Resource: Symbolism in "The Negro Speaks of Rivers"

Print Frame and Focus

The following suggestions are best suited for middle school students using this video in an English language arts or social studies lesson. Be sure to modify the questions to meet your students' instructional needs.

Frame (ELA) What is symbolism? What are metaphors and similes? Why does a poet sometimes use these devices in poetry?

Focus (ELA) Listen to the reading of “The Negro Speaks of Rivers.” Listen for and list examples of symbolism, metaphors and similes.

Frame (SS) "The Negro Speak of Rivers" is a poem most closely associated with the Harlem Renaissance. What do you know about the Harlem Renaissance? Why is Langston Hughes considered an important American poet?

Focus (SS) In the poem, Hughes speaks of four rivers. Name the rivers and where they are located in the world. Can you attach any meaning to the geographical location of the rivers and how they are mentioned in the poem? 

Print Follow Up

• (ELA) Did the symbols, metaphors and similes affect your understanding of the poem? How?   Are the rivers symbolic of something other than rivers? When you hear or read the poem multiple times, do you have different impressions or gather different meanings than with your first reading?

• (SS) "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" is a poem most closely associated with the Harlem Rennaissance. Before the Renaissance, most African Americans lived in rural areas as sharecroppers. Most could not read or write and  were under constant fear of violence. When they migrated north they developed a new attitude about themselves. What might be the historical significance of the poem being written at this time? What attitudes do you observe in the speaker in the poem? From both listening to the poem and considering what you know about the Harlem Renaissance, can you identify the new ideas African Americans began to have about themselves?

Print Connections

American history, African American history, literature, Harlem Renaissance, poets