Brent Staples: “Black Men and Public Space”
general article writing
Description
STUDY QUESTIONS ABOUT (write no more than one paragraph) Brent Staples: “Black Men and Public Space”
- in a paragraph or two, set forth what you take to be Staple’s purpose in “Black men and public space”. Do you think he was writing chiefly to clarify ideas for himself— for instance, to explore how he came to discover the “alienation that comes of being ever the suspect”? or Writing to assist blacks? or to assist whites?or what? (you may conclude that none of these suggestions are relevant)
- exactly what does “bad” mean in the first paragraph? why would some young people think “it was good to be bad”? notice that the first paragraph ends with a short sentence about Greasy Lake, “this was nature.” Is the narrator saying that ”bad” behavior is natural?
- what do you make of the ending of the story? why, in your view, do the boys reject the girl’s offer?
- conceivably the story could have ended with the fifth paragraph from the end. what do the last four paragraphs contribute? argue your case.
STUDY QUESTIONS ABOUT (write no more than one paragraph) T. Coraghessan Boyle: “Greasy Lake”
STUDY QUESTIONS ABOUT (write no more than one paragraph) Amy Tan: “Two Kinds”
