, and something that he explored within his works.

He moved to the USA in 1912.

And he flourished during a period called the Harlem Renaissance.

And we're going to explore that a little bit further in our next slide.

Many of his work centre on American attitudes to race and this is something that is explored in his poem, 'America.

' So what exactly was the Harlem Renaissance? Well, it occurred in the 1920s through to the 1930s in New York.

Now, Harlem is simply a neighbourhood in New York, and New York, I'm sure we know, is in the USA.

It was a cultural and intellectual movement led by African-American artists.

And so that includes literature, writing, music, performance of all different kinds.

And why, why was it important? Well, quite simply, it gave African-American artists pride and control over how the black experience was represented in American culture, and Claude McKay was at the centre of this.

So let's take a moment to check our knowledge of Claude McKay and the Harlem Renaissance.

I am going to present to you a series of statements, and you're going to tell me whether they are true or false.

Let's go.

Claude McKay was born in Jamaica.

Is that true, or is it false? After three, one, two, three.

It is true, Claude McKay was born in Jamaica, and this shapes a number of his works.

Claude McKay moved In the USA as a child, is that true or false? False, he moved that in 1912 during his adulthood.

Claude McKay was an important figure during the Harlem Renaissance.

Is that true or false? It is true.

He flourished, he really came into his own during this period.

The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural and intellectual movement between 1930 and 1940.

Is that true or false? It is false, the Harlem Renaissance primarily ran between the 1920s into the 1930s.

The Harlem Renaissance gave African-American artists control over how the black experience was represented in American culture.

Is this true or is it false? It is, of course true.

So, using this knowledge of Claude McKay and the Harlem Renaissance, I would like you to write me one beautiful sentence to describe the poet Claude McKay.

We want to think about why he was writing, when he was writing, and how he flourished during the Harlem Renaissance.

Please pause the video here to complete your task and resume when you are finished.

Great, I'd love to hear your work.

So after three, please read to me your beautiful sentence.

One, two, three.

Great, now if you struggled at all, I'm going to talk you through an example of an acceptable answer and a detailed, good answer.

So let's read our acceptable answer first.

"He was an African American poet "who wrote and performed during the Harlem Renaissance." That's totally fine.

He was indeed an African American poet, and he wrote and performed during the Harlem Renaissance.

That is correct.

But this person has used he, they haven't introduced who we're talking about.

And as always, I'm sure they could go into a little bit more detail.

So let's consider our good answer.

"Claudia McKay, an African-American poet, "was writer and poet whose works flourished "during the Harlem Renaissance." Great opener there, and happy spotted are a positive, an African-American poet.

It just gives the reader that extra piece of information in a clear and concise manner.

Let's continue, "A cultural and intellectual movement "led by African-American artists which gave them control "over how the black experience was represented "in American culture." Great.

They have said, initially exactly the same as our acceptable answer, that Claude McKay was an African-American poet, and that he flourished during the Harlem Renaissance.

They go the extra step further through their inclusion of the colon, where they add on some information about what exactly the Harlem Renaissance was, and why it occurred.

So you're more than welcome to pause the video here and add any extra information to your own beautiful sentence.

Please make sure you resume the video when you're done.

Let's now take a moment to consider the sonnet form of poetry.

I'm going to present you some key aspects of this form.

Starting with the fact that a sonnet is 14 lines long.

That's how you can always spot a sonnet.

Count the number of lines, if it's 14, it's a sonnet.

A sonnet is often about love.

It's often written by somebody expressing their love to somebody else.

A Shakespearean sonnet, which is a specific type of sonnet uses three quatrains.

So a quatrain is a four line stanza, and then one rhyming couplet.

So rhyming couplet is two lines at the end of the poem that rhyme.

So if we count those together, three times four equals 12, plus one rhyming couplet that equals a 14 line long sonnet.

And finally, you guessed it.

'America' by Claude McKay is written in the sonnet form.

So let's just take a moment to consider these key ideas in relation to the sonnet form.

Number one, it's 14 lines long.

Number two, it's often about love, and someone expressing their love to somebody else.

