Jean+Toomer

=__﻿Jean Toomer__= Jean Toomer was born on December 26, 1884 in Washington D.C. Jean’s mother came from a mixed heritage, so he was neither black nor white. His father abandoned him and his mother when he was a baby, so they lived with his mothers parents in wealthy white community in Washington D.C. Jean later attented an all black high school. After graduating, he attended six college, but never got his degree. Then he got a job offer as a princepal in Sparta, Georgia. While he was living in Sparta he got an idea that inspired his famous novel, //__Cane__.//

__ //Cane// __ is one of the most famous African American novels. It consist of three parts. The first part is about African American life in the south. In the second part it tells the story of African American life in the urban north, and the final part is about a man trying to figure out what race he wants to be in the world. In each part it states Jean’s opinion on these enviorments. Even though many critics call //__Cane__// “a literary master piece” it did not become very famous until the 1960’s during the Harlem Reniassance. During this time he became an icon because of his idea that there is only one race, American. Jean himself had only been to Harlem a few times during 1925, and they were to start a Guardiieff group. Guardiieff was a man who came up with the religon unitism which Jean followed, but the group he tried to established failed. The people just did not have enough time or money to participate.

Jean continued writing through out his life. He wrote lots of poems and plays, but none of his works could compare to the amazing stories in his novel //__Cane__//. -K.M.S

Works Cited ==
 * "Jean Toomer", Gale 1998, Notable Black American Mean Book II 1998, Biography in Context, Web, 2/15/11
 * "Jean Toomer" Detroit: Gale 2003, Encyclopedia of World Biography Vol. 23, Biography in Context, Web, 2/15/11
 * Hardy, P. Stephen and Jackson, Shelia, //__Extrodinary People of the Harlem Renaissance__//, Canada, Childrens Press, 2000
 * African American Reference Library, "Jean Toomer", African American Biography Volume 4, 1994 Edition, Print
 * Pictures: "Jean Toomer" ,Biography in Context, Detroit: Gale 2010

Jean Toomer's Poem "Song of the Son"

=All about Jean Toomer=

Before the age of 18, Jean Toomer refused to be called black or white. Because of this, Jean Toomer has made a big impact of the Harlem Renaissance. Nathan Eugene Pinchback Toomer (Jean Toomer) was born December 26, 1894 in Washington, District of Columbia. He wasn’t even a year old before his father left him and his mother, Nina. They moved in with her father shortly after. While living with his grand-father, he attended an all black school, but lived in an all white neighborhood. His whole life turned around when his mother got remarried and they moved. That’s when he attended an all white school but lived in an all black neighborhood. In 1909, His mother died and his life turned around again. He moved back in with his grandfather and, once again, lived in an all white neighborhood, but attended an all black school. From there he graduated. Living in a both black and white life affected him greatly. Since he did not have a label, he called himself, the “first American.” Toomer attended the University of Wisconsin along with The City college of New York. He never earned a degree though. He studied literature, agriculture, and psychology to become a writer. In 1918, he started writing short stories and poems. Most of his poems were reflected on his life and how he lived in both a black and a white life. At around 1920-1921, he completed his first real poem, “The First American.” At the end of summer 1931, he married Margery Latimer. A little later that year his daughter, Margery, was born. His wife died a little later on.

One of the best things he has ever written is his novel __Cane.__ It’s considered one of the best African American novels ever written. A lot of his poems got rejected by publishers, but that didn’t stop him. Toomer once quoted, “I am of no particular race. I am of the Human race, a man at large in the human world, preparing a new world.” Toomer is still considered a major poet and his writings are still remembered to this day. He truly has a gift for poetry and writing.

Click here to read his poem "Portrait in Georgia"

Click here to read his poem "Reapers"


 * Works Cited **

“Jean Toomer”, Encyclopedia of world biography, Detroit: Gale 2003, Gale biography in context, wed, 2/15/11

Smith, Jessie, “Jean Toomer”, Gale 1998, Gale biography in context, Web, 2/15/11

“Jean Toomer”, African American Biography volume 4, 1994, print

Rusch, Frederik, “Jean Toomer”, Encyclopedia of African American culture and history, Gale, 2006, Gale biography in context, Web, 2/15/11

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