Some questions to keep in mind as you read Du Bois and Chesnutt: What kind of a text is The Souls of Black Folk? How and why does Du Bois combine autobiography, non-fiction, and other forms? What does Du Bois mean by “double consciousness”? How does this idea describe the situation faced by African Americans (then or now)? Is it applicable, to some degree, to other groups of people as well? What does the image of the veil suggest about the notion of race as a category of identity? How does Chesnutt’s fiction demonstrate Du Bois’s idea of “double-consciousness”? How does Mr. Ryder’s dilemma metaphorically represent the choices faced by African Americans? How does Chesnutt use dialect and vernacular storytelling (compared to, say, Twain)?
