The jazz of the Harlem Renaissance and the jazz of the Black Arts Movements are both forms of art dedicated towards the expression of one's true emotions and self. More deeply, jazz from both these eras centered around giving voice to the trauma and pain felt by African Americans as a result of systemic racism all over the course of American history. In this way jazz from all across history shares the theme of love for one’s identity and of defying the traditionally white dominated status quo. But jazz, specifically jazz poetry between these two movements, do differ in some key ways. While it is true that the jazz of the Harlem Renaissance was quite revolutionary for its time due to its groundbreaking improvisational rhythms, it appears far less abstract, or even tame when compared to its counterparts of the Black Arts movement. In effect, the jazz of the Black Arts movement took improvisation to a whole new level, redefining more than just the words, but also the way the poetry an...
As discussed in class, Down By the Riverside is in many ways a naturalist novel. This is to say that the characters of the story are very much at the mercy of the world around them and appear virtually powerless to change their own destinies. Rather than their own will, the force which is responsible for carrying forward most of the plot of the story is the flood. The flood is a relentless natural force partially responsible for creating tragedy, for our own protagonist, Mann. The flood changes the course of Mann’s life overnight, causing him to experience great loss, separation, and community conflict. However, the more accurate culprits for the tragedy Mann experiences in the story, are the white people in the community whose true colors are revealed as a result of the stress of the flooding. The flood exposes their imposition of power dynamics and awakens racial community tensions that were already in place. In this way the flood is not to blame for Mann’s misfort...