Black Boy by Richard Wright
Notes for pages 78-98
Wright learns how boys “talk.”
1. Who do the black boys always
talk and worry about?
2. What does this constant focus
suggest?
A Significant Passage
“Man, what makes white folks so
mean?’” (81).
3. What does this question
reveal?
4. Who do the black boys fight
against? What are these battles
like?
A Significant Passage
“…the gang’s life was my life” (83).
5. What does Wright mean?
6. What happens to Wright’s
mother?
7. At his new school, Wright is
tested. How?
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8. Why does Wright want to
leave Uncle Clark’s house?
A Significant Passage
“When he took me to the train that
Saturday morning, I felt guilty and
did not want to look at him” (98).
9. Why does Wright feel so guilty?
Reflection: Wright’s life with Uncle Clark and Aunt Jody was very different from his life with
his mother. What was the biggest difference?
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