A Shakespearean sonnet is 14 lines long, but divided into three quatrains and one rhyming couplet.

And then finally, 'America' is written in the sonnet form.

Okay, let's test what we've retained.

Using the three images on the screen, I would like you to tell me three facts about the sonnet form of poetry.

You can pause the video here while you write down these three facts.

And please make sure you resume when you're done.

Great, hopefully you were able to recall three facts using the symbols on the screen.

Let's see whether they match mine.

Firstly, sonnets will often, or are often about love.

A Shakespearean sonnet uses three quatrains and one rhyming couplet.

And finally, a sonnet is 14 lines long.

Did you get all those correct? Well done if you did, that's really great.

If you didn't, you're welcome to pause the video here and note down any missing facts about the sonnet form.

So, now we know some key ideas in relation to the sonnet form of poetry.

I want you to consider which is going to be the most important for us when we explore Claude McKay's sonnet, 'America.

' I want you to tell me after three, whether you think it is important that sonnets are often about love, their structure, three quatrains and a rhyming couplet, or the fact that they're 14 lines long.

Which of these facts is going to help us in exploring McKay's poem? After three, one, two, three.

Okay.

It is the fact that sonnets were often about love.

With this prior knowledge, it's going to help us to explore McKay's poem, what or who is he expressing his love for in his poem.

So let's move on and read.

"Although she feeds me bread of bitterness, "And sinks into my throat her tiger's tooth, "Stealing my breath of life, I will confess, "I love this cultured hell that tests my youth.

"Her vigour flows like tides into my blood, "Giving me strength erect against her hate, "Her bigness sweeps me like a flood.

"Yet, as a rebel fronts are king and state, "I stand within her walls with not a shred, "Of terror, malice, not a word of jeer.

"Darkly I gaze into the days ahead, "And see her might and granite wonders there, "Beneath the touch of Times unerring hand, "Like priceless treasures sinking in the sand." So that there is McKay's poem, 'America.

' So let's consider it a little more deeply.

You may have noticed that McKay's poem uses she and her.

Let's read the opening lines again.

"Although she feeds me bread of bitterness, "And sinks into my throat her tiger's tooth." So who is the she and the her referring to do you think? I'd like to hear your idea after three.

One, two, three.

Let's see if you're correct.

The she and the her in McKay's poem is referring to America, country of America.

Here, America has been personified.

It's being given human traits, in fact, is being referred to as a woman using she and her.

So McKay's poem is being directed towards America.

Now we know that the sonnet form was often about love, is often about love.

So perhaps McKay in using the sonnet form is suggesting that he has a love for America, his adopted country.

However, it's not quite as simple as that.

While he loves America, he also criticises aspects of the country.

He has a bit of a what we call a love-hate relationship with the country due to his experiences living there when he moved there in 1912.

And I think this is summed up really nicely in the phrase cultured hell.

It's suggesting that he loves the culture that America brings, and exposes him to, but he calls it hell.

And as we know, how is an overwhelmingly negative term.

It suggests darkness and destructiveness and perhaps even pain and misery.

So that phrase cultured hell represents really nicely McKay's love-hate relationship with this country, his conflicted feelings about his adopted country, America.

And so we can see in his poem that he uses a series of juxtaposed images.

He uses the technique of juxtaposition.

So let's read what juxtaposition is.

Juxtaposition is when two things are placed side by side for comparison, often to highlight the contrast between them.

So juxtaposition more simply means a contrast, but it's a more direct, a more stark, a more obvious contrast.

And so he will present one aspect of America, perhaps that he might love, and he will contrast it with another aspect of America that he perhaps has more negative feeling towards in terms of his cultured hell.

So juxtaposition one more time, read the definition with me.

Is when two things are placed side by side for comparison, often to highlight the contrast between them.

Let's look at how McKay you juxtaposition throughout his poem, a series of contrasting ideas and images to represent his conflicted feelings about the country he moved to in 1912.

As we explore his use of juxtaposition, I suggest that you note down the chosen quotations and make some annotations around them on your page.

Let's look at the first four lines.

