Claude McKay was a prominent figure of the Harlem Renaissance, born in Jamaica in 1889 and recognized for his poetry that highlighted the struggles of African Americans against racism. His work became influential in advocating for civil rights and cultural identity, inspiring the Harlem community to confront societal issues. McKay's literary contributions, personal activism, and complex identity, including his bisexuality, shaped his writing and underscored the necessity for equality in an oppressive environment.

1. Miller 3
Carrie Miller
African American Authors from 1900’s to Present
04/26/2020
Claude McKay Outline
I. Introduction
A. Background: For every literary period, there is always a
group of writers that define it. When it comes to the Harlem
Renaissance, a period that characterized eruption of activities
among the African Americans in almost every art field, Claude
McKay was the unquestioned leader. Born in 1889, in Sunny
Ville, Jamaica, McKay went to become a novelist and a poet
known in Britain, USA, and his home land. At the age of
seventeen, McKay started writing poems with the influence of
his brother, Theophilus. Theophilus was a school teacher in
Jamaica, therefore was interested in literature. At a young age,
Theophilus helped McKay to develop an interest in the British
literature. Claude McKay started receiving mentorship from
Walter Jekyll, an Englishman from Jamaica. Jekyll encouraged
McKay to write dialect verses. Later on in 1912, McKay
immigrated to USA, establishing himself as a renowned poet.
He went on to publish Songs of Jamaica, Constab Ballads and
two volumes of dialect verse.
B. Transition to Thesis: After his immigration to the United
States of America, McKay started to experience things that he
did not expect. McKay had not experienced racism until he
joined the Tuskegee Institute to study agronomy. America’s
racism sparked the fire in McKay to write even more, talking
real issues and letting his readers understand what was
happening and getting to their guts. He then moved to New
York and invested in a restaurant. He married Eulalie Imelda
Lewars. McKay published two poems there before he gained
recognition as a lyric poet from Frank Harris, an editor at

2. Pearson’s magazine. The Liberator’s editor Max Eastman also
recognized him. Throughout his life, McKay was keen to make
sure that he addressed the issues that were in the society.
C. Thesis Statement: Claude McKay was an influential poet that
was best in addressing real life issues from the Harlem
Renaissance period.
II. Significance to New York City
McKay was Voice to the people of Harlem
McKay had a famous voice to the rights of the African
Americans in America. During his time, the situation for the
blacks was tough and dangerous. The African Americans at that
time who dared to oppose discrimination ended up suffering at
the hands of the police. The African Americans had no choice
but to live in fear of speaking the truth as it was and facing the
real life. They, as a result, decide to play down their feeling and
thoughts. McKay gave the people of Harlem a helping hand to
break from their cocoon. He gave the people a voice, inspired
them to go for their rights.
McKay helped in the Cultural Identity of the black people
McKay raised the consciousness of the need to reflect on the
issues that affect the African Americans in USA. He attracted
the attention of researchers and people in academia to explore
the unique problems that the African Americans faced.
By attracting the attention of researchers and academicians,
McKay allowed people to understand the New York was a city
occupied by people from different backgrounds. He allowed the
black community to discover its niche.
III. Against Racial Discrimination
Defending Black rights
In his poem “If we must die”, McKay looks to be defending the
rights of the African Americans and threatens for abuse and
prejudice. The poem encourages the blacks to fight with
determined hears and courage against those that murder them.
Also, McKay not only encourages the blacks, he also
encourages any other race that faces discrimination to fight for
its freedom.

3. IV. Personal Life
McKay was a hard worker
Claude McKay joined the Industrial Workers of the world while
working in a factory after he had worked as a waiter of a dining
car in on the railways.
McKay was against American Communists and fought them
He believed that communists had different agendas and that the
African Americans were not part of the plan. This, however,
was after he joined the Communist party. He believed that the
communists were using the African Americans to fight their
battles. The views about communism became wild that he
sought to help Russia. He had heard of the acceptance of the
Russians towards communist and even willingness to normalize
homosexuality.
McKay believed that the American Communist party suppressed
the idea of individuality and independent thinking. He moved to
Russia. Before moving back to America, he denounced the
communist thoughts.
McKay engaged in social activism
McKay engaged in activism both through his literature and in
person. McKay strongly urged that the African American man
should be accepted fully. He even urged that the homosexuals
should be accepted; in his novel “home to Harlem”. McKay also
worked to make sure that equality and acceptance of diversity
would not be an issue.
McKay was bisexual
Generally, people assume that McKay was bisexual because he
pursued relationships with men and women alike. Even though
he never officially came out to state his sexual preference, he
enjoyed the secrecy of New York. His ability to enter any
homosexual community and get accepted is a reason why people
strongly believe he was bisexual. In some of his poems,
homosexual sentiments are seen. According to Josephine
Herbst, she was convinced that he was bisexual and that she got
syphilis one time in their relationship.
V. Conclusion

