Paired Texts > To One Coming North

by Claude McKay 1922

We've identified these texts as great options for text pairings based on similar themes, literary devices, topic, or writing style. Supplement your lesson with one or more of these options and challenge students to compare and contrast the texts. To assign a paired text, click on the text to go to its page and click the "Assign Text" button there.

The Harlem Renaissance
The Harlem Renaissance
Jessica McBirney

In the informational text "The Harlem Renaissance," Jessica McBirney discusses how the movement developed and the effect it had on America.

Pair “The Harlem Renaissance” with “To One Coming North” to provide students with information about why many African Americans moved north. Ask students to discuss how Jessica McBirney describes the opportunities that African Americans had in the North. How does this compare to how the speaker in Claude Mckay’s poem describes experiences in the North?

8th Grade Informational Text 1170L
Excerpts from Three Sisters
Excerpts from Three Sisters
Anton Chekhov

In Anton Chekhov's play "Three Sisters," the Prózorov siblings struggle to find happiness in a rural Russian village.

Pair “Excerpt from Three Sisters” with “To One Coming North” and ask students to discuss how both texts explore how people can miss home. What do the sisters in “Three Sisters” miss about their home in Moscow? How does this compare to the experiences that the speaker describes in “To One Coming North”? Why is the speaker in “To One Coming North” ultimately happy with their new home while the sisters are not?

9th Grade Drama Non-Prose
America
America
Claude McKay

In "America," a speaker describes their mixed feelings about America.

Pair “America” with “To One Coming North” and ask students to compare the speakers’ perspectives on where they live. How does the speaker feel about America in the poem “America”? How does this compare to the speaker’s feelings about the North in “To One Coming North”? How do both speakers express a sense of being conflicted?

9th Grade Poem
A September Night
A September Night
George Marion McClellan

In George Marion McClellan's poem "A September Night," a speaker describes the natural elements of a dreamy September night in the Mississippi bayou.

Pair the poem “To One Coming North” with “A September Night” and ask students to discuss how the speakers define nature. How does each speaker identify nature’s role in their lives? How do the authors use imagery and figurative language to communicate what nature means for them?

11th Grade Poem