Paul Laurence Dunbar was an influential African American poet in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was born into slavery in Ohio in 1872 and began writing poetry at a young age. Some of his most notable works used African American dialect. Dunbar achieved national recognition and success with his 1896 poetry collection Lyrics of a Lowly Life. He wrote extensively about issues related to the black experience and promoted racial pride and protest against injustice. Dunbar died of tuberculosis in 1906 at the age of 33.

1. SAN MARCOS UNIVERSITY AMERICA LITERATURE PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR School: Education Student: Elida cullanco menenses Teacher: Yony Cárdenas Cornelio

2. PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR (1872-1906) The first black American writer He was an influential poet of the late 19th and early 20th centuries

3. BIOGRAPHY He was born in Dayton, Ohio. He was the son of former slaves . He became interested in writing verse. (william wordsworth) By the age of 14, he was reciting his own poems. He was editor in chief of the school newspaper.

4. BIOGRAPHY With the help of former schoolmates Orville and Wilbur Wright, he started a small newspaper for the black community, but it failed. He had to work as an elevator operator.

5. BIOGRAPHY In 1892 Dunbar read before Western Association of Writers. His reading impressed the members so much that the poet soon found himself on the road to national recognition.

6. BIOGRAPHY He achieved national recognition for his 1896 Lyrics of a Lowly Life (one of the collection in Ode to Ethiopia). He was intimately connected with Frederick Douglass (a former slave who escaped and became a speaker and leader against slavery) and Booker T. Washington and was honored with a ceremonial sword by President Theodore Roosevelt .

7. BIOGRAPHY His work is known for its colorful language and use of dialect(black community), and a conversational tone, with a brilliant rhetorical structure. He was later diagnosed with tuberculosis in 1900, and moved to Colorado with his wife, he died at age thirty-three on February 9, 1906.

8. LITERARY PRODUCTION POETRY "The Ante-bellum Sermon" and " When Dey 'Listed Colored Soldiers ." "We Wear the Mask," "When Malindy Sings," "Frederick Douglass," "The Colored Soldiers," "The Haunted Oak“ He had written 12 books of poetry, five novels, and four books of short stories. (He was mainly concerned, in his writing, with issues that related to his people and his culture) Dunbar's loyalty to the black race and his pride in its achievements, as well as his righteous anger over racial injustice.

9. DOUGLASS by Paul Laurence Dunber Ah, Douglass we have fall'n on evil days, Such days as thou , not even thou didst know, When thee , the eyes of that harsh long ago Saw, salient, at the cross of devious ways, And all the country heard thee with amaze. Not ended then, the passionate ebb and flow , The awful tide that battled to and fro ; We ride amid a tempest of dispraise . Now, when the waves of swift dissension swarm, And Honor, the strong pilot lieth stark, Oh, for thy voice high-sounding o'er the storm, For thy strong arm to guide the shivering bark, The blast-defying power of thy form, To give us comfort through the lonely dark.

10. VOCABULARY: Thee: you. Thou: you. Thy: you. Devious : behaving in a dishonest or indirect way, or tricking people, in order to get sth. Ebb and flow: the repeated, often regular, movement from one state to another; the repeated change in level, numbers or amount. To and fro: backwards and forwards. High-sounding : complicated and intended to sound important, pretentious . Didst.- archaic (used with the pronoun thou or its relative equivalent) a form of the past tense of do Harsh.- unpleasant, unkind, cruel or unnecessarily severe Dispraise.- disapproval, censure Dissension.- Difference of opinion; disagreement Lieth.- (archaic) Third-person singular simple present indicative form of lie O’er.- over

11. Who was Frederick Douglass? Dunbar tells how Douglass' voice and speeches have helped the slaves get through their tough times. A former slave A speaker and leader against slavery He gave hope and support to his people in a time of crisis

12. Slavery is represented by a giant storm . The slaves are a ship that ride against the storm, Douglass' voice leads the slaves through the way to safety. DOUGLASS by Paul Laurence Dunber THEMES AND SYMBOLS

13. ATTITUDE Bitterness Struggle to achieve their goals and to gain equality, and to be given the same opportunities. Hope that someone will take charge and improve the way of life for African Americans - Wanting equality and new opportunities

14. PURPOSE Dunbar wanted to get out his anger, and to make the country realize what is going on around them, but he also had hope for the future that someone will come along and make life better for African Americans.

15. AUDIENCE To his fellow African Americans To make them realize that changes need to be made, and that African Americans have to stand up and take charge - They have to fight for what they want: Equality New opportunities

16. STYLE Comparison to the past “ Ah, Douglass , we have fall'n on evil days , Such days as thou, not even thou didst know ” Life for the African Americans hasn’t improved that much Appeals to emotions Rhyme “ Not end ed then , the passion ate ebb and flow, The awful tide that battled to and fro”

17. This poem represents Realism because it talks about the things that happen to the slaves. It may not talk about those things directly, but Dunbar uses figurative language and symbolism to get his point across. Realism

18. Ah, Douglass we have fall'n on evil days, (a) Such days as thou , not even thou didst know, (b) When thee , the eyes of that harsh long ago (b) Saw, salient, at the cross of devious ways, (a) And all the country heard thee with amaze. (a) Not ended then, the passionate ebb and flow , (b) The awful tide that battled to and fro ; (b) We ride amid a tempest of dispraise . (a) Italian sonnets Divided into a group of eight lines, or octave, followed by a group of six lines, or sestet. The rhymes scheme.

19. Ah, Douglass we have fall'n on evil days, Such days as thou , not even thou didst know, When thee , the eyes of that harsh long ago Saw, salient, at the cross of devious ways, And all the country heard thee with amaze. Not ended then, the passionate ebb and flow , The awful tide that battled to and fro ; We ride amid a tempest of dispraise . Now, when the waves of swift dissension swarm, And Honor, the strong pilot lieth stark, Oh, for thy voice high-sounding o'er the storm, For thy strong arm to guide the shivering bark, The blast-defying power of thy form, To give us comfort through the lonely dark. Read the poem “Douglass” and answer the questions:

20. What does the author try to say Douglass in the first two lines of the poem? ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ How had the country reacted to Douglass’ insights, according to line 5? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ What do you think the word "the storm" means in line 11? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ What do you think the word "bark" means in line 12? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

21. What three qualities of Douglass’ does the speaker then call for in lines 11-14? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Why do you think the author wrote about Douglass? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ What do you think is the main message of this poem? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________