Anne Moody, Coming of Age in Mississippi

Study guide and second essay assignment

Note: Moody grades are now available on the Grade page.

The following questions are designed to help guide you in the reading of this book. We will discuss it in class on Friday, October 31. The essay is due in class the following Friday, November 7.

1. What were Anne Moody's most important early childhood experiences? What was her family life like, and what were her family responsibilities? What sort of hardships did she have to endure?

2. Describe Anne's (Essie Mae's) early contacts with whites. How did she learn that African Americans and whites were different? How did she explain those differences?

3. What difficulties or obstacles did Anne's family face in trying to make a living and improve their daily lives? How did whites in rural Mississippi exercise power over Blacks?

4. Describe Anne's relationships with Linda Jean and with Mrs. Burke. Why did Mrs. Burke want Anne to work for her? What were the reasons for the increasing tension between Anne and Mrs. Burke?

5. Who was Emmett Till, and why was he murdered? What was Anne's reaction to his death?

6. Why did Anne become critical of Blacks about the time she reached the age of fifteen? Did Anne act differently toward whites than did most Blacks in rural Mississippi?

7. How did Anne's brief stays in Baton Rouge and New Orleans affect her? Were African Americans treated differently in these cities?

8. Why was Samuel O'Quinn murdered, and what effect did his death have on Anne?

9. How did Anne get involved in the activities of the Tougaloo branch of the NAACP? How did her activities with the NAACP affect her? Did they provide fulfillment, frustration, a sense of accomplishment?

10. Describe Anne's work with the SNCC voter registration project, Why was it so hard for her and her co-workers to achieve their goals? Why were many Blacks reluctant to register? What dangers did she face while carrying on this work?

11. Describe Anne's participation in the sit-ins in Woolworth 's. How did she reach the conclusion that Mississippi whites were sick?

12. What were Anne's reactions to: a) Medgar Evers' death and b) Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" Speech?

13. Why was Anne doubtful at the end of the book about whether it would be possible to overcome racial prejudice and discrimination?

Second Essay Assignment

Your assignment is to write a thoughtful, reflective, well-argued and documented essay on civil rights in the United States after the Second World War. Here are some suggested topics for your essay.

• At the end of Coming of Age in Mississippi, Anne Moody responds to the singing of "We Shall Overcome" by thinking, "I wonder. I really wonder." Why did she have these doubts? Do you think that her fear that the civil rights movement might not accomplish its goals proved to be accurate? What has the history of civil rights movements taught us about this issue?
• "As long as I live, I'll never be beaten by a white man again. . . . Nonviolence is out," declared Anne Moody in 1963. How did Moody reach this conclusion? What alternatives did she and other African Americans propose to nonviolence, and how well did they work?
• Beginning in the mid-1950s, Supreme Court decisions and federal legislation provided important gains for the civil rights movement. How effective were these judicial and legislative actions in changing race relations in Anne Moody's Mississippi?
• This book is an autobiography of Anne Moody coming of age racially. How and what did she learn about the social significance of race? What personal characteristics were the most responsible for the way she responded? Why did she respond differently from those around her (her peers, her mother and other adults)? Compare her experiences with your own of coming to terms with the significance of race in your lives and in United States society. How have we learned what race means in our society?

You may write on one of these or a topic of your own choosing, but you should check with me before you write on something else. In any case, you are to present, develop, and support a clear and strong thesis statement. A book review is not acceptable for this assignment. Neither is an essay which simply answers the study guide questions. You are to write an original essay in which you develop and defend your own thoughts and ideas. Use Coming of Age in Mississippi, other readings, films, lectures, and discussions from this class as sources of factual information and examples to support the arguments you make in your essay. You may also want to include other materials, readings, resources, etc. in the writing of this essay.

Your essay should be about 750 words (3 pages) long, typed, double-spaced, follow proper essay form, and include footnotes and a bibliography. Be sure to proofread the essay for spelling, grammatical, and typographical errors. Consult this guide on The Writing of a Historical Essay or Research Paper for additional assistance on the form of the paper. Essays are due in class on Friday, November 7, and I will grade them based on content, organization, clarity of thought, and level of argument. Grades on all late papers will be penalized one-half of a letter grade for each day that they are late.

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