4. A. Summary of the paper
Claude McKay was a well-travelled person, an author that had
experienced different things in his life because of his constant
migration. Born in Jamaica, McKay moved to USA, Russia, UK,
and Morocco and also visited other countries. His interest in
authorship was mentored by his elder brother and an
Englishman living in Jamaica. He went on to write poems,
narratives, novels and short stories. His works were mainly
political and urged the African Americans to fight for their
rights. He was also against American Communism that he
believed did not have the interest to the blacks at heart. His
personal life also reflected what he was writing in his novels
and poems. For instance, he was very political and was also
believed to be bisexual, something that he seemed to fight for in
his poems.
B. Closing Thoughts
McKay was political and fought for the rights of his people.
McKay was willing to go to an extra length to tackle the issues
in the society and was not fearful of anything or anyone.
VI. Citations
Biography.com editors. Claude McKay Biography. Author, Poet,
Journalist (1889-1948). May 14, 2019. Retrieved from
https://www.biography.com/writer/claude-mckay on April 20,
2020.
Hathaway, Heather. Caribbean Waves: Relocating Claude
McKay and Paule Marshall. Indiana University Press, 1999.
Holcomb, Gary Edward. Claude McKay, Code Name Sasha:
Queer Black Marxism and the Harlem Renaissance. University
Press of Florida, 2007.
Poetry Foundation. Claude McKay 1889–1948. Beinecke Rare
Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, 2020.
Retrieved from https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/claude-
mckay on April 20, 2020.
Ramesh, Kotti Sree, and Kandula Nirupa Rani. Claude McKay:
The Literary Identity from Jamaica to Harlem and Beyond.
McFarland, 2006.

5. Rosenberg, Leah. "Caribbean Models for Modernism in the
Work of Claude McKay and Jean
Rhys." Modernism/modernity 11.2 (2004): 219-238
2
Econ 360
Spring 2020
Third Midterm
Name___________________________________
1. If the forward rate is greater than the spot rate, what are
markets signaling about their expectations for the future spot
rates for the home currency?
2. The nominal interest rate in the U.S. is 6% and the nominal
interest rate in Canada is 3%. The spot value of the U.S. dollar
is 1.1 ($/Canadian dollar) and the forward rate is 1.3
($/Canadian dollar). Calculate the forward discount or premium
for the dollar. Does the interest parity condition hold? If not
explain what is likely to occur in foreign exchange markets.
Assume that interest rates cannot change.
3. Exchange rates are exceedingly difficult to predict. Explain
the factors that determine the exchange rate over the long run,
medium run, and short run.
4. According to the following equation (1/R)(1+i*)F = F/R
(1+i*). Explain what is the interest parity condition, and how
can we derive the interest parity condition from the previous
equation.
5. If the dollar/pound exchange rate is $2/£, a Big Mac costs $5

6. in New York City and costs £4 in London. From the point of
view of an American consumer estimate and explain whether the
pound is undervalued or overvalued and indicate in what city
U.S. consumers are better off.
6. Explain the three rules that countries must follow to maintain
a gold standard.
7. Why might a group of countries wish to have a common
currency? Explain four reasons.
8. Consider the case of a sudden increase in demand for foreign
exchange in a country with a fixed exchange rate system.
Indicate what are the conditions for the monetary authority to
sustain the fixed exchange rate and explain the mechanism to
maintain the exchange rate fixed using a graph.
9. Use a J-curve to illustrate the effect on the current account of
an exchange rate depreciation. Explain why the curve has the
shape that it does. What condition must be fulfilled to have a
positive effect of the depreciation of the currency on the current
account?
10. How does a weak financial sector intensify the problems
created by volatile capital flows?
11. Explain how exchange rate policies affected economies
during the Great Depression.
12. Explain the pros and cons of a crawling peg.
13. Describe the policies that a nation would follow to correct a
current account deficit. What are the primary purposes of each
type of policy?

