Font size
WorksheetsHarlem Renaissance
Total questions: 11
Worksheet time: 21mins
African Americans in New York City began moving to the Harlem area in about 1900. They were eager to move out of the West Side of Manhattan because of the overcrowded apartment buildings and increasing hostility from white neighbors. Harlem had a surplus of apartments, and so landlords were eager to welcome African American tenants. When African-American churches began to relocate to Harlem as well, the population of African Americans became solidly established and continued to grow.
Segregation was widespread in the North as well as the South in the early 1900s. African Americans were banned from many white-owned businesses, including restaurants and hotels. As a result, African Americans started their own businesses to draw on the large number of potential customers in their neighborhood. Among the most successful businesses were nightclubs that featured jazz and blues.
Based on these passages, which of the inferences below is best supported by the following passage?
Harlem became an oasis for African Americans in a country with widespread policies of racism.
Harlem was one of many northern cities that sheltered African Americans from the racism of the South.
Harlem offered some of the most affordable housing in the North.
More African Americans lived in Harlem than any other city in the United States.
The following passage mainly shows that...
The Great Migration is a term that refers to the movement of African Americans from the South to large cities in the North between approximately 1916 to 1940 in its first wave. World War I cut off the flow of European immigrants to the United States. Northern factories were growing and needed more workers. They recruited African Americans from the South to help make up for the shortage of workers. African Americans were eager to leave the South because of Jim Crow laws that led to mistreatment and violence against them. Many were sharecroppers who had difficulty surviving economically, especially when an insect infestation decimated the cotton crop during the war. Harlem also attracted black immigrants from the Caribbean, promising greater prosperity and economic opportunity.
during the war, many African Americans also moved from America to the nations of the Caribbean
the war caused work shortages that were filled by African Americans in a pattern of migration from the South that became known as The Great Migration
the strains of war caused the government to institute a mandatory migration of African Americans from their Southern homes to new jobs in Northern factories
since the Civil War, African Americans had been looking for an opportunity to exit the oppressive government of the Southern states
Which of these statements is best supported by the section entitled “A Flowering of the Arts”?
African American publications and artistic achievements were indicators that racism in America was all but dead.
Despite continued oppression against them, African Americans in Harlem had a noteworthy culture of arts and literature.
Discrimination in Harlem was actually more severe than in many parts of the country.
W.E.B. Du Bois was the most recognizable African American living in Harlem.
The following passage mainly shows that...
In 1917, playwright Ridgely Torrence’s Three Plays for a Negro Theatre, often considered among the first major works of the Harlem Renaissance, premiered. The suite of plays featured African-American actors and represented complex characters. The work rejected racial stereotypes frequently portrayed in the theater previously. For example, one of the most popular forms of musical entertainment in the late 1800s had been minstrel shows. These shows featured white men wearing makeup that made them appear to be African American, and consisted of comedy and musical numbers that portrayed African Americans as foolish and simpleminded. In the early 1900s, African American musical performers sought to create their own musical theater that gave a more accurate portrayal of African American life and moved away from stereotypes. Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle wrote a musical called Shuffle Along in 1921. It became the first hit Broadway musical written by African Americans.
Minstrel shows were a popular form of entertainment in the 19th century.
Blake and Sissle wrote the most successful musical of all time.
African American artists of the early 19th century were best known for their acting in minstrel shows.
African American writers of the 19th century pushed back against the reductive stereotypes.
Which of these statements is most strongly supported by the previous text?
A black citizen of Harlem nearly became the president of the United States during this time.
Reflections on Africa are a feature of the majority of the culture and activism of the Harlem Renaissance.
Africa played an important role in some of the social movements and art of the Harlem Renaissance.
A significant percentage of the Harlem population moved to Africa during the Harlem Renaissance.
Which of these passages most strongly supports the following passage...
"Africa played an important role in some of the social movements and art of the Harlem Renaissance."
“Lynchings, race riots, and other mob violence were epidemic throughout the period of the Harlem Renaissance.”
“Another important aspect of preserving heritage was writing about Africa. For example, Countee Cullen explored African themes in some of his finest poetry.”
“Harlem writers also drew attention to segregation and denials of constitutional rights. Discrimination in all its forms was another important topic.”
“Zora Neale Hurston collected folklore and oral histories from African Americans in the South while she was a college student.”
Which of these statements is most strongly supported by the text?
"The Great Depression is often considered the moment of the Harlem Renaissance's decline, as many African Americans left Harlem in search of jobs elsewhere.
The blues has struggled as an art form since the Harlem Renaissance dissolved.
The traditions and gains of the Harlem Renaissance were lost when the economic crisis of the 1930s hit America.
The Harlem Renaissance was one of the factors that caused the Great Depression.
Although the economic crisis of the 1930s marked an end to the Harlem Renaissance, the art and movements of the era influenced generations to come.
Which of these passages most strongly supports the passage...
"Although the economic crisis of the 1930s marked an end to the Harlem Renaissance, the art and movements of the era influenced generations to come."
“The rich artistic output of Harlem’s artists would endure, however.”
“The Great Depression is often considered the moment of the Harlem Renaissance’s decline, as many African Americans left Harlem in search of jobs elsewhere.”
“The influence of blues is also evident in Hughes’s work. ”
“The artistic outpouring lasted until the Great Depression forced many Harlem artists to move elsewhere to look for work.”
Which two kinds of music had the greatest impact on Harlem Renaissance writers?
Jazz and Duke Ellington
The Blues and Jazz
Billie Holiday and Duke Ellington
R and B and Jazz
Which famous writer said the following quote?
"To me, jazz is a montage of a dream deferred. A great big dream-yet to come-and always yet-to become ultimately and finally true."
Langston Hughes
Duke Ellington
Countee Cullen
James Weldon Johnson
Based on information from the Unit 4 introduction, what impact/influence do you think the Harlem Renaissance had on later American literature, art, and/or music? What topics or themes (from this time period) do you think are still important for today's generation and why?
