In "Aspiration", painted by Aaron Douglas, an idea of hope is depicted. After observing the image, I noticed that the people on the foreground are handcuffed. This leads me to the conclusion that they are slaves. Also, everyone seems to be reaching/pointing toward an illuminated, well-built building. Light usually symbolizes hope, so I presume that the it gives the slaves a glimmer of freedom. Finally, I observed that there is a large star in the direction that the people are pointing. In the Underground railroad, the North Star led the slaves to freedom. So again, Douglas illustrated hope through a sort of light.

The poem "If We Must Die" by Claude McKay is a sonnet because 1) It has fourteen lines, 2) There is a change of thought between lines 8 and 9. The thought changed from a dark description of the wrong way to die to a call for people to die with dignity. 3) It has a rhyme scheme (A,B,A,B,C,D,C,D,E,F,E,F,G,G). 4) It only has one couplet that rhymes. "Like men we'll face the cowardly pack/Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back!" 5) Each line has ten syllables.

After exploring poems of the Harlem Renaissance, I chose "In Time of Silver Rain" written by Langston Hughes. I enjoyed reading this poem because the poet's description of rain and how it gives birth to new life was very vivid. I especially liked the line, "The butterflies lift silken wings To catch a rainbow cry." I liked how in this line (and others) Hughes used non-living things and gave them human characteristics. Finally, the poem was positive, and I appreciated that the poet discussed how the rains of spring give way to new life. Because the Harlem Renaissance was a rebirth for African Americans, this composition is symbolic of that.