The Habit of Life
by A. Gautam
I sent a letter in the mail
to my friend across the sea.
But I never heard from her.
I wondered, if she thought of me.
When people move they do forget,
the old times and old stories, too.
New places, faces replace
memories with friendships new.
Then she wrote years later,
I knew I still mattered to her.
She wrote that life was a habit,
and asked if I was good at it.
What statement does the theme of this poem make?
A. Most new things always replace old things.
B. People are busy for years when they move.
C. Most things we do in life are out of habit.
OD. Friends are always lost, and found again.

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.