"The Man Who Was Almost a Man" It is likely that Richard Wright wrote the short story "The Man Who Was Almost a Man" in order to .

contribute a literary voice to the Civil Rights movement and speak up for change

romanticize Southern life for his audience, who may not have had similar experiences

foreshadow the eventual outcome of racial tensions in the South if changes were not made

narrate a story about his own experience growing up in the South and working as a sharecropper

The harlem renaissance dawned in an era of pervasive racism and segregation. although legally "free," many african americans were still bound by ideas that had their roots in the slavery of earlier centuries. identity and freedom are important ideas presented in many of the poems from the harlem renaissance. furthermore, the values of identity and freedom are not unique to particular times and places. as hughes expresses in "dream variations," all humans want to be able to develop their identities in freedom. what role does freedom play in the poems you read in this unit? what is required of a society to enable each individual to be true to his or her identity and be free to live by that identity? write about at least three of the poems, describing how the poet uses imagery to depict freedom and identity, the lack of it, or the desire for it.