Celebrate the Harlem Renaissance!

1. People in England didn't use the word "jazz" in the 1920s. Right. Wrong.
2. Jazz was popular in the USA only. Right. Wrong.
3. Jazz was meant for a quiet dance. Right. Wrong.

That was Harlem!

1

Where is Harlem in relation to Chicago?

2

Pick out some items/activities from Mission 1 which you would expect to find in the Cotton Club.

3

Apart from musicians, imagine other types of artist you could meet in Harlem in the 1920s and 1930s.

4

Identify clues on one of the photographs beside and complete the chart.

5

What can you deduce about the Cotton Club?

A flourishing time

1

Look at the book cover and guess what this might be about.

2

Listen to the audio and find art style of these artists.


a) Langston Hughes → .
b) Zora Neal Hurston →  .
c) Bessie Smith →  .

3

Fill in the text with the words.

They used the 

-poetry, litterature, drama- to prove the 

of African Americans. They wanted to disprove the 

of that time and to show that African Americans did not excel only in 

. They were real 

.

4

Sort words connected to poetry from words connected to painting. Which art form do the other words connect to?

The Weary Blues

1

Find the line in the poem with a similar meaning.

a) Moving forwards and backwards, while singing gently. → 
b) In a soft light. → 
c) Touching the white piano keys with black fingers. → 
d) Moving from side to side on an old chair. → 

2

Match the words associated with blues music to their definition.

3

Listen and describe the relationship between the artist and his instrument.


a) The keys played a drowsy tune. → He made .
b) The piano swayed to the mellow croon. → .

Recite verses

Listen: Droning a drowsy syncopated tune Rocking back and forth to a mellow croon. 

Réfléchis : Repère les syllabes accentuées, et marque bien la différence avec celles non accentuées. Ressens-tu le balancement propre au Blues ?




Répète : With his ebony hands on each ivory key
He made that poor piano moan with melody
O Blues!

Causative structures

Observe : He made that poor piano moan with melody. My mother had me learn many poems. 

Réfléchis :

a) Quels sont les verbes conjugués au passé ?

made

moan

had

learn

b) Quels verbes indiquent pourtant une réelle action ?

made

moan

had

learn

c) Quels sont donc les sujets de ces actions ?

he

that poor piano

my mother

me

Conclus : Dans une structure causative le sujet du conjugué n'est pas le sujet de .

Mission 2

1

Your second mission consists of...

giving thumbs up.

giving a speech.

giving your opinion.

2

It will be about...

an artist.

a movie.

a song.

3

Choose your level:

A2

vers B1

A2+