Big Black Good Man

Use these activities to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity. 

ACTIVITY 1: Where’s My Voice?

Literary theorist and philosopher Adriana Cavarero posits we can only come to know our lifestory by being exposed to others. “Big Black Good Man” is an excellent example of this theory, for in being exposed to Jim, Olaf comes to know himself. Wright’s use of psychological realism and limited narration helps unveil this development in subtle and profound ways.

How does hiding reality within limited narration reveal psychological themes? Students will answer this question through the careful creation of “Black Out Poetry.” Students will choose from one of the following texts and create a collage in which they “black out” certain lines, words, or phrases to create a puzzle of a text that evokes the major theme in the original text.

Texts for Black Out Poetry:

• "Beautiful Short Loser" by Ocean Vuong
• Excerpt from "Minor Feelings" by Cathy Park Hong
• Excerpt from "Sweetbitter" by Stephanie Danler
• Excerpt from "Go Tell it on the Mountain" by James Baldwin
• Excerpt from "Passing" by Nella Larsen
• Excerpt from "Dominicana" by Angie Cruz
• Excerpt from "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy
• "Bike Ride with Older Boys" by Laura Kasischke

Teaching Suggestion: Teachers should feel free to add more texts or to decrease this list so students can better compare and contrast their interpretations. This activity is creative and analytical, so teachers can also add an analysis paragraph that students write about their piece, or teachers can also lean into the creativity aspect and create a bigger-scale art project. Teachers can also push students to further analysis by having them relate their project back to the theory posited by Cavarero.