Claude McKay

Claude McKay was a Jamaican – American writer and poet who had a big impact in the Harlem Renaissance. He was the youngest child of the Thomas Francis Mackay and Ann Elizabeth Edwards who were well off farmers who had enough land to be able to vote. When Claude McKay was four years of he started attending basic schooling at a church that he went to. However when he turned seven he was sent to live with his oldest brother, Uriah Theodore, to be able to get the best education available. During his time living with his brother Claude became a passionate reader of the classical British literature, philosophy, science and theology. He started writing poetry at the small age of ten years old. When Claude had grown up (1906) he became an apprentice to Old Brenga who was a carriage and cabinet maker. During that time working for Old Brenga he met a man named Walter Jekyll, who became Claudes mentor and his overall inspiration for him and strengthened his writing skills and encouraged him to concentrate on his writing. Through Jekylls help Claude published two books of poems, Songs of Jamaica and Constab Ballads (1912). Claude McKay left to the U.S. in 1912 to go to the Tuskegee Institute. One of the big surprises that Claude encountered was the high degree of racism in the United States. Another thing that surprised him was the segregation of public facilities…

Claude McKay faced extreme racism in the early 20th century yet he fought back and expressed himself with his poetry. Not always exposed to segregation, he was born into a loving family on September 15, 1889 in Sunny Ville, Jamaica. At a very young age, his brother, Uriah Theophilus McKay, began tutoring him in classical literature, communism, and famous writers. Claude spent hours reading William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens in his brother’s library. His neighbor Walter Jekyll also…

develop communication skills in his daily life. Like the hardships of these people, Claude McKay depicts the difficulty associated with moving to a new place, such as struggling to find where one fits in when there is a great difference between one’s past and present homes, in “The Topics of New York” through imagery and symbolism: Bananas ripe and green, and gingerroot, Cocoa in pods and alligator pears, And tangerines and mangoes and grapefruit, Fit for the highest prize at parish…

The central idea in the poem “America” by Claude McKay is that even though America is strong and powerful in sometimes negative ways, the poet loves and respects her for those qualities. The poet’s usage of analogies contributes to the central idea of the poem by describing the harsh qualities of America. McKay compares the relationship between a citizen and America to a person having a tiger’s tooth sunken into their throat when he says “And sinks into my throat her tiger’s tooth, / Stealing my…

“America” by Claude McKay puts a magnifying glass over the black population of America during the time of the 1920s—the time of the Harlem Renaissance, where black creativity was hailed and lauded by all who were lucky enough to come into contact with it. This was a time of musical ingenuity, artistic prowess, and literary mastery, all which stemmed from America’s most beaten down population. It was a time in which black Americans, Caribbean and African alike, collectively stood together to tell…

Claude McKay was born in 1889, Sunny Ville, Jamaica. His work is known to be a key and fundamental turning point in the Harlem Renaissance, ranging from poems of life in Jamaica to authoritative and more sophisticated works of literature. Since Claude McKay was the youngest of eleven children, he was therefore sent to live with his oldest brother, who was a school teacher at the time. He was given the best education that was available and began to read and write poetry at the early age of ten.…

Claude McKay is a brilliant poet, whose words illustrate the struggles of black communities in America. Some of his most popular poems are about a black man living in America. In fact, “America” is arguably one of his most influential poems, speaking about the duality of the United States through the eyes of a black man. Claude McKay was a skilled poet who used many literary techniques to convey his deep-rooted messages in his poems. He uses specific techniques such as a sonnet structure in…

The Harlem Dancer by Claude McKay was written in 1922. It serves as a historic insight about the realities of African Americans culture that was meant to be used as a means of empowerment serving as entertainment for the white oppressors of the time. In the 1920s the music scene became a huge part of African American culture and a means of self-expression and empowerment for those in the community. With the rise of the Harlem renaissance there grew an appreciation or more so an infatuation with…

Harlem Renaissance author and poet, Claude McKay, in his poem “America,” describes the complicated relationship he shares with America. McKay intends to share this relationship, highlighting both the good and the bad. He uses a harsh tone to describe the unforgiving nature of the struggles America poses, while using a more hopeful and determined tone when describing the good the America does. McKay hopes through sharing his love-hate, he is able to connect to his audience, people going through…

The poem, “America” by Claude McKay was written in December of 1921 as part of the Harlem Renaissance. The poem is considered to be one of Claude McKay’s most famous poems outlining both the good and bad aspects of the United States. One of the main bad aspects that the poem mentions, is hate, meaning the hatred and prejudice shown toward African Americans during the period it was written, such as the many restrictions placed on African Americans in an effort to make them feel less important…