Guided Reading Questions
Common Academic Experience
Fall 2007
Warriors Don't Cry
Discussion Questions:
1. Examine Chapter 2 closely. Why do you think the author chose to describe in such detail these events?
2. Describe the sources of tension between African-Americans and whites during this time period.
3. Examine some of the sources Beals uses to give factual support to her story. How does she use these sources to connect her story to historical events?
4. Describe some of the obstacles keeping Beals and the other African-American students from attending Central.
5. Are Beals’ experiences at Central all bad? What are some of the positive things that happen?
6. By the end of Chapter 9, it becomes clear to Beals that this struggle is much larger than she previously believed. Describe the challenges she faced and their larger impact.
7. Examine the way that Beals believes the way the media is covering the events at Central High. Does Beals think that the coverage is accurate? Is it? Examine a story published at the time in the local papers before you make your judgment.
8. Reread the Epilogue. What perspectives does Beals share with the reader?
Related Assignments:
1. Record an oral history. Interview someone who was alive during these events. Ask this person to describe the events. Ask how school integration changed his/her community.
2. Is racial diversity in schools still a compelling interest? Currently, many schools across the nation are re- segregating, and the Supreme Court has handed down decisions that have relaxed school integration standards. Examine and discuss the court’s decisions regarding race-based school assignment policies.
3. Are the same issues that faced the country in 1957 still facing us today? Keep a journal for one week in which you examine local and national newspapers or watch the nightly news for stories regarding issues related to racial diversity in schools. Compare and contrast this to the coverage given to these stories in 1957.
4. Read “Desegregated but not Integrated” and “Imperfect but Improving.” Compare and contrast these two points of view.
5. Read another account of the events in 1957. Is it similar or different from Beals’ account?
Resources:
Central High National Historical Site
(501) 374-3067
www.nps.gov/chsc/
Central High School Memory Project
www.lrchmemory.org
>Back to Common Academic Experience