Entering the Conversation

As you respond to each of the following prompts, support your position with appropriate evidence, including at least two of Wheatley’s poems and two other sources from this Conversation on the influence of Phillis Wheatley, unless otherwise indicated.

  1. Was Wheatley a conventional thinker who emulated the style and structure of eighteenth-century British poets to appeal to a white readership, or was she a subversive artist who shrewdly cloaked her rebellious thoughts in a form most likely to gain her an admiring readership? Explain why you see her in one of these opposing characterizations or in another way.

    Question

    ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=
    Entering the Conversation: - Was Wheatley a conventional thinker who emulated the style and structure of eighteenth-century British poets to appeal to a white readership, or was she a subversive artist who shrewdly cloaked her rebellious thoughts in a form most likely to gain her an admiring readership? Explain why you see her in one of these opposing characterizations or in another way.
  2. Defend, challenge, or qualify the following statement by Gates in the 2002 Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities: “If Phillis Wheatley stood for anything, it was the creed that culture was, could be, the equal possession of all humanity” (par. 23).

    Question

    ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=
    Entering the Conversation: - Defend, challenge, or qualify the following statement by Gates in the 2002 Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities: “If Phillis Wheatley stood for anything, it was the creed that culture was, could be, the equal possession of all humanity” (par. 23).
  3. Discuss the claim made by scholar Mary McAleer Balkun that Wheatley wrote poems intended for a Christian audience, yet these poems use a variety of literary techniques to take “the audience from a position of initial confidence and agreement to confusion and uncertainty, to a new ideological position at the conclusion of each poem.”

    Question

    ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=
    Entering the Conversation: - Discuss the claim made by scholar Mary McAleer Balkun that Wheatley wrote poems intended for a Christian audience, yet these poems use a variety of literary techniques to take “the audience from a position of initial confidence and agreement to confusion and uncertainty, to a new ideological position at the conclusion of each poem.”
  4. In Giant Steps: The New Generation of African American Writers edited by Young, he ends with his own poem “Homage to Phillis Wheatley.” Explain why you believe that this tribute to Wheatley is or is not a fitting coda to a collection of writing by contemporary young African American poets.

    Question

    ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=
    Entering the Conversation: - In Giant Steps: The New Generation of African American Writers edited by Young, he ends with his own poem “Homage to Phillis Wheatley.” Explain why you believe that this tribute to Wheatley is or is not a fitting coda to a collection of writing by contemporary young African American poets.
  5. Some argue that Wheatley’s poems are significant primarily as artifacts of history, while others take the position that they represent artistic genius. Explain your view on the influence and reputation of the poetry of Phillis Wheatley.

    Question

    ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=
    Entering the Conversation: - Some argue that Wheatley’s poems are significant primarily as artifacts of history, while others take the position that they represent artistic genius. Explain your view on the influence and reputation of the poetry of Phillis Wheatley.
  6. Research and read one or more children’s or young adult books on Wheatley (e.g., Phillis Wheatley: Young Revolutionary Poet or A Voice of Her Own: The Story of Phillis Wheatley) and discuss how she is characterized. How accurate or fair do you find these perspectives?

    Question

    ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=
    Entering the Conversation: - Research and read one or more children’s or young adult books on Wheatley (e.g., Phillis Wheatley: Young Revolutionary Poet or A Voice of Her Own: The Story of Phillis Wheatley) and discuss how she is characterized. How accurate or fair do you find these perspectives?
  7. In his biography of Wheatley, scholar Vincent Carretta describes “the nadir of this movement” to discredit the contribution of Wheatley as “the accusations that Wheatley had ‘a white mind,’ and was ‘not sensitive enough to the needs of her own people to demonstrate a kinship to Blacks in her life or writings.’” Write an argument refuting such accusations.

    Question

    ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=
    Entering the Conversation: - In his biography of Wheatley, scholar Vincent Carretta describes “the nadir of this movement” to discredit the contribution of Wheatley as “the accusations that Wheatley had ‘a white mind,’ and was ‘not sensitive enough to the needs of her own people to demonstrate a kinship to Blacks in her life or writings.’” Write an argument refuting such accusations.