like why Ann alone from her family became involved in the movement (at
most, the rest of the family reflects the resentful but relentlessly passive acceptance of things as they were); and that that she
found a supportive environment for her work in the movement, not at the small African American controlled college she initially
attended, but at Tougaloo, where black and white folk had a century of experience working together.
There is an excellent photo of her, John Salter, and Joan Trunpauer at a 1963 Jackson sit-in in Darlene Hine, ed.,
BLACK WOMEN IN AMERICA--Taylor Branch!!
found that the students have an understandable tendency to be carried away with admiration for Ms. Moody's bravery, integrity,
etc. I like to call attention to the other characters in the book, the ones who don't act with the same courage, etc., as a way of
getting at the external forces and psychological obstacles that explain why it was not easy to get a civil rights movement going in
the US.
have led successful discussions on the book _Coming of Age in Mississippi_by Anne Moody with groups of about 25 students. A
week before the discussion, I asked each student to choose two or more passages of the book (in whatever length) that struck
them in some way (surprised, saddened, appalled, moved, intrigued them) and to write a paragraph or so about each passage and
his or her response to it. I tell them that this is an assignment that will be turned into me.
On the day of the discussion, I have the students sit in a circle and simply go around and share the passages they chose and their
responses to them. I do not collect the papers until the end of class because some students prefer to consult their writings while
they are speaking. Very rarely do students just read what they've written.
The first time I tried this, I made the mistake of letting them pick passages from anywhere in the book. It's a long book (for a 10
week course, so most students chose excerpts from the first half. This disappointed me because we didn't get to discuss the last
part of the book (The Movement).
So the next time, I put parameters on what parts of the book they could choose from. The book is divided into four parts (her
childhood, high school, college, and the movement). I asked each student to choose one passage from part four, and then one
passage from one of the other 3 parts (actually, I assigned them one of the other 3 parts.) This sounds complicated, but it really
isn't. It assured that the whole book would be discussed and everyone wouldn't be choosing the same passages.
It turned out to be one of my best discussion sections ever. The students were really engaged with the book, and I was pleasantly
surprised by the depth of their responses to it. Most responses were very original and heartfelt. Letting them choose sections of
the book was a good way to allow them to "own" the discussion, and I think they appreciated that. In fact, they brought up nearly
every issue that I would have emphasized if I were leading the discussion.
I was also surprised at how well _all_ of them spoke -- and that they spoke to one another, not to me. Also, they reacted to each
other's comments ("yeah, I felt that way too" or "yeah, I couldn't believe that happened!") without my prodding.
I think that the discussion was really helped by the fact that I had them write out their responses beforehand. This gave them a
chance to really think about it and prepare. I suspect that this is a reason why some who previously had been shy about discussion
were able to speak so well. Also, the fact that every member of the class had to participate helped remove that "I'm too cool to
talk" attitude from the class. Every student seemed genuinely interested and sorry when class ended. On evaluations, feedback
about that day was very positive.
I think the subject matter and style of _Coming of Age_ lends itself to this type of personal, democratic discussion approach.
I have used Anne Moody's *Coming of Age* in class and it went over very well. It was overwhelmingly the favourite book of the
class AND it generated in-class discussion about class, race, power and fear. I used Anne's experience of meeting her relatives
Walter and ? (I'm writing without my library around me) who she originally perceives as white to get a discussion going about the
ways that ideas about race can change over time. We compared racial categories in the 19403-1960s with those that we'd
discussed earlier from the era of social darwinism. This let us discuss how racial categories are socially constructed using
concrete examples. Since US race relations were a major theme of my survey course, this was a really fruitful discussion.
When I assign the essay, I ask students to write a 5-7 page paper--the details of the structure etc are carefully included in the
assignment handout--they receive this with their syllabus the first day and I urge them to begin reading the book asap (essay is due
the week we begin work on the modern civil rights movement. Students are asked to address within their essays: how and what
Anne Moody learned about the social significance of race--how she came of age racially; what personal characteristics were
most responsible for the way she responded, and speculate why she responded differently from those around her (her peers, her
mother and other adults).
Then I ask students to compare her and their own experience of coming to terms with the significance of race in their lives and in
American society--in other words, how they have "learned" what race means in modern America.
While I do offer those who are uncomfortable with writing such a personal account the opportunity for an alternative assignment,
no one to date has taken me up on it.
I believe that this second component moves students beyond distancing themselves from something that happened "long ago and
far away." An added bonus for me is that these are always interesting, and frequently moving. Moody's personal memoir is very
powerful in issues of identity and coming to grips with race relations today. Perhaps because we are in Memphis, very close to
where Anne Moody grew up and where race continues to divide us in ways I found startling when I first came here (having lived
in the southwest and northeast). About 25-28% of our students are African American, in a city that is approx. 55% black. I
usually have about 40 student per survey session, 3 or 4 of them will be people of color. Further, many white students have been
educated in christian academies and suburban schools that are at least 85-90% white. I believe, though, that this book is compelling
reading for all students, especially given the current rhetoric and debates about the "pathology" of the black community and
apparent consensus on welfare "reform" (i.e. jettisoning social responsibility in favor of personal denunciations).
Students are always curious about what happened to Anne Moody, and some are skeptical that she existed at all (that she was just
a narrative construct). The most recent rumor I heard is that she is working in some university administration office, perhaps in
Pennsylvania. I have no verification for this. I, too, would like to find out.
As far as discussion of the book and its concepts, I find that students cannot help but talk about this book--in the context of
discussions about aspects of the civil rights movement or among themselves.
So, despite my occasional weariness with reading yet another description of the incident in the movie theater, I will continue to use
this provocative and inspiring book.
From: Charlotte Borst