What role do art and culture have in bringing awareness to social issues?
Choose one to two artists or writers, not included in this unit, from the Harlem Renaissance whom you would like to research. For example, you might research a writer who was born in the South but moved to a Northern city, such as Richard Wright. You might choose to focus on the early life of writer Claude McKay, the career of Paul Robeson, or the success of Ma Rainey. Research your chosen topic, and formulate a position on how your subjects’ work contributed to gaining greater visibility for African-Americans in mainstream culture, how it impacted society, or how your subjects’ life experiences impacted their work. Refine the scope of your literary research question to align with your interpretation of the texts. Then, write a research essay, using textual evidence and synthesizing information from primary and secondary source material to support your ideas. Be sure your informative research paper includes the following:
• an introduction and a clear central idea
• an appropriate tone and voice for your task and audience
• relevant supporting details synthesized from credible primary and secondary sources
• a logical organization
• a conclusion
• in-text citations and a works cited page
• correct use of grammar, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling
You have already made progress toward writing your research essay.
Now it is time to draft your research essay.
Use your plan and other responses in your Binder to draft your essay. You may also have new ideas as you begin drafting. Feel free to explore those new ideas as you have them. You can also ask yourself these questions to ensure that your writing is focused, organized, and developed:
Draft Checklist
• Focused: Have I made my topic clear to readers? Have I included only relevant information and details and nothing extraneous that might confuse my readers?
• Organized: Does the organizational structure in my essay make sense? Will readers be engaged by the organization and interested in the way I present information and evidence?
• Developed: Does my writing include relevant evidence? Will my readers be able to follow my ideas? Will they understand the purpose of my research?
Here is the first paragraph of Daniela’s research essay draft. As you read, notice how Daniela develops her draft to be focused, organized, and developed.
Daniela’s main concern at this point was adding to the ideas she had developed and organized in previous lessons. As she continues to revise and edit her research essay, she will find and improve weak spots in her writing, as well as correct any language or punctuation mistakes.
Before you submit your draft, read it over carefully. You want to be sure that you’ve responded to all aspects of the prompt. In addition, use the Checklist above to ensure that you are developing your draft into a focused, organized, and developed piece of writing.