- Coates writes of his “working theory” (46) and “imagining history to be a unified narrative” (47). Why might this have been important for Coates? What did he find or realize in his investigation? In your response, be sure to provide textual evidence from Coates.
In this investigation, Coates realized that this research was not as simple as he thought, “the trouble came almost immediately. I did not find a coherent tradition marching locksteps but instead factions, and factions within factions” (47). In the paragraph previous to this quote he talks about how history will just unfold in front of him, so this quote is showing that it’s going to be harder than expected to develop his working theory.
- How does Coates make sense of his college experience? For example, how do his reflections on the classroom, the library, the Yard (among others) tell his college story? Explain with evidence.
Through his description of his college, Howard University, it seems as though he enjoyed his experience. He makes sense of it and describes the school as a place where his history is important, even describing the school as “the crossroads of the black diaspora.” He shows that he uses his college education wisely and talks about spending lots of time in the library reading and writing.
- Your burning question: Help us examine some specific part of Coates’ text by offering a Quotation, providing a 3-4 sentence Comment on it, and asking a Question that follows from the quote and/or comment.
“There was more out there than I had ever hoped for, and wanted you to have it. I wanted you to know that the world in its entirety could never be found in the schools, alone, nor the streets, alone, nor in the trophy case. I wanted you to claim the whole world, as it is” (68).
I chose this quote because as I was reading it it stuck out to me. It sounds like he is encouraging the reader (his son right?) to go out and explore the world for himself. He spends a lot of time in the book talking about what he has experienced and mentions that there is still more to see. My question would be does he feel as though he has lost his chance to keep exploring, or is he just encouraging his son to kind of follow in his footsteps?