"Although she feeds me bread of bitterness, "And sinks into my throat her tiger's tooth, "Stealing my breath, I will confess "I love this cultured hell that tests my youth." So hopefully you can already see that there are a series of contrasting ideas in this opening of the poem.

I want you to try and find for me a phrase that suggests McKay likes what America provides him, that America actually does provide and nurture and give him some life.

I want you to tell me what you found after three.

One, two, three.

Did you get this opening here? She feeds me bread of bitterness.

Let's look at that a little bit closer.

Nurtures him, it gives him life, it gives him an existence, he depends on her.

However, you might have noticed that the bread that she feeds him is a bread of bitterness.

And that bread of bitterness could suggest and highlight the in justices that have been suffered by the black population.

So while yes, America nurtures and gives him life, he also has to suffer the injustices that come along with living in this country as a black man.

Now let's see where we can find a more negative idea presented by McKay in this opening.

I want you to find me that negative idea and tell me after three.

One, two, three.

Did you zoom in on these lines two and three? Let's state, "And sinks into my throat her tiger's tooth, "Stealing my breath of life, I will confess." So on the one hand, he has suggested that America feeds him, it gives him life, it nurtures him, he has a dependence on her.

But on the other, he suggests that actually America has the ability to steal his breath of life.

Let's look at that a little bit closer.

"Sinking into my throat her tiger's tooth." This image is a really destructive, a really dangerous one.

It suggests that America is a bit like a predator seeking out its prey.

And of course stealing my breath of life suggests that while America gives him life, it also takes away from him.

He is being drained by her.

And that can also link to the in justices that were suffered by the black population during the time when McKay was writing.

Let's continue to consider his use of juxtaposition.

Let's read the next section of text.

"Her vigour flows like tides into my blood, "Giving me strength erect against her hate, "Her bigness sweeps my being like a flood.

"Yet, as a rebel fronts a king in state, "I stand within her walls with not a shred "Of terror, malice, not a word of jeer." So he begins with this phase here, "Her vigour flows like tides into my blood." So the phase 'vigour' suggests strength and energy and good health.

So once again, like the phrase 'feeds me' from the previous section, vigour suggests that America gives him life, it gives him energy, it gives him a purpose and a sense of being.

And it's flowing like tides into his blood, it's there in abundance.

And so this is representing a positive side of America that just flows through him.

It gives him strength, it gives him energy, it gives him good health.

And the fact is it flows through his blood suggests that this is natural to him that he feels like America is somewhere where he belongs.

However, as always, this is contrasted with some negative imagery.

As he states that he as a rebel fronts a king in state.

So he stands there as a rebel in front of a king.

Now, if we described ourselves as a rebel, that suggests that we're in opposition to a country or a leader.

That they exhibit things that we don't agree with, we might feel negatively about them.

In this sense, McKay is suggesting that he has negative feelings about America, that contrast is more positive feelings.

And so he does feel like he stands there like a rebel.

He does want to rebel to some extent against aspects of America that he does not agree with.

So rebel there is suggesting that he disagrees with elements of America.

He is of course against it racist ideals that he and many members of the African-American population were living through at the time, and trying to find their voice during this period of the Harlem Renaissance.

So once again, we've got those juxtaposing images.

The idea that America has vigour flows through him, it gives him health, it gives him energy, it gives him strength.

But on the other hand, he can't quite ignore the fact that America encompasses ideas that he of course disagrees with, and ideas that he and others want to rebel against.

Let's look at the final section.

"Darkly I gaze into the days ahead, "And see her might and granite wonders there, "Beneath the touch of Time's unerring hand, "Like priceless treasures sinking into the sand." So here he notes that he sees her America's might and granite wonders there.

So mights and wonder are really strong powerful words that echo perhaps the strengths of the country that he admires.

However, he believes that like priceless treasures, the might and the wonder of this country is sinking into the sand.

If America does not change, America will fade away because time is more powerful than the country itself.

And so yes, it might be a place of might and wonder and grand buildings, but actually, time is more powerful.

And time may see the decline of America.

Perhaps, McKay is suggesting if America does not change its ways.

