57 pages • 1 hour read
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How does Emma Lou represent The Hypocrisy of Colorism in Black Communities? How does she both experience racial prejudice in the form of colorism and show evidence of having internalized colorism herself?
Discuss the way that Emma Lou responds to the Black beauty standards of her era. How does racism help shape prevailing ideas of beauty in Black communities?
How do men and women in The Blacker the Berry experience colorism differently? Are men and women subject to the same kinds of colorist prejudice? If not, how?
How has Emma Lou’s experience of race, class, and skin color been shaped by her family and her community? What impact does this have on Emma Lou?
How does this novel depict the Black respectability politics? Does Emma Lou embrace or reject this ideology?
How does Wallace Thurman use characters such as Truman and Nora to paint a bigger picture of the Harlem Renaissance? What impact do these thinly veiled portraits of real Harlem Renaissance authors have on the novel? What might Truman’s insights on colorism and prejudice say about the novel as a whole?
How does Thurman’s representation of Harlem shape the characters in The Blacker the Berry? What argument might he be making about the space of Harlem and Black cultural identity during the Harlem Renaissance?
How does Blackness function as a symbol within The Blacker the Berry? What broader argument might Thurman be making through this symbolism?
How do you interpret Emma Lou’s relationship with Alva? On the surface, he seems to be a manipulative, duplicitous presence in her life. What is the nature of her attraction to him, and why does she stay with him for so long?
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