Charles Chesnutt incorporated many other themes within his short stories, novels and essays. Name three of them.
- Prejudice, both between blacks and whites and within the black community (i.e. should Mr. Ryder choose a "Lighter" woman or his old slave wife?)
- Greed--McAdoo is so blinded by the hope of increasing his profit, he follows flawed advice from a stranger, which eventually kills his crops.
- The power struggle between whites trying to re-subjugate blacks and blacks being unable to openly defy whites and therefore resorting to tricks and wit.
Explain the primary difference between the folktales as written by Harris and those written by Chesnutt.
Harris's folktales followed the stereotype of black people being happy as subservient freedmen with no wish to upset the new status quo. Chesnutt went the opposite direction, poking fun at whites and using conjurers and tricksters to outsmart or take advantage of whites.
What is the service and disservice that Harris did to the African American community by writing African American folktales?
He created Uncle Remus, an old man that would tell old folktales to white children. This congenially introduced black folktales to a white audience while offering blacks a way of collecting their folktales in one place. However, it also perpetuated the stereotype of subservient blacks enjoying their place.
What was the name of the fictional narrator/storyteller created by Harris? What was the counterpart created by Chesnutt?
Harris--Uncle Remus
Chesnutt--Uncle Julius
What nickname has been given Washington's most famous speech?
The Atlanta Compromise
What was the name of the event where Washington delivered his famous speech (the one read in class)?
The Atlanta Cotton States Exposition
What was the name of the university founded by Booker T. Washington?
Tuskegee
Where did Booker T. Washington and some conservative African Americans place the burden of the "Negro Problem?"
On the Shoulders of the black man
Booker T. Washington advocated more voting rights.
False
Booker T. Washington was an advocate of economic independence.
True
Booker T. Washington was an advocate of education in the trades.
True
How did the 14th Amendment to the Constitution affect African Americans?
It granted African Americans citizenship, but left their roles and allies in society up in the air.
Between 1865 and 1900, from what organization were the majority of African Americans receiving their primary social assistance?
Freedmen's Bureau; officially the the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands
Who was regarded by critics to be the best of the dialect poets during the latter part of the nineteenth century?
Paul Laurence Dunbar
What was the name of the major black women's organization formed in 1896 by Mary Terrell?
National Association of Colored Women
What was the name of the first civil rights organization formed by DuBois and others in 1905?
Niagara Movement
