1. Prose

African American literature has had an effect on the people who read it. Beginning during the period following the Civil War, African American literature focused on the struggle of African Americans in society. The subject matter that was used in the early days came from all sources and covered all topics of African American life. One of the most gifted and influential writers of the time was Charles W. Chesnutt. His writing, it seems, has been used for provoking laughter. Chesnutt's writing has, however, influenced many African American writers such as Langston Hughes.

In later years, the writing of African Americans focused, in great part due to the publishing companies, on aspects of African American life that Caucasian Americans would want to read about. The New Negro Literary Movement was launched with There is Confusion(1924) by Jessie Fauset. In her novel she continues the "old school" of Negro authors by trying to satisfy the people who are interested in learning about the better classes of African Americans. Jessie Fauset's novel started the New Negro Literary Movement because she expressed the views of her class of African Americans. These views helped to raise the understanding of African American culture to a new height. Her novel was one of the cornerstones of the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920's.

The literature of this period, and into the 1950's and 1960's, glorified African Americans and gave the race as a whole something to look up to.

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