7. 14. Explain why in an economy with fixed exchange rates,
monetary policy will not cause expenditure switching.
15. How did the vulnerabilities in Asian economies lead to the
Asian financial crisis of 1997-1998?
16. Explain the meaning of IMF conditionality and why it has
been criticized.
Carrie Miller
ENGL 364
April 19, 2020
Annotation Bibliography “Claude McKay”
Ramesh, Kotti Sree, and Kandula Nirupa Rani. Claude McKay:
The Literary Identity from
Jamaica to Harlem and Beyond. McFarland, 2006.
This book is made of six chapters and provides a great insights
of Claude McKay by exploring his unique contribution to the
global discourse of black writing. The book examines McKay’s
career as a British colonial subject writer as well as his
analytical writings about the problem of identity, vocations as
well as politics of the black man in an extremely racist Western
civilization for the first half of the 20th century. The book also
provides insights on how his life in exile influenced his
ideological evolutions and writing. The book will greatly
contribute to research work as it explores how McKay’s traits
influenced his writings by focusing on his poetry works written
outside Jamaica. On a large picture, the book will enable me
demonstrate how influential authors such as MacKay
contributed to key movements in the history of the blacks.
Holcomb, Gary Edward. Claude McKay, Code Name Sasha:
Queer Black Marxism and the
Harlem Renaissance. University Press of Florida, 2007.
This book written by Holcomb will be great significance in my
research as it explores how McKay’s writings can be used to
interpret politics of literary texts. The author examines three of

8. the most fundamental works by McKay writing careers; Home to
Harlem, Romance in Marseille and A Long Way from Home. By
doing so, Holcomb uncovers how McKay contributed to black
modern studies by exploring queen black Marxism in details. As
such, the book will of great help to me as it explores the
twentieth- century transatlantic modernist author as well as his
literary works; poetry and prose. The book is also be important
to me as it gives a good history and historiography of an author
who helped to articulate challenges of the blacks.
Hathaway, Heather. Caribbean Waves: Relocating Claude
McKay and Paule Marshall.
Indiana University Press, 1999.
This book provides deep insights into the literary works of a
distinguished and versatile intellect, Claude McKay (1889-
1948). The book exposes McKay as an accomplished novelists,
essayist, social and political activist and poet whose work
influence not only Jamaican readers but also readers from any
other part of the world. The authors did a great job by doing
some research on personal life of McKay who once declared
himself as a “born to be a poet.” The authors demonstrate how
Jamaican life during his childhood and youth shaped his career
from age of ten. This book’s part two especially will be of great
importance to my research as it will enable me understand some
McKay written works as it provides individual analysis to his
works.
Biography.com editors. Claude McKay Biography. Author, Poet,
Journalist (1889-1948).
May 14, 2019. Retrieved from
https://www.biography.com/writer/claude-mckay on April 20,
2020.
This article provides a complete biography of Claude McKay
from his early childhood, career and death. This brief will be
important during my research as it gives me firsthand
information about McKay, his personal life and some of his
literary works. This information will be critical for me as I read
how other authors have written about him regarding his

9. contributions as well as their viewpoints on his works. The brief
also provides a list of works he did; this will enable me to
understand different analysis provided by different authors into
his works and perhaps what transpired his writings at the time.
This greatly influence my understanding of the historical
breakdown of his work.
Poetry Foundation. Claude McKay 1889–1948. Beinecke Rare
Book and Manuscript
Library, Yale University, 2020. Retrieved from
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/claude-mckay on April
20, 2020.
This article found in poetry foundation website provides life
history /eulogy of McKay from the day of his birth to death.
The article examine how McKay’s philosophical ambitious
fictions help readers to understand individual efforts by Black
communities to cope with racial White society. More
importantly, the article provide us with historical breakdown of
the personal life of McKay, how he moved from one country to
another in search of work; as well as literary works he did at the
time. This helps us understand his writings from both insiders
and outsiders perspective, and therefore, will greatly contribute
to my understanding and interpretation of different poets and
works he did.
Rosenberg, Leah. "Caribbean Models for Modernism in the
Work of Claude McKay and
Jean Rhys." Modernism/modernity 11.2 (2004): 219-238.
This book tries to compare the work of McKay and Jean Rhys
and their contributions to Caribbean modernism. By exploring
McKay works, Banjo, the authors helps us to understand how he
viewed the subject of sexuality. This compares well with work
of Jean who explored a similar theme. This book will be of
great significance to my research as it will enable me
understand how McKay viewed different subjects in his writings
by comparing his work with another great author in history;
Jean Rhys. The way they explore a similar theme and how each
views it from different perspective will greatly enable me

10. comprehend some of his great works related to politics, social
welfare and racism.