English 2 
Mr. Turtola 
Joseph A. Foran HS 

The Hughes and Blues Project©

 
  • An authentic African-American folk-music and the foundation for much American music including rock and roll, the blues is a unique expression of black American culture.
  • In addition to being an art form in its own right, the blues has inspired many writers and artists including Langston Hughes.

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  • Exploring the connections between the blues and the poetry of Hughes will enrich students' understanding of the African-American experience in the early part of this century.
    • Objectives

    During the course of the unit, students will:

  •  develop an understanding of the historical roots and basic elements of the blues;
  •  recognize the blues as an important expression of African-American culture;
  •  examine the relationship between the blues and the poetry of Langston Hughes;
  •  explore the question of whether one ethnic group can write accurately and honestly about another.
    • Lesson 1: Introduce Blues (One Day)
       

       Assignment #1
      Write a  list of examples from the songs you heard. (15 minutes)

      1. What are the subjects of the blues (everyday life, love, work, family, etc.)?
      2. Find examples of tension between heartache and laughter in the songs.
    Lesson 2: Introduce Hughes' Blues Poetry (Two Days)

    A. Read the excerpt from

    The Influence of Musical Folk Traditions in the Poetry of Langston Hughes and Nicolás Guillén
    by Kathryn Gray (Yale New Haven Teachers Institute)

     Assignment #2 
    Respond to these questions by writing short answers. (Due tomorrow)

    1. How are the poems similar to or different from blues songs listened to in class?
    2. What blues elements does Hughes incorporate into his poetry?
    3. Which of the poems seems closest to the blues music?
    4. What is the make up of blues in the classical form?
    5. How did blues influence Hughes' poems?
    Lesson 4:   Introduce Note on Commercial Theatre (One day class discussion)

     
  •      In Note on Commercial Theatre, Hughes reflects the views of W.E.B. DuBois,  who wrote that Negroes don't want whites to write about them. Hughes felt that whites often distorted the picture of blacks and wrote about them only for personal financial gains.

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  •      A similar controversy about the blues among blues scholars, fans and musicians exists today:consider the following post made in an online discussion on Black popular culture:

    • Subject: Nobody wanna live my Blues, but everybody wanna play my blues...
    http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/neh/nov/sonya7.html          

     Assignment #4

    Prepare a 5 minute oral presentation that represents your views on the questions below.  Use the reading material we studied in class for support and cite sources.  Index cards available upon request. (Due April 25th)
    1. Can white musicians really play authentic blues?
    2. Why would blacks object to whites writing about them or appropriating their music?
    3. The author of the post believes that the media shapes popular culture. Do you agree with her? If so, how does it do so?
    4. Why do you think she provided Hughes' poem in the post?
    5. Why does Hughes believe only he will be able to put on a play about himself?
    Lesson 5:  Introduce terms and allusions from the poem. (One Day)
  • Blues are sorrow songs of the common Negro. W.C. Handy, who wrote St. Louis Blues,  has been called the "Father of Blues."
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  • "And you mixed 'em up with symphonies."

    • Paul Whitman known as "King of Jazz" played a concert of classical jazz in 1924
    at the New Lafayette Theater in Harlem.
     
  • "You took my Spirituals..."

    • "Run Little Chillun" by Hall Johnson presented songs which were heralded as spirituals; In 1919 Daniel Gregory Mason, a white composer published "String Quartet on Negro Themes" using such spirituals as "You Bury Me in the East" and "Oh, Holy Lord." Porggy, a popular drama by Debose Heyward, a white playwright, was produced in 1927. Spirituals added to its emotional appeal.
     
  • "You Put Me in Macbeth"

    • A Haitian Macbeth, a modernistic version of the play, was presented in 1936. It contained voodoo chants and dances. Carmen Jones, a musical, was a white-created Negro version of Bizet's Carmen. Many consider it a caricature of the opera.
     
  • Swing Mikado, a jazz-inspired play produced by the Federal Theater in Harlem based upon Gilbert and Sullivan's Mikado.
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  • "And in everything but what's about me."

    • Poet could have been referring to:
  • Ziegfield's Show Boat by Edna Ferber
  • The Emperor Jones by Eugene McNeill
  • Green Pastures by Marc Connelly
  • Abraham's Bosom by Paul Green
  • All God's Chillun Got Wings by Eugene O'Neill
  • The Birth of a Nation by D.W. Griffith
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  • "I reckon it'll be me, myself!"

    • Hughes referred to blacks that would write truthfully about the black experience.

    Evaluation (One Class Period)

         Write an essay in which you compare and contrast a blues song and a poem. Analyze the elements of blues in the poetry and the elements of poetry in the blues. Finally, discuss both works as an expression of racial pain.

    Extensions (Final Project due April 30)

     Choose one:

  • Write several verses of blues lyrics, using blues lyrics as well as poems of Langston Hughes as models. Compose four or five verses
  • Read Hughes' short story The Blues I'm Playing, in which the division between art and life is a major theme.
  • In light of this theme, how does the story present the blues? Write a 5 paragraph expository essay explaining your views.
  • Explore visual art produced during the Harlem Renaissance such as the paintings of Jacob Lawrence and Aaron Douglas or the photographs of James Van Der Zee. Write a 2-3 page research paper on your findings. Be sure to include comparisons to the Hughes poems.
  • Compare blues and jazz poems of Langston Hughes.  Answer the following questions by writing paragraphs for each answer: How do they each translate music into poetry?  How are they similar or different from each other?  Some jazz poems include: Jazzonia, Lenox Avenue: Midnight, Trumpet Player, Dream Boogie
  • Read and interpret Hughes' Theme for English B.  Then choose a format to respond to the poem by either writng a comparison essay exploring Hughes' academic experiences with your own experiences of school life, or create a similar piece of poetry that is similar to his work.
    •  Selected Recordings:

    Until the advent of the compact disc, the recordings of early blues greats such as Bessie Smith were difficult to find. Since the late 1980s, however, record companies have been actively re-releasing the work of many blues artists as well as producing some excellent blues anthologies. Check your local library in the folk section.

      
    Suggested blues songs/artists:
     
  • By Mississippi John Hurt  Stack O' Lee Blues
  • by Robert Johnson   Cross Roads Blues, Love in Vain, Sweet Home Chicago
  • by Blind Willie McTell  Statesboro Blues
  • by Ma Rainey    Prove It On Me
  • By Bessie Smith   Downhearted Blues
  • By Blind Lemon Jefferson  Matchbox Blues
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    Selected Hughes' Blues Poems:

    Blues Fantasy, Bound No'th Blues, Evenin' Air Blues, Hard Daddy, Hey! Hey!, Homesick Blues, Midwinter Blues, Misery, Po' Boy Blues, Song for a Banjo Dance, The Weary Blues

    Further Reading:
     

  • The Blues Line: A Collection of Blues Lyrics from Leadbelly to Muddy Waters, compiled by Eric Sackheim, The Ecco Press, 1993.
  • Blueprints: For Teaching and Learning About The Harlem Renaissance, National Alliance of Black School Educators, 1994.
  • Davis, Francis. The History of the Blues. New York: Hyperion, 1995 (a companion volume to a PBS series of the same name).
  • Nexus: The Harlem Renaissance, Cleveland: Pallas Communications, 1996.
  • Santelli, Robert. The Big Book of Blues. New York: Penguin, 1993.


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