| 
  • If you are citizen of an European Union member nation, you may not use this service unless you are at least 16 years old.

  • You already know Dokkio is an AI-powered assistant to organize & manage your digital files & messages. Very soon, Dokkio will support Outlook as well as One Drive. Check it out today!

View
 

20100216-930 Larsen day 1 (Group 4)

Page history last edited by Dawson Zimmerman 14 years, 1 month ago

Summary

The discussion began with the Great Migration, a movement that occurred when approximately 500,000 African Americans moved out of the South to the North and Midwest between 1916 and the 1930's.  This led to the Harlem Renaissance, or the New Negro Movement, which was truly inspired by the Talented Tenth (20100211-930 DuBois and Dunbar (Group 3)).  The Harlem Renaissance was influenced by  African Americans and their culture, through dance, drama, literature, social thought, and even philosphy.  This deals with Modernism because many people are rejecting old forms.  Writers and actors had not been doing things with African Americans within their works; this new movement, along with the help of modernism, brought African Americans into the picture. 

 

This brings us to the work of the day, Passing.  Written by Nella Larsen and published in 1929, Passing deals with the struggles of the African American community during the 1920s. Our two main characters, Irene Redfield-- a woman of the Talented Tenth society who is proud of her heritage-- and Clare Kendry-- a woman who hides her heritage  from her husband and "passes" among white society, are two characters who display tension regarding the issue of passing. Clare lives a dangerous lifestyle in which she has chosen to completely "pass;" she is married to a racist white man and has abandoned and hidden any trace of her "Negro blood."  Irene, on the other hand, seems unable to abandon her heritage and race in the same way Clare can. Irene stands up for her African American heritage, including her Negro husband and "dark" son, but still is fascinated by the concept of Clare's complete passing. Irene's seems extremely opposed to Clare's lifestyle, but her fascination is apparent because of her attraction to Clare as well as how she passes when convenient.

 

 

Word Count: 297

 

Passages

"Hello Nig," was his greeting to Clare... It was hard to believe that even Clare Kendry would permit this ridiculing of her race by an outsider, though he chanced to be her husband.  So he knew, then, that Clare was a Negro? From her talk the other day Irene had understood that he didn't.  But how rude, how positively insulting, for him to address her in that way in the presence of guests" (28).

Through the way Jack treated Clare, the reader can see how passing can truly hurt the race itself.  The person passing seems like a traitor to the others that know what is happening.  Clare, in this case, allows her race to be ridiculed in front of Irene and Gertrude but does not say anything about it in order to maintain the "better" life that is obtained by passing.

 

 "It was as if the woman sitting on the other side of the table, a girl that she had known, who had done this rather dangerous and, to Irene Redfield, abhorrent thing successfully and had announced herself well satisfied, had for her a fascination, strange and compelling" (21).

This excerpt reveals Irene's inner struggle between acceptance and rejection toward the idea of passing. Irene frowns upon Clare's passing, because she feels Clare rejects her heritage. Yet, she is simultaneously awe-struck and curious as to how Clare accomplishes such a tedious task in her everyday life. This quote also brings in to play the tension Irene experiences through meeting Clare; although opposed to Clare's lifestyle, she is fascinated by Clare and the idea of "passing," and seems to be strangely allured to the concept.

 

"Clare who was at that time a scant fifteen years old, had stood there with her lips pressed together, her thin arms folded across her narrow chest, staring down at the familiar pasty-white face of her parent with a sort of disdain in her slanting black eyes" (6).

In the beginning, the text points readers away from the fact that two of our main characters are black. Larsen creates a kind of passing for the readers and fools them through the use of descriptive adjectives that give the appearance of stereotypical white people.

 

 

 

Key Terms

Passing-- This term is given to those who break away from their own social norms and environment in order to take a chance elsewhere. In the novel, it is used more in the context of when a person with African-American descent (or some variation) passes in white society without their knowledge.

Great Migration-- African American migration from the South to the North and Midwest during the years of 1916-1930 to recieve better economic opportunities and education for their children.

Harlem Renassaince-- (also known as the New Negro Movement) flowering of music, philosophy, social thought, dance, literature, drama, visual arts, etc. leading to an explosion of cultural production by African-Americans concerning them.

Modernism-- The rejection of traditional forms was discused during class,, but a definition is given on this page--(20100204-1230 Sandburg, Pound, and Frost (Group 1)).

Comments (11)

Hunter Stofan said

at 5:08 pm on Feb 16, 2010

So I feel like I got us off to a good start but I didn't really know what to say once I got to talking about the book lol

Caroline Smith said

at 9:14 pm on Feb 16, 2010

haha I made a few changes and additions to the part about the book and added a few quotes and key terms :)

Katie Simmons said

at 10:25 pm on Feb 16, 2010

Haha dang Hunter! Thank you - to both of you! :) I reworded some phrases and added some punctuation, too.

Caroline Smith said

at 1:17 pm on Feb 17, 2010

do yall know how to work the word count by chance?

Katie Simmons said

at 11:27 pm on Feb 17, 2010

I typically copy and paste the summary into Microsoft Word, but I know there must be an easier way.

Dawson Zimmerman said

at 11:50 pm on Feb 17, 2010

I disagree with our second paragraph...."irene's life, on the other hand, has no secrets. She is proud of her dark son and belongs to the upper black society." I don't think that Irene and Clare are opposites...I think that Irene is actually attracted to Clare's lifestyle but her familial ties restrict her from fully passing...

Dawson Zimmerman said

at 12:03 am on Feb 18, 2010

I wanted to see what everyone else's views were before I made some changes. I think Irene displays a strange attraction to what Clare embodies and seems to struggle reconciling this attraction throughout the novel...while Irene seems to stand up for her race during the tea party scene, I think saying that she is a complete opposite to Clare and is absolutely proud of her race is a bit strong...

Caroline Smith said

at 1:01 am on Feb 18, 2010

i agree. maybe we could just change it to they lead opposite lives although still tied together through their race?

Caroline Smith said

at 1:03 am on Feb 18, 2010

i dont think it was her familial ties but rather the ties of her race, and her "Negro blood" that keep her from fully passing

Dawson Zimmerman said

at 10:57 am on Feb 18, 2010

I changed some stuff about Irene and Clare.... check it and see if you agree. I took out the emphasis of Irene and Clare as opposites which I think is disproved by how much Irene seems to be attracted to Clare. Feel free to change it

Brian Croxall said

at 4:12 pm on Feb 19, 2010

This is a very good set of notes for the first day of Passing. You cover the background of the Great Migration and the Harlem Renaissance well. There's a little overlap between this portion of your summary and your definitions, so I suspect that you could have left out some of the summary to give yourselves more space. But on the whole that paragraph is well done. The summary of the novel is concise but lays things out very well. I was glad--as always--to see you talking about the evolution of the page on the comments. I think you ended up with a very good compromise.

I was a bit surprised by your first passage, as it wasn't one that I had thought would show up. And I'm not sure that this passage shows really how passing hurts the race since it's not like John Bellew would be acting differently toward blacks if he wasn't married to Clare. Still, I suppose that Irene's willingness to pass in such situations leads to her being hurt personally. The other two passages are key and are well explained.

You don't have permission to comment on this page.