Review
Questions
For Beals
| Fadiman
| Johnson and Pleece | Loewen
Please answer the following
questions--at least one-typed double-spaced page per
question.
Review Questions
for:
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Beals,
M. (1995). Warriors don't cry: A searing memoir of
the battle to integrate Little Rock's Central High.
New York: Pocket Books.
- Beals writes, "The
effort to separate ourselves whether by race, creed,
color, religion, or status is as costly to the
separator as to those who would be separated." What
might she mean by this? Do you agree with her? Do you
think other blacks would agree with this?
Explain.
- In your view, why
does Beals write to her diary that, "Freedom is not
integration."
- Over the course of
1957, the Pattillo family begins to question Link's
motives for helping Melba. Why? Do you believe that
Link was heroic for helping Melba or do you think he
was cowardly for not being more open in his support
for the Little Rock Nine?
- Why was Lois Pattillo
fired from her job? What does she do to get it back?
Why is that tactic successful? What does this tell us
about more general social attitudes about race
relations in the U.S.A.?
- Some observers have
commented that the fact that the story of the Little
Rock Nine is not more widely known (had you heard
about it before you read this book?) is evidence of
lingering racism in the U.S.A. Explain. Do you agree?
Why or why not?
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Fadiman,
A. (1998). The spirit catches you and you fall down: A
Hmong child, her American doctors, and the collision of
two cultures. New York: Noonday Press.
- Dr. Dan Murphy said,
"The language barrier was the most obvious problem,
but not the most important. The biggest problem was
the cultural barrier. There is a tremendous difference
between dealing with the Hmong and dealing with anyone
else. An infinite difference" (p. 69). What does he
mean by this?
- How does the greatest
of all Hmong folk tales, the story of how Shee
Yee fought with nine evil dab brothers (p. 170),
reflect the life and culture of the Hmong?
- The Hmong are often
referred to as a Stone Age or low-caste hill tribe.
Why is this? Do you agree with this assessment of
Hmong culture? Does the author?
- What are the most
important aspects of Hmong culture? What do the Hmong
consider their most important duties and obligations?
How did they affect the Hmong's transition to the
United States?
- The concept of "fish
soup" is central to the author’s understanding of
the Hmong. What does it mean, and how is it reflected
in the structure of the book?
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Johnson, M. and Pleece, W. (2008). Incognegro. New York: Vertigo/DC Comics.
- To what does the author refer in the term, "incognegro?" Why does the character Pinchback suggest it is so easy to infiltrate the culture of "white folks?"
- With the names of Sean Bell
and the "Jena Six" still fresh, we know that racist violence is far
from eradicated in the United States. How does the experience of
Pinchback compare with these more modern incidents? (Search the terms "Sean Bell" and "Jena Six" if you aren't familiar with them.)
- Imagine the experience of
"passing," and describe what it would be like for you to "pass" as a
member of some other racial or ethnic group at Augsburg College. What
conditions or factors would make "passing" harder or easier?
- From where does the author
Johnson suggest one develops an identify? Why is an identity important
in a person's development? (for background: Babad et al.'s The Social Self devotes a significant portion of the book to identity and other aspects of social development.)
- At the end of the book, Pinchback writes one last story. Is justice served by this article? Why or why not?
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