Name __________________________
Date: ________________
Section: 11.1
11.2
(circle one)
U. S. History II
Ms. Lam, 2013-2014
John Howard Griffin
Question: You’ve had a chance to reflect on this question for at least 24 hours now: Do you
think that John Howard Griffin fully understood what it meant to be a black man in
the South in the 1950s? Why or why not? Journal below until time is up in the do now.
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US HISTORY II
Name:
__________________
Black Like Me Essay Outline
Date:
____________
Section:
11.1
11.2
Read this Washington Post article about John Howard Griffin, author of Black Like Me. As
you read, underline any sentences that help you think about this question:
Do you think that John Howard Griffin fully understood what it meant to be a black
man in the South in the 1950s? Why or why not?
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John Howard Griffin Took Race All the
Way to the Finish
By JONATHAN YARDLEY
Saturday, March 17, 2007
In the fall of 1959 an obscure white journalist and novelist
named John Howard Griffin, a native of Texas, went to a
dermatologist in New Orleans with what can only be called
an astonishing request: He wanted "to become a Negro." He
was "haunted" by these questions: "If a white man became
a Negro in the Deep South, what adjustments would he have to make? What is it like to
experience discrimination based on skin color, something over which one has no control?"
The book Black Like Me became a bestseller. It awoke significant numbers of white
Americans to truths about discrimination of which they had been unaware or had denied.
I was one of them. In 1961, I was 21 years old, newly graduated from Chapel Hill. That it
took a white man to begin my awakening is, in hindsight, distressing, but Griffin's story
managed to put me in a black man's shoes as nothing else had.
What remains most important about "Black Like Me" is the force of the shock Griffin felt
when he learned what it was -- and for many still is -- like to be black in America. In 1959
virtually none of the rights and opportunities that whites took for granted were extended
to blacks, so Griffin immediately discovered that "an important part of my daily life was
spent searching for the basic things that all whites take for granted: a place to eat, or
somewhere to find a drink of water, a rest room, somewhere to wash my hands…”
Overall, the portrait that Griffin paints of the South is gloomy. Everywhere he went, "the
criterion is nothing but the color of skin. My experience proved that. [Whites] judged me by
no other quality. My skin was dark. That was sufficient reason for them to deny me those
rights and freedoms without which life loses its significance and becomes a matter of little
more than animal survival." He became depressed. He "decided to try to pass back into
white society" and scrubbed off the stain; immediately "I was once more a first-class
citizen." The knowledge gave him little joy.
US HISTORY II
Name:
__________________
Black Like Me Essay Outline
Date:
____________
Section:
11.1
11.2
Black Like Me: Group Work
In your small group you are responsible for answering one of the questions below using
your books and summer reading journals:

Group 1: What was the experience of black men in the South in the 1950s? Find
examples of their experiences or moments where they express their
feelings/opinions.

Groups 2-5: Use your assigned section to find evidence that helps answer the
guiding question:
o Group 2: October 28—November 8th, 1959
o Group 3: November 10-12—November 15
o Group 4: November 16—November 25
o Group 5: November 27—end
Your Task
a) Elect a scribe and 1-2 reporters
b) Find 2-3 relevant pieces of evidence in your section to answer the question
a. Write the page number and a short description of each piece of evidence
b. Discuss the significance of each piece of evidence
c) Prepare your main assertion (e.g. “No, despite how empathetic he is, Griffin could
not fully understand what it meant to be a black man because x, y, z.”)
d) Your group’s reporters will have 3 minutes to PRESENT to the rest of the class the
following:
a. Your main assertion
b. Your best 2 pieces of evidence and an explanation of how they support your
assertion
c. You must guide us to the text and read DRT aloud
US HISTORY II
Name:
__________________
Black Like Me Essay Outline
Date:
____________
Section:
11.1
11.2
Black Like Me:
Essay Outline
In Black Like Me, John Howard Griffin embarks on a journey that leads him closer to
understanding the experience of African Americans in the South in the 1950s. Some critics
have argued that Griffin never truly experienced life as a black man; there were always too
many significant differences between him and the black Americans among whom he lived.
In a well-developed composition, describe at least three of Griffin’s significant experiences
as evidence in order to respond to this critique.
Your homework this weekend is to outline an essay on the following prompt:

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Your thesis should indicate whether you agree or disagree with Griffin’s critics and why
The experiences should be well-chosen and accurately described
You should use 1 piece of well-chosen DRT for each experience
For each experience, you should clearly explain how this evidence relates to the critique
Homework Prep
Outline
This weekend you will complete an OUTLINE of
your essay. Your outline should have:
o A thesis statement
o The topic of body paragraph 1
o Each piece of evidence that you
plan on using (SRT or DRT)
o Connection: how does this
evidence answer the question?
o The topic of body paragraph 2
o Each piece of evidence that you
plan on using (SRT or DRT)
o Connection
o The topic of body paragraph 3
o Each piece of evidence that you
plan on using (SRT or DRT)
o Connection
Essay Structure
Here’s a reminder of the essay structure that you
learned in 10th grade and will be expected to use
in this outline.
o Introduction
o Hook
o Background Information/Context
o Thesis Statement
o Body Paragraphs
o Topic Sentence
o Evidence (SRT and DRT)
o Analysis/connection sentences
o Conclusion
US HISTORY II
Name:
__________________
Black Like Me Essay Outline
Date:
____________
Section:
11.1
11.2
Black Like Me: In-Class Essay
Helpful Outline Organizer
Note: If you have received this helpful organizer, the minimum requirement that you must
meet in your outline is writing a thesis statement and supporting that thesis with at least 3
topic sentences with evidence. I am mostly interested in your knowledge of the book and for
that reason you may choose to be concise and eliminate a full introduction and conclusion if you
are worried about time.
Thesis statement:
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Topic sentence 1:
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US HISTORY II
Name:
__________________
Black Like Me Essay Outline
Date:
____________
Section:
Evidence:
11.1
11.2
How does this evidence connect to the question?
Topic sentence 2:
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Evidence:
How does this evidence connect to the question?
US HISTORY II
Name:
__________________
Black Like Me Essay Outline
Date:
____________
Section:
11.1
11.2
Topic sentence 3:
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Evidence:
How does this evidence connect to the question?