2. 1902 – 1973
Born in Alexandria,
Louisiana
His father was a Creole
bricklayer and his mother
was a school teacher
When he was three his
father was threatened by
two drunk white men and
the family moved to
California
3. As His parents sent him to San Fernando Boarding School
His father instructed him to not “go up there acting
colored”
Bontemps never forgot this moment and resented the
efforts to make him forget his heritage
Graduated from Pacific Union College in 1923
In 1924 he accepted a teaching position in Harlem
Married a former student, Alberta Johnson in 1926
He became closely connected to Harlem Renaissance
artists such Countee Cullen, Zora Neil Hurston and
Langston Hughes, whom he worked closely with
4. He published his first poems in Crisis and Opportunity
in 1924
A Summer Tragedy was written in 1932 during the
midst of the depression
That same year he moved to Alabama to teach at
Oakwood Junior College
From 1943-1965 he was librarian at Fisk University in
Tennessee
Died of a heart attack in 1973
He is the author of numerous poems, short stories and
books
5. After the emancipation
of African American
slaves sharecropping
became a new form of
slavery
A form of land lease
where they worked a
portion of the land for a
share of the profits that
came from the crops
6. The sharecropper would purchase all that was needed:
seeds, food and equipment from the company store
The store would allow them to keep a tab which was
settled when the crops, usually cotton, were gathered
In the end the sharecropper was always short and
would have to start the year at a deficit
This was a vicious cycle getting the sharecropper
deeper into debt
The work was hard labor and led to physical and
mental destruction
7. Realism – the characters speak with the speech of
southern sharecroppers
The reality of the characters’ lives is demonstrated
8. Jeff – old broken down, share farmer, fingers broken
down, limps
Does go out much, poor, clothes are moth eaten
Jennie – blind, thin, voice is like a whisper, frail, death-
like
Relationship – rely on each other,
Jennie is Jeff’s support system – bow tie
They love each other – “baby”
In pain but support each other on the edge of the bed
– bow tie
Vernacular Speech – southern sharecroppers
9. Planning a tragic event –
- Dress in black
- Panic attack outside
- Waiting around to leave – she pushes him on and
grows impatient
- Jeff’s hands shaking
- Wishes the car would take longer to start – up
10. The heat is strangling Jeff
The land is in disorganized – no fences – everyone
shares in the poverty
Shed is falling
Car is falling apart
Even the “frizzly chickens” were dying
Delia’s house is described in detail – and so all the
share farmers live in these hopeless conditions
11. Change their minds 6 times – difficult decision
- p. 3 “No, baby, I ain’t scairt.”
- p. 4 “You know we agreed-we gotta keep on goin’.”
- p. 5 “It don’t make a speck o’ difference though,…we
gunna be in debt to old man Stevenson…It took us a
long time to learn that
Feel they have no choice
Dead inside – no hope for a future – debt
Loss of life - Children
12. Jeff is the one that struggles with the decision – takes the
reader along
Control s the decision
Male Point of View – responsible for his family
Lost his courage - weak, panic attacks
Can no longer take care of his family
POV changes to Jennie’s when they passed Delia’s house
Need to include her struggle – she begins to cry and Jeff
must be strong
Final POV – Omniscient – the car sinks and the reader is
the spectator – from above
13. Many “summer tragedies” have brought them to this
moment
The Death of prosperity - will always be in debt
The Death of their children – victims of racist
structured system
The Death of his youth – Slim Burns killed Joe Heasley
Death of Jeff’s health – the stroke
Death of Jennie’s eyesight – loss of independence
The Theme is Death
