Topics for Further Study
Dave believes that owning a gun will make him a man. What other items symbolize manhood in modern culture? Select one such item and compare it to the gun in "The Man Who Was Almost a Man." What do these two items reveal about the concept of manhood in their respective times and settings?
Conduct research on the economic conditions of black farm laborers in the early 20th-century South. How did the circumstances of these laborers compare to the institution of slavery, which had been abolished about fifty years earlier? How does this comparison deepen your understanding of the story?
At the conclusion of the story, Dave hops on a train heading north. The narrative is set during a time when numerous African Americans were migrating north for various social and economic reasons. Research this migration movement.
When Wright penned an early version of "The Man Who Was Almost a Man" in the mid-1930s, he was an active member of the Communist Party. Investigate the fundamental principles of Communist political philosophy and consider how the story reflects these ideas.
In the 1930s, many authors—both black and white—incorporated dialects into their writing. Identify another author who uses dialect and compare its impact on the portrayal of African Americans with that in "The Man Who Was Almost a Man." Why do you think Wright chose to write in dialect?
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