Emily Chavez Assignment 3

I read the poem The Harlem Dancer, written by Claude McKay. The tone of this poem shifts halfway and this shift is most easily seen through imagery. The first part of the poem is happy, as the prostitute "sang and danced on gracefully and calm", but in the second half becomes a bit more pessimistic, as her shape was "devoured" and she is caught "falsely-smiling".

2. "It doesn't make much difference how the pain is put on as long as something has been said. Technique is just a means of arriving at a statement." --Jackson Pollock

In this story, the main character is a prostitute. She dances for money, which was her way to make a living. When she dances, she is empty. What she is saying when she dances is not an expressions of one's self but a representation of sadness and pain. She is limited to a life of only being objectified and oppressed, which can be seen her job. The quote connects to this idea in some way. The woman is not painting or drawing, but her pain is evident nonetheless. Her statement is made when she dances, and that statement is one important to the time of the Harlem Renaissance. With racial tension and the objectification of women, this despair felt by this night club dancer was universal in many ways and her art was a way of expressing that.