Summer Reading Requirements
John L. LeFlore Magnet High School
2012-2013
All students in grades 9-12 will read Black Boy by Richard Wright.
In addition, students are required to have completed the attached study guide by the end of the
first week of school. Please read below for additional requirements.

All 12th grade students should acquire a copy of Kindred by Octavia Butler. You will need it at
some point in the semester. This novel may not be on local bookshelves; however, it is
obtainable.

In addition to Black Boy, all 11th Grade AP Literature and Composition students should read the
following:
O' Pioneers! -Willa Cather
The Great Gatsby -F. Scott Fitzgerald
A Raisin in the Sun (play) -Lorraine Hansberry
Beneath a Meth Moon -Jacqueline Woodson

The Autobiography of Malcolm X -Alex Haley
Ava's Man -Rick Bragg
Black Boy White School -Brian F. Walker
In addition to Black Boy, all 12th grade AP Literature and Composition students should read the
following:
How to Read Literature Like a Professor -Thomas C. Foster
Jane Eyre -Charlotte Bronte
Their Eyes Were Watching God -Zora Neal Hurston
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Black Boy
Study Questions
Directions: After reading the novel Black Boy, answer the following study guide questions using complete
sentences in your responses.
Chapter 1-2
1. Why did Richard set the house on fire? What was his punishment? What does the severity of the punishment tell
you about his mother?
2. How and why does Richard kill the kitten? What does he try to prove with his action? How does his mother
punish him?
3. What lesson is Richard’s mother trying to teach him by making him go to the store, knowing that there are those
who will attack him again?
4. How does Richard learn to count? What does he learn his first day of school?
5. What effect did the court event have on Richard’s attitude toward his father?
6. Explain the events that led to Richard going to the orphanage.
7. Why do Richard and his mother go see his father? How does Richard describe his father at the end of the
chapter?
8. Why doesn’t Granny want Richard to read story books?
9. Why does Richard’s punishment by Granny (the wet towel) seem unjust to him?
10. On the way to Arkansas, Richard asks his mother to explain the racial differences. Explain her reaction to him.
How do you feel about her reaction?
11. Explain what happens to Uncle Hoskins, including WHY it happened.
12. When Richard returns to his granny’s he sees 2 groups of men. Describe his reaction to them.
13. Why were Aunt Maggie and “uncle” forced to leave their home?
14. What was ironic about Betsy’s death?
Chapters 3-4
1. Why did Richard move to Greenwood with Uncle Clark and Aunt Jody? Why did Richard hide food
everywhere?
2. Why does he ask to leave them? Do you think his fear is irrational?
3. How does Richard’s mother’s illness affect him?
4. Explain Addie’s and Granny’s reaction to Richard’s behavior.
5. How does Granny get embarrassed in church by Richard? What was his intent?
6. Why did Richard write his first story?
Chapters 5-6
1. How did Richard’s family react to his 6 th grade promotion?
2. Why did Richard sell the anti-Negro newspapers? What was his reaction when he realizes what he’s selling?
3. Why does Addie want to kill Richard?
4. Who was Brother Manse, and what did Richard gain from his job with him?
5. How do Addie and Granny react to Grandpa’s death? Does the reaction seem appropriate?
6. How did Richard’s mother feel about his defiance of Granny and Addie?
7. Why does Richard quit working for the woman with the moldy molasses? What does his reaction to her tell you
about his character?
8. Why does Richard attend Sunday school and get baptized?
9. Explain the altercation between Uncle Tom and Richard.
Chapters 7-8
1. Describe Richard’s encounter with the brickyard dog and the boss’s reaction to it.
2. Describe Richard’s first experience as a published writer. What are his friends’ and family’s reactions.
3. Why doesn’t Richard get a job at the mill?
4. What happens to Ned’s brother Bob? Why? What does Richard then realize afterwards?
5. Describe the relationship between Richard and his Uncle Tom.
6. Why is Richard not excited about giving a speech at graduation as valedictorian? What do others want him to
do? Why doesn’t he follow their advice?
7. What is the message of the speech? What are his consequences?
8. What does Richard decide to go later that night? Do you agree with his decision?
Chapters 9-10
1. Richard gets a job in a store as a delivery boy. Why doesn’t Richard say anything when the owner and his son
attack the black woman?
2. On the job, he is stopped in a white neighborhood. Why are the police disappointed with the stop?
3. What explanation does Griggs have for Richard’s inability to keep a job? What job does he tell Richard about?
4. Describe the incident between Richard and Reynolds and Pease. What is the ultimate end to the situation?
5. Richard has another job and gets fired. Why does he feel he cannot correct what is wrong with him?
6. How does Richard justify theft when he doesn’t believe in stealing?
7. Explain the system at the movie house. How does he justify it?
8. Explain the events leading up to and after he steals the gun and the canned fruit.
9. Where does he go at the end of the chapter?
Chapters 11-12
1. Describe Beale Street as Richard sees it.
2. Explain the situation between Bess, her mother, and Richard. What does her mother want?
3. Describe the incidents that lead up to the boxing match between Richard and Harrison. How do they feel after
the match is over?
Chapters 13-14
1. Explain Richard’s scheme to check books out of the library. What does this event show you about Richard?
2. Discuss the changes that came over Richard as he reads more and more books.
3. Why doesn’t Richard tell the white men that he plans to move north? Why couldn’t he submit to the “life of
pleasing whites”?
4. What were the white men’s reactions to the news that Richard is leaving? What is Shorty’s reaction?