Exploring the Text

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  1. What is the claim W. E. B. DuBois makes in the opening paragraph? What assumptions underlie this claim?

    Question

    ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=
    Exploring the Text: - What is the claim W. E. B. DuBois makes in the opening paragraph? What assumptions underlie this claim?
  2. What does DuBois mean by “exceptional” (par. 1)? Is this term synonymous with the “aristocracy of talent and character” (par. 5) that DuBois describes?

    Question

    ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=
    Exploring the Text: - What does DuBois mean by “exceptional” (par. 1)? Is this term synonymous with the “aristocracy of talent and character” (par. 5) that DuBois describes?
  3. In paragraph 7, DuBois lists a number of educators who came from Northern colleges “after the blood of war.” What point is he making by the following rhetorical question and image: “Where ought they to have begun to build? At the bottom, of course, quibbles the mole with his eyes in the earth”?

    Question

    ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=
    Exploring the Text: - In paragraph 7, DuBois lists a number of educators who came from Northern colleges “after the blood of war.” What point is he making by the following rhetorical question and image: “Where ought they to have begun to build? At the bottom, of course, quibbles the mole with his eyes in the earth”?
  4. What, according to DuBois, is the “peculiar function” of “the Negro college” (par. 9)?

    Question

    ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=
    Exploring the Text: - What, according to DuBois, is the “peculiar function” of “the Negro college” (par. 9)?
  5. To what extent does DuBois argue that education for “knowledge and character” is incompatible with “the technical knowledge necessary…to earn a living under the present circumstances” (par. 10)? Explain why you agree or disagree with this duality in 1903 or even now.

    Question

    ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=
    Exploring the Text: - To what extent does DuBois argue that education for “knowledge and character” is incompatible with “the technical knowledge necessary…to earn a living under the present circumstances” (par. 10)? Explain why you agree or disagree with this duality in 1903 or even now.
  6. In the paragraph beginning, “I would not deny, or for a moment seem to deny, the paramount necessity of teaching the Negro to work” (par. 11), how does DuBois address the counterargument by concession and refutation? Where else in this essay does he address the arguments of Booker T. Washington and his followers?

    Question

    ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=
    Exploring the Text: - In the paragraph beginning, “I would not deny, or for a moment seem to deny, the paramount necessity of teaching the Negro to work” (par. 11), how does DuBois address the counterargument by concession and refutation? Where else in this essay does he address the arguments of Booker T. Washington and his followers?
  7. DuBois warns that “either you must help furnish this race from within its own ranks with thoughtful men of trained leadership, or you must suffer the evil consequences of a headless misguided rabble” (par. 12). Is this statement a logical conclusion from support previously provided, or is it an either-or fallacy? Explain your response with references to the text.

    Question

    ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=
    Exploring the Text: - DuBois warns that “either you must help furnish this race from within its own ranks with thoughtful men of trained leadership, or you must suffer the evil consequences of a headless misguided rabble” (par. 12). Is this statement a logical conclusion from support previously provided, or is it an either-or fallacy? Explain your response with references to the text.
  8. How—specifically—does DuBois develop the figurative assertion that “the object of all true education is not to make men carpenters, it is to make carpenters men” (par. 13)?

    Question

    ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=
    Exploring the Text: - How—specifically—does DuBois develop the figurative assertion that “the object of all true education is not to make men carpenters, it is to make carpenters men” (par. 13)?
  9. Who is the intended audience DuBois addresses in this essay? Identify specific passages and use of language to support your response. How effective do you imagine he would have been at reaching this audience? Why?

    Question

    ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=
    Exploring the Text: - Who is the intended audience DuBois addresses in this essay? Identify specific passages and use of language to support your response. How effective do you imagine he would have been at reaching this audience? Why?