39 pages • 1 hour read
Richard WrightA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Use these activities to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.
ACTIVITY 1: Where’s My Voice?
Literary theorist and philosopher Adriana Cavarero posits we can only come to know our lifestory by being exposed to others. “Big Black Good Man” is an excellent example of this theory, for in being exposed to Jim, Olaf comes to know himself. Wright’s use of psychological realism and limited narration helps unveil this development in subtle and profound ways.
How does hiding reality within limited narration reveal psychological themes? Students will answer this question through the careful creation of “Black Out Poetry.” Students will choose from one of the following texts and create a collage in which they “black out” certain lines, words, or phrases to create a puzzle of a text that evokes the major theme in the original text.
Texts for Black Out Poetry:
By Richard Wright
Between the World and Me
Between the World and Me
Richard Wright
Big Boy Leaves Home
Big Boy Leaves Home
Richard Wright
Black Boy
Black Boy
Richard Wright
Bright and Morning Star
Bright and Morning Star
Richard Wright
Native Son
Native Son
Richard Wright
The Man Who Lived Underground
The Man Who Lived Underground
Richard Wright
The Man Who Was Almost a Man
The Man Who Was Almost a Man
Richard Wright
Uncle Tom's Children
Uncle Tom's Children
Richard Wright