So it's a little bit of a subtle warning at the end of the poem from McKay.

So I would like you to complete this task.

How does McKay use juxtaposition in 'America?' You're going to complete this by writing a short paragraph to answer the question above.

And you may wish to begin.

Writing in 1921, during the Harlem Renaissance, Claude McKay explores his conflicting feelings towards his adopted country, 'America'.

So that provides you with a really clear opening sentence, it tells you when he was writing, it tells you who he is, and it tells you why he was writing to explore his feelings towards his adopted country, America.

Now to help you a little bit further, I've broken down the ideas that you need to include in your paragraph to give you a bit of a rough outline to work with.

So the following are the key ideas that I want to see you include In your paragraph.

They will also help you to guide your thinking.

So who, who are we talking about? We're talking about the poet, Claude McKay.

So I don't want to see any use of he, I want you to be explicit.

When was he writing? Well, during the early 1920s, and you can note that that was during the Harlem Renaissance.

What is he writing about? Well, he's exploring his feelings towards America.

You might even want to say he's exploring his conflicted feelings towards America.

And how does he do that? What techniques does he use? Well, he uses juxtaposing contrasting images, and I want you to choose an example of each image to explore.

So a more positive image that presents his love for America, his adopted country and a more negative image that suggests that he has criticisms about this country.

And finally, we want to finish it off with why? Why is he writing? So perhaps he is writing to reflect on the many failures of the country consider the racial oppression, while also declaring his love and appreciation for the country.

So there is a rough outline, a rough guide to follow when writing your paragraph.

You are welcome to use the sentence starter opening for your paragraph if you wish.

So I suggest that you pause the video here to copy that down if you want to.

And then I'm going to leave up this rough guide to help you when you're writing.

So please pause the video here, and complete your paragraph to answer how does McKay use juxtaposition in 'America' and make sure you resume the video when you are done.

Now I'm going to talk you through an example of an analytical paragraph to answer the same question.

I'm also going to talk you through where this writer has used the who, the when, the what, the how, and the why.

So this person has used both the who, and the when, in that opening sentence.

"Writing in 1921, during the Harlem Renaissance, "Claude McKay explores his conflicting feelings "towards his adopted country, 'America'.

They've also included their what in this opening sentence, so it's really focused, but it's also really detailed.

Then they go on to their how.

So they're exploring quotations that represent his conflicting feelings.

Remember his love for his country, but also the criticisms he has for his country.

Let's look at their how.

"Throughout his sonnet, "he uses a series of juxtaposing images that echo "the 'cultured hell' present America.

"In the first quatrain, McCain suggests "that America both 'feeds' him while 'stealing' "'his breath of life'.

"In feeding him, McKay suggests there is a nurturing spirit "to be found in America, "as its power and strength have the ability to give life." Lovely, so this person has used the first sentence of their how to suggest the two quotations that they are going to analyse.

The idea that America feeds him, but also steals his breath of life.

Then in the next sentence, they have gone on to explore the initial quotation, McKay being fed by America in detail.

Then they use a however sentence.

Let's read how they continue.

"However, the predatory image of America "having a 'tigers tooth' "that is 'stealing his breath of life' "suggests that it can be a place of destruction "that can drain it's inhabitants." Excellent, they've used the third sentence in their how section to explore his criticisms of America, how it has the ability to steal his breath of life.

And then finally, they wrap it up with the why.

Why was McKay writing? Well they suggest.

"Here McKay is likely to be referencing "the oppressions and injustices suffered "by the black population of America during the 1920s." Excellent, we've got our who, our when, and our what in the opening sentence, we've got our how explored in this middle section of the paragraph, and then finally, this person goes the extra step by analysing the why.

What was McKay's message? Why was he writing? So you're welcome to pause the video here and make any necessary edits to your own paragraph that you deem necessary, but please resume the video when you are done.

Thank you for all of your hard work and engagement during today's lesson.

I hope you've enjoyed learning about 'America' by Claude McKay.

Please don't forget to complete the end of lesson quiz, and I'll see you next time.

